1. |
- Andersson Sjöland, Annika, et al.
(author)
-
Fibrocytes are associated with vascular and parenchymal remodelling in patients with obliterative bronchiolitis.
- 2009
-
In: Respiratory Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1465-9921 .- 1465-993X. ; 10:Oct 30
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to explore the occurrence of fibrocytes in tissue and to investigate whether the appearance of fibrocytes may be linked to structural changes of the parenchyme and vasculature in the lungs of patients with obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) following lung or bone marrow transplantation. METHODS: Identification of parenchyme, vasculature, and fibrocytes was done by histological methods in lung tissue from bone marrow or lung-transplanted patients with obliterative bronchiolitis, and from controls. RESULTS: The transplanted patients had significantly higher amounts of tissue in the alveolar parenchyme (46.5 +/- 17.6%) than the controls (21.7 +/- 7.6%) (p < 0.05). The patients also had significantly increased numbers of fibrocytes identified by CXCR4/prolyl4-hydroxylase, CD45R0/prolyl4-hydroxylase, and CD34/prolyl4-hydroxylase compared to the controls (p < 0.01). There was a correlation between the number of fibrocytes and the area of alveolar parenchyma; CXCR4/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.01), CD45R0/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.05) and CD34/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.05). In the pulmonary vessels, there was an increase in the endothelial layer in patients (0.31 +/- 0.13%) relative to the controls (0.037 +/- 0.02%) (p < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between the number of fibrocytes and the total area of the endothelial layer CXCR4/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.001), CD45R0/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.001) and CD34/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.01). The percent areas of the lumen of the vessels were significant (p < 0.001) enlarged in the patient with OB compared to the controls. There was also a correlation between total area of the lumen and number of fibrocytes, CXCR4/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.01), CD45R0/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.001) and CD34/prolyl 4-hydroxylase (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that fibrocytes are associated with pathological remodelling processes in patients with OB and that tissue fibrocytes might be a useful biomarker in these processes.
|
|
2. |
- Eriksson, Emma S. E., et al.
(author)
-
Properties and Permeability of Hypericin and Brominated Hypericin in Lipid Membranes
- 2009
-
In: Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9618 .- 1549-9626. ; 5:12, s. 3139-3149
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The promising photosensitizing properties of hypericin, a substituted phenanthroperylene quinone naturally found in Saint John's wort, has led to the proposal that it can be utilized in photodynamic therapy, Structurally modified derivatives are at the present time being investigated to generate a more effective hypericin photosensitizer. Neither the detailed mechanism behind the powerful action of hypericin, arising as a result of light excitation, nor the intracellular localization and transportation is still fully understood. In the present work, molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the properties and the permeability of hypericin and modifications thereof, substituted with one or four bromine atoms, in a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine lipid membrane. The molecules were found to accumulate in the most dense region of the lipids due to competing interactions with the hydrophobic lipid interior and the polar aqueous environment. This was confirmed by analyzing the radial distribution functions and by the density profiles of the system components. Calculated free energy profiles display large negative changes in free energy for the transport process of the molecules into the lipids, which also support this finding. Permeability coefficients show overall fastest diffusion in the membrane system for hypericin containing one bromine.
|
|
3. |
- Eriksson, Emma S. E., et al.
(author)
-
Redox and debromination reactions of brominated hypericin
- 2008
-
In: International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. - New York : Wiley. - 0020-7608 .- 1097-461X. ; 108:11, s. 1921-1929
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Phototoxic and radical-generating debromination reactions of monobrominated hypericin with bromine at one of four possible positions were investigated using density functional theory. The study was performed on two closely lying conformational isomers, differing in the relative orientations of the two anthracene units of the hypericin core. Calculated adiabatic electron affinities show that the molecules have the ability to, in aqueous solution, extract an electron from the surrounding. The electron might then be passed on to molecular oxygen, forming reactive superoxide radical anions. If electron extraction from the molecule does not occur in this step, the molecule might dissociate, generating a negatively charged bromine as a leaving group and a hypericin radical capable of forming direct binding to biological molecules. This reaction was found possible for those species substituted by Br at two of the four positions, with barriers of 13 kcal/mol in aqueous solution. Debromination was not found energetically possible for neither the neutral ground state compounds nor the bay-deprotonated species.
|
|
4. |
- Gamborg, Michael, et al.
