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- Davidsson, Åke, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Positive identification in situ of mRNA expression of IL-6, and IL-12, and the chemotactic cytokine RANTES in patients with chronic sinusitis and polypoid disease. Clinical relevance and relation to allergy
- 1996
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Ingår i: Acta Oto-Laryngologica. - Oxfordshire, United Kingdom : Taylor & Francis. - 0001-6489 .- 1651-2251. ; 116:4, s. 604-610
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Interleukins 6 (IL-6) and 12 (IL-12), and the chemoattractant chemokine RANTES were studied in ethmoidal mucosa, using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The 49 patients had chronic sinusitis or nasal/paranasal polyposis, and some also allergy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates RANTES and IL-12 on mRNA level in human sinonasal mucosa in situ. mRNA for IL-6, IL-12 and RANTES were detected in 2, 8 and 6 patients with chronic sinusitis, respectively, and in mucosa from patients with polyposis a positive expression was observed in 4, 14 and 10 cases. There were no statistically significant differences. Analysing the entire group of 49 patients, disregarding type of mucosal disease, the number of patients with positive RANTES was significantly higher than that for IL-6. Similarly, IL-12 positivity was more frequently expressed than IL-6. mRNA for IL-6 was expressed in only 2 of the allergic patients. The cytokine production studied thus seems to be unrelated to the clinically defined entities. There is thus a local production in human diseased sinonasal mucosa of RANTES, as well as of IL-6 and IL-12. The local production of RANTES is an important prerequisite for recruitment and migration of inflammatory cells into the tissue. IL-12 is a co-stimulator of antigen-specific responses of established T helper 1 (Th1) clones, and regulates the responsiveness of the clones to a number of T cell growth factors. The study supports a shift towards Th1 cells in these disease entities.
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| 5. |
- Liu, Kui, et al.
(författare)
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Distinct expression ofgelatinase A (MMP-2), collagenase-3 (MMP-13), membrane-type MMP 1 (MT1-MMP), and tissue inhibitor of MMPs type 1 (TIMP-1) mediated by physiological signals during formation and regression of the rat corpus luteum
- 1999
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Ingår i: Endocrinology. - 0013-7227 .- 1945-7170. ; 140:11, s. 5330-5338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The corpus luteum (CL) is a transient endocrine organ that secretes progesterone to support pregnancy. The CL is formed from an ovulated follicle in a process that involves extensive angiogenesis and tissue remodeling. If fertilization does not occur or implantation is unsuccessful, the CL will undergo regression, which involves extensive tissue degradation. Extracellular proteases, such as serine proteases and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), are thought to play important roles in both the formation and regression of the CL. In this study, we have examined the physiological regulation pattern and cellular distribution of messenger RNAs coding for gelatinase A (MMP-2), collagenase-3 (MMP-13), membrane type MMP 1 (MT1-MMP, MMP-14), and the major MMP inhibitor, tissue inhibitor of MMPs type 1 (TIMP-1) in the CL of adult pseudopregnant (psp) rat. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses revealed that gelatinase A messenger RNA was mainly expressed during luteal development, indicating that gelatinase A may be associated with the neovascularization and tissue remodeling that takes place during CL formation. Collagenase-3 had a separate expression pattern and was only expressed in the regressing CL, suggesting that this MMP may be related with luteal regression. MT1-MMP that in vitro can activate progelatinase A and procollagenase-3 was constitutively expressed during the formation, function, and regression of the CL and may therefore be involved in the activation of these MMPs. TIMP-1 was induced during both the formation and regression of the CL, suggesting that this inhibitor modulates MMP activity during these processes. To test whether the induction of collagenase-3 and TIMP-1 is coupled with luteal regression, we prolonged the luteal phase by performing hysterectomies, and induced premature luteal regression by treating the pseudopregnant rats with a PGF2alpha analog, cloprostenol. In both treatments, collagenase-3 and TIMP-1 were induced only after the serum level of progesterone had decreased, suggesting that collagenase-3 and TIMP-1 are induced by physiological signals, which initiate functional luteolysis to play a role in tissue degradation during structural luteolysis. In conclusion, our data suggest that gelatinase A, collagenase-3, and MT1-MMP may have separate functions during the CL life span: gelatinase A mainly takes part in CL formation, whereas collagenase-3 mainly takes part in luteal regression; MT1-MMP is constitutively expressed during the CL life span and may therefore serve as an in vivo activator of both gelatinase A and collagenase-3. TIMP-1 is up-regulated both during the formation and regression of the CL and may therefore regulate MMP activity during both processes.
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| 6. |
- Olofsson, Gunnar, 1942-, et al.
