Search

Background: Cyclophilin A (CyPA) is an important intracellular molecule mediating essential cellular functions such as signaling and protein folding. Enhanced CyPA platelet surface expression is associated with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). In patients with acute myocardial infarction CyPA platelet surface expression is significantly decreased. The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations of CyPA platelet surface expression and a clinically relevant CyPA single-nucleotide polymorphism (CyPA PPIA rs6850) with prognosis in patients with symptomatic cardiovascular disease., Materials and Methods: Blood was obtained from 335 consecutive patients with symptomatic CAD. All patients were followed up for 1080 days for endpoints all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic stroke, and bleeding. The primary combined endpoint was defined as a composite of all-cause death and/or MI and/or ischemic stroke. Cyclophilin A platelet surface expression levels less than or equal to the median were significantly associated with a worse prognosis (combined endpoint and all-cause death) when compared to CyPA greater than the median. Genotyping for CyPA PPIA rs6850 was performed in 752 patients with symptomatic CAD. Homozygous carriers of the minor allele showed a significantly worse cumulative event-free survival for both combined endpoint and MI when compared to carriers of the major allele., Conclusion: The CyPA platelet surface expression is associated with mortality whereas CyPA PPIA rs6850 is associated with recurrent MI in patients with symptomatic CAD. Cyclophilin A might offer a new biomarker for risk stratification and tailoring therapies in patients with cardiovascular disease., (© 2019 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.)

Background: Trastuzumab has established efficacy against breast cancer with overexpression or amplification of the HER2 oncogene. The standard of care is 1 year of adjuvant trastuzumab, but the optimum duration of treatment is unknown. We compared 2 years of treatment with trastuzumab with 1 year of treatment, and updated the comparison of 1 year of trastuzumab versus observation at a median follow-up of 8 years, for patients enrolled in the HERceptin Adjuvant (HERA) trial., Methods: The HERA trial is an international, multicentre, randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial comparing treatment with trastuzumab for 1 and 2 years with observation after standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, or both in 5102 patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival. The comparison of 2 years versus 1 year of trastuzumab treatment involved a landmark analysis of 3105 patients who were disease-free 12 months after randomisation to one of the trastuzumab groups, and was planned after observing at least 725 disease-free survival events. The updated intention-to-treat comparison of 1 year trastuzumab treatment versus observation alone in 3399 patients at a median follow-up of 8 years (range 0-10) is also reported. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00045032., Findings: We recorded 367 events of disease-free survival in 1552 patients in the 1 year group and 367 events in 1553 patients in the 2 year group (hazard ratio [HR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·85-1·14, p=0·86). Grade 3-4 adverse events and decreases in left ventricular ejection fraction during treatment were reported more frequently in the 2 year treatment group than in the 1 year group (342 [20·4%] vs 275 [16·3%] grade 3-4 adverse events, and 120 [7·2%] vs 69 [4·1%] decreases in left ventricular ejection fraction, respectively). HRs for a comparison of 1 year of trastuzumab treatment versus observation were 0·76 (95% CI 0·67-0·86, p<0·0001) for disease-free survival and 0·76 (0·65-0·88, p=0·0005) for overall survival, despite crossover of 884 (52%) patients from the observation group to trastuzumab therapy., Interpretation: 2 years of adjuvant trastuzumab is not more effective than is 1 year of treatment for patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer. 1 year of treatment provides a significant disease-free and overall survival benefit compared with observation and remains the standard of care., Funding: F Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche)., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Undoubtedly, biotechnology has a tremendous impact on our daily lives. As a result of this and in parallel to the advancement of knowledge in this field of applied research, consumer awareness of the potential benefits and risks of this technology has steadily increased, leading to a thorough investigation of the public perception of biotechnology in the past years. Indeed, it has become clear that it is in the general interest of science and especially of applied research to inform the public of its advances. A promising next step is to strengthen biotechnology communication in scholastic institutions. In this paper, we investigate the perception of biotechnology in a specific target group, namely high-school students in the 16-20-year-old age range. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey on a total of 1410 students in six European countries to investigate students' perception, concern, scientific knowledge, and awareness. Our data revealed some unexpected patterns of acceptance and concern about biotechnology. Knowledge analysis indicated that pupils lack specific knowledge about biotechnological applications and their interest in biotechnology appeared to be linked to knowledge. Analysis of specific questions about teaching practices at schools suggests that a better targeted choice in media as vehicles for information together with selected speakers could be instrumental in increasing students' interest in science and more specifically in biotechnology., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica is Lymnaea truncatula in Switzerland. The snail and the free-living stages of the parasite require a moderate climate and moisture for survival, reproduction, and transmission. In Switzerland, these conditions are present in many regions, resulting in a mean prevalence of bovine fasciolosis from 8.4 to 21.4%. An interactive map was created in order to demonstrate the relative risk of transmission by modelling the environmental conditions that promote the survival and reproduction of the larval stages of the parasite and the parasite's intermediate host. The map is based on temperature and rainfall data, soil conditions including ground water and forest cover in Switzerland. Extensive information on the free-living stages of F. hepatica and the intermediate host L. truncatula and how the development of these are affected by these environmental factors was used to create the interactive risk map.