Identification of smoking cessation phenotypes as a basis for individualized counseling: An explorative real-world cohort study.

Introduction: The rate of relapse in smokers attempting to quit is generally high. In order to maximize the chances of success, it is of interest to better understand the dynamic of lapse and relapse during smoking cessation. We hypothesized that specific behavioral patterns in tobacco consumption could predict the probability of quitting success and could open the possibility for a more targeted approach.

15q12 variants, sputum gene promoter hypermethylation, and lung cancer risk: a GWAS in smokers.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Detection of promoter hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes in exfoliated cells from the lung provides an assessment of field cancerization that in turn predicts lung cancer. The identification of genetic determinants for this validated cancer biomarker should provide novel insights into mechanisms underlying epigenetic reprogramming during lung carcinogenesis.

[Ophthalmic emergencies for the general practitioner].

This article point out guidelines for the general practitioner when he can manage himself ophthalmic emergencies, which patients an ophthamologist should see on the same day and when an immediate intervention by an ophthalmologist is necessary.

Discovery of common SNPs in the miR-205/200 family-regulated epithelial to mesenchymal transition pathway and their association with risk for non-small cell lung cancer.

The activation of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program is an important step for tumor initiation, invasion, and metastasis in solid tumors, including lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to identify the sequence variants in the miR-205/200 family-regulated EMT pathway and test their association with risk for lung cancer. Fifty samples were resequenced to identify sequence variants in the miR-205/200 family-regulated EMT pathway.

Clinical evaluation of a novel population-based regression analysis for detecting glaucomatous visual field progression.

Background: The distinction of real progression from test variability in visual field (VF) series may be based on clinical judgment, on trend analysis based on follow-up of test parameters over time, or on identification of a significant change related to the mean of baseline exams (event analysis). The aim of this study was to compare a new population-based method (Octopus field analysis, OFA) with classic regression analyses and clinical judgment for detecting glaucomatous VF changes.

Patients And Methods: 240 VF series of 240 patients with at least 9 consecutive examinations available were included into this study.

The A/G allele of rs16906252 predicts for MGMT methylation and is selectively silenced in premalignant lesions from smokers and in lung adenocarcinomas.

Purpose: To address the association between sequence variants within the MGMT (O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase) promoter-enhancer region and methylation of MGMT in premalignant lesions from smokers and lung adenocarcinomas, their biological effects on gene regulation, and targeting MGMT for therapy.

Experimental Design: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) identified through sequencing a 1.9 kb fragment 5' of MGMT were examined in relation to MGMT methylation in 169 lung adenocarcinomas and 1,731 sputum samples from smokers.

A SNP in a let-7 microRNA complementary site in the KRAS 3' untranslated region increases non-small cell lung cancer risk.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, yet few genetic markers of lung cancer risk useful for screening exist. The let-7 family-of-microRNAs (miRNA) are global genetic regulators important in controlling lung cancer oncogene expression by binding to the 3' untranslated regions of their target mRNAs. The purpose of this study was to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) that could modify let-7 binding and to assess the effect of such SNPs on target gene regulation and risk for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

[Quantification of corneal aberrations with an aberration coefficient].

Background: Abnormal corneal surfaces in keratoconus, contact lens induced corneal distorsion or after refractive surgery are thoroughly described by Zernike polynoms. This study investigated such deviations from the healthy eye by a newly introduced aberration coefficient.

Patients And Methods: 300 healthy eyes were measured with videokeratometry.

Neuropeptide Y Y2 receptor signalling mechanisms in the human glioblastoma cell line LN319.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) regulates neurotransmitter release through activation of the Y2 receptor subtype. We have recently characterized a human glioblastoma cell line, LN319, that expresses exclusively NPY Y2 receptors and have demonstrated that NPY triggers transient decreases in cAMP and increases in intracellular calcium responses. The present study was designed to further characterize calcium signalling by NPY and bradykinin (BK) in LN319 cells.

Effect of endotoxin on the angiotensin II receptor in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells.

1. In some tissues, a decrease in the number of cell surface receptors and alterations of the receptor coupling have been proposed as possible mechanisms mediating the deleterious effects of bacterial endotoxin in septic shock. 2.

Synergistic effects of fluid shear stress and cyclic circumferential stretch on vascular endothelial cell morphology and cytoskeleton.

The development of atherosclerosis is thought to be initiated by a dysfunctional state of the vascular endothelium. The proposal that mechanical forces play a role in the localization of this disease has led researchers to develop in vitro models to assess their effects on cultured endothelial cells. The arterial endothelium is exposed simultaneously to circumferential hoop stretch and wall shear stress, yet previous investigations have focused on the isolated effects of either cyclic stretch or shear stress.

A device for subjecting vascular endothelial cells to both fluid shear stress and circumferential cyclic stretch.

