Reduce bladder cancer recurrence in patients treated for upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma: The REBACARE-trial.

Background: Following radical nephro-ureterectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UUT), the reported bladder recurrence rate of urothelial carcinoma is 22-47%. A single intravesical instillation of chemotherapy within 10 days following nephro-ureterectomy has the potential to decrease the risk of a bladder recurrence significantly. Despite recommendation by the European Association of Urology guideline to administer a single instillation postoperatively, the compliance rate is low because the risk of extravasation of chemotherapy.

Radixin regulates synaptic GABAA receptor density and is essential for reversal learning and short-term memory.

Neurotransmitter receptor density is a major variable in regulating synaptic strength. Receptors rapidly exchange between synapses and intracellular storage pools through endocytic recycling. In addition, lateral diffusion and confinement exchanges surface membrane receptors between synaptic and extrasynaptic sites.

Erg potassium currents of neonatal mouse Purkinje cells exhibit fast gating kinetics and are inhibited by mGluR1 activation.

We investigated the subthreshold properties of an erg (ether-à-go-go-related gene) K(+) current in Purkinje cells of neonatal mice. Action potentials recorded from Purkinje cells in cerebellar slices exhibited a decreased threshold potential and increased frequency of spontaneous and repetitive activity following application of the specific erg channel blocker E-4031. Accommodation was absent before and after drug application.

Impact of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing by Dutch general practitioners.

Objective: To determine the impact of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) publication in 2009 on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level testing by Dutch general practitioners (GPs) in men aged ≥40 years.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective study with a Dutch insurance company database (containing PSA test claims) and a large district hospital-laboratory database (containing PSA-test results). The difference in primary PSA-testing rate as well as follow-up testing before and after the ERSPC was tested using the chi-square test with statistical significance at P < 0.

Prostate specific antigen testing policy worldwide varies greatly and seems not to be in accordance with guidelines: a systematic review.

Background: Prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing is widely used, but guidelines on follow-up are unclear.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature to determine follow-up policy after PSA testing by general practitioners (GPs) and non-urologic hospitalists, the use of a cut-off value for this policy, the reasons for repeating a PSA test after an initial normal result, the existence of a general cut-off value below which a PSA result is considered normal, and the time frame for repeating a test. Data sources.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone inhibits ether-à-go-go-related gene K+ currents in mouse gonadotropes.

Secretion of LH from gonadotropes is initiated by a GnRH-induced increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)). This increase in [Ca(2+)](i) is the result of Ca(2+) release from intracellular stores and Ca(2+) influx through voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels. Here we describe an ether-à-go-go-related gene (erg) K(+) current in primary mouse gonadotropes and its possible function in the control of Ca(2+) influx.

Erg K+ currents modulate excitability in mouse mitral/tufted neurons.

Different erg (ether-à-go-go-related gene; Kv11) K+ channel subunits are expressed throughout the brain. Especially mitral cells of the olfactory bulb are stained intensely by erg1a, erg1b, erg2, and erg3 antibodies. This led us to study the erg current in mitral/tufted (M/T) neurons from mouse olfactory bulb in primary culture.

Functional characterization of genetically labeled gonadotropes.

Gonadotropes are crucial in the control of reproduction but difficult to isolate for functional analysis due to their scattered distribution in the anterior pituitary gland. We devised a binary genetic approach, and describe a new mouse model that allows visualization and manipulation of gonadotrope cells. Using gene targeting in embryonic stem cells, we generated mice in which Cre recombinase is coexpressed with the GnRH receptor, which is expressed in gonadotrope cells.

Phospholipase C in living cells: activation, inhibition, Ca2+ requirement, and regulation of M current.

We have further tested the hypothesis that receptor-mediated modulation of KCNQ channels involves depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) by phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC). We used four parallel assays to characterize the agonist-induced PLC response of cells (tsA or CHO cells) expressing M1 muscarinic receptors: translocation of two fluorescent probes for membrane lipids, release of calcium from intracellular stores, and chemical measurement of acidic lipids. Occupation of M1 receptors activates PLC and consumes cellular PIP2 in less than a minute and also partially depletes mono- and unphosphorylated phosphoinositides.

Fast erg K+ currents in rat embryonic serotonergic neurones.

Ether-á-go-go-related gene (erg) channels form one subfamily of the ether-á-go-go (EAG) K(+) channels and all three erg channels (erg1-3) are expressed in the brain. In the present study we characterize a fast erg current in neurones in primary culture derived from the median part of rat embryonic rhombencephala (E15-16). The relatively uniform erg current was regularly found in large multipolar serotonergic neurones, and occurred also in other less well characterized neurones.

Muscarinic modulation of erg potassium current.

We studied modulation of current in human embryonic kidney tsA-201 cells coexpressing rat erg1 channels with M(1) muscarinic receptors. Maximal current was inhibited 30% during muscarinic receptor stimulation, with a small positive shift of the midpoint of activation. Inhibition was attenuated by coexpression of the regulator of G-protein signalling RGS2 or of a dominant-negative protein, G(q), but not by N-ethylmaleimide or C3 toxin.

Regulation of KCNQ2/KCNQ3 current by G protein cycling: the kinetics of receptor-mediated signaling by Gq.

Receptor-mediated modulation of KCNQ channels regulates neuronal excitability. This study concerns the kinetics and mechanism of M1 muscarinic receptor-mediated regulation of the cloned neuronal M channel, KCNQ2/KCNQ3 (Kv7.2/Kv7.

The usefulness of an oral calcium tolerance test in the choice of management of patients with idiopathic hypercalciuria.

We studied 40 patients with calcium urolithiasis and idiopathic hypercalciuria in an attempt to identify patients with an absorptive or renal type of hypercalciuria. An oral calcium tolerance test was performed in all patients, resulting in a rise in serum calcium in all cases (2.35 +/- 0.

Pharmacokinetics and endocrine effects of the LHR analogue buserelin after subcutaneous implantation of a slow release preparation in prostatic cancer patients.

The pharmacokinetics and endocrine effects of the LHRH analogue buserelin [D-Ser(TBU)6-LHRH], released from biodegradable implants, were studied in 14 patients with stage C and D prostate cancer. Six patients received a subcutaneous implant of 3.3 mg buserelin monthly, and 8 patients received a subcutaneous implant of 6.

Hammock anastomosis: a nonrefluxing ureteroileal anastomosis.

During a 9-year period diversion was performed in 48 patients by an antireflux ureteroileal anastomosis. Followup was possible in 30 patients (57 renal units). Among these 57 ureteroileal anastomoses only 3 cases of stenosis (6 per cent) and 11 cases of reflux (less than 20 per cent) were observed.