EDITORIAL EXPRESSION OF CONCERN. PNAS is publishing an Editorial Expression of Concern regarding the following three articles:
(i) PHYSIOLOGY. “NCX-1000, a NO-releasing derivative of ursodeoxycholic acid, selectively delivers NO to the liver and protects against development of portal hypertension,” by Stefano Fiorucci, Elisabetta Antonelli, Olivia Morelli, Andrea Mencarelli, Alessandro Casini, Tommaso Mello, Barbara Palazzetti, Dominique Tallet, Piero del Soldato, and Antonio Morelli, which appeared in issue 15, July 17, 2001, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (98:8897–8902; first published July 10, 2001; 10.1073/pnas.151136298);
(ii) PHARMACOLOGY. “NCX-1015, a nitric-oxide derivative of prednisolone, enhances regulatory T cells in the lamina propria and protects against 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis in mice,” by Stefano Fiorucci, Elisabetta Antonelli, Eleonora Distrutti, Piero Del Soldato, Roderick J. Flower, Mark J. Paul Clark, Antonio Morelli, Mauro Perretti, and Louis J. Ignarro, which appeared in issue 24, November 26, 2002, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (99:15770–15775; first published November 11, 2002; 10.1073/pnas.232583599); and
(iii) MEDICAL SCIENCES. “A β-oxidation-resistant lipoxin A4 analog treats hapten-induced colitis by attenuating inflammation and immune dysfunction,” by Stefano Fiorucci, John L. Wallace, Andrea Mencarelli, Eleonora Distrutti, Giovanni Rizzo, Silvana Farneti, Antonio Morelli, Jih-Lie Tseng, Babu Suramanyam, William J. Guilford, and John F. Parkinson, which appeared in issue 44, November 2, 2004, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (101:15736–15741; first published October 25, 2004; 10.1073/pnas.0404722101).
The editors wish to note that a reader has raised questions about the apparent duplication in the use of certain figures in the foregoing articles. We have been informed by the University of Perugia, Italy, of an ongoing review conducted by an inquiry committee at the university. We are awaiting the findings of the committee to determine the appropriate next steps.
