Acute rejection may be minimized by a short course of intravenous

Acute rejection may be minimized by a short course of intravenous immunoglobulin. Sirolimus appears to be a promising addition to the therapeutic armamentarium. For patients requiring re-transplantation after BK virus-associated graft loss, viral clearance from the bloodstream prior to re-transplantation should be achieved to attain optimal results.

Summary

BK virus is

a major pathogen affecting renal allografts, although selleck inhibitor intensive surveillance and targeted dose reduction in immunosuppression with the consideration of additional antiviral drug therapy can minimize graft loss resulting from infection.”
“OBJECTIVE: To test the association of elective induction of labor at term compared with expectant management and maternal and neonatal outcomes.

METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of all deliveries without prior cesarean delivery in California in 2006 using linked hospital discharge and vital statistics data. We compared elective induction at each term gestational age (37-40 weeks) as defined by The Joint Commission with expectant

management in vertex, non-anomalous, singleton deliveries. We used multivariable logistic regression to test the association of elective induction and cesarean delivery, operative vaginal delivery, maternal third- or fourth-degree lacerations, perinatal death, neonatal intensive care unit admission, respiratory distress, shoulder dystocia, hyperbilirubinemia, and macrosomia (birth weight greater than 4,000 g) at each gestational week, stratified www.selleckchem.com/HDAC.html by parity.

RESULTS: The cesarean delivery rate was 16%, perinatal mortality was 0.2%, and neonatal intensive care unit admission was 6.2% (N=362,154). The odds of cesarean delivery were lower among women with elective induction compared with expectant management across all gestational ages and parity (37 weeks [odds ratio (OR) 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.34-0.57], 38 weeks [OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.38-0.50], 39 weeks [OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.41-0.52], 40 weeks [OR 0.57, CI 0.50-0.65]). Elective induction was not associated with increased odds of severe lacerations, operative vaginal delivery, perinatal death, SNS-032 cost neonatal

intensive care unit admission, respiratory distress, shoulder dystocia, or macrosomia at any term gestational age. Elective induction was associated with increased odds of hyperbilirubinemia at 37 and 38 weeks of gestation and shoulder dystocia at 39 weeks of gestation.

CONCLUSION: Elective induction of labor is associated with decreased odds of cesarean delivery when compared with expectant management.”
“Background: Changes in skin color are common among dialysis patients. They are associated with urochrome pigments, hemoglobin, and changes in cutaneous vasculature. Insulin resistance (IR) is strongly linked to cutaneous vascular dysfunction and is prevalent in dialysis patients. We postulated skin color may be associated with IR in dialysis patients because of the alternation in cutaneous vasculature.

The incidence of lower back pain was also examined In addition,

The incidence of lower back pain was also examined. In addition, associations between risk factors and incident and progressive radiographic LS as well as incident lower back pain were tested.

Results: Given a 3.3-year follow-up, the incidence of KL >= 2 radiographic LS was 50.0% and 34.4% (15.3% and 10.5% per year), while that of KL >= 3 LS was 15.3% and 23.7% (4.6% and 7.2% per year) in men and women, respectively. The progression Entinostat in vivo rate of LS was 20.5% and 27.4% (6.2% and 8.3% per year) in men and in women, respectively. In addition, the incidence of lower

back pain was 28.3% and 31.2% (8.6% and 9.5% per year) in men and women. Lower back pain was not significantly associated with incident radiographic LS, while a more severe KL grade at baseline was associated with incident lower back pain.

Conclusion: The present longitudinal study revealed a high incidence of radiographic LS in Japan. (C) 2012 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Stable

spirocyclic 2,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole 1-oxyl radicals containing a mesogenic fragment were synthesized on the basis of 1-[4-hydroxy(alkoxy)phenyl]-2-hydroxyamino-2-methylpropan-1-ones. The crystalline structure of two aminoxyl radicals was determined by X-ray analysis.”
“Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the Defactinib association between BMI and periodontal infection in a sample of non-smoking individuals aged 75years or older.

Subjects and Methods

The study sample included 157 non-smoking dentate persons (110 women, 47 men, mean age 80.6years) belonging to the Geriatric Multidisciplinary Strategy for the Good Care of Older People study in Kuopio, Finland. The data were gathered by interview together with geriatric and oral clinical examination.

