Ctenidins: antimicrobial glycine-rich peptides from the hemocytes of the spider Cupiennius salei

Three novel glycine-rich peptides, named ctenidin 1-3, with activity against the Gram-negative bacterium E. coli, were isolated and characterized from hemocytes of the spider Cupiennius salei. Ctenidins have a high glycine content (>70%), similarly to other glycine-rich peptides, the acanthoscurrins, from another spider, Acanthoscurria gomesiana. A combination of mass spectrometry, Edman degradation, and cDNA cloning revealed the presence of three isoforms of ctenidin, at least two of them originating from simple, intronless genes. The full-length sequences of the ctenidins consist of a 19 amino acid residues signal peptide followed by the mature peptides of 109, 119, or 120 amino acid residues. The mature peptides are post-translationally modified by the cleavage of one or two C-terminal cationic amino acid residue(s) and amidation of the newly created mature C-terminus. Tissue expression analysis revealed that ctenidins are constitutively expressed in hemocytes and to a small extent also in the subesophageal nerve mass.

The prevalence of endothelial dysfunction in patients with and without coronary artery disease

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is frequently present in patients presenting with acute or stable coronary artery disease (CAD), but it is also found in patients presenting with chest pain without angiographic coronary lesions.

Patent foramen ovale may be causal for the first stroke but unrelated to subsequent ischemic events

Studies with very long follow-up are scarce in patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale (PFO). Little is known about the etiology of recurrent cerebrovascular events (CVE) in PFO patients.

Safety and Functional Outcome of Thrombolysis in Dissection-Related Ischemic Stroke: A Meta-Analysis of Individual Patient Data

The safety and efficacy of thrombolysis in cervical artery dissection (CAD) are controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to pool all individual patient data and provide a valid estimate of safety and outcome of thrombolysis in CAD.

Outcomes of Intravenous Thrombolysis in Posterior Versus Anterior Circulation Stroke

Intravenous thrombolysis is an approved treatment for anterior (ACS) and posterior (PCS) circulation stroke. However, no randomized controlled trial has investigated safety and efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis according to stroke territory, although PCS is assumed to differ from ACS in many ways. We aimed to compare the safety and clinical outcome of intravenous thrombolysis applied to patients with PCS and ACS.

Intravenous thrombolysis in nonagenarians with ischemic stroke

Demographic changes will result in a rapid increase of patients age ≥90 years (nonagenarians), but little is known about outcomes in these patients after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) for acute ischemic stroke. We aimed to assess safety and functional outcome in nonagenarians treated with IVT and to compare the outcomes with those of patients age 80 to 89 years (octogenarians).

Resting tremor in Parkinson disease: a negative predictor of levodopa-induced dyskinesia

It is unclear whether patients with different clinical subtypes of Parkinson disease (PD) differ in their risk of developing levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) and whether resting tremor is negatively correlated with this risk.