Vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 antibody response: the comparability of S1-specific binding assays depends on epitope and isotype discrimination.

Background: Quantification of the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response by serological immunoassays is critical for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, neutralizing antibody titers to the viral spike (S) protein have been proposed as a correlate of protection (CoP). The WHO established the First International Standard (WHO IS) for anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig) (NIBSC 20/136) to harmonize binding assays with the same antigen specificity by assigning the same unitage in binding antibody units (BAU)/ml.

Genomic Complexity as a Biomarker to De-Escalate Adjuvant Imatinib Treatment in High-Risk Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor.

Purpose: Adjuvant imatinib treatment is recommended for patients with localized gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) at high risk of recurrence. Almost half of high-risk patients are cured by surgery alone, indicating a need for improved selection of patients for adjuvant therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate if genomic tumor complexity could be used as a prognostic biomarker.

The utilization of multidisciplinary tumor boards (MDT) in clinical routine: results of a health care research study focusing on patients with metastasized colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Multidisciplinary tumor boards (MDT) have been advocated as standard of care in modern oncology. German guidelines for metastasized colorectal cancer (mCRC) recommend MDT discussion of colon cancer patients after completion of primary tumor therapy but stage IV colon cancer as well as rectal cancer patients prior to any therapy. In this health care research study, we evaluated application and decisional consequences of this approach in clinical routine.

Testing for apolipoprotein(a) phenotype using isoelectric focusing and immunoblotting technique.

Increased levels of lipoprotein(a) are known as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke in man. Even in children it could show that elevated levels of Lp(a) are an independent thromboembolic risk factor. Levels of Lp(a) are influenced by several factors like nutrition, kidney or liver function, or acute-phase reaction.

Ultrasonic scalpel causes greater depth of soft tissue necrosis compared to monopolar electrocautery at standard power level settings in a pig model.

Background: Ultrasonic scalpel (UC) and monopolar electrocautery (ME) are common tools for soft tissue dissection. However, morphological data on the related tissue alteration are discordant. We developed an automatic device for standardized sample excision and compared quality and depth of morphological changes caused by UC and ME in a pig model.

Testing for lipoprotein(a) concentration and apolipoprotein(a) phenotypes: method standardization and pediatric reference values.

Increased levels of lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a])are known independent risk factor for atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke in adults. Even in children it could be shown that elevated levels of Lp(a) are an independent risk factor for symptomatic thromboembolism. The aim of this work was to describe the methods used for evaluating Lp(a) phenotypes, to link them to Lp(a) plasma concentrations, and to establish age-dependent reference values in children.

Expression of p16INK4A in gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs): two different forms exist that independently correlate with poor prognosis.

Aims: To determine the prognostic impact of p16INK4A expression in gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), which is currently being questioned, with both loss and overexpression said to be correlated with poor prognosis.

Methods And Results: Two different forms of p16INK4A were identified, presenting with predominantly nuclear and cytoplasmic expression pattern, respectively. The immunohistochemical expression of the two forms and their correlation with E2F1 and prognosis were analysed in a series of 120 GISTs with clinical follow-up.

Role of endogenous testosterone concentration in pediatric stroke.

Previous studies have indicated a male predominance in pediatric stroke. To elucidate this gender disparity, total testosterone concentration was measured in children with arterial ischemic stroke (AIS; n = 72), children with cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT; n = 52), and 109 healthy controls. Testosterone levels above the 90th percentile for age and gender were documented in 10 children with AIS (13.

Localization- and mutation-dependent microRNA (miRNA) expression signatures in gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), with a cluster of co-expressed miRNAs located at 14q32.31.

The molecular biology and clinical behaviour of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are associated with their anatomical localization (stomach or intestine), and also with the mutation status of the receptor tyrosine kinases KIT and PDGFRA. Twelve GISTs were evaluated for differential miRNA expression signatures by use of microarrays representing 734 human miRNAs. Thirty-two miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed according to localization and mutation status.

Preoperative chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer: correlation of a gene expression-based response signature with recurrence.

Preoperative chemoradiotherapy is recommended for locally advanced rectal cancer (UICC stage II/III). We recently demonstrated that responsive and nonresponsive tumors showed differential expression levels of 54 genes. In this follow-up study, we investigated the relationship between this gene set and disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

Does imatinib turn recurrent and/or metastasized gastrointestinal stromal tumors into a chronic disease? - single center experience.

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract supposed to arise from the cells of Cajal because of gain-of-function mutations of the tyrosine receptor kinases c-kit or platelet-derived growth factor receptor A. Imatinib selectively inhibits the kinase activity of both receptors. Despite this breakthrough in the treatment of GIST, resistance against imatinib has been reported to be as high as 50% after the first 2 years of treatment.

Bites and stings by exotic pets in Europe: an 11 year analysis of 404 cases from Northeastern Germany and Southeastern France.

Introduction: The presence of exotic, and sometimes venomous, pets in European homes is becoming more common. This phenomenon is the basis of a French-German cooperative evaluation of the species causing the injuries and the circumstances, severity, and treatment of the envenomations

Methods: A retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, case series of data from 1996 to 2006. The study sample consists of all cases of bites and stings by exotic pets that were registered at four poisons European poisons centers.

Genetics of hemostasis: differential effects of heritability and household components influencing lipid concentrations and clotting factor levels in 282 pediatric stroke families.

Background: The identification of heritable and environmental factors possibly influencing a condition at risk should be a prerequisite for the search for the proportion of variance attributable for shared environmental effects (c(2)) modulating the risk of disease. Such epidemiologic approaches in families with a first acute ischemic stroke during early childhood are lacking.

