Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0851184 (thinning)
 11,252 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Because echocardiographic studies on infants with chronic lung disease (CLD) suggest that pulmonary hypertension (PH) may contribute to its severity, we studied acinar arterial walls in the following surfactant-era infants: controls (n=38): 22-41 weeks of gestational age (GA), exposed briefly to oxygen and positive pressure ventilation, died within 48 hr of birth; prolonged rupture of fetal membranes (PROM) and persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) (n=17); and SCORE (integrated area under curve of average daily FiO2 x average daily MAP) groups (<20, 20-69, and 70-500; mild, moderate, and severe clinical lung disease, respectively, n=35): 23-30 weeks GA, lived 7-79 days. Lungs were stained for elastic tissue and smooth muscle actin. Vessels were assessed for percent of vessel circumference with smooth muscle, extent of elastic laminae in the walls, and percent arterial wall thickness (%AWT) at three levels: terminal to respiratory bronchiole transition (TRB), alveolar duct, and saccule. At the alveolar ductal and saccular levels, percent arterial wall thickness (%AWT) in mild CLD (SCORE < 20) was less than controls (P < 0.05) and those with more severe CLD (SCORE 70-500), indicating that normal postnatal arterial wall thinning may be delayed, or there is remodeling associated with increased %AWT. Severe CLD infants also had a significantly higher percent of circumferential actin than those with milder disease (SCORE < or = 69) and controls. In moderate and severe CLD, there was an increase in extent of the elastic laminae compared to controls and mild CLD. These changes were also significantly greater in PROM and PPHN infants compared to even severe CLD. We conclude that PH is a real possibility in severe CLD infants after discharge at 36 weeks. Grading the severity of CLD at discharge, and echocardiographic studies, may guide subsequent oxygen therapy.
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PMID:Acinar arterial changes with chronic lung disease of prematurity in the surfactant era. 1461 39

Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate), a long-acting derivative of progesterone, is utilized during many nonhuman primate microbicide studies to facilitate simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection by thinning the vaginal epithelium. To date, the systemic effects of this steroid hormone in regard to SIV/HIV pathogenesis are not well understood, but an increase in infection rates and lymphoproliferation following progesterone application has been reported. Therefore, a proactive study using 20 Chinese rhesus macaques was designed to investigate the effect of a single Depo-Provera injection on SIV disease progression. Group 1 (n = 10) was treated with 30 mg Depo-Provera intramuscularly 30 days prior to intravenous challenge with 50 TCID(50) SIVmac251, while Group 2 (n = 10) remained untreated, but received the same amount of SIV. Blood samples were taken at predetermined intervals to measure RNA viral loads, CD4(+), CD8(+), and CD20(+) lymphocyte counts and percentages and absolute numbers of naive and memory T lymphocytes. Upon statistical endpoint data analysis, none of the parameters measured were shown to be significantly different between the groups. One animal in the Depo-Provera-treated group and two macaques in the control group were euthanized prior to study end due to the development of clinical signs (in weeks 43 and 51, respectively). All other animals were euthanized between weeks 68 and 71 post-SIV infection. Histopathological evaluations revealed that 5 of 10 animals in each group had developed simian AIDS (SAIDS). In summary, this prospective study demonstrated that a single injection of 30 mg Depo-Provera did not have a significant influence on SIV disease progression.
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PMID:Depo-Provera does not alter disease progression in SIVmac-infected female Chinese rhesus macaques. 2037 24

Intrauterine growth restriction in animal models reduces heart size and cardiomyocyte number at birth. Such incomplete cardiomyocyte endowment is believed to increase susceptibility toward cardiovascular disease in adulthood, a phenomenon referred to as developmental programming. We have previously described a mouse model of impaired myocardial development leading to a 25% reduction of cardiomyocyte number in neonates. This study investigated the response of these hypoplastic hearts to pressure overload in adulthood, applied by abdominal aortic constriction (AAC). Echocardiography revealed a similar hypertrophic response in hypoplastic hearts compared with controls over the first 2 weeks. Subsequently, control mice develop mild left ventricular (LV) dilation, wall thinning and contractile dysfunction 4 weeks after AAC, whereas hypoplastic hearts fully maintain LV dimensions, wall thickness and contractility. At the cellular level, controls exhibit increased cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area after 4 weeks pressure overload compared with sham operated animals, but this hypertrophic response is markedly attenuated in hypoplastic hearts. AAC mediated induction of fibrosis, apoptosis or cell cycle activity was not different between groups. Expression of fetal genes, indicative of pathological conditions, was similar in hypoplastic and control hearts after AAC. Among various signaling pathways involved in cardiac hypertrophy, pressure overload induces p38 MAP-kinase activity in hypoplastic hearts but not controls compared with the respective sham operated animals. In summary, based on the mouse model used in this study, our data indicates that adult hearts after neonatal cardiac hypoplasia show an altered growth response to pressure overload, eventually resulting in better functional outcome compared with controls.
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PMID:Preserved heart function after left ventricular pressure overload in adult mice subjected to neonatal cardiac hypoplasia. 2873 22

A homologous series of hyperbranched polyesters (HBPEs) was successfully synthesized via an esterification reaction of 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid (bis-MPA) with pentaerythritol. The molecular weights of the HBPEs were 2160, 2660, 4150 and 5840 g/mol, respectively. These HBPEs were used as additives to prepare polysulfone (PSf) hollow fiber membranes via non-solvent induced phase separation. The characteristic behaviors of the casting solution were investigated, as well as the morphologies, hydrophilicity and mechanical properties of the PSf membranes. The results showed that the initial viscosities of the casting solutions were increased, and the shear-thinning phenomenon became increasingly obvious. The demixing rate first increased and then decreased when increasing the HBPE molecular weight, and the turning point was 2660 g/mol. The PSf hollow fiber membranes with different molecular weights of HBPEs had a co-existing morphology of double finger-like and sponge-like structures. The starting pure water contact angle decreased obviously, and the mechanical properties improved.
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PMID:Structure and Properties of PSf Hollow Fiber Membranes with Different Molecular Weight Hyperbranched Polyester Using Pentaerythritol as Core. 3204 41


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