Lund University

About: Lund University is a education organization based out in Lund, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 42345 authors who have published 124676 publications receiving 5016438 citations. The organization is also known as: Lunds Universitet & University of Lund.

Familial thrombophilia due to a previously unrecognized mechanism characterized by poor anticoagulant response to activated protein C: prediction of a cofactor to activated protein C.

Abstract: Although patients with thromboembolic disease frequently have family histories of thrombosis, well-defined defects such as inherited deficiencies of anticoagulant proteins are found only in a minority of cases. Based on the hypothesis that a poor anticoagulant response to activated protein C (APC) would predispose to thrombosis, a set of new coagulation assays was developed that measure the anticoagulant response in plasma to APC. A middle-aged man with a history of multiple thrombotic events was identified. The addition of APC to his plasma did not result in a normal anticoagulant response as measured by prolongation of clotting time in an activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) assay. Four of the proband's relatives had medical histories of multiple thrombotic events, and they and several other family members responded poorly to APC in the APTT-based assay. Subnormal anticoagulant responses to APC were also found in factor IXa- and Xa-based assays. Several possible mechanisms for the observed phenomenon were ruled out, such as functional protein S deficiency, a protein C-inhibitory antibody, or a fast-acting protease inhibitor against APC. Moreover, restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis excluded possible linkage of the underlying molecular defect to factor VIII and von Willebrand factor genes. We now describe a previously unrecognized mechanism for familial thromboembolic disease that is characterized by poor anticoagulant response to APC. This would appear to be explained best by a hypothesized inherited deficiency of a previously unrecognized cofactor to APC. As we have identified two additional, unrelated cases with thrombosis and inherited poor anticoagulant response to APC, this may constitute an important cause for familial thrombophilia.

Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition contributes to cardiac fibrosis

Abstract: Cardiac fibrosis, associated with a decreased extent of microvasculature and with disruption of normal myocardial structures, results from excessive deposition of extracellular matrix, which is mediated by the recruitment of fibroblasts. The source of these fibroblasts is unclear and specific anti-fibrotic therapies are not currently available. Here we show that cardiac fibrosis is associated with the emergence of fibroblasts originating from endothelial cells, suggesting an endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) similar to events that occur during formation of the atrioventricular cushion in the embryonic heart. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) induced endothelial cells to undergo EndMT, whereas bone morphogenic protein 7 (BMP-7) preserved the endothelial phenotype. The systemic administration of recombinant human BMP-7 (rhBMP-7) significantly inhibited EndMT and the progression of cardiac fibrosis in mouse models of pressure overload and chronic allograft rejection. Our findings show that EndMT contributes to the progression of cardiac fibrosis and that rhBMP-7 can be used to inhibit EndMT and to intervene in the progression of chronic heart disease associated with fibrosis.

Quadrivalent vaccine against human papillomavirus to prevent high-grade cervical lesions

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus types 16 (HPV-16) and 18 (HPV-18) cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers worldwide. A phase 3 trial was conducted to evaluate a quadrivalent vaccine against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 (HPV-6/11/16/18) for the prevention of high-grade cervical lesions associated with HPV-16 and HPV-18. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind trial, we assigned 12,167 women between the ages of 15 and 26 years to receive three doses of either HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine or placebo, administered at day 1, month 2, and month 6. The primary analysis was performed for a per-protocol susceptible population that included 5305 women in the vaccine group and 5260 in the placebo group who had no virologic evidence of infection with HPV-16 or HPV-18 through 1 month after the third dose (month 7). The primary composite end point was cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or 3, adenocarcinoma in situ, or cervical cancer related to HPV-16 or HPV-18. RESULTS: Subjects were followed for an average of 3 years after receiving the first dose of vaccine or placebo. Vaccine efficacy for the prevention of the primary composite end point was 98% (95.89% confidence interval [CI], 86 to 100) in the per-protocol susceptible population and 44% (95% CI, 26 to 58) in an intention-to-treat population of all women who had undergone randomization (those with or without previous infection). The estimated vaccine efficacy against all high-grade cervical lesions, regardless of causal HPV type, in this intention-to-treat population was 17% (95% CI, 1 to 31). CONCLUSIONS: In young women who had not been previously infected with HPV-16 or HPV-18, those in the vaccine group had a significantly lower occurrence of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia related to HPV-16 or HPV-18 than did those in the placebo group.

Eye Tracking: A comprehensive guide to methods and measures

Abstract: Holmqvist, K., Nystrom, N., Andersson, R., Dewhurst, R., Jarodzka, H., & Van de Weijer, J. (Eds.) (2011). Eye tracking: a comprehensive guide to methods and measures, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.