Primary treatment of cervical carcinoma. Ten years experience from one Norwegian health region.

Objective: To study the primary care of cervical carcinoma with regard to clinical and pathological factors, treatment decisions, complications and survival.

Design: A historical cohort comprising all women hospitalized with invasive cervical carcinoma (n=293) during the period 1987-1996.

Results: Median age was 52 years (range 23-90).

A novel polymorphism in the toll-like receptor 2 gene and its potential association with staphylococcal infection.

The toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) has gained importance as a major mammalian receptor for lipoproteins derived from the cell wall of a variety of bacteria, such as Borrelia burgdorferi, Treponema pallidum, and Mycoplasma fermentans. We were interested in identifying mutations in the TLR2 gene that might prove to be associated with altered susceptibility to septic shock. We performed a mutation screen of the TLR2 gene using single-stranded conformational polymorphism in 110 normal, healthy study subjects and detected an Arg753Gln mutation in three individuals.

Evaluation of the growth dynamics of Trichophyton rubrum cultures by morphometry and non-linear curve fitting analysis.

To determine the size of dermatophyte thalli, a point-counting procedure with a square lattice grid is proposed instead of using the one-dimensional diameter as the size parameter. For an analysis of the growth dynamics of such colonies, the area values might be subjected to a non-linear curve-fitting procedure. To demonstrate the method, samples of 15 Trichophyton rubrum strains, isolated from human skin and cultured concomitantly on Sabouraud and Selective agar during a period of 8 weeks, were used.

TLR4 mutations are associated with endotoxin hyporesponsiveness in humans.

There is much variability between individuals in the response to inhaled toxins, but it is not known why certain people develop disease when challenged with environmental agents and others remain healthy. To address this, we investigated whether TLR4 (encoding the toll-like receptor-4), which has been shown to affect lipopolysaccharide (LPS) responsiveness in mice, underlies the variability in airway responsiveness to inhaled LPS in humans. Here we show that common, co-segregating missense mutations (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) affecting the extracellular domain of the TLR4 receptor are associated with a blunted response to inhaled LPS in humans.

Effect of clarithromycin and omeprazole therapy on the diversity and stability of genotypes of Helicobacter pylori from duodenal ulcer patients.

The genotypes of multiple isolates of Helicobacter pylori from 17 duodenal ulcer patients in the United Kingdom were compared to determine reasons for treatment failure. Isolates were from antrum and corpus biopsies taken before and after dual therapy with clarithromycin and omeprazole. All isolates were tested for antibiotic resistance and characterised by a novel scheme combining polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the ureA + ureB and 23S rRNA genes, vacA signal and midregion genotypes, and PCR detection of cagA.

Noninsulinoma pancreatogenous hypoglycemia: a novel syndrome of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia in adults independent of mutations in Kir6.2 and SUR1 genes.

In adults, endogenous hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia is almost invariably due to insulinoma. In these patients with insulinoma, neuroglycopenic episodes exclusively after meal ingestion and negative 72-h fasts are extraordinarily rare. We describe five adults with neuroglycopenic episodes from hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia within 4 h of meal ingestion and negative 72-h fasts.

Physical association between recombinant cardiac ATP-sensitive K+ channel subunits Kir6.2 and SUR2A.

The inwardly-rectifying K+ channel Kir6.2 serves as a common pore-forming core in various ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels, and it is through assembly with sulfonylurea-receptor (SUR) isoforms, which are ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins, that tissue-specific channel phenotypes can be generated. In this regard, Kir6.

Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase exacerbates chronic cerebral toxoplasmosis in Toxoplasma gondii-susceptible C57BL/6 mice but does not reactivate the latent disease in T. gondii-resistant BALB/c mice.

Infection of C57BL/6 mice with Toxoplasma gondii leads to progressive and ultimately fatal chronic Toxoplasma encephalitis (TE). Genetic deletion or inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) from the beginning of infection increased the number of T. gondii cysts in the brain and markedly reduced the time-to-death in this mouse strain.

[Laparoscopic colorectal resections: indications, surgical technique and outcome in 410 prospective cases].

Unlabelled: From April 1993 to August 1997 410 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery for colon and rectal diseases. In the beginning we only operated on patients with benign disorders. Since July 1995 colorectal malignancies have also been resected.

[Laparoscopic appendectomy as standard procedure. Technique and outcome in 409 patients].

Unlabelled: In the framework of a prospective clinical trial we wanted to show that minimal access surgery as a standard treatment of acute appendicitis leads to good results.

Patients And Method: From January 1993 to December 1996 409 patients had a laparoscopic appendectomy in the Surgical Department of Krankenhaus Zehlendorf, Berlin. We treated 252 female (62%) and 157 male (38%).

Recombinant cardiac ATP-sensitive K+ channel subunits confer resistance to chemical hypoxia-reoxygenation injury.

