Even a mild anemia is related to tumor aggressiveness mediated by angiogenic factors.

Unlabelled: Esophagogastric cancers have high recurrence rates with lymph nodes being a common pattern. Pre-treatment anemia has been reported an independent prognostic factor of treatment failure regardless of treatment strategy, particularly associated with poor locoregional control. A causative relationship between anemia - tumor hypoxia - tumor aggressiveness mediated by angiogenesis up-regulation is advocated, yet remains controversial.

Oxidative modulation of marcaine and lekoptin in H9C2 rat myoblasts.

Aim: The cytotoxicity of marcaine was estimated in combination with a calcium channel blocker. In addition, the influence of marcaine and marcaine plus lekoptin on a model system using the H9C2 cardiac cell line was investigated.

Methods: Cells were incubated for five hours with marcaine, lekoptin, or with both drugs simultaneously.

[Defensins and cathelicidins as natural peptide antibiotics].

Defensins and cathelicidins belong to antimicrobial peptides (AMP), called also the natural antibiotics. They are found in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes, also are synthesized in plants. These molecules were described in bacteria, invertebrates, vertebrates, also in mammals including humans.

Synthesis and studies on antibacterial activity of pyrido[3,2-e]-1,2-thiazines and related derivatives.

Twenty of the known and newly synthesized derivatives of pyrido-1,2-thiazine derivatives 3-7, which represent a novel class of potential antibacterial agents, were evaluated against strains of Mycobacterium fortuitum (PCM 672) and Staphylococcus aureus (PCM 2602). The pilot experiments showed that the compounds in an initial in vitro microbiological evaluation were not efficient antibacterial agents, whereas some of them unexpectedly promoted replication of the microorganisms in the range of 10-50% even at sub-mg/mL concentrations.

[Receptors for advanced glycation end products and their physiological and clinical significance].

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a multiligand cell-surface protein and belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. RAGE is expressed by different cell types, including macrophages, lymphocytes, endothelial, neuronal, and smooth muscle cells. In addition to advanced glycation end products (AGEs), RAGE binds amphoterin, S100/calgranulin, amyloid, transthyretin, and a leukocyte integrin, Mac-1.

Immunochemical studies of the lipopolysaccharides of Hafnia alvei PCM 1219 and other strains with the O-antigens containing D-glucose 1-phosphate and 2-deoxy-2-[(R)-3-hydroxybutyramido]-D-glucose.

Introduction: Hafnia alveiis the only species of the genus Hafnia, which belongs to the family of Enterobacteriaceae. These Gram-negative bacteria are commonly distributed in the natural environment and are often the cause of human opportunistic infections. Their lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are important surface antigens which are responsible for the serological specificity and numerous cross-reactions with other enterobacterial genera.

Inhibition of human muscle-specific enolase by methylglyoxal and irreversible formation of advanced glycation end products.

Methylglyoxal (MG) was studied as an inhibitor and effective glycating factor of human muscle-specific enolase. The inhibition was carried out by the use of a preincubation procedure in the absence of substrate. Experiments were performed in anionic and cationic buffers and showed that inhibition of enolase by methylglyoxal and formation of enolase-derived glycation products arose more effectively in slight alkaline conditions and in the presence of inorganic phosphate.

Structure of the glycerol phosphate-containing O-specific polysaccharide and serological studies on the lipopolysaccharides of Citrobacter werkmanii PCM 1548 and PCM 1549 (serogroup O14).

The O-specific polysaccharide was obtained by mild acid hydrolysis of the lipopolysaccharide of Citrobacter werkmanii PCM 1548 and PCM 1549 (serogroup O14) and found to contain D-glucose, D-glucosamine and glycerol-1-phosphate in molar ratios 2 : 2 : 1. Based on methylation analysis and 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy data, it was established that the O-specific polysaccharides from both strains have the identical branched tetrasaccharide repeating unit with 3,6-disubstituted GlcNAc, followed by 2,4-disubstituted Glc residues carrying at the branching points lateral residues of Glc and GlcNAc at positions 6 and 2, respectively. Glycerol-1-phosphate is linked to position 6 of the chain Glc.

