Factors affecting the outcome of methadone maintenance treatment in opiate dependence.

This study aimed to measure the rates of ongoing heroin abuse among patients on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and sought to identify patient and treatment characteristics associated with poorer outcome. The study was carried out at an outpatient drug treatment clinic and included all patients who were on the MMT during a three month period in 2004. Treatment response was measured from analysis of opiate positive urine samples.

The expression of S100A8 in pancreatic cancer-associated monocytes is associated with the Smad4 status of pancreatic cancer cells.

The cross-talk between tumour cells and the surrounding supporting host cells (stroma) is a key regulator of cancer growth and progression. By undertaking 2-DE analysis of laser capture microdissected malignant and stromal components of pancreatic tumours and benign ductal elements, we have identified high levels of S100A8 and S100A9 in tumour-associated stroma but not in benign or malignant epithelia. Immunohistochemical analysis (n = 71 patients) revealed strong expression of both proteins in stromal myeloid cells, subsequently identified as CD14(+)/CD68(- )monocytes/macrophages.

Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary care populations.

Background: Many trials reported that brief interventions are effective in reducing excessive drinking. However, some trials have been criticised for being clinically unrepresentative and unable to inform clinical practice.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of brief intervention, delivered in general practice or based primary care, to reduce alcohol consumption

Search Strategy: We searched the Cochrane Drug and Alcohol Group specialised register (February 2006), MEDLINE (1966 to February 2006), EMBASE (1980 to February 2006), CINAHL (1982 to February 2006), PsycINFO (1840 to February 2006), Science Citation Index (1970 to February 2006), Social Science Citation Index (1970 to February 2006), Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database (1972 to 2003), reference lists of articles.

Amplified in breast cancer 1 in human epidermal growth factor receptor - positive tumors of tamoxifen-treated breast cancer patients.

Purpose: Amplified in breast cancer 1 (AIB1) is a member of the p160/steroid receptor coactivators family and is involved in estrogen-dependent gene transcription by reducing the antagonistic activity of tamoxifen-bound estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha). The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that AIB1 protein expression and/or gene amplification mediates tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer.

Experimental Design: Immunohistochemistry using AIB1 antibody and fluorescence in situ hybridization using probes specific for AIB1 and chromosome 20 was done on 402 ER-alpha-positive tamoxifen-treated breast cancers.

Pig acute-phase protein levels after stress induced by changes in the pattern of food administration.

A total of 240 pigs, 74 days old, half boars and half females, were included in a trial designed to assess the effect of the stress caused by changes in the pattern of food administration on the concentration of acute phase proteins (APP) and productive performance parameters. Half of the animals (pigs fed ad libitum, AL group) had free access to feed, while the rest were fed following a disorderly pattern (DIS group), in which animals had alternating periods of free access to feed and periods of no feeding, when food was removed from the feeder. The periods of free access to feed (two daily periods of 2-h duration) were randomly assigned, and varied from day to day.

A time-resolved immunofluorometric assay for porcine C-reactive protein quantification in whole blood.

A time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (TR-IFMA) for C-reactive protein (CRP) determination in whole blood of pigs was developed and validated. CRP was isolated from porcine acute-phase serum by affinity chromatography on agarose, coupled with phosphorylethanolamine and polyclonal antibodies to porcine CRP were purified from antiserum raised in sheep immunized with porcine CRP. Intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation (CVs) were in the range 3.

Potentiation of chemotherapeutics by the Hsp90 antagonist geldanamycin requires a steady serum condition.

Inhibition of Hsp90 potentiates diverse chemotherapeutics, but it is not clear if this applies only to specific agents, tumor types or conditions. The aim of this report is to determine the effect of serum starvation (SS) on potentiation. SUIT2 cells were cultured with and without the presence of serum and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays were carried out at time intervals.

Retrospective comparison of surgical ligation and transarterial catheter occlusion for treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in two hundred and four dogs (1993-2003).

Objective: To compare procedure time, complications, mortality, and short-term outcome in dogs with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) treated by surgical ligation (SL) or transarterial coil occlusion (TCO).

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Animals: Dogs with PDA (n=204).

The regulation and role of osteopontin in malignant transformation and cancer.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a predominantly secreted extracellular matrix glycophosphoprotein which binds to alpha v-containing integrins and has an important role in malignant cell attachment and invasion. High OPN expression in the primary tumor is associated with early metastasis and poor outcome in human breast and other cancers. Forced OPN overexpression in benign cells may induce neoplastic-like cell behaviour including increased attachment and invasion in vitro as well as the ability to metastasize in vivo.

Identification of apolipoprotein D as a novel inhibitor of osteopontin-induced neoplastic transformation.

Osteopontin that associates with metabolism of calcium is one of the important factors in the development and prognosis of human breast cancer. The aim of this study was to detect potential binding partners of osteopontin to illustrate its functional mechanism. By screening a human breast cDNA library with a bacterial two-hybrid system, apolipoprotein D was isolated as a novel interacting protein of osteopontin.

Methylprednisolone increases urinary nitrate concentrations and reduces subclinical renal injury during infrarenal aortic ischemia reperfusion.

Objective: This study tests the hypothesis that methylprednisolone may influence eNOS activity in renal arterial and venous vascular beds and impede subclinical renal injury.

Summary Background Data: Acute renal failure is a major complication of cardiovascular surgery. Renal damage arises in part from excessive vasoconstriction mediated by an imbalance of vasoconstrictive ET-1 and vasodilatory NO produced by eNOS.

Surgery of the small intestine.