Background: Opening of cardiac ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels has emerged as a promising but still controversial cardioprotective mechanism. Defining KATP channel function at the level of recombinant channel proteins is a necessary step toward further evaluation of the cardioprotective significance of this ion conductance.

Methods And Results: KATP channel deficient COS-7 cells were found to be vulnerable to chemical hypoxia-reoxygenation injury that induced significant cytosolic Ca2+ loading (from 97+/-3 to 236+/-11 nmol/L).

[Laparoscopic rectum resection with truncal ligation of the inferior mesenteric artery and mesorectal excision].

Laparoscopic techniques in surgical treatment of colorectal cancer are performed present in prospective trials. Operation times are clearly decreasing with growing surgical experience and oncological criteria concerning resection margins and lymphatic dissection are comparable with open surgery. Indications for laparoscopic rectal resections are the endoscopic non removable adenoma and cancer of the upper and lower rectum endosonographic up to maximum uT3-stage.

Subtyping of Campylobacter jejuni Penner serotypes 9, 38 and 63 from human infections, animals and water by pulsed field gel electrophoresis and flagellin gene analysis.

Pulsed field gel electrophoresis and PCR-RFLP flagellin gene profiling were used to discriminate 44 isolates of Campylobacter jejuni Penner heat stable (HS) serotypes 9, 38 and 63 from sporadic human infections and other sources. Genomic similarities between HS9 and HS38 strains were demonstrated. HS63 and HS1 strains of Camp.

[Vascular surgery techniques in peripheral vascular embolism].

Acute limb ischemia is an emergency which regularly requires operative treatment in departments of general surgery. In about 70% of cases there is an embolic reason for acute ischemia. In the majority of cases urgent operative desobliteration is required to guarantee limb salvage.

Evidence for direct physical association between a K+ channel (Kir6.2) and an ATP-binding cassette protein (SUR1) which affects cellular distribution and kinetic behavior of an ATP-sensitive K+ channel.

Structurally unique among ion channels, ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels are essential in coupling cellular metabolism with membrane excitability, and their activity can be reconstituted by coexpression of an inwardly rectifying K+ channel, Kir6.2, with an ATP-binding cassette protein, SUR1. To determine if constitutive channel subunits form a physical complex, we developed antibodies to specifically label and immunoprecipitate Kir6.

Type 1 interferon (IFNalpha/beta) and type 2 nitric oxide synthase regulate the innate immune response to a protozoan parasite.

Type 2 nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) is required for the Th1-dependent healing of infections with intracellular microbes, including Leishmania major. Here, we demonstrate the expression and define the function of NOS2 during the innate response to L. major.

[Laparoscopic colorectal surgery in routine at a municipal hospital].

Unlabelled: The importance of laparoscopic techniques in colorectal surgery as routine service in a municipal hospital is described in a prospective study.

Patients And Method: From April 1993 to March 1997 359 patients were operated laparoscopically for colon and rectum diseases in the surgical department of the municipal hospital Zehlendorf Berlin, local area Behring. In the beginning we operated only patients with benign disorders.

Lineages within Campylobacter jejuni defined by numerical analysis of pulsed-field gel electrophoretic DNA profiles.

Forty-seven Penner heat-stable (HS) serotype reference strains for Campylobacter jejuni and 47 serologically non-typable strains were examined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) DNA restriction analysis. The SmaI and KpnI digest profiles were compared by numerical analysis. Most strains grouped differently in the two analyses but strain lineages were inferred where the two agreed.

Application of the Mast resistotyping scheme to Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli.

The Mast resistotyping scheme was assessed with 228 strains of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli from enteric infections in man and from a diverse selection of other sources (livestock, chickens and river water). Most (153 of 158) C.

MetR-mediated repression of the glyA gene in Escherichia coli.

Inactivation of either of the two MetR binding sites centered at bp -143 and 121 relative to the +1 transcription start site results in reduced glyA-lacZ expression in a wild-type strain below the level seen in a metR mutant. This reduced expression is dependent on the side of the DNA helix MetR binds relative to the RNA polymerase binding site. Thus, a single MetR dimer bound to the DNA may play a physiological role in maintaining appropriate glyA gene expression, functioning as a repressor under low MetR conditions.

RNA polymerase, PurR and MetR interactions at the glyA promoter of Escherichia coli.

In Escherichia coli, the MetR and PurR proteins positively and negatively regulate glyA gene expression, respectively. A DNase I footprint analysis showed that both proteins bind independently to the glyA control region. The PurR protein blocks RNA polymerase (RNAP) from binding to the glyA promoter.

Cooperative MetR binding in the Escherichia coli glyA control region.

We determined the relative binding affinity of the MetR protein for wild-type and mutant MetR binding sites 1 and 2 in the Escherichia coli glyA control region. The results show that MetR binding site 1 has a higher affinity for the MetR protein than binding site 2. In addition, the results suggest that binding of MetR to the glyA promoter is cooperative.