(författare)
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Seven Swedish Cases : Production Regime, Personnel Policy and Age Structure in Seven Swedish Firms in the Era of the Swedish Model
- 1995
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this working paper are published extensive research reports from field work carried out in Sweden 1989-91 in relation to the Research project on "Firms, State and the Changing Age-Structure". This project was coordinated by Prof. Frieder Naschold at the Wissenschaftszent- rum fur Sozialforschung Berlin (WZB).The fieldwork was done at a critical point in time. Shortly after the fieldwork was concluded, Sweden was "surprised" by a sudden political and economic change. Economically Sweden witnessed a decreasing GNP per inhabitant for two years. Unemployment grew rapidly from late 1991 onwards. The election of 1991 brought a Conservative-Liberal government to power, with the aim of implementing decisive changes in economic policies.By its timing the fieldwork came to possess a value in its own, showing the Swedish Model at work at a late and advanced stage of its development. Furthermore the fieldwork reports of how personnel policies within firms were shaped by the labour market and social policy goals can be used as benchmarks against which to measure the ongoing changes, especially in relation to the policies directed towards the older workforce.The case histories illustrate how the Swedish Policy regime influences the way the age-structure and early exit dilemmas are handled in real situations. They reveal the deep penetration of the Policy regime (such as the structure of pension systems and sick pay rules) into internal work organization and personnel policy in the Production regimes. But they also show a variety of strategies and outcomes in this setting. The variety can be explained by the interplay of the numerous instruments, rules and co-operating actors that form "packages" unforseen in advance.
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| 7. |
- Ottander, Ulrika, et al.
(författare)
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Functional evidence for divergent receptor activation mechanisms of luteotrophic and luteolytic events in the human corpus luteum
- 1999
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Ingår i: Molecular human reproduction. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1360-9947 .- 1460-2407. ; 5:5, s. 391-395
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using a dispersed human luteal cell culture model, progesterone synthesis following treatment by incremental doses of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and the stable prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) analogue cloprostenol, alone or in combination, was related to corpora lutea (CL) mRNA transcript abundance coding for the luteinizing hormone (LH)/HCG receptor (LH-R) and PGF2alpha-receptor (FP) by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 33 otherwise healthy women, scheduled for surgery due to benign conditions. CL were grouped according to age, based on the occurrence of a preovulatory LH surge where post-LH days 2-5 were designated as early luteal phase, days 6-10 as mid-luteal phase and days 11-14 as late luteal phase. When exposed to HCG, maximal progesterone output was raised 2.2-fold (P = 0.08, n = 5) compared with untreated controls in the early CL, while it increased 5.7- and 4.6-fold in the mid- and late groups respectively (P<0.05, n = 4 mid-luteal phase, n = 3 late luteal phase). This stimulation pattern was found to be concordant with the value of mRNA coding for LH-R in all groups (n = 6 early luteal phase, n = 5 mid-luteal phase, n = 6 late luteal phase). The integrated response to HCG and cloprostenol showed a dose-dependent 60% inhibition of progesterone production; but only in late luteal phase luteal cells (P<0.01, n = 3). FP mRNA values were lowest in early luteal phase, and increased with the age of the CL. Interestingly, lowest CL tissue concentrations of the natural FP agonist PGF2alpha were found during mid-luteal phase while it increased again 1.6-fold during late luteal phase (P<0.05, n = 8 versus mid-luteal phase, n = 6). Collectively, these data demonstrate that (i) the extrinsic functional control (or rescue of CL in the event of pregnancy) occurs when the sensitivity towards LH/HCG is maximal; and (ii) the demise of CL function is mediated via an acquisition of sensitivity towards the intrinsic luteolytic signal, PGF2alpha in the ageing CL.
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| 8. |
- Swedin, Agneta, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical utility of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement identification for tumour cell detection in multiple myeloma
- 1998
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Ingår i: British Journal of Haematology. - : Wiley. - 0007-1048. ; 103:4, s. 1145-1151
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In an attempt to define the clinical utility of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement identification for tumour cell detection in multiple myeloma, we investigated 36 consecutive newly diagnosed patients intended for high-dose chemotherapy in a study protocol. After identification of the IgH rearrangement, an allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) was constructed and used in a semiquantative PCR for minimal residual disease (MRD) evaluation. The myeloma-specific IgH gene rearrangement could be identified and an ASO primer constructed in 24 (67%) of the patients. All of these patients underwent transplantation; 22 were autologous, of whom three had PCR-negative stem cell harvests, and two were allogeneic. 10 patients achieved a clinical complete response (CR) and five were PCR negative in sequential bone marrow analyses. In patients not achieving CR, PCR negativity was occasionally found, but in general the PCR results reflected the clinical status of the patients. No consistent relationship between the bone marrow MRD status and the clinical course was found, and early relapses occurred also in PCR-negative patients.
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