The outcome variable was the number of teeth with periodontal pockets measuring 4mm or more in depth. Poisson regression models were used LY2835219 purchase to estimate relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

After adjustment for confounding factors, the relative risk for the number of teeth with deepened periodontal pockets (>= 4mm) was 0.7 (CI: 0.6-0.9) among those with a BMI 25-29.99 and 1.1 (CI: 0.8-1.4) among those with a BMI >= 30, compared with those having a BMI

Conclusion

Within the limitations of this study, including small sample size, possibility of confounding and other biases, the results do not provide evidence that elevated body weight would be a risk for periodontal infection among older people.”
“Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate whether high frequency ultrasound technique, originally designed for arthroscopic use can be utilized to detect traumatic cartilage injuries.

Methods: A total of four intact osteochondral plugs were prepared from eight patellas for parallel comparison (total of 32 plugs).

Costs were estimated by 1) quantity method, which multiplies the

Costs were estimated by 1) quantity method, which multiplies the number of opioid abuse patients by cost per opioid abuse patient; and 2) apportionment method, which begins with overall costs of drug abuse per component and apportions the share associated with prescription

opioid abuse based on relative prevalence of prescription opioid to overall drug abuse. Excess health care costs per patient were based on claims data analysis of privately insured and Medicaid beneficiaries. Other data/information were derived from publicly available NVP-LDE225 mw survey and other secondary sources.

Results.

Total US societal costs of prescription opioid abuse were estimated at $55.7 billion in 2007 (USD in 2009). Workplace costs accounted for $25.6 billion (46%), health care costs accounted for $25.0 billion (45%), and criminal justice costs accounted for $5.1 billion (9%). Workplace costs were driven by lost earnings from premature death ($11.2 billion) and reduced compensation/lost employment ($7.9 billion). Selleck IWR-1-endo Health care costs consisted primarily of excess medical and prescription costs ($23.7 billion). Criminal justice costs were largely comprised of correctional facility ($2.3 billion) and police costs ($1.5 billion).

Conclusions.

The costs of prescription opioid abuse represent a substantial and growing economic burden for the society. The increasing prevalence of abuse suggests an even greater societal burden in the future.”
“Tuberculosis

is both highly prevalent across the world and eludes our attempts to control it. The current bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine has unreliable protection against adult pulmonary tuberculosis. As a result, tuberculosis vaccine development BTK inhibitor clinical trial has been an ongoing area of research for several decades. Only recently have research efforts resulted in the development of several vaccine candidates that are further along in clinical trials. The majority of the barriers surrounding tuberculosis vaccine development

are related to the lack of defined biomarkers for tuberculosis protective immunity and the lack of understanding of the complex interactions between the host and pathogen in the human immune system. As a result, testing various antigens discovered through molecular biology techniques have been only with surrogates of protection and do not accurately predict protective immunity. This review will address new discoveries in latency antigens and new next-generation candidate vaccines that promise the possibility of sterile eradication. Also discussed are the potentially important roles of systems biology and vaccinomics in shortening development of an efficacious tuberculosis vaccine through utilization of high-throughput technology, computer modelling and integrative approaches.”
“Objective.

Pain perception is affected by psychological, social, medical, and environmental conditions, and contributes to the patient’s treatment satisfaction and response.

Using computed tomography images, we determined the acetabular

Using computed tomography images, we determined the acetabular PLX3397 mw anteversion angle at various levels in the axial plane. The acetabular sector angle served as an indicator of acetabular coverage of the femoral head. We evaluated the association between acetabular version and the patient’s

age at the onset of pain. Fifty normal hips were examined as controls.

Results: We observed acetabular retroversion in 18% (seventeen) of the ninety-six hips in the patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip. The mean acetabular anteversion angle in the hips with acetabular retroversion was significantly smaller, at all levels, than that in the hips with acetabular anteversion; this tendency was more evident at proximal levels. There was significantly less posterior and posterosuperior

coverage in the hips with acetabular retroversion than in those with acetabular anteversion, but superior acetabular coverage did not differ between the groups. Multivariate analysis showed that the onset of pain occurred at a significantly earlier age in patients with acetabular retroversion (27.9 years) than in those with acetabular anteversion (40.5 years), regardless of the severity of the dysplasia (p = 0.003).

