Effects on intestinal calcium The role of vitamin D in intestinal absorption of calcium is well known and the vitamin D endocrine system has been finally identified as the agent that stimulates intestinal calcium ab­sorption to meet the needs of the skeleton (Figure 4). Ep­ithelial calcium channel TRPV6 (CaT1 or EcaC2) is necessary for calcium [...]

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Role of PTH The parathyroid gland is the calcium-sensing organ in the body and in a few seconds it responds to even slight hypocal- caemia by secreting the 84-amino acid peptide hormone PTH. Its receptor is expressed in the nephron and in osteoblasts but not in intestine and osteoclasts for example. In the kid­ney PTH [...]

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Ligand binding, involving the AF2 domain, imparts a conforma- tional change in the secondary structure of the VDR which trig­gers the recruitment of motor proteins responsible for cyto­plasmic VDR transition to the nucleus along microtubules. VDR heterodimerization with its protein partner RXR confers a conformational structure to the receptor which is critical for transactivation function [...]

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Introduction Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is the responsible of much of the vi­tamin D [1,25-(OH)2D3] signalling. It is a direct regulator of gene transcription, belonging to the nuclear receptor family. Within this family, it has sequence and structure resemblance with the sub­family that includes retinoic acid, thyroid hormone and peroxi­some proliferator activator receptor (PPAR) receptors. [...]

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To further analyze the need for immediate drainage in complicated parapneumonic effusions, we com­bined our data with cases previously reported. In 1976, Potts et al reported seven cases of complicated parapneumonic effusions. The clinical course of two of the seven cases was presented. One patients pleural fluid became loculated and eventually required decor­tication for improvement. [...]

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The major finding of our retrospective study was that antibiotic therapy without chest tube drainage was sufficient for most of our patients with complicated parapneumonic effusions. The initial response to ther­apy and the long-term outcome were not different in patients treated with antibiotics alone or antibiotics plus immediate chest tube drainage. Although delayed empyema formation [...]

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Clinical Course of Complicated Parapneumonic Effu­sions Treated with Antibiotics Alone All 16 cases of complicated parapneumonic effusions treated with antibiotics alone were closely reviewed. There was one death in an 88-year-old patient with a pneumococcal pneumonia. He refused aggressive therapy. The follow-up period for all 15 remaining patients was greater than three months (mean, 16.5 [...]

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