Effects of cannabinoids and related fatty acids upon the viability of P19 embryonal carcinoma cells.

Compounds acting on the cannabinoid (CB) receptors are involved in the control of cell fate, and there is an emerging consensus that CBs have anticancer effects. However, the CB-mediated effects are contradictory since some studies suggest stimulatory effects on cancer cell proliferation, and CBs have been shown to stimulate both proliferation and differentiation of other mitotic cells such as stem and progenitor cells. In this study, the concentration-dependent effects of synthetic and endogenous CBs on the viability of mouse P19 embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells have been examined by using fluorescence assays of cell membrane integrity, cell proliferation, oxidative stress, and detection of apoptosis and necrosis.

Investigations and actions taken during 2011 due to the first finding of Echinococcus multilocularis in Sweden.

Echinococcus multilocularis is a parasite that can cause alveolar echinococcosis disease. After the first positive finding of E. multilocularis in Sweden in 2011, a consulting group with representatives from relevant authorities was summoned.

Source attribution of human Salmonella cases in Sweden.

The aim of this study was to identify the sources of sporadic domestic Salmonella cases in Sweden and to evaluate the usefulness of a source-attribution model in a country in which food animals are virtually free from Salmonella. The model allocates human sporadic domestic Salmonella cases to different sources according to distribution of Salmonella subtypes in the different sources. Sporadic domestic human Salmonella cases (n=1086) reported between July 2004 and June 2006 were attributed to nine food-animal and wildlife sources.

An outbreak of Shigella dysenteriae in Sweden, May-June 2009, with sugar snaps as the suspected source.

We report an outbreak of Shigella dysenteriae type 2 infections during May-June 2009 in Sweden, involving 47 suspected cases of whom 35 were laboratory-confirmed. The epidemiological investigation based on interviews with the patients pointed at sugar snaps from Kenya as the source. Shigella was not detected in samples of sugar snaps.

Cluster of Salmonella Enteritidis in Sweden 2005-2006 - suspected source: almonds.

Previous outbreaks of Salmonella Enteritidis in Canada and the United States have been associated with the consumption of almonds. From December 2005 to August 2006 a cluster of 15 cases of Salmonella Enteritidis NST 3+ was reported in Sweden. A case-control study was performed to identify the source of transmission.