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Biomedical subjects

Y Levy

Publications and source records attributed to Y Levy.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Protein-protein interactions and nuclear trafficking of coat protein and betaC1 protein associated with Bhendi yellow vein mosaic disease.

Bhendi yellow vein mosaic disease (BYVMD) is caused by a complex consisting of a monopartite begomovirus BYVMV and a satellite DNA beta component. BYVMV represents a new member of the emerging group of monopartite begomoviruses requiring a satellite component for symptom induction. Here we report the results of the transient expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused with the betaC1 and coat protein (CP) coding regions, in the epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana. GFPCP was found to be targeted into the nucleus whereas GFPbetaC1 was localized towards the periphery of the cell. The sub-cellular localization of the betaC1 protein has been compared with that of the CP in yeast cells using a genetic system for detection of protein nuclear import and export. Expression of betaC1 ORF in transgenic N. benthamiana under the control of the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter produced severe developmental abnormalities in the plant, like distorted stem, leaves and stunting of the plant. We also present the results on the interaction of CP and betaC1 proteins using yeast two hybrid analysis, suggesting a collaborative role in the inter- and intracellular dynamics of BYVMD.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed2006

"Sweet" hydrothorax complicating chronic peritoneal dialysis.

Massive pleural effusion occurring during continuous peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a rare, life-endangering complication of this procedure. We describe a case of a patient with type 2 diabetic end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treated by PD who had new-onset dyspnea, right pleural effusion, and uncontrolled hyperglycemia. Respiratory distress and pleural effusion progressed quickly during the course of dialysis. A large volume of a "sweet" fluid with a high glucose content was evacuated from the pleural space. Immediate improvement in the patient's condition and glucose control followed discontinuation of PD and initiation of hemodialysis.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

The prothrombin 20209 C-->T mutation in Jewish-Moroccan Caucasians: molecular analysis of gain-of-function of 3' end processing.

BACKGROUND: Mutations of the 3' end mRNA-processing signal of the prothrombin (F2) gene have been reported to cause elevated F2 plasma concentrations, thrombosis, and complications of pregnancy. Whereas the common F2 20210*A mutation is almost exclusively found in Caucasians, the F2 20209*T mutation has been reported in Afro-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans only. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using LightCycler technology, three unrelated Jewish-Moroccan patients tested for obstetric complications were found to be carriers of the F2 20209*T allele. A detailed molecular analysis was performed to identify the functional impact of this mutation. RESULTS: We report three unrelated women of Jewish-Moroccan origin with a F2 20209*T mutation and fetal loss or infertility. The functional analysis revealed that the F2 20209*T mutation stimulates 3' end processing and up-regulates prothrombin protein expression as assessed by a highly sensitive luminescence-based reporter system. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of 20209*T in Caucasians, and functional analysis demonstrates that F2 20209*T falls into a general category of mutations of the F2 gene, which may possibly contribute to thrombophilia and complications of pregnancy by interfering with a tightly balanced architecture of non-canonical F2 3' end formation signals.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The environment and antiphospholipid syndrome.

The etiology of autoimmune diseases is multifactorial. The degree to which genetic and environmental factors influence susceptibility to autoimmune diseases is poorly defined. It is believed that versatile clinical presentations of autoimmune diseases stem from various combinations of the genetic and environmental factors. One of the newly diagnosed autoimmune diseases is the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). APS is characterized by vascular thrombosis, and/or pregnancy morbidity associated with anticardiolipin (aCL), anti-beta2-glycoprotein-I (anti-beta2GPI) and lupus anticoagulant (LAC).