Conclusions: In patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip, acetabular retroversion results from relatively deficient coverage by the posterior portion of the acetabulum. Developmental dysplasia with acetabular retroversion is associated with an earlier onset of pain than is developmental dysplasia with anteversion, suggesting a correlation find more between deficiency of the posterior acetabular wall and the earlier onset of pain.”
“Background: Temporary elbow stiffness after the treatment of a supracondylar Fer-1 clinical trial humeral fracture in a child is often a concern of parents. However, little attention has been devoted to documenting, longitudinally, the time required for motion recovery. The purpose of the present study was to provide a prospective, longitudinal evaluation of elbow motion in a large population of pediatric patients undergoing treatment of a supracondylar humeral fracture.

Methods: We prospectively examined

373 patients (375 fractures) who presented to our urgent care center between March 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008. On the basis of a standard protocol, patients were managed with either casting or surgery, depending on the severity of the injury, and then were followed for a minimum of seven weeks. Values of elbow flexion and extension were recorded, and the relative arc of motion was calculated as a percentage of the motion of the contralateral elbow.

Results: In general, following a supracondylar humeral fracture, the greatest increases in flexion, extension, and the absolute and relative arcs of motion are observed within the first month after cast removal, with a progressive improvement for up to forty-eight weeks after the injury.

PHEMAH membranes were prepared by photo-polymerization technique

PHEMAH membranes were prepared by photo-polymerization technique. Then, Zn2+, Ni2+, Co2+, and Cu2+ ions were chelated directly on the PHEMAH membranes. Elemental analysis assay was performed to determine the nitrogen content HIF inhibitor and polymerized MAH was calculated as 168.5 mu

mol/g. The nonspecific IgG adsorption onto the plain PHEMA membranes was negligible (about 0.25 mg/mL). A remarkable increase in the IgG adsorption capacities were achieved from human plasma with PHEMAH membranes (up to 68.4 mg/mL). Further increase was observed with the metal-chelated PHEMAH membranes (up to 118 mg/mL). The metal-chelate affinity membranes allowed the one-step separation of IgG from human plasma. The binding range of metal ions for surface histidines from human plasma followed the order: Cu2+ > Ni2+ > Zn2+ > Co2+. Adsorbed IgG was eluted using 250 mM EDTA with a purity of 94.1%. IgG molecules could be repeatedly adsorbed and

eluted with the metal-chelated PHEMAH membranes without noticeable loss in their IgG Combretastatin A4 mouse adsorption capacity. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 123: 3476-3484, 2012″
“Background

Pleomorphic adenoma with extensive squamous metaplasia and cystic change may cause diagnostic confusion both in cytology and histopathology, which stresses the need for a guarded approach while interpreting such lesions.

Case

A 50-year-old man presented with submandibular swelling

of 6 months’ duration. Routine fine needle aspiration (FNA) yielded mucoid fluid, mixed with whitish particles. cytologic smears revealed fibromyxoid connective tissue fragments, epithelial cell clusters exhibiting squamous metaplasia, clumps of keratin material, few, multinucleated giant cells, a large number of cholesterol crystals and scattered cyst macrophages in a thin proteinaceous background. The cystic nature of the swelling caused check details some degree of diagnostic dilemma; however, ultimately, a cytologic diagnosis of “”pleomorphic adenoma with squamous metaplasia and cystic change”" was offered, which was confirmed by subsequent histopathologic examination.

Conclusion

Our case emphasizes the need for a cautious and systematic approach in the cytologic and histopathologic interpretation of cystic pleomorphic adenoma with metaplastic epithelial changes. Cholesterol crystals found in the aspirate material of our ease is a rare finding in pleomorphic adenoma. (Acta Cytol 2009;53:101-104)”
“This study reports on the synthesis of tellurium-based glasses that have a wide transmission far beyond the second atmospheric window. Several far-infrared(IR) transmitting glass systems including Ge-In-Te, Ge-Ga-Te, as well as some compositions containing alkali halides (KI, CsI) or metal halides (PbI2, CuI, AgI, CdI2 or ZnI2) are reported.

