Consumption of breads containing in situ-produced arabinoxylan oligosaccharides alters gastrointestinal effects in healthy volunteers.

Arabinoxylan oligosaccharides (AXOS) are studied as food compounds with prebiotic potential. Here, the impact of consumption of breads with in situ-produced AXOS on intestinal fermentation and overall gastrointestinal characteristics was evaluated in a completely randomized, double-blind, controlled, cross-over study. Twenty-seven healthy volunteers consumed 180 g of wheat/rye bread with or without in situ-produced AXOS (WR(+) and WR(-), respectively) daily for 3 wk.

Dental records: a Belgium study.

The aim of this study was to deduce the quality of the average dental record kept by Belgian dentists and to evaluate its potential use for forensic dental casework. The evaluated material originated from 598 Dutch speaking and 124 French speaking Belgian dentists who completed a questionnaire and returned it by mail or through the internet. The age of the participating dentists ranged from 22 to 72 years of age.

Macrophage subpopulations in the mouse spleen renewed by local proliferation.

A dual origin, by both immigration of blood monocytes and local proliferation has been reported for macrophages, which are heterogeneous in several aspects. Until now few studies have focussed on renewal of macrophages. Therefore, in this study macrophage renewal by local proliferation has been studied in the spleen.

Effects of the modulating agent WR2721 on myelotoxicity and antitumour activity in carboplatin-treated mice.

The selective modulation of carboplatin [diammine(1,1-cyclo-butanedicarboxylato)platinum(II)]-induced myelotoxicity was investigated in mice, using the protective agent WR2721 [S-2-(3-aminopropylamino)ethyl-phosphorothioic acid, ethiofos]. In female BALB/c mice, WR2721 (200 mg/kg intraperitoneally, i.p.

Establishment of bone marrow-derived macrophage cell lines by soft-agar cloning: regulation of macrophage heterogeneity at bone marrow level.

To study the regulation of macrophage (m phi) heterogeneity at bone marrow level, we developed a liquid culture system in which bone marrow-derived soft-agar colonies were expanded in the presence of colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1). Several cloned m phi precursor cells were established as CSF-1-dependent cell lines, and were analyzed for morphological, phenotypic and functional characteristics. The continuously proliferating cell lines expressed both immature and mature m phi markers.