Antibodies, Antiphospholipid↗
PubMed2005

Anti-serum amyloid component P antibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus correlate with disease activity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the presence of raised titres of anti-serum amyloid P component (SAP) antibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to evaluate their correlation with clinical disease by the SLEDAI and clinical manifestations. METHODS: 452 samples were screened for raised anti-SAP antibody titres by an ELISA. Clinical measures and SLEDAI scores were independently reviewed from medical records. 21 serial samples from 7 patients with SLE were assessed for a change in anti-SAP antibody titres after treatment. RESULTS: Raised anti-SAP antibody titres were detected in 145/328 (44%) SLE samples. In 112 randomly selected samples, 69/112 (62%) patients had raised anti-SAP antibodies and anti-dsDNA antibody titres, whereas only 32/112 (28%) had raised anti-dsDNA antibody titres without raised anti-SAP antibody titres. The mean titre of anti-SAP antibodies in patients with active disease was higher than in patients with inactive disease and controls. SLEDAI scores, assessed in 54 patients, were raised in 26/31 (84%) patients with raised anti-SAP antibody titres. A SLEDAI score >or=8 was found in 16/31 (52%) patients with raised anti-SAP antibody titres but in only 5/23 (22%) patients without raised titres. No specific pattern of disease was detected in patients with or without raised titres of anti-SAP antibodies. Serial sampling from patients with active SLE and raised anti-SAP antibody titres showed that anti-SAP antibody titres decreased after treatment and correlated with clinical improvement. CONCLUSION: Raised anti-SAP antibody titres detected in patients with SLE correlate with disease activity and decrease with improvement of clinical disease, and thus may serve as an additional prognostic marker.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Obesity is the major determinant of elevated C-reactive protein in subjects with the metabolic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) and various characteristics of the metabolic syndrome. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: A total of 1929 subjects undergoing a medical examination in a preventive medicine clinic (age, 50+/-10 y; 63% males). RESULTS: The proportion of subjects with CRP levels above the cut point generally used to indicate an obvious source of infection or inflammation (>10 mg/l) was 3, 7, and 15% in subjects who were normal weight, overweight, and obese, respectively. Subjects with obesity had markedly higher CRP level compared to patients without obesity regardless of whether they had the metabolic syndrome. However, there was no significant difference in CRP levels between nonobese subjects without the metabolic syndrome and subjects in whom the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome was based on criteria other than obesity (adjusted geometric mean CRP 1.75 vs 2.08 mg/l, P=0.79). Similarly, CRP levels did not differ among obese subjects with and without the metabolic syndrome (adjusted geometric mean CRP 3.22 vs 3.49 mg/l, P=0.99). There was a linear increase in CRP levels with an increase in the number of metabolic disorders (P(trend) <0.0001), which was substantially diminished after controlling for body mass index (BMI) (P(trend)=0.1). Stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis identified BMI, triglyceride levels, HDL cholesterol levels (inversely), and fasting glucose as independently related to CRP levels. However, BMI accounted for 15% of the variability in CRP levels, whereas triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and fasting glucose levels accounted for only approximately 1% of the variability in CRP levels. CONCLUSION: Obesity is the major factor associated with elevated CRP in individuals with the metabolic syndrome. CRP levels in the range suggesting a source of infection or inflammation (>10 mg/l) are more common among obese subjects than in nonobese subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Association between fasting glucose and C-reactive protein in middle-aged subjects.

