Quantifying the importance of interleukin-6 for coronary heart disease
In research published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine this week, John Danesh of the University of Cambridge and colleagues find that interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels (a type of protein produced by inflammation, attracting cells of the immune system to the site of injury) are associated with coronary heart disease. The disease is the leading cause of death amongst adults in the developed world. The findings suggest that IL-6 could be a target for the development of drugs to combat vascular disease.
The study is discussed in a perspective by Bruce Neal – uninvolved with the research – of the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia.
Citation: Danesh J, Kaptoge S, Mann AG, Sarwar N, Wood A, et al. (2008) Long-term interleukin-6 levels and subsequent risk of coronary heart disease: Two new prospective studies and a systematic review. PLoS Med 5(4): e78.
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050078
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-04-danesh.pdf
CONTACT:
John Danesh
University of Cambridge
Institute of Public Health,
Cambridge, CB1 8RN
United Kingdom
+44 1223 741302
+44 1223 741339 (fax)
john.danesh@phpc.cam.ac.uk
Related PLoS Medicine perspective
Citation: Neal B (2008) Quantifying the importance of interleukin-6 for coronary heart disease. PLoS Med 5(4): e84
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050084
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-04-neal.pdf
CONTACT:
Bruce Neal
The George Institute for International Health
University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2050
Australia
+61 2 9993 4558
bneal@george.org.au
Estimating incidence from prevalence in generalised HIV epidemics
In a research article published in this week’s PLoS Medicine, Timothy Hallett from Imperial College London and colleagues develop and test two user-friendly methods to estimate HIV incidence (the number of new infections occurring during a specific time period) based on changes in cross-sectional prevalence (the fraction of the population that is infected with HIV).
The first method incorporates information on death rates collected in cohort studies of HIV infection (cohort studies investigate outcomes in groups of people); their second method uses information on survival after HIV infection, also collected in long-running cohort studies. These findings suggest that HIV incidence rates can be estimated from repeat surveys of prevalence with sufficient accuracy to monitor the HIV epidemic.
Citation: Hallett TB, Zaba B, Todd J, Lopman B, Wambura M, et al. (2008) Estimating incidence from prevalence in generalised HIV epidemics: Methods and validation. PLoS Med 5(4): e80.
IN YOUR ARTICLE, PLEASE LINK TO THIS URL, WHICH WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PUBLISHED PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050080
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-04-hallett.pdf
CONTACT:
Timothy Hallett
Imperial College London
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Norfolk Place
London, England W2 1PG
United Kingdom
+44 207 954 3218
timothy.hallett@imperial.ac.uk
About PLoS Medicine
PLoS Medicine is an open access, freely available international medical journal. It publishes original research that enhances our understanding of human health and disease, together with commentary and analysis of important global health issues. For more information, visit http://www.plosmedicine.org
About the Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org
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