Spatial variability of trace elements and sources for improved exposure assessment in Barcelona

Trace and major elements concentrations in PM10 and PM2.5 were measured at 20 sites spread in the Barcelona metropolitan area (1 rural background, 6 urban background, 13 road traffic sites) and at 1 reference site. Three 2-week samples per site and size fraction were collected during 2009 using low volume samplers, adding a total of 120 samples....

Erosive arthritis in a patient with pycnodysostosis: An experiment of nature

Objective. The excellent poster painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is the most famous patient with cathepsin K-deficient pycnodysostosis. Cathepsin K is believed to play a major role in osteoclast-driven bone resorption. In this study we explored the role of cathepsin K in bone resorption in a patient with a cathepsin K mutation causing...

Confirmation of synthetic glucocorticoids with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry: Organization and results of an international interlaboratory comparison test

Within the framework of a European Union (EU) research project entitled "Food Safety Screening: Synthetic Glucocorticoids (QLK1-1999-00122)," an international interlaboratory ring test was organized to compare and evaluate different liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) confirmatory methods that are applied in European monitoring...

Costs associated with persistent allergic rhinitis are reduced by levocetirizine

Background: Allergic rhinitis was recently classified by the ARIA guidelines as persistent or intermittent. Levocetivizine was shown to improve symptoms and health-related quality of life of patients with persistent allergic rhinitis in the XPERT™ study, a 6-month randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial. Objective: To assess the total...

Markers for Type II Collagen Breakdown Predict the Effect of Disease-Modifying Treatment on Long-Term Radiographic Progression in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective. To investigate in a randomized clinical trial setting with an aggressive combination-therapy arm and a mild-monotherapy arm, whether therapy-induced changes in urinary C-terminal crosslinking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX-I) and type II collagen (CTX-II) predict 5-year radiographic progression in patients with rheumatoid...

Physicochemical properties and transport of steroids across Caco-2 cells

Purpose. The purpose of this work was to study the relevant physicochemical properties for the absorption of steroids. Methods. Various physicochemical properties of steroids were calculated (molecular weight, ClogP, static polar surface area [PSA], etc.). Within this series of steroids, different pharmacological groups were defined. Based on...

Bone turnover, joint damage and bone mineral density in early rheumatoid arthritis treated with combination therapy including high-dose prednisolone

Objectives. Exploration of bone metabolism changes at different levels of disease activity, both with and without oral corticosteroid therapy, and prediction of changes in joint damage and bone density from the observed changes in markers of bone turnover. Methods. Data analysis from a randomized clinical trial with 155 rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...