The small intestine is the portal of entry of virtually all nutrients and is also the site of diverse inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. This field has recently attracted intense excitement as a result of novel clinical and experimental techniques, combined modality therapies, and basic science applications. This review will highlight important clinical advances in surgery for Crohn disease, short bowel syndrome, transplantation, trauma, and polyposis.

Unique expression of human papilloma virus type 5 and type 16 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-a case report.

The role of human papilloma virus (HPV) in esophageal cancers from the low-incidence area (Western population) is unclear. We report a case of esophageal squamous papillomatosis associated with underlying esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The esophagectomy specimen confirmed presence of HPV-5 and HPV-16 suggesting a viral etiology.

Evidence that substrate-specific effects of C5 protein lead to uniformity in binding and catalysis by RNase P.

The ribonucleoprotein enzyme RNase P processes all pre-tRNAs, yet some substrates apparently lack consensus elements for recognition. Here, we compare binding affinities and cleavage rates of Escherichia coli pre-tRNAs that exhibit the largest variation from consensus recognition sequences. These results reveal that the affinities of both consensus and nonconsensus substrates for the RNase P holoenzyme are essentially uniform.

The Drosophila ortholog of the endolysosomal membrane protein, endolyn, regulates cell proliferation.

Endolyn (CD164) is a sialomucin that regulates the proliferation, adhesion, and migration of human haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. This molecule is predominately localized in endocytotic compartments, where it may contribute to endolysosomal biogenesis and trafficking. In order to more closely define the function of endolyn from an evolutionary view-point, we first analyzed endolyn orthologs in species ranging from insects, fish, and birds to mammals.

Characterization of epithelial cell shedding from human small intestine.

Intestinal epithelial cells migrate from the base of the crypt to the villi where they are shed. However, little is known about the cell shedding process. We have studied the role of apoptosis and wound healing mechanisms in cell shedding from human small intestinal epithelium.

Potassium supplementation for the management of primary hypertension in adults.

Background: Epidemiological evidence on the effects of potassium on blood pressure is inconsistent.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of potassium supplementation on health outcomes and blood pressure in people with elevated blood pressure.

Search Strategy: We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index, ISI Proceedings, ClinicalTrials.

Magnesium supplementation for the management of essential hypertension in adults.

Background: Epidemiological evidence on the effects of magnesium on blood pressure is inconsistent. Metabolic and experimental studies suggest that magnesium may have a role in the regulation of blood pressure.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of magnesium supplementation as treatment for primary hypertension in adults.

Pancreatic cancer cells overexpress gelsolin family-capping proteins, which contribute to their cell motility.

Background: Previously, proteomic methods were applied to characterise differentially expressed proteins in microdissected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells.

Aims: To report that CapG and a related protein, gelsolin, which have established roles in cell motility, are overexpressed in metastatic pancreatic cancer; and to describe their pattern of expression in pancreatic cancer tissue and their effect on cell motility in pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Methods: CapG was identified by mass spectrometry and immunoblotting.

Pulmonary arteriopathy and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension in six dogs.

Pulmonary arteriopathy (PA) is the pathologic hallmark in human medicine of diffuse constrictive (medial and intimal remodeling) or multifocal complex (plexiform and dilatative lesions) arterial lesions, or both, that lead to irreversible obliteration of the arterial lumen. Clinically, PA leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), of which idiopathic (IPAH) is one of the 5 subsets, and ultimately, to right-sided heart failure (RHF). Clinical and pathologic findings from 6 dogs with diagnosis of IPAH and PA were reviewed.

BRCA1 suppresses osteopontin-mediated breast cancer.

BRCA1 is a well described breast cancer susceptibility gene thought to be involved primarily in DNA repair. However, mutation within the BRCA1 transcriptional domain is also implicated in neoplastic transformation of mammary epithelium, but responsible mechanisms are unclear. Here we show in a rat mammary model system that wild type (WT) BRCA1 specifically represses the expression of osteopontin (OPN), a multifunctional estrogen-responsive gene implicated in oncogenic transformation, particularly that of the breast.

The porcine acute phase protein response to acute clinical and subclinical experimental infection with Streptococcus suis.

The pig acute phase protein (APP) response to experimental Streptococcus suis (S. suis) infection was mapped by the measurement of the positive APPs C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp) and major acute phase protein (pig-MAP) and the negative APPs albumin and apolipoprotein (Apo) A-I. The aim was to elucidate the differences in the acute phase behaviour of the individual APPs during a typical bacterial septicaemic infection.

RNA-dependent folding and stabilization of C5 protein during assembly of the E. coli RNase P holoenzyme.

The pre-tRNA processing enzyme ribonuclease P is a ribonucleoprotein. In Escherichia coli assembly of the holoenzyme involves binding of the small (119 amino acid residue) C5 protein to the much larger (377 nucleotide) P RNA subunit. The RNA subunit makes the majority of contacts to the pre-tRNA substrate and contains the active site; however, binding of C5 stabilizes P RNA folding and contributes to high affinity substrate binding.

Calcium supplementation for the management of primary hypertension in adults.

Background: Metabolic studies suggest calcium may have a role in the regulation of blood pressure. Some epidemiological studies have reported that people with a higher intake of calcium tend to have lower blood pressure. Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have reached conflicting conclusions about whether oral calcium supplementation can reduce blood pressure.

Methods underpinning national clinical guidelines for hypertension: describing the evidence shortfall.

Background: To be useful, clinical practice guidelines need to be evidence based; otherwise they will not achieve the validity, reliability and credibility required for implementation.

Methods: This paper compares the methods used in gathering, analysing and linking of evidence to guideline recommendations in ten current hypertension guidelines.

Results: It found several guidelines had failed to implement methods of searching for the relevant literature, critical analysis and linking to recommendations that minimise the risk of bias in the interpretation of research evidence.