If the elements are oriented in-line with their short axes, the

If the. elements are oriented in-line with their short axes, the easy magnetization axis switches at a critical distance between the elements. This distance increases when the elements have tilted edges. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3169781]“
“As a Brassicaceae, Arabidopsis thaliana constitutes an excellent model system to investigate oil biosynthesis in seeds. Extensive tools for the genetic and molecular dissection of this model species are now available. Together with GSK2879552 cell line analytical procedures adapted to its tiny seeds, these tools have allowed major advances in isolating and characterising the factors that participate in the metabolic and developmental

control of seed filling. Once the biochemical pathways

producing storage lipids, namely triacylglycerols, were elucidated, the question of the regulation of this metabolic network has arisen. The coordinated up regulation of genes encoding enzymes of the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway observed at the onset of seed maturation suggests that the pathway WH-4-023 datasheet may be subjected to a system of global transcriptional regulation. This has been further established by the study of master regulators of the maturation program like LEAFY COTYLEDON2 and the characterisation of the WRINKLED I transcription factor. These factors have been shown to participate in a regulatory cascade controlling the induction of the genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis at the onset of the maturation phase. Stattic research buy Although much remains to be elucidated, the framework of the regulatory system controlling fatty acid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis seeds is coming into focus. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.”
“Background: ZAP70 gene expression is associated with poor prognosis in B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders especially chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) but its role in adult

B-ALL has not been established. On diagnostic samples from 76 patients with adult ALL (65 with B-ALL and 11 with T-ALL) ZAP70 mRNA expression levels were studied by real time-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis.

Findings: A broad distribution of ZAP70 expression was observed in ALL, ranging from 0.002 to 5.3 fold that of the ZAP70 positive Jurkat reference cell line. No association was observed between expression levels and the presence of specific cytogenetic abnormalities. Five cases, including one case of T-ALL, had ZAP70 expression above the level of the Jurkat reference cell line.

Conclusions: Our results confirm the frequent expression of ZAP70 in adult ALL. Limited comparisons made did highlight poor-risk patients with high ZAP70 expression, but due to lack of clinical information on patient samples we were unable to directly assess the impact on disease prognosis.

The ACE inhibitory activities of Ala-Pro (IC(50) = 0 060 +/- 0 00

The ACE inhibitory activities of Ala-Pro (IC(50) = 0.060 +/- 0.001 mg/ml) and

Val-Arg ( IC(50) = 0.332 +/- 0.005 mg/ml) were found to be approximately 20- and 4-fold higher than that of SSCP (1.165 +/- 0.087 mg/ml), respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms on bone mineral density (BMD) in a group of previously untreated osteoporotic women. Effects of demographic, environmental, and hormonal factors were also evaluated in this context. Fifty women who did not have a prior diagnosis or treatment of osteoporosis were compared with 50 nonosteoporotic postmenopausal women. Demographic and morphometric FK506 order characteristics, medical history, dietary habits, exercise history, and sunlight exposure were recorded. The diagnosis of osteoporosis was made with regard to BMD measurements with DEXA. Blood samples were obtained for serum biochemistry, bone turnover markers, and VDR and ESR1

gene polymorphism analysis. Polymorphic sites of VDR and ESR1 genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and examined using restriction fragment length polymorphism. Bb genotype was significantly selleck kinase inhibitor higher in the osteoporotic group when compared to controls (p = 0.022). Each 1 U decrease in the body mass index (BMI) increased the risk of osteoporosis by 8% independent of the genotype. We could not observe a significant effect of ESR1 polymorphism on BMD or osteoporosis risk. The interaction of ApaI and BsmI genotypes were found to be significant (p = 0.041) and the AaBb genotype, when corrected for BMI, was shown to increase the risk of osteoporosis five times (p = 0.005). However, the results demonstrated insignificant p values when correction for multiple testing was performed with https://www.sellecn.cn/products/yap-tead-inhibitor-1-peptide-17.html the Bonferroni method in the logistic regression model. A predominance of Bb genotype