(author)
-
Birth weight and systolic blood pressure in adolescence and adulthood : meta-regression analysis of sex- and age-specific results from 20 Nordic studies
- 2007
-
In: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 166:6, s. 634-645
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The authors investigated the shape, sex- and age-dependency, and possible confounding of the association between birth weight and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in 197,954 adults from 20 Nordic cohorts (birth years 1910-1987), one of which included 166,249 Swedish male conscripts. Random-effects meta-regression analyses were performed on estimates obtained from age- and sex-stratified analyses within each of the cohorts. There was an inverse association between birth weight and SBP, irrespective of adjustment for concurrent body mass index. The association was linear for males, but for females with a birth weight greater than 4 kg, SBP increased with birth weight (p < 0.01). The association was stronger in the older age groups (p < 0.05), although this could have been a birth cohort effect. The association was stronger among females than among males (p = 0.005) when birth weight was less than or equal to 4 kg. The estimated effect of birth weight on SBP at age 50 years was -1.52 mmHg/kg (95% confidence interval: -2.27, -0.77) in men and -2.80 mmHg/kg (95% confidence interval: -3.85, -1.76) in women. Exclusion of the Swedish conscripts produced nearly identical results. This meta-analysis supports the evidence of an inverse birth weight-SBP association, regardless of adjustment for concurrent body size. It also reveals important heterogeneity in the shape and strength of the association by sex and age.
|
|
5. |
- Jarl, Johan, et al.
(author)
-
The societal cost of alcohol consumption: an estimation of the economic and human cost including health effects in Sweden, 2002
- 2008
-
In: European Journal of Health Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1618-7601 .- 1618-7598. ; 9:4, s. 351-360
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article estimates the societal cost of alcohol consumption in Sweden in 2002, as well as the effects on health and quality of life. The estimation includes direct costs, indirect costs and intangible costs. Relevant cost-of-illness methods are applied using the human capital method and prevalence-based estimates, as suggested in existing international guidelines, allowing cautious comparison with prior studies. The results show that the net cost (i.e. including protective effects of alcohol consumption) is 20.3 billion Swedish kronor (SEK) and the gross cost (counting only detrimental effects) is 29.4 billon (0.9 and 1.3% of GDP). Alcohol consumption is estimated to cause a net loss of 121,800 QALYs. The results are within the range found in prior studies, although at the low end. A large number of sensitivity analyses are performed, indicating a sensitivity range of 50%.
|
|
6. |
|
|
7. |
- Steen, Stig, et al.
(author)
-
First human transplantation of a nonacceptable donor lung after reconditioning ex vivo.
- 2007
-
In: Annals of Thoracic Surgery. - : Elsevier BV. - 1552-6259 .- 0003-4975. ; 83:6, s. 2191-2195
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose. This article describes an ex vivo method to recondition and transplant rejected donor lungs. Description. A 19-year-old man was brain dead after a traffic accident. A roentgenogram showed bilateral lung contusion. He had ongoing intratracheal bleeding. After optimizing ventilator treatment and suctioning the airways, PaO2 was 9 kPa (67.5 mm Hg) on FiO(2) = 0.7. The lungs were rejected by all transplantation centers in the Nordic countries. We harvested the lungs for research. The right lung was severely injured. The left lung was edematous with bleeding spots in the lower lobe, and the mediobasal segment was atelectatic. The left lung was reconditioned ex vivo and kept in topical extracorporeal membrane oxygenation until it was transplanted into a 70-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 17 hours later. Evaluation. The transplanted lung functioned very well, and the patient recovered uneventfully. At 3 months control, a computed tomographic thoracic scan and transbronchial biopsies showed a normal left lung, and the patient was in very good clinical condition, only to succumb to death from unrelated events 11 months after the transplantation. Conclusions. Rejected donor lungs may be successfully transplanted after being reconditioned ex vivo.
|
|
8. |
- Abrahamsson, Maria, et al.