AIMS: C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of subclinical inflammation, predicts the occurrence of coronary heart disease in healthy subjects. Hyperglycaemia is known to stimulate the release of inflammatory cytokines from various cell types and can lead to the induction and secretion of acute-phase reactants by adipocytes. The aim of the present study was to determine the relation between glycaemic status and CRP in healthy subjects. METHODS: We studied the relation of high-sensitivity CRP to fasting glucose and other components of the metabolic syndrome in a population-based cross-sectional study (n = 1000; age 50 +/- 9 years). RESULTS: Plasma CRP levels increased continuously from the lowest quartile of normal fasting glucose level to impaired fasting glucose and to diabetes (ln CRP 0.47 +/- 0.09, 0.95 +/- 0.12, and 1.11 +/- 0.13, respectively; Ptrend < 0.0001). Increasing CRP with higher fasting glucose levels was apparent even among subjects with fasting glucose in the normal range (Ptrend = 0.039), and subjects with fasting glucose level in the upper quartile of normal fasting glucose had higher CRP levels compared with subjects in the lower quartile (P = 0.035). There was a positive crude correlation between CRP and smoking, post-menopausal hormone use, body mass index, fasting glucose, triglycerides, hypertension, and uric acid (r = 0.11-0.36, P = 0.002-0.0001). A negative correlation was found between CRP and HDL-cholesterol (r = 0.12, P < 0.0001) and physical activity (r = 0.11, P = 0.002). After adjustment for potential confounders in a stepwise multivariate linear regression model, fasting glucose remained significantly and independently related to CRP levels (correlation coefficient 0.06; 95% confidence interval 0.014-0.11, P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Fasting glucose is significantly and positively associated with plasma CRP in middle-aged subjects. CRP levels increase continuously across the spectrum of fasting glucose, beginning in the lowest quartile of normal fasting glucose. This finding suggests that a proinflammatory effect may contribute to the adverse cardiovascular outcome associated with diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, and increasing glucose levels within the normal range.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed2004

Increased C-reactive protein levels in the polycystic ovary syndrome: a marker of cardiovascular disease.

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the most common reproductive abnormalities, shares some components of the metabolic cardiovascular syndrome. Therefore, PCOS patients may represent the largest group of women at high risk for the development of early-onset cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or diabetes. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a strong independent predictor of future CVD and/or stroke. Only one small published study has looked for such an association (17 PCOS patients vs. 15 controls). The objective of this study was to compare the levels of CRP and other risk factors of CVD in a large group of PCOS patients and controls. CRP measurements were undertaken in 116 PCOS patients and 94 body mass index-matched controls with regular menstrual cycles. Whereas 36.8% of the PCOS patients had CRP levels above 5 mg/liter, only 9.6% of the controls exhibited high CRP levels (P < 0.001). The mean +/- SD was 5.46 +/- 7.0 in the PCOS group vs. 2.04 +/- 1.9 mg/liter in the control (P < 0.001). The body mass index, white blood cell count, TSH, glucose, cholesterol, and homocysteine levels were not significantly different between the two groups. CRP levels are elevated in patients with PCOS and may be a marker of early cardiovascular risk in these patients. High CRP levels may explain why some PCOS women may possibly be at an increased risk for the development of early-onset CVD. Consequently, whether treatment regimens directed toward lowering CVD risk factors should be more aggressive for those PCOS women with increased CRP levels, awaits further clinical experience.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A predictive model for the management of community-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Understanding what determines the prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is especially important for decisions on hospitalization and antimicrobial therapy. The objective of the present study was to compare the predictability of mortality in our patients to that of the pneumonia patient outcomes research team (PORT) study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of 320 patients admitted with CAP were retrospectively evaluated and classified according to the published scheme. RESULTS: One-month mortality was 14.4%; 1-year mortality was 27.8%, two-thirds from new episodes. Univariate logistic regression risk factors for the 1-month mortality rate included leukocytosis, anemia, hypoalbuminemia, elevated blood urea nitrogen, >or= two comorbidities, tachycardia, tachypnea, acidosis, stupor, age > 65 years and high serum lactic dehydrogenase. These variables, except the last two, plus pleural effusion and bilateral infiltration were also risk factors for 1-year mortality. In the multivariate models, eight of these factors were significant risk factors, four for 1-month mortality and six for 1-year mortality. Our model for prediction of 1-month mortality had a sensitivity of 65%, specificity of 95% and accuracy of 91%. CONCLUSION: Agreement between predictions by our model and the published model was considerable, showing that most patients in the low score groups should not have been hospitalized.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Repair behavior in children with intellectual impairments: evidence for metalinguistic competence.