The proposal of the role of mechanical forces as a localizing factor of atherosclerosis has led many researchers to investigate their effects on vascular endothelial cells. Most previous efforts have concentrated on either the fluid shear stress, which results from the flow of blood, or the circumferential "hoop" stretch, which results from the expansion of the artery during the cardiac cycle. In fact, arterial endothelial cells are subjected to both fluid shear stress and cyclic hoop stretch in vivo.

Signal transduction by the cloned glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor: comparison with signaling by the endogenous receptors of beta cell lines.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a gastrointestinal hormone that potentiates glucose-induced insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells. The mechanisms of interaction between GLP-1 and glucose signaling pathways are not well understood. Here we studied the coupling of the cloned GLP-1 receptor, expressed in fibroblasts or in COS cells, to intracellular second messengers and compared this signaling with that of the endogenous receptor expressed in insulinoma cell lines.

Confocal microscopy to analyze cytosolic and nuclear calcium in cultured vascular cells.

With the development of calcium-sensitive fluorescent dyes and videomicroscopic imaging, several investigators have located the changes in intracellular calcium in the cytoplasm, in the perinuclear region, and possibly in the nucleus. However, the presence of calcium in the nucleus is often difficult to ascertain because the fluorescence derived from the perinuclear area interferes with that of the nucleus. We have used confocal microscopy together with two calcium-sensitive dyes [acetoxymethyl esters of fluo 3 (fluo 3-AM) and rhod 2 (rhod 2-AM)] to analyze the cytosolic and nuclear calcium distribution in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells studied at rest and after stimulation with receptor-dependent (angiotensin, vasopressin) and receptor-independent (KCl) stimuli.

Isolation of two genes encoding putative protein kinases regulated during Dictyostelium discoideum development.

Two Dictyostelium discoideum protein kinase(PK)-encoding cDNAs (Dd PK1 and Dd PK2) have been isolated by hybridization with an oligodeoxyribonucleotide derived from a highly conserved region of eukaryotic PKs. The two nucleotide (nt) sequences encode new putative serine/threonine-specific PKs. Dd PK1 is a partial cDNA covering the entire catalytic domain.

Endogenous sterol synthesis is not required for regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase by low density lipoprotein.

It has been proposed that an endogenously synthesized oxysterol mediates the regulation of cholesterol biosynthesis by low density lipoprotein in cultured mammalian cells. Studies in this report demonstrate that under conditions in which squalene conversion to sterols is blocked either by inhibition of squalene cyclization or lanosterol demethylation, or both, low density lipoprotein regulates 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase normally. These observations rule out the hypotheses that either an endogenously synthesized oxygenated cholesterol biosynthetic intermediate or epoxysterol is required to mediate the inhibition of this enzyme by low density lipoprotein.

Evolution of globin expression in the genus Xenopus (Anura: Pipidae).

Comparison of electrophoretic globin phenotypes of 18 different Xenopus taxa reveals four different basic types of banding patterns. Each type includes species that also are similar in their morphological, cytogenetical, and biochemical characteristics. Three of these patterns reflect distinct evolutionary lines, while the fourth may be interpreted as the intersection of two of these lines.

The expression of creatine kinase isozymes in Xenopus tropicalis, Xenopus laevis laevis, and their viable hybrid.

Starch gel electrophoresis of creatine kinase (CK) isozymes of Xenopus tropicalis shows that at least two different genes code for CK in this diploid (2n = 20) species. These genes seen to be orthologous to the CK-A and CK-C genes of extant crossopterygian fish. Additional isozymes may be interpreted either as products of duplicate genes or, more probably, as epigenetically modified forms of the homodimers AtAt and CtCt, respectively.

[Visual evoked potentials, contrast sensitivity and color perception in patients with optic nerve neuritis and multiple sclerosis].

Forty-nine patients with acute optic neuritis (in 21 cases associated with MS) and 26 patients known to have MS but with no history of optic nerve disease underwent visual evoked potential, contrast sensitivity and color vision tests. In patients with optic neuritis the contrast sensitivity was shown to detect optic nerve lesions better than the VEP an often permitted a distinction between acute and past optic neuritis. Combined testing with contrast sensitivity and VEP was superior to the single tests and detected 100% of the acute optic nerve lesions, although in many cases damage was selective and only involved some of the information channels.

[Ocular findings in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, HMSN type I].

The ocular findings are described in nine patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth muscular atrophy, who were also classified as suffering from Type I hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy on the basis of genetic, clinical and electromyographic studies. Although only three patients admitted to visual symptoms and all nine patients had full vision in both eyes, combined visual evoked potential and contrast sensitivity testing revealed optic nerve involvement in one or both eyes of seven patients. Four patients showed impaired accommodation and tonic pupils, and electroretinography revealed pigmentosa-like tracings in two patients.