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A DiBenedetto

Publications and source records attributed to A DiBenedetto.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

A novel F box protein, NFB42, is highly enriched in neurons and induces growth arrest.

NFB42 (neural F Box 42 kDa) is a novel gene product that is highly enriched in the nervous system. Its predicted protein contains an F box, a motif recently shown to couple cell cycle regulation to the proteasome pathway (Bai, C., Sen, P., Hofmann, K., Ma, L., Goebl, M., Harper, J. W., and Elledge, S. (1996) Cell 86, 263-274). NFB42 mRNA and protein are expressed in all major areas of the adult rat brain but are not detected in non-neural tissues. NFB42 protein is localized primarily to the cytoplasm of neurons and does not appear to be present in glia. The presence of an F box in NFB42 suggests that it may be involved in cell cycle regulation; however, its expression in postmitotic neurons indicates that it is not involved in regulating typical cell cycle events. In an initial attempt to characterize the function of this protein, NFB42 was transfected into N1E-115 neuroblastoma and Chinese hamster ovary cells. The expression of full-length NFB42, but not an F box deletion mutant, inhibits proliferation in both cell lines. Additional experiments demonstrate that NFB42 interacts with Skp1p, a component of the proteasome pathway, and deletion of the F box also inhibits this interaction. Overall, the expression pattern of NFB42, along with the presence of an F box domain and the ability to inhibit growth, suggests that it may play a role in maintaining neurons in a postmitotic state.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Unemployment in inner-city renal transplant recipients: predictive and sociodemographic factors.

Studies of dialysis patients report unemployment rates of 60% to 75%; however, it is generally believed that following transplantation, improvement in well-being and removal of time constraints imposed by the dialytic regimen afford improvement in employment status. We studied 58 stable renal transplant recipient attending an outpatient transplant clinic by questionnaire, administered anonymously. Only 25 (43%) of the patients were currently employed. Employed and unemployed patients did not differ when compared for age, gender, race, cause of renal disease, type of transplant or prior dialysis, time on dialysis or time since transplantation, years of education, or prestige score or classification ("blue collar" v "white collar") of prior job. In the employed group, 24 (96%) patients had worked before developing kidney disease compared with 23 (70%) patients in the unemployed group (P < 0.05). While on dialysis, 19 (79%) of the employed patients continued working compared with 10 (30%) of the unemployed patients (P < 0.005). Major reasons for discontinuing work after starting dialysis for both groups were subjective illness (feeling too sick, 51%), followed by interference of the dialysis regimen with time necessary for work (32%). Only 15% of the previously employed patients did not work after transplantation because of feeling too sick. By multiple logistic regression, the strongest predictors of employment posttransplant were being more than 1 year posttransplant (odds ratio, 2.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 5.5) and having been employed before transplantation (odds ratio, 3.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.60 to 9.02). Over half of the unemployed patients (20 [61%]) expressed interest in job training. Eighty percent to 90% of patients in both groups were insured by Medicare, with the second greatest number insured by Medicaid. Of the 15 unemployed patients insured by Medicaid, 67% reported that their decision not to work was related to fear of losing Medicaid benefits because they could not afford medications without it. Despite no difference in actual type of insurance carried, 17 (51%) of the unemployed patients believed their health insurance coverage was inadequate compared with four (12%) of the employed patients (P = 0.005, chi-squared test). Unemployment remains a significant problem for our population of inner-city renal transplant recipients. Attention to job retention or retraining during the early renal disease and dialysis therapy period may promote better rehabilitation following transplantation. However, for this population, with limited employment opportunities, removal of disincentives to work, including loss of Insurance and Inability to pay for medications, will be necessary before we can provide optimal rehabilitation for renal transplant recipients from all social strata.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Effect of early hyperlipidemia on graft and patient survival in cyclosporine-treated renal transplant patients.

