Tufts University

About: Tufts University is a education organization based out in Medford, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 32800 authors who have published 66881 publications receiving 3451152 citations. The organization is also known as: Tufts College & Universitatis Tuftensis.

The Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS): Long-term effectiveness and safety outcomes

Abstract: CONTEXT: The Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study evaluates the effectiveness of fluoxetine hydrochloride therapy, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and their combination in adolescents with major depressive disorder. OBJECTIVE: To report effectiveness outcomes across 36 weeks of randomized treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING: Randomized, controlled trial conducted in 13 academic and community sites in the United States. Cognitive behavior and combination therapies were not masked, whereas administration of placebo and fluoxetine was double-blind through 12 weeks, after which treatments were unblinded. Patients assigned to placebo were treated openly after week 12, and the placebo group is not included in these analyses by design. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred twenty-seven patients aged 12 to 17 years with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of major depressive disorder. INTERVENTIONS: All treatments were administered per protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary dependent measures rated blind to treatment status by an independent evaluator were the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised total score and the response rate, defined as a Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement score of much or very much improved. RESULTS: Intention-to-treat analyses on the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised identified a significant time x treatment interaction (P Language: en

Regulation of Myosin Phosphatase by a Specific Interaction with cGMP- Dependent Protein Kinase Iα

Abstract: Contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle are regulated by myosin light-chain kinase and myosin phosphatase through phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of myosin light chains. Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)–dependent protein kinase Iα (cGKIα) mediates physiologic relaxation of vascular smooth muscle in response to nitric oxide and cGMP. It is shown here that cGKIα is targeted to the smooth muscle cell contractile apparatus by a leucine zipper interaction with the myosin-binding subunit (MBS) of myosin phosphatase. Uncoupling of the cGKIα-MBS interaction prevents cGMP-dependent dephosphorylation of myosin light chain, demonstrating that this interaction is essential to the regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell tone.

Terminal Differentiation into Plasma Cells Initiates the Replicative Cycle of Epstein-Barr Virus In Vivo

Abstract: In this paper we demonstrate that the cells which initiate replication of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the tonsils of healthy carriers are plasma cells (CD38hi, CD10-, CD19+, CD20lo, surface immunoglobulin negative, and cytoplasmic immunoglobulin positive). We further conclude that differentiation into plasma cells, and not the signals that induce differentiation, initiates viral replication. This was confirmed by in vitro studies showing that the promoter for BZLF1, the gene that begins viral replication, becomes active only after memory cells differentiate into plasma cells and is also active in plasma cell lines. This differs from the reactivation of BZLF1 in vitro, which occurs acutely and is associated with apoptosis and not with differentiation. We suggest that differentiation and acute stress represent two distinct pathways of EBV reactivation in vivo. The fraction of cells replicating the virus decreases as the cells progress through the lytic cycle such that only a tiny fraction actually release infectious virus. This may reflect abortive replication or elimination of cells by the cellular immune response. Consistent with the later conclusion, the cells did not down regulate major histocompatibility complex class I molecules, suggesting that this is not an immune evasion tactic used by EBV and that the cells remain vulnerable to cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte attack.

Guidelines of care for the management of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: section 4. Guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with traditional systemic agents.

Abstract: Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this fourth of 6 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the use of traditional systemic medications for the treatment of patients with psoriasis. Treatment should be tailored to meet individual patients' needs. We will discuss in detail the efficacy and safety, and offer recommendations for the use of the 3 most commonly used, and approved, traditional systemic agents: methotrexate, cyclosporine, and acitretin. We will also briefly discuss the available data for the use of azathioprine, fumaric acid esters, hydroxyurea, leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, sulfasalazine, tacrolimus, and 6-thioguanine in psoriasis.