St Thomas' Hospital

About: St Thomas' Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Pregnancy. The organization has 12105 authors who have published 15596 publications receiving 624309 citations. The organization is also known as: St Thomas's Hospital & St. Thomas's.

Transverse myelitis as the first manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus-like disease: good functional outcome and relevance of antiphospholipid antibodies.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Although usually a late manifestation of SLE, it can occur at presentation. We investigated the clinical presentation, treatment and outcome of 15 patients with TM as the presenting manifestation of SLE or lupus-like disease. METHODS: All patients received corticosteroids, while 13 also received immunosuppressive therapy. Five patients were fully anticoagulated with warfarin. RESULTS: A sensory level with spastic lower limb weakness and sphincter disturbance was the most common presentation: 14/15 patients had a thoracic or cervical sensory level. Cerebrospinal fluid examination showed high protein concentrations in 3 patients and oligoclonal bands in 8. Eleven of the 15 (73%) had antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Of the 15 patients, 3 had complete resolution of the symptoms, 6 had good functional improvements, 5 had good to fair outcome with some functional deficit, and one patient who received corticosteroids alone later died from pneumonia. CONCLUSION: We describe 15 patients with TM as the presenting manifestation of SLE or lupus-like disease with a high prevalence of aPL. Our data support the view that early diagnosis and immunosuppressive therapy may be superior to corticosteroids alone in improving functional outcome. In those patients with aPL, antiplatelet agents and/or warfarin should also be considered.

Pharmacogenetic variants in the DPYD, TYMS, CDA and MTHFR genes are clinically significant predictors of fluoropyrimidine toxicity

Abstract: Pharmacogenetic variants in the DPYD , TYMS , CDA and MTHFR genes are clinically significant predictors of fluoropyrimidine toxicity

Association of early osteoarthritis of the knee with a Taq I polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor gene

Abstract: Objective To determine whether a polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, already associated with osteoporosis, might also relate to the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) Methods A population cohort of 351 postmenopausal women (ages 45-64 years) was studied using anteroposterior radiographs of the knee, which were graded for OA according to the Kellgren and Lawrence classification system The VDR genotype was determined by using polymerase chain reaction and by digestion with the restriction enzyme Taq I Results The VDR allele “T” was associated with an increased risk of knee OA compared with the “t” allele, with an odds ratio of 282 (95% confidence interval 116-685; P = 002) A dominant pattern of risk was suggested The frequency of the VDR genotype differed significantly between OA cases and controls (P = 003 by Fisher's exact test) Conclusion A Taq I polymorphism of the VDR gene appears to be associated with an increased risk of knee OA This is the first genetic locus that has been shown to influence the risk of early knee OA within the general population

Quantifying proliferation of cultured human and rabbit airway smooth muscle cells in response to serum and platelet-derived growth factor.

Abstract: Development of suitable methods for the quantification of the proliferative response of airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells in culture will assist the investigation of the cellular mechanisms underlying the hyperplasia and hypertrophy of ASM as seen in asthmatic airways. In this study, two rapid and simple colorimetric assays have been modified to enable the growth of human bronchial and rabbit tracheal smooth muscle in culture to be assessed. One method depends upon the reduction by living cells of the tetrazolium salt MTT to form a blue formazan product, whereas the other relies on rapid binding of the dye Coomassie brilliant blue to protein at acidic pH. Experiments demonstrated the validity of both assays in quantifying the proliferative response of cultured human and rabbit ASM cells. The increase in optical density observed for each assay correlated directly, throughout the duration of culture, with the increase in cell number determined by hemocytometry in human and rabbit ASM cells proliferating in response to fetal calf serum (1.25 to 10%). This relationship held also for rabbit tracheal ASM cells proliferating in response to the heterodimer of platelet-derived growth factor (1 to 50 ng/ml). Application of these methods to adherent proliferating cultures of human and rabbit ASM cells demonstrated their adaptability to the generation of growth curves in response to serum and to a defined growth factor. These methods allow both total cellular protein and proliferation to be estimated in human and rabbit ASM cells in culture, using assays that are rapid, reproducible, inexpensive, and easy to perform while negating the use of radioisotopes. It is intended that these additional methods should be useful in delineating some of the mechanisms that might contribute to the proliferative response of these cells--particularly since there has been a resurgence in interest in culturing smooth muscle cells derived from the airways.