of the VDR gene was evident in this group of postmenopausal Turkish women. Moreover, the combined genotype AaBb conferred a five times increased risk for osteoporosis when corrected for clinical variables.”
“This study assessed the occurrence of an enhancing inhibitory effect of the combined application of Origanum vulgare (OV) and Rosmarinus officinalis (RO) essential oils against bacteria associated to minimally processed vegetables using the determination of Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (FIC) index, kill-time assay in vegetal broth and application in vegetable matrices. Moreover, it was determined chemical composition of the essential oils and their effects alone and in mixture on sensory characteristics of minimally processed vegetables. Carvacrol (66.9 g/100 g) was the most prevalent compound in OV essential oil, while for RO was 1.8-cineole (32.2 g/100 g). OV and RO essential oil showed MIC in a range of 1.25-5 and 20-40 mu L/mL, respectively.

For these sites, consistent

results were observed when mo

For these sites, consistent

results were observed when more than one outcome or more than one calendar year was available from the same site. The use of monthly EIR data was found to be of limited value when looking at seasonal variations of malaria transmission, particularly at low and medium intensity levels.

Conclusion: OICR-9429 molecular weight The proposed definition discriminated well between studies with ‘marked seasonality’ and those with less seasonality. However, a poor fit was observed in sites with two seasonal peaks. Further work is needed to explore the applicability of this definition on a wide-scale, using routine health information system data where possible, to aid appropriate targeting of interventions.”
“Background: Data on the epidemiology of MRSA infection in lung transplantation is limited.

Methods: We performed a 5-year retrospective study to assess the incidence and microbiologic and clinical characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection SB-715992 manufacturer in a cohort of 163 lung transplant recipients.

Results: Seventeen patients with MRSA colonization and/or infection were identified, for a calculated incidence rate of 76.1 cases per 1,000 transplanted-years. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified 3 different

distinct MRSA profiles, all of them consistent with hospital-associated MRSA infection.

Conclusion: Despite negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the virulence factor Panton-Valentine leukocidin, MRSA infections resulted in significant disease and morbidity. J Heart Lung Transplant 2009;28:1231-6. Copyright (C) 2009 by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.”
“Objective: P505-15 To test the hypothesis that steady-state drug delivery by continuous infusion is predictably

affected by a second drug infusion in the same lumen. Background: Clinicians commonly administer two drugs by continuous infusion through one central venous catheter lumen (co-infusion). To limit fluid delivery, low flow rate carriers transport concentrated drug solutions a method called microinfusion. How microinfusion delivery of one drug is affected by a second drug infusion has not been explored. Methods: Two water-soluble dyes, tartrazine and erioglaucine, infused at 3 ml center dot h-1, modeled drug delivery through a four stopcock linear manifold and catheter lumen. A pump drove a carrier fluid (10 ml center dot h-1). After tartrazine reached steady-state delivery, erioglaucine entered downstream or upstream of the tartrazine infusion. Quantitative spectrophotometry measured dye delivery. Results: Starting erioglaucines infusion upstream of tartrazines entry caused a transient tartrazine bolus (duration 10 min, peak drug delivery 20% higher than target levels). Starting erioglaucines infusion downstream produced a similar amplitude, briefer, bolus.

In addition, the provision of shade when grazing is also importan

In addition, the provision of shade when grazing is also important for lambs at the time of weaning. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Study Design. Axial vertebral rotation (AVR) of normal and scoliotic vertebrae was measured in computed tomography (CT) images by three observers using different manual and a computerized method.

Objective. To analyze 4 manual and a computerized method for measuring AVR in CT images.

Summary of Background Data. Manual measurement of AVR is difficult and error-prone when compared with computerized methods. To the best of our knowledge, a systematic comparison of the established manual with click here a computerized method has not been performed

yet.

Methods. AVRs of 14 normal and 14 scoliotic vertebrae from CT images were measured (a) manually using the methods of Aaro and Dahlborn, Spine 1981; 6: 460-7, Ho et al, Spine 1993;18:1173-7, Krismer et al, J Spinal Disord 1999;12:126-30, and Gocen et al, J Spinal Disord 1998;11:210-4., and (b) automatically using a computerized

method, which is based on the evaluation of vertebral symmetry in 2 dimensions (2D) and in 3 dimensions (3D).

