Roles of infection, inflammation, and the immune system in cholesterol gallstone formation.

Cholesterol gallstone formation is a complex process mediated by genetic and environmental factors. Until recently, the role of the immune system in the pathogenesis of cholesterol gallstones was not considered a valid topic of research interest. This review collates and interprets an extensive body of basic literature, some of which is not customarily considered to be related to cholelithogenesis, describing the multiple facets of the immune system that appear to be involved in cholesterol cholelithogenesis.

Cell physiology and protein secretion of Bacillus licheniformis compared to Bacillus subtilis.

The genome sequence of Bacillus subtilis was published in 1997 and since then many other bacterial genomes have been sequenced, among them Bacillus licheniformis in 2004. B. subtilis and B.

Heterologous expression and characterization of choline oxidase from the soil bacterium Arthrobacter nicotianae.

In the course of a microbial screening of soil samples for new oxidases, different enrichment strategies were carried out. With choline as the only carbon source, a microorganism was isolated and identified as Arthrobacter nicotianae. From this strain, a gene coding for a choline oxidase was isolated from chromosomal DNA.

Recovery of choline oxidase activity by in vitro recombination of individual segments.

Initial attempts to express a choline oxidase from Arthrobacter pascens (APChO-syn) in Escherichia coli starting from a synthetic gene only led to inactive protein. However, activity was regained by the systematic exchange of individual segments of the gene with segments from a choline oxidase-encoding gene from Arthrobacter globiformis yielding a functional chimeric enzyme. Next, a sequence alignment of the exchanged segment with other choline oxidases revealed a mutation in the APChO-syn, showing that residue 200 was a threonine instead of an asparagine, which is, thus, crucial for confering enzyme activity and, hence, provides an explanation for the initial lack of activity.

Microelectrode arrays and ceric ammonium nitrate: a simple strategy for developing new site-selective synthetic methods.

Conditions for a site-selective ceric ammonium nitrate oxidation have been developed. The reactions proceed nicely on both 1K- and 12K-microelectrode arrays. The procedure for developing the reactions was very simple and demonstrated that the same reagents used for a solution-phase reaction can be used for a related site-selective reaction on a microelectrode array.

Generation of HIV-1-specific T cells by electroporation of T-cell receptor RNA.

Background: HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which recognize conserved epitopes of the virus, are correlated with prolonged survival of infected individuals. Unfortunately, most HIV-1-infected patients are unable to generate such an immune response. Antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes can be generated by T-cell receptor transfer.

Moving known libraries to an addressable array: a site-selective hetero-Michael reaction.

A two-step, Michael reaction-based strategy for site-selectively placing molecules by unique electrodes in an addressable microelectrode array has been developed. The strategy is compatible with the use of polypeptide nucleophiles and works with microelectrode arrays having either 1024 electrodes/cm (2) or 12,544 electrodes/cm (2). The chemistry should allow for the transfer of existing molecular libraries to microelectrode array devices for analysis.

Evidence for separate diseases?: Stages of one disease or different combinations of symptom dimensions?

Objective: We tested Kraepelin's dichotomy model by studying the separability of schizophrenia and depression on the basis of symptoms and illness course.

Materials And Methods: Matched untreated patients with schizophrenia and depression (n = 130 each) and 130 "healthy" controls were assessed from onset to first admission. In a second study the same variables were studied in 107 patients with schizophrenia over a homogenised follow-up of 134 months (11.

Segmental bowel-wall thickening on abdominal ultrasonography: an additional diagnostic sign in Kawasaki disease.

Abdominal complaints are a frequent early feature of Kawasaki disease, an acute systemic febrile vasculitis of childhood. The only well known correlating morphological finding on abdominal US is gallbladder hydrops. We report two boys with Kawasaki disease who showed segmental thickening of the small-bowel wall on abdominal US.

Cystic renal disease in the domestic ferret.

Cystic renal diseases in domestic ferrets are a common anecdotal finding but have received scant systematic assessment. We performed a 17-y, case-control retrospective analysis of the medical records of 97 ferrets housed at our institution between 1987 and 2004, to determine the prevalence and morphotypes of cystic renal diseases in this species. Histologic sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Masson trichrome, or periodic acid-Schiff were evaluated by a comparative pathologist, and statistical analysis of hematologic and serum chemistry values was correlated with morphologic diagnosis.

Building addressable libraries: site-selective formation of an N-acyliminium ion intermediate.

A strategy for site-selectively generating reactive N-acyliminium ion intermediates on a microelectrode array has been developed. The route capitalizes on the use of an electroauxiliary for building a methoxylated amino acid substrate, and then the electrochemical generation and solution phase confinement of acid in order to form the N-acyliminium ion. Keys to this strategy were the stability of an N-alpha-methoxyalkyl amide to basic reaction conditions and the generality of the electrogenerated acid conditions for conducting microelectrode array reactions in a site-selective fashion.