Hyperlipidemia commonly occurs following renal transplantation. As hyperlipidemia has been postulated to contribute to renal dysfunction in animal models, the effect of early hyperlipidemia was studied in a cohort of 43 cyclosporine-treated renal transplant recipients over a 4-year follow-up period. Hypercholesterolemia occurred in 25 patients, with 18 patients remaining normolipidemic during the initial 3 months following transplantation. Prospective follow-up over a 4-year period was available for 16 of the 18 normolipidemic patients and 25 patients who developed hyperlipidemia, as well as 11 other hyperlipidemic patients who were not included in the initial analysis. Graft function was maintained in 11 (69%) of the patients with early normolipidemia and there has been one patient death (7%). Of the hypercholesterolemic group, two patients were lost to follow-up and 23 of the remaining 34 (68%) had persistent graft function. There have been two patient deaths (6%). No deaths from cardiovascular deaths have occurred in either group, all deaths resulting from infection/sepsis. Mean cholesterol values at 4-year follow-up were 202.0 +/- 11.2 mg/dL for the patients with early normolipidemia 282.9 +/- 14.3 mg/dL for the patients with early hyperlipidemia (p < 0.00001). The most recent cholesterol value was not associated with pretransplant cholesterol value, creatinine, or cyclosporine dose, but was associated with cholesterol value at 3 months both by regression analysis (P < 0.0001) and by Pearson R (r = 0.71, P < 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cyclosporine↗
PubMed1993

The influence of mode of dialysis pretransplantation on long-term renal allograft outcome.

To determine the influence of the need and the mode of dialysis prior to transplantation on long-term renal allograft survival and subsequent renal function, all 662 consecutive cyclosporine-treated renal transplants (484 cadaver and 178 living-related donors), performed between 1983 and 1989 were retrospectively analyzed. Recipients were divided into 3 groups as follows: group I and II recipients underwent hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, respectively, prior to transplantation; group III patients were transplanted without dialysis. All groups were similar with respect to demographic and immunologic characteristics, apart from a higher proportion of diabetic and White patients in both cadaver and living-related group III recipients and a fewer number of blood transfusions among living-related group III recipients. A trend toward a decreased incidence of dialysis dependence in the early posttransplant period was noted among cadaver donor recipients in group III (20%) when compared to group I and II patients (36% and 26%, respectively). The incidence of rejection episodes was similar in all groups. No difference in 1- and 5-year patient survival was noted among all recipient groups. Actual 1-year graft survivals in groups I, II, and III were similar (73%, 72%, and 74%, respectively, for cadaver donor; and 86%, 89%, and 91%, respectively for living-related donor recipients). Likewise, actuarial 5-year graft survivals were not significantly different (53%, 51%, and 67%, respectively, for cadaver donor; and 75%, 69%, and 82%, for living-related donor recipients). Renal function, as assessed by serum creatinine concentration, was similar and stable in all recipient groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1993

The influence of delayed renal allograft function on long-term outcome in the cyclosporine era.

The influence of delayed renal graft function on long-term allograft outcome remains uncertain. All 495 cyclosporine treated cadaver donor renal transplants within a single center were analyzed with respect to dialysis dependence in the early posttransplant period. When compared with immediate allograft function, dialysis dependence for more than one week posttransplant was associated with prolonged cold ischemia time (27 +/- 11 vs 32 +/- 12 hours), cytotoxic antibodies > 30% (14% vs 25%), black race (29% vs 41%), increased incidence of acute rejection in the first year posttransplant (31% vs 67%) and inferior 1-year (85% vs 52%) and 5-year (68% vs 33%) graft survival among primary transplants. No adverse effect however was noted on renal function in long-term survivors.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Thymic hyperplasia following successful chemotherapy. A report of two cases and review of the literature.

True thymic hyperplasia is rare in adults. The authors have encountered this entity in two patients who were deemed disease-free following combination chemotherapy for malignant disease. It cannot be assumed that the development of a mediastinal mass or its persistence following chemotherapy is due to recurrent or residual disease. The interrelationship between the immunosuppressive effects of neoplasia and chemotherapy with the resultant thymic overgrowth remains to be clarified.

Adult↗