Paraoxonase-1 status in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Background: Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an extracellular enzyme, which in the gastrointestinal tract may act as a local detoxifier, antioxidant, immunomodulator, and/or quorum-quenching factor. There are no data on PON1 activity in Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: PON1 phenotype and activity were determined spectrophotometrically in 52 subjects with CD, 67 with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 99 healthy individuals, and related to lipid peroxidation and disease phenotype, clinical and biochemical activity, and therapeutic strategy.

Pyrido-1,2-thiazines and their in vitro antibacterial evaluation.

A series of known and newly synthesized pyrido-1,2-thiazine derivatives of type 3-6 were evaluated against strains of Mycobacterium fortuitum (PCM 672) and Staphylococcus aureus (PCM 2602) The pilot experiments showed that most of the compounds in initial in vitro microbiological evaluation were not efficient antibacterial agents, but unexpectedly promoted replication of the microorganisms in the range of 10-50%.

Respiratory insufficiency related to COPD accelerates systemic inflammation, under-nutrition, and angiogenesis in esophageal malignancies.

Unlabelled: A number of esophageal cancer patients suffer from respiratory insufficiency due to the coexistence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Aim: To test the hypothesis that COPD-related systemic hypoxemia may result in accelerated inflammation, malnutrition, and angiogenesis in esophageal cancer patients.

Methods: Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, transferrin, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, TNF-alpha, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB), and midkine and patient BMI and weight-loss rate were determined and compared with blood oxygenation status (pO(2), SaO(2)) in 35 esophageal cancer patients and 42 controls.

Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) status in gastroesophageal malignancies and associated paraneoplastic syndromes - connection with inflammation.

Objective: To evaluate the status and diagnostic utility of antioxidant paraoxonase 1 (PON1) in gastroesophageal cancers.

Design And Methods: PON1's arylesterase/paraoxonase activities and phenotype were determined in 82 cancers and 57 controls, and related to clinicopathological features, anemia and cachexia coexistence, cholesterol levels, liver function panel, and inflammatory and angiogenic indices.

Results: PON1's activities were decreased in cancer.

Structure of a phosphoethanolamine-containing O-polysaccharide of Citrobacter freundii strain PCM 1443 from serogroup O39 and its relatedness to the Klebsiella pneumoniae O1 polysaccharide.

Lipopolysaccharide was extracted from cells of Citrobacter freundii PCM 1443 from serogroup O39 and degraded by mild acid hydrolysis to give an O-polysaccharide. Based on enzymatic and methylation analyses, along with 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, it was found that the lipopolysaccharide studied has two different linear polysaccharide chains of d-galactan type containing 3-substituted galactose residues. One of the galactans has the disaccharide repeating units of alpha-D-galactopyranose and beta-D-galactofuranose and the other is comprised of alpha-D-galactopyranose and beta-D-galactopyranose, the latter being substituted in 25% repeats with PEtN at O-6.

Acute-phase response proteins are related to cachexia and accelerated angiogenesis in gastroesophageal cancers.

Background: Accurate outcome prediction in gastroesophageal malignancies is challenging. Acute-phase response proteins (APRPs) have been claimed to be independent prognosticators, although the basis for their association with prognosis remains unexplained. We hypothesized that, similarly to pancreatic and lung cancers, changes in APRPs in gastroesophageal malignancies are associated with cachexia and accelerated angiogenesis.

Antibodies against Citrobacter braakii O37 cells recognize the N-glycan of the band 3 glycoprotein of human erythrocyte membrane.

The phenomenon of molecular mimicry was found previously for Citrobacter braakii O37, which shared epitopes with human and horse erythrocytes. The aim of this study was to elucidate the basis of the serological cross-reactivity between anti-C. braakii O37 serum and human erythrocytes.

Diagnostic potential of oxidative stress markers in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Objectives: To validate the diagnostic utility of oxidative stress markers in the evaluation of young type 1 diabetics, as suggested elsewhere.

Design: Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and total antioxidant status (TAS) were measured in sera from diabetics, their siblings and controls, with diagnostic potential evaluated by ROC analysis, and related to diabetes clinical parameters.

Results: In diabetics AOPP and TBARS were elevated, TAS decreased.

Enhanced formation of advanced oxidation protein products in IBD.