This paper tested the prediction that children with cognitive impairments who can use language intentionally will be able to carry out the metalinguistic operations involved in speech monitoring and repair. The specific linguistic characteristics of responses to requests for clarification given by 4 children with lower than normal IQ, ages 3 years 5 months to 6 years 10 months, were investigated. The analysis focused on children's ability to locate the specific errors that provoked neutral requests for clarification and produce repair. Three children could locate their errors and partly succeed in providing repair. It is suggested that ability to perform metaprocedures such as are implicated in repair behavior may be preserved in children with intellectual disabilities and that this ability does not implicate conscious awareness, nor does it depend on mature linguistic competence.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Chronic urticaria: association with thyroid autoimmunity.

BACKGROUND: Though autoimmune phenomena have been regularly associated with chronic urticaria in adults, data in children are sparse. AIM: To describe our experience with children and adolescents with chronic urticaria and autoimmunity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 187 patients referred for evaluation of chronic urticaria during a 7.5 year period, eight (4.3%), all females aged 7-17 years, had increased levels of antithyroid antibody, either antithyroid peroxidase antibody (n = 4, >75 IU/ml), antithyroglobulin antibody (n = 2, >150 IU/ml), or both (n = 2). The duration of urticaria was four months to seven years. Five patients were euthyroid, one of whom was found to have increased antithyroid antibody levels five years after onset of the urticaria. One patient was diagnosed with Hashimoto thyroiditis three years before the urticaria, and was receiving treatment with thyroxine. Two other hypothyroid patients were diagnosed during the initial work up for urticaria (thyroxine 9.2 pmol/l, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) 40.2 mIU/l) and five years after onset of the urticaria (thyroxine 14 pmol/l, TSH 10.3 mIU/l). Both were treated with thyroxine but neither had remission of the urticaria. Five patients had a low positive titre of antinuclear antibodies. CONCLUSION: Children with chronic urticaria should be screened periodically for thyroxine, TSH, and antithyroid antibodies, as thyroid autoimmunity and hypothyroidism may appear several years after onset of the urticaria.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Intravenous immunoglobulins in peripheral neuropathy associated with vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral neuropathy is a prominent feature of the systemic and secondary vasculitides. Usually, it is responsive to corticosteroids, but in certain cases it may be resistant to corticosteroid or immunosuppressive treatment, or both. OBJECTIVE: To present patients who exhibited various inflammatory diseases accompanied with vasculitic peripheral neuropathies for which intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) was used for treatment. METHODS: Six patients with Sjögren's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), vaccination induced vasculitis, Churg-Strauss vasculitis, mixed cryoglobulinaemia associated with hepatitis C infection, or sarcoidosis were included. All developed vasculitic peripheral neuropathy, and were treated with high dose IVIg (2 g/kg body weight). The patients were followed up for 1-5 years after this treatment. RESULTS: In four patients (Sjögren's syndrome, Churg-Strauss vasculitis, SLE, and vaccination induced vasculitis) the neuropathy resolved after IVIg treatment. CONCLUSION: IVIg may be beneficial in cases of resistant vasculitic peripheral neuropathy. IVIg should probably be considered as a sole or adjuvant treatment for patients with contraindications to conventional treatment, or alternatively, for patients in whom conventional treatment has failed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Fibrosis regression induced by intravenous gammaglobulin treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To review case histories of patients in whom fibrosis played a significant role in the pathogenesis of their disease, and to determine whether intravenous gammaglobulin (IVIg) contributed to the regression of their fibrotic condition. METHODS: Eight patients with excess fibrotic reaction in the course of diverse diseases were analysed; a tendency that reverted with different IVIg treatment options. Myelofibrosis was predominant in three patients (a patient with a myeloproliferative syndrome, one with systemic lupus erythematosus, and one with Sjögren's syndrome). Three patients had scleroderma as their main feature, one patient had hepatitis C cirrhosis, and one had idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. RESULTS: Fibrotic excess was reduced in all the patients by IVIg treatment. In five patients the disease as a whole benefited from the infusion of immunoglobulins. CONCLUSION: IVIg may enhance resorption of fibrosis and promote healing in patients with fibrotic associated disorders.

Aged↗