Results. The computerized method was most consistent with the method of Aaro and Dahlborn, which also proved to be the most reproducible and reliable manual method. The low overall intraobserver variability (1.1 degrees SD) and interobserver variability (1.8 degrees SD) of the computerized method indicate that the symmetry-based determination of AVR is reproducible and reliable, as the localization of vertebral selleck centroids is the major source of its variability.

Conclusion. The computerized method yielded higher reproducibility and reliability of AVR measurements, indicating that it may represent a feasible alternative to manual methods,

moreover because it is also faster and more operator-friendly.”
“Transformed hairy roots of Psoralea corylifolia were established by infection with Agrobacterium rhizogenes LBA 9402. The aim of this work was to elucidate the effects of media constituents on production of the phytoestrogenic isoflavones daidzein and genistein. A. rhizogenes strain LBA 9402 harboring Ri plasmid was used to transform stem segments of in vitro seedlings. The resultant hairy roots were confirmed by see more polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and exhibited Ri T-DNA. Transformed hairy root clones were cultured in Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium altered with different concentrations of NH(4) (+) and NO(3) (-) and their growth and production of isoflavones were assessed. Biomass and productivity increased when MS medium was supplemented with NH(4) (+) and NO(3) (-) at a ratio of 20:10. Increased yield of daidzein was obtained when sucrose level in the culture medium increased, whereas decreased level of sucrose favored genistein production. The hairy roots produced the highest levels of daidzein (2.06% dry wt.) and genistein (0.37% dry wt.) in the presence of low concentrations of PO(4) (3-).

Subsequently a group in Helsinki studied the accumulation of poly

Subsequently a group in Helsinki studied the accumulation of polyamines in regenerating rat liver, while Caldarera and his Selleckchem ATR inhibitor group studied polyamine synthesis in the developing chick embryo. These investigations led to metabolic

studies. Ornithine decarboxylase was identified as a key enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, while polyamine and diamine oxidations were studied by Mondovi, alpha-Diflouromethylornithine (DFMO) was synthesized by Merrell-Dow and became a potent inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase. The findings of Russell that polyamines are excreted in the urine of cancer patients drew the attention of oncologists, who attempted the use new technologies for the detection of cancer and improving therapy. With the advance of molecular biology the structure of polyamine-biosynthetic enzymes was elaborated. Plants served as another important tool to study the physiological functions of polyamines. Bagni and his group at Bologna were pioneers

in that field and for more than forty-six years set the foundation of a most interesting discipline. (C) 2010 Elsevier NSC 23766 Masson SAS. All rights reserved.”
“In this article, vaporization processes in the laser interaction with materials are studied theoretically and computationally, focusing on evaporation and homogeneous bubble nucleation. Simulations are carried out using the Redlich-Kwong equation of state and temperature-dependent material property models that can be used up to the critical point. From theoretical considerations, four important temperatures are identified in the understanding of laser material interaction. This study also shows that there are upper limits to the amount of energy that can be consumed by vaporization, which takes place at a temperature that is lower than the material’s critical point. This study also discusses the transition from the thermal mode of ablation to the nonthermal mode in terms of the energy capacity of homogeneous boiling. (C) 2010 American Institute Ferrostatin-1 molecular weight of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3428966]“
“Background: Although serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is the currently accepted vitamin D status marker of choice, use of other biomarkers or functional endpoints have been suggested.

Objective:

The objective was to systematically review the effectiveness of 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), bone turnover markers, bone mineral density (BMD), and calcium absorption as biomarkers of vitamin D status.

Design: Methods included a structured search on Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE (Ovid), and Cochrane CENTRAL; rigorous inclusion/exclusion criteria; data extraction; quality assessment; meta-analysis; and meta-regression.

Results: Thirty-six vitamin D supplementation randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 4 before-after studies were included. Vitamin D supplementation significantly raised circulating 25(OH)D in all but one RCT, but the response was highly heterogeneous [weighted mean difference (WMD): 34.1 nmol/L; 95% CI: 28.9, 39.2; 32 RCTs; I-2 = 97%).