Objectives: Our goal was to estimate the phenotypic variation within lipid concentrations and coagulation factor levels and to estimate the proportions attributable to heritability (h(2)r) and c(2) in pediatric stroke families.

Fibrillin-1 in incisional hernias: an immunohistochemical study in scar and non-scar regions of human skin and muscle fasciae.

Incisional hernias represent one of the most common complications after laparotomy. Specific pre-operative risk factors have not yet been identified. Recent studies indicate that changes in extracellular matrix components such as collagen I and collagen III may be involved in hernia development.

Immune cells in primary gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Introduction: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. They are regarded as having relatively uniform histology, although their potential for malignant behavior varies. Despite a strong promoting role of tumor-infiltrating innate immune cells in neoplastic progression, the presence of immune cells in GISTs has not yet been studied.

C-reactive protein and fibrinogen in acute stroke patients with and without sleep apnea.

Background And Purpose: Although sleep apnea (SA) is a risk factor for ischemic stroke and an important prognosticator in affected patients, the exact pathophysiological link between SA and stroke remains to be established. We investigated whether levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen are increased in patients with acute stroke and SA compared with stroke patients without SA.

Patients And Methods: 117 consecutive patients with ischemic stroke admitted to our stroke unit within 12 h after stroke onset were included in this study.

Site-dependent differential KIT and PDGFRA expression in gastric and intestinal gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

In gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), mutually exclusive gain-of-function mutations of KIT and PDGFRA are associated with different mutation-dependent clinical behavior. Taking into account the well-known different clinical behavior of GISTs from the stomach or the intestine, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the mutation- and site-dependent effects on mRNA and protein expression of KIT and PDGFRA in a large series of primary GISTs. Fresh-frozen tissue of 53 primary GISTs from gastric (75%) or intestinal (25%) sites were analyzed for mutation of KIT or PDGFRA using direct sequencing.

Multicentric sporadic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) of the stomach with distinct clonal origin: differential diagnosis to familial and syndromal GIST variants and peritoneal metastasis.

Most sporadic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) occur solitary, whereas a multicentric appearance is suspicious for a familial or syndromal setting such as with germline mutations of proto-oncogene tyrosine protein kinase Kit (KIT) or platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA), or even for metastases. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether multicentric sporadic GISTs are of clonal origin. Four patients with 1 clinically apparent tumor (mean size 5.

Surgical treatment in cocaine body packers and body pushers.

Objective: Body packers smuggle cocaine by swallowing containers filled with the drugs, whilst body pushers conceal the containers in the rectum or vagina. In a collaborative effort between the Department of General Surgery, two major airports and Poisons Centre, we performed a retrospective study to develop an algorithm for the treatment of ruptured cocaine-filled containers.

Materials And Methods: The data of all cocaine body packers and body pushers who were identified at the airports of Frankfurt and Paris from 1985 to 2002 were evaluated concerning incidence, demographics and surgical aspects.

Distinct chromosomal profiles in metastasizing and non-metastasizing colorectal carcinomas.

Background: The prognosis of colorectal cancer patients is to a considerable extent determined by the metastatic potency of the primary tumor. However, despite the fact that liver metastases are the leading cause of death for cancer patients, the molecular basis still remains poorly understood and independent prognostic markers have not been established.

Materials And Methods: Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was used to screen colorectal carcinomas without distant metastases (n=18) and carcinomas synchronously metastatic to the liver (n=18).

Intoxication-related fatalities in northern Germany.

Background: Knowing what substances cause death in intoxicated patients is of medical, legal, and political relevance. Harmonized data documentation like TESS (Toxic Exposure Surveillance System) in the United States does not exist yet in Germany. However, the GIZ-Nord Poison Center in Göttingen issues an annual report that includes fatalities.

Lymph node status and TS gene expression are prognostic markers in stage II/III rectal cancer after neoadjuvant fluorouracil-based chemoradiotherapy.

Purpose: According to the CAO/ARO/AIO-94 trial of the German Rectal Cancer Study Group, preoperative combined fluorouracil (FU) -based long-term chemoradiotherapy (CT/RT) is recommended for patients with International Union Against Cancer (UICC) stage II/III rectal cancer. However, despite the local benefit of neoadjuvant treatment, the overall prognostic value remains uncertain in comparison with adjuvant CT/RT. Furthermore, the prognostic value of molecular biomarkers, such as thymidylate synthase (TS), thymidine phosphorylase (TP), and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), all of which are involved in the FU metabolism, is unknown in neoadjuvant settings.

Elevated alpha1-antitrypsin is a risk factor for arterial ischemic stroke in childhood.

Alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha1-AT) is a physiological inhibitor of activated protein C (APC) and therefore decreased APC activity. APC itself causes an anticoagulant effect by inactivating factors Va and VIIIa. The present case-control study was performed to evaluate the role of the elevated alpha1-AT concentration in pediatric patients with ischemic stroke (IS).

Vascular risk factors in sudden hearing loss.

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) and fibrinogen apheresis was recently reported to be an effective therapy in sudden hearing loss (SHL). In this study, we investigated whether lipoprotein and/or fibrinogen plasma concentrations, related gene polymorphisms and other cardiovascular risk factors are also risk factors for SHL. Total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol plasma concentrations, fibrinogen levels, and two functionally relevant fibrinogen polymorphisms were determined in 142 consecutive patients and in 84 age- and sex-matched control subjects of the same ethnic background, using routine laboratory methods and PCR analysis.