Charité

About: Charité is a healthcare organization based out in Berlin, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 30624 authors who have published 64507 publications receiving 2437322 citations. The organization is also known as: Charite & Charité – University Medicine Berlin.

EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF guideline: management of urticaria

Abstract: This guideline is the result of a consensus reached during a panel discussion at the second International Consensus Meeting on Urticara, Urticaria 2004, a joint initiative of the EAACI Dermatology Section and GA2LEN. Urticaria has a profound impact on the quality of life, and effective treatment is therefore required. The recommended first line treatment are nonsedating H1 antihistamines. They have proven to be effective in double-blind controlled studies, but dosages increased up to fourfold over the recommended doses may be necessary. However, for different urticaria subtypes and in view of individual variation in the course of the disease and response to treatment, additional or alternative therapies may be required. Immunosuppressive drugs like cyclosporin A and corticosteroids are not recommended for long-term treatment due to unavoidable severe adverse effects. This guideline was, in addition, accepted by the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) and formally approved by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS).

The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab for the treatment of malignant ascites due to epithelial cancer: Results of a prospective randomized phase II/III trial

Abstract: Malignant ascites is a common manifestation of advanced cancers, and treatment options are limited. The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab (anti-epithelial cell-adhesion molecule x anti-CD3) represents a targeted immunotherapy for the intraperitoneal (i.p.) treatment of malignant ascites secondary to epithelial cancers. In this phase II/III trial (EudraCT 2004-000723-15; NCT00836654), cancer patients (n = 258) with recurrent symptomatic malignant ascites resistant to conventional chemotherapy were randomized to paracentesis plus catumaxomab (catumaxomab) or paracentesis alone (control) and stratified by cancer type (129 ovarian and 129 nonovarian). Catumaxomab was administered as an i.p. infusion on Days 0, 3, 7 and 10 at doses of 10, 20, 50 and 150 μg, respectively. The primary efficacy endpoint was puncture-free survival. Secondary efficacy parameters included time to next paracentesis, ascites signs and symptoms and overall survival (OS). Puncture-free survival was significantly longer in the catumaxomab group (median 46 days) than the control group (median 11 days) (hazard ratio = 0.254: p < 0.0001) as was median time to next paracentesis (77 versus 13 days; p < 0.0001). In addition, catumaxomab patients had fewer signs and symptoms of ascites than control patients. OS showed a positive trend for the catumaxomab group and, in a prospectively planned analysis, was significantly prolonged in patients with gastric cancer (n = 66; 71 versus 44 days; p = 0.0313). Although adverse events associated with catumaxomab were frequent, they were manageable, generally reversible and mainly related to its immunologic mode of action. Catumaxomab showed a clear clinical benefit in patients with malignant ascites secondary to epithelial cancers, especially gastric cancer, with an acceptable safety profile.

The Discovery of 5-Formylcytosine in Embryonic Stem Cell DNA†

Abstract: Cellular development requires the silencing and activation of specific gene sequences in a well-orchestrated fashion. Transcriptional gene silencing is associated with the clustered methylation of cytosine bases (C) in CpG units of promoters. The methylation occurs at position C5 of cytosine to give 5methylcytosine (mC) with the help of special DNA methyltransferases (DNMT). [1] The DNA methylome is significantly reprogrammed at various stages during early development, [2] during the development of primordial germ cells, [2c, 3] or later in a locus-specific way at postdevelopmental stages. [4] Decreasing levels of mC can be established passively by successive rounds of DNA replication in the absence of methyltransferases. Active demethylation, in contrast, is proposed to be a process in which the mC bases are directly converted back into unmodified cytosines in the genome. [5] The recent discovery that mC can be further oxidized to hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) with the help of TET enzymes [6] has led to the idea that hmC is connected to epigenetic reprogramming, [7] maybe as an intermediate in an, as yet controversial, active demethylation process. [4, 5, 8] Indeed recent data suggest that active demethylation in postdevelopmental phases may proceed through deamination of hmC to give 5-hydroxymethyluridine (hmU), which is then removed from the genome with the help of the base excision repair (BER) system. [9] Chemically, an attractive alternative mechanism for a more global active demethylation could be envisioned through further oxidation of hmC to give either 5formylcytosine (fC) or 5-carboxylcytosine (caC) followed by elimination of a formyl or carboxyl group, respectively