Background: Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) are new protein markers of oxidative stress with pro-inflammatory properties, accumulated in many pathological conditions. The issue of their enhanced formation in IBD has not been addressed yet.

Methods: The concentration of relative AOPPs (rAOPP; concentration of AOPPs divided by albumin level) were measured in 68 subjects with ulcerative colitis (UC), 50 subjects with Crohn's disease (CD) and 45 healthy volunteers, and related to disease phenotype, clinical and biochemical activity, and therapeutic strategy.

[Exopolysaccharides of lactic acid bacteria: structure and biosynthesis].

The group of lactic acid bacteria (LABs) includes four genera: Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, and Streptococcus. The most characteristic feature of this group of microorganisms is the production of lactic acid as a main product of carbohydrate metabolism. LABs are responsible for the fermentation of alimentary products and they also produce a variety of agents, among them exopolysaccharides (EPSs), which inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

[Enolase on the surface of prockaryotic and eukaryotic cells is a receptor for human plasminogen].

Enolase was long considered an enzyme of the glycolytic pathway ubiquitously occurring in the cytosol of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Results of extensive studies, especially those performed in the last ten years, indicate, however, that this protein is multifunctional. It plays several noncatalytic functions in various types of cells.

Impact of systemic hypoxemia on cancer aggressiveness and circulating vascular endothelial growth factors A and C in gastroesophageal cancer patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency.

Aim: Due to the common etiologic factor, a considerable number of esophagogastric cancer patients suffer from respiratory insufficiency in course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, primary to cancer. Systemic hypoxemia may account for poor oxygenation of tumor tissue-a main driving force of tumor neoangiogenesis. We hypothesized that in cancer patients with respiratory insufficiency, systemic hypoxemia may be related to enhanced aggressiveness of cancer on one side and to the elevation of angiogenic factors on the other.

[Chemotaxonomical methods in the diagnostics of clinical strains causing actinobacterial infections].

The application of polyphasic taxonomic studies to identify several strains of Actinobacteria is presented. These microorganisms cause opportunistic infections relatively often (especially in immunocompromised patients), but their proper classification is difficult and they may be mistaken with other similar taxa. The article involves some clinical isolates properly identified by extended analysis, including simplified chromatographic methods (TLC, GLC).

Ruania albidiflava gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the suborder Micrococcineae.

A Gram-positive, coccoid, non-spore-forming bacterium, designated strain 3-6(T), was isolated from farmland soil and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic analysis. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the strain represented a novel member of the suborder Micrococcineae. Its nearest phylogenetic neighbour was the type strain of Georgenia muralis (94.

Influence of macrophage activation on their capacity to bind bacterial antigens studied with atomic force microscopy.

In this work we studied interactions between bacterial antigens and receptors on the surface of macrophages using atomic force microscopy (AFM). We used two bacterial cell wall components: lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from gram-negative Escherichia coli and exopolysaccharide (EPS) derived from gram-positive Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Interactions between these bacterial antigens and immune cell receptors were studied in peritoneal macrophages derived from two strains of mice, CBA and C3H/J, in which the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is genetically disabled.

Structure and serological analysis of the Hafnia alvei 481-L O-specific polysaccharide containing phosphate in the backbone chain.

The lipopolysaccharide was extracted from cells of Hafnia alvei 481-L bacterial strain and, after mild acid hydrolysis, the O-specific polysaccharide was isolated and characterised. On the basis of chemical analyses and NMR spectroscopic studies of the polysaccharide and oligosaccharides obtained after Smith degradation, or hydrogen fluoride treatment, it was found that the repeating unit of the O-specific polysaccharide is a phosphorylated hexasaccharide: [see text]. The biological repeating unit of the H.

Enterobacterial 38-kDa outer membrane protein is an age-dependent molecular marker of innate immunity and immunoglobulin deficiency as results from its reactivity with IgG and IgA antibody.

In earlier studies on an animal model we observed protective properties of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Shigella, Hafnia, and Escherichia coli strains. In order to investigate human sera for reactivity with OMPs we subjected these proteins to immunoblotting with umbilical cord plasma and sera from children and adults. The IgG and IgA antibodies interacted primarily with a 38-kDa protein, in similar way for several enterobacterial strains, but different for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.