[A case of gallbladder cancer which completely responded to gemcitabine].

A 7 9-year-old man with advanced gallbladder cancer (stage IVa) underwent chemotherapy with single-agent gemcitabine (1,400mg/body: day 1, 8, 15, every 4 weeks) as first-line chemotherapy. As soon as the chemotherapy started, the carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) level was notably reduced, and after 4 courses, CT scan revealed that the tumor was markedly reduced in size. We thought he could undergo curative operation, and performed and extended cholecystectomy and lymph node dissection.

Differential cytokine response in host defence mechanisms triggered by gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, and the roles of gabexate mesilate, a synthetic protease inhibitor.

Bacterial infection results in the production of inflammatory mediators and may be involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis and/or systemic inflammatory response syndrome. The effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major component of the outer surface of Gram-negative bacteria, and Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), a superantigen of Gram-positive bacteria, on cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was examined. LPS significantly increased the production of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and SEB enhanced the production of helper T lymphocyte type cytokines.

Clinical value of soluble interleukin-2 receptor in infectious complications.

In this study, we investigated serum-soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2r) and neopterin (NPT) levels in five patients with severe postoperative infections. A total of 25 synchronous determinations of sIL-2r and NPT were performed. A marked increase in sIL-2r and NPT levels was observed, and the increase in sIL-2r was significantly correlated to that of NPT which is a marker of macrophage activity.