(author)
-
A 3.0 mu s room temperature excited state lifetime of a bistridentate Ru-II-polypyridine complex for rod-like molecular arrays
- 2006
-
In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 128:39, s. 12616-12617
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A bistridentate RuII-polypyridine complex [Ru(bqp)2]2+ (bqp = 2,6-bis(8'-quinolinyl)pyridine) has been prepared, which has a coordination geometry much closer to a perfect octahedron than the typical Ru(terpyridine)2-type complex. Thus, the complex displays a 3.0 mus lifetime of the lowest excited metal-to-ligand charge transfer (3MLCT) state at room temperature. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the longest MLCT state lifetime reported for a RuII-polypyridyl complex at room temperature. The structure allows for the future construction of rod-like, isomer-free molecular arrays by substitution of donor and acceptor moieties on the central pyridine units. This makes it a promising photosensitizer for applications in molecular devices for artificial photosynthesis and molecular electronics.
|
|
9. |
- Abrahamsson, Maria, et al.
(author)
-
A new strategy for the improvement of photophysical properties in ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes. Synthesis and photophysical and electrochemical characterization of six mononuclear ruthenium(II) bisterpyridine-type complexes
- 2005
-
In: Inorganic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 44:9, s. 3215-3225
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The synthesis and characterization of six ruthenium(II) bistridentate polypyridyl complexes is described. These were designed on the basis of a new approach to increase the excited-state lifetime of ruthenium(II) bisterpyridine-type complexes. By the use of a bipyridylpyridyl methane ligand in place of terpyridine, the coordination environment of the metal ion becomes nearly octahedral and the rate of deactivation via ligand-field (i.e., metal-centered) states was reduced as shown by temperature-dependent emission lifetime studies. Still, the possibility to make quasi-linear donor-ruthenium-acceptor triads is maintained in the complexes. The most promising complex shows an excited-state lifet me of tau = 15 ns in alcohol solutions at room temperature, which should be compared to a lifetime of tau = 0.25 ns for [Ru(tpy)(2)](2+). The X-ray structure of the new complex indeed shows a more octahedral geometry than that of [Ru(tpy)(2)](2+). Most importantly, the high excited-state energy was retained, and thus, so was the potential high reactivity of the excited complex, which has not been the case with previously published strategies based on bistridentate complexes.
|
|
10. |
- Abrahamsson, Maria, et al.
(author)
-
Steric influence on the excited-state lifetimes of ruthenium complexes with bipyridyl-alkanylene-pyridyl ligands.
- 2008
-
In: Inorganic Chemistry. - : ACS. - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 47:9, s. 3540-3548
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The structural effect on the metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited-state lifetime has been investigated in bis-tridentate Ru(II)-polypyridyl complexes based on the terpyridine-like ligands [6-(2,2'-bipyridyl)](2-pyridyl)methane (1) and 2-[6-(2,2'-bipyridyl)]-2-(2-pyridyl)propane (2). A homoleptic ([Ru(2)(2)](2+)) and a heteroleptic complex ([Ru(ttpy)(2)](2+)) based on the new ligand 2 have been prepared and their photophysical and structural properties studied experimentally and theoretically and compared to the results for the previously reported [Ru(1)(2)](2+). The excited-state lifetime of the homoleptic Ru-II complex with the isopropylene-bridged ligand 2 was found to be 50 times shorter than that of the corresponding homoleptic Ru-II complex of ligand 1, containing a methylene bridge. A comparison of the ground-state geometries of the two homoleptic complexes shows that steric interactions involving the isopropylene bridges make the coordination to the central Ru-II ion less octahedral in [Ru(2)(2)](2+) than in [Ru(1)(2))(2+). Calculations indicate that the structural differences in these complexes influence their ligand field splittings as well as the relative stabilities of the triplet metal-to-ligand charge transfer ((MLCT)-M-3) and metal-centered ((MC)-M-3) excited states. The large difference in measured excited-state lifetimes for the two homoleptic Ru-II complexes is attributed to a strong influence of steric interactions on the ligand field strength, which in turn affects the activation barriers for thermal conversion from (MLCT)-M-3 states to short-lived (MC)-M-3 states.
|
|