Saint Louis University

About: Saint Louis University is a education organization based out in St Louis, Missouri, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 18927 authors who have published 34895 publications receiving 1267475 citations. The organization is also known as: SLU & St. Louis University.

Convergent evolution and adaptive radiation of beetle-pollinated angiosperms

Abstract: A literature review of 34 families of flowering plants containing at least one species pollinated primarily by beetles is presented. While the majority of species are represented by magnoliids and basal monocotyledons specialized, beetle-pollinated systems have evolved independently in 14 families of eudicotyldons and six families of petaloid monocots. Four, overlapping modes of floral presentation in plants pollinated exclusively by beetles (Bilabiate, Brush, Chamber Blossom and Painted Bowl) are described. Chamber Blossoms and Painted Bowls are the two most common modes. Chamber Blossoms, found in magnoliids, primitive monocotyledons and in some families of woody eudicots, exploit the greatest diversity of beetle pollinators. Painted Bowls are restricted to petaloid monocots and a few families of eudicots dependent primarily on hairy species of Scarabaeidae as pollen vectors. In contrast, generalist flowers pollinated by a combination of beetles and other animals are recorded in 22 families. Generalist systems are more likely to secrete nectar and exploit four beetle families absent in specialist flowers. Centers of diversity for species with specialized, beetle-pollinated systems are distributed through the wet tropics (centers for Brush and Chamber Blossoms) to warm temperate-Mediterranean zones (centers for Painted Bowls and a few Bilabiate flowers). It is unlikely that beetles were the first pollinators of angiosperms but specialized, beetle-pollinated flowers must have evolved by the midlate Cretaceous to join pre-existing guilds of beetle-pollinated gymnosperms. The floras of Australia and western North America suggest that mutualistic interactions between beetles and flowers has been a continuous and labile trend in angiosperms with novel interactions evolving through the Tertiary.

Significant Absorption of Topical Tacrolimus in 3 Patients With Netherton Syndrome

Abstract: Background Tacrolimus is a macrolide immunosuppressant approved in oral and intravenous formulations for primary immunosuppression in liver and kidney transplantation. Topical 0.1% tacrolimus ointment has recently been shown to be effective in atopic dermatitis for children as young as 2 years of age, with minimal systemic absorption. We describe 3 patients treated with topical 0.1% tacrolimus who developed significant systemic absorption. Observation Three patients previously diagnosed as having Netherton syndrome were treated at different centers with 0.1% tacrolimus ointment twice daily. Two patients showed dramatic improvement. All patients were found to have tacrolimus blood levels within or above the established therapeutic trough range for oral tacrolimus in organ transplant recipients. None of these patients developed signs or symptoms of toxic effects of tacrolimus. Conclusions Patients with Netherton syndrome have a skin barrier dysfunction that puts them at risk for increased percutaneous absorption. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved 0.1% tacrolimus ointment for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Children with Netherton syndrome may be misdiagnosed as having atopic dermatitis. These children are at risk for marked systemic absorption and associated toxic effects. If topical tacrolimus is used in this setting, monitoring of serum tacrolimus levels is essential.

Troponin and Cardiac Events in Stable Ischemic Heart Disease and Diabetes.

Abstract: BackgroundCardiac troponin concentrations are used to identify patients who would benefit from urgent revascularization for acute coronary syndromes. We hypothesized that they might be used in patients with stable ischemic heart disease to identify those at high risk for cardiovascular events who might also benefit from prompt coronary revascularization. MethodsWe measured the cardiac troponin T concentration at baseline with a high-sensitivity assay in 2285 patients who had both type 2 diabetes and stable ischemic heart disease and were enrolled in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation in Type 2 Diabetes trial. We tested for an association between the troponin T concentration and a composite end point of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke; we then evaluated whether random assignment to prompt revascularization reduced the rate of the composite end point in patients with an abnormal troponin T concentration (≥14 ng per liter) as compared with those with a n...

Reversal of pathology in murine mucopolysaccharidosis type VII by somatic cell gene transfer.

Abstract: AN inherited deficiency of β-glucuronidase in humans1, mice2 and dogs3 causes mucopolysaccharidosis VII (Sly syndrome), a progressive degenerative disease that reduces lifespan (to an average of 5 months in mice2) and results from lysosomal storage of undegraded glycosaminoglycans in the spleen, liver, kidney, cornea, brain and skeletal system1–4. Bone marrow transplantation in mutant mice provides a source of normal enzyme (‘cross-correction’5), which substantially improves the clinical condition and extends the average lifespan to 18 months6. Gene therapy by transfer of a β-glucuronidase gene into mutant haematopoietic stem cells is an alternative approach7,8, but it is not known whether the low expression of vector-transferred genes in vivo9,10 would be sufficiently effective. Here we show that retroviral vector-mediated transfer of the gene to mutant stem cells results in long-term expression of low levels of β-glucuronidase which partially corrects the disease by reducing lysosomal storage in liver and spleen.