Helicobacter hepaticus urease is not required for intestinal colonization but promotes hepatic inflammation in male A/JCr mice.

Urease activity contributes to bacterial survival in the acidic environment of the stomach and is essential for persistent infection by known gastric helicobacters such as the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Several enterohepatic Helicobacter species (EHS) that primarily infect the less acidic intestine also have very active urease enzymes. The importance of urease and its contribution to pathogenesis for these EHS are poorly understood.

Visual perceptual organization deficits in Alzheimer's dementia.

Background: Deficits in visual processing are a prominent feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the cognitive and neuropathological mechanisms underlying these deficits are poorly understood. In the current study, we examined the hypothesis that perceptual organization is specifically impaired in AD compared to other dementias.

Methods: We examined perceptual organization with a psychophysically well-controlled measure of contour integration in patients with AD (n = 17), vascular dementia (n = 5), frontotemporal dementia (n = 5) and mild cognitive impairment (n = 10) and 11 age-matched healthy controls.

Role of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-mediated immune selection in a dominant human leukocyte antigen-B8-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitope in Nef.

Objectives: To study the role of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) escape for disease progression in HIV-1 infection, we analyzed the CTL response to the dominant human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B8-restricted CTL epitope FLKEKGGL (FL8) in HIV-1 Nef.

Methods: HIV-1 nef genes derived from 56 patients were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based sequencing. T-cell responses against FL8 and mutated FL8 variants were detected by gamma-interferon (gamma-IFN) enzyme linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay.

Continuous extrapleural infusion of ropivacaine 0.2% after cardiovascular surgery via the lateral thoracotomy approach.

Objective: The pharmacokinetics of ropivacaine 0.2% were evaluated during a 48-hour continuous extrapleural infusion with 2 different infusion rates in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. The hypotheses that no toxic plasma concentrations of ropivacaine would be reached and that proportionality exists among plasma concentrations and dosage used were tested.

Improved sandwich-hybridization assay for an electrical DNA-chip-based monitoring of bioprocess-relevant marker genes.

Recently, it was shown that electrical DNA-chips in connection with a magnetic bead-based sandwich-hybridization assay can be a suitable alternative for the analysis of gene expression by monitoring the respective mRNA levels. In this study, we established an improved assay which allowed for a significantly shortened but sensitive detection of specific mRNAs. These improvements include the change to a solution-based sandwich-hybridization and the rearrangement of the used oligonucleotide probes.

Acute effects of treatment for prodromal symptoms for people putatively in a late initial prodromal state of psychosis.

Background: People in a putatively late prodromal state not only have an enhanced risk for psychosis but already suffer from mental and functional disturbances.

Aims: To evaluate the acute effects of a combined supportive and antipsychotic treatment on prodromal symptoms.

Method: Putatively prodromal individuals were randomly assigned to a needs-focused intervention without (n=59) or with amisulpride (n=65).

Evaluation of calculation algorithms implemented in different commercial planning systems on an anthropomorphic breast phantom using film dosimetry.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of dose calculation algorithms of different planning systems for postoperative tangential radiotherapy in breast cancer.

Material And Methods: On a CT dataset of an anthropomorphic phantom, a structure set of the left lung, clinical target volume (CTV), planning target volume, heart, and external contour were delineated. The dataset was processed by six radiation oncology centers participating in this multicenter dosimetry project.

Contribution of impaired early-stage visual processing to working memory dysfunction in adolescents with schizophrenia: a study with event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Context: Working memory (WM) deficits in patients with schizophrenia have mainly been associated with prefrontal dysfunction. However, the contribution of perceptual deficits and abnormalities in sensory areas has not been explored. The present study closes this important gap in our understanding of WM dysfunction in schizophrenia by monitoring neural activity during WM encoding and retrieval with event-related potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Enhanced apoptosis, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in lymphocytes as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common progressive neurodegenerative disease. Today, AD affects millions of people worldwide and the number of AD cases will increase with increased life expectancy. The AD brain is marked by severe neurodegeneration like the loss of synapses and neurons, atrophy and depletion of neurotransmitter systems in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

Visual hallucinations in schizophrenia investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging.

We investigated a 27-year old patient with paranoid schizophrenia. Brain activity related to visual hallucinations was found in higher visual areas corresponding to the content of the hallucinations (faces, bodies, scenes) and the hippocampus. We assume that the hippocampal activity is related to the retrieval of visual images from memory and that sensory cortex activity is related to the vividness of the perceptual experience.

Increased T-cell reactivity and elevated levels of CD8+ memory T-cells in Alzheimer's disease-patients and T-cell hyporeactivity in an Alzheimer's disease-mouse model: implications for immunotherapy.

Neuroinflammation is observed in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, a little is known about the mechanisms of neural-immune interactions. The involvement of peripheral T-cell function in AD is still far from clear, though it plays an important role in immunotherapy.