The role of chemotherapeutic drugs in the evaluation of breast tumour response to chemotherapy using serial FDG-PET.

Introduction: The aims of this study were to investigate whether drug sequence (docetaxel followed by anthracyclines or the drugs in reverse order) affects changes in the maximal standard uptake volume (SUVmax) on [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with locally advanced breast cancer.

Methods: Women were randomly assigned to receive either drug sequence, and FDG-PET scans were taken at baseline, after four cycles and after eight cycles of chemotherapy. Tumour response to chemotherapy was evaluated based on histology from a surgical specimen collected upon completion of chemotherapy.

Antimicrobial resistance in Helicobacter pylori isolates from children.

Objective: To determine the resistance rate to four antimicrobial agents commonly used in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in children.

Methods: Between July 1997 and January 2000, all H. pylori isolates from children undergoing gastroscopy were prospectively collected and subcultured to yield the susceptibility to four antimicrobial agents by E-test.

Detection of extended spectrum beta-lactamases in the routine clinical microbiology laboratory.

Aims: To compare three methods of confirming the presence of an extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) enzyme with the initial detection (i.e., screening) by the Vitek AMS.

Bacteremia due to Leptotrichia trevisanii sp. nov.

A thin, filamentous, non-motile, aerotolerant, anaerobic, gram-negative bacterium was isolated from the blood of a 46-year-old man who was diagnosed as having acute myeloid leukemia. The organism had a positive catalase reaction but was negative in indole and oxidase tests. A commercially available system failed to identify the bacterium, but 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed it to be most closely related (97% similarity) to a recently isolated Leptotrichia sp.

Accurate prediction of macrolide resistance in Helicobacter pylori by a PCR line probe assay for detection of mutations in the 23S rRNA gene: multicenter validation study.

Helicobacter pylori strains from 299 patients were tested in six laboratories in different countries. Macrolide susceptibility of the strains was determined by agar dilution (17.4%) or the epsilometer test (82.

Accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori. Urease tests.

Because of their ease of use, rapidity, and cost-effectiveness, rapid urease biopsy tests continue to be an important diagnostic tool for the endoscopist. Various forms of these tests are available in different parts of the world, characteristically leading to sensitivities of 93% to 97% and specificities of 98%. When performing rapid urease tests, the endoscopist should be aware of factors that might lead to false-negative and false-positive results and should ensure that the biopsy specimens are of adequate size and taken from the correct location.

Randomized trial of omeprazole and metronidazole with amoxycillin or clarithromycin for Helicobacter pylori eradication, in a region of high primary metronidazole resistance: the HERO study.

Background: The efficacy of omeprazole-based eradication therapies has been determined mostly in populations with low to moderate prevalence of metronidazole resistant Helicobacter pylori, yet resistance is high in many regions.

Aim And Methods: The H. pylori eradication and duodenal ulcer healing rates after 1 week of either omeprazole 40 mg mane, amoxycillin 500 mg t.

Use of a dry latex agglutination test to measure eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Background And Methods: A total antibody latex serology test was compared with enzyme immunoassay serology after treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection in 22 patients.

Results: Nineteen patients were cured of infection, but only nine (47%) were negative by the latex test after 6 months. However a significant decline in immunoglobulin (Ig)G was seen in 90% of the cured patients.

Geographic distribution of vacA allelic types of Helicobacter pylori.

Background & Aims: Distinct allelic types of Helicobacter pylori vacA have been defined. The geographic distribution of vacA alleles and cagA was assessed in this study.

Methods: A total of 735 cultures from patients in 24 countries were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and reverse hybridization on a line probe assay (LiPA).

Expanding allelic diversity of Helicobacter pylori vacA.

The diversity of the gene encoding the vacuolating cytotoxin (vacA) of Helicobacter pylori was analyzed in 98 isolates obtained from different geographic locations. The studies focused on variation in the previously defined s and m regions of vacA, as determined by PCR and direct sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of four distinct types of s-region alleles: aside from the previously described s1a, s1b, and s2 allelic types, a novel subtype, designated s1c, was found.

Novel bismuth compounds have in vitro activity against Helicobacter pylori.

The increasing antimicrobial resistance in Helicobacter pylori has led to the search for new therapeutic agents. In this in vitro study, novel compounds combining bismuth with sialic acid inhibitors were investigated for bactericidal activity using time-kill methodology. The activity of these compounds was compared to bismuth subcitrate against a type strain and a clinical isolate of H.

Antimicrobial resistance testing of Helicobacter pylori: a comparison of Etest and disk diffusion methods.

Routine antimicrobial resistance testing of Helicobacter pylori is more commonly performed since the correlation between metronidazole resistance and failure to eradicate using this drug, has been made. While resistance testing of H. pylori by Etest is simple to perform, it is expensive compared to disk diffusion methods.

The actions of bismuth in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Bismuth salts have been used in medicine for over three centuries, particularly in the treatment of dyspepsia. Commonly used agents include colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), bismuth subsalicylate (BSS) and the newer ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC). These are safe drugs which exert local effects on the gastroduodenal mucosa.

Bactericidal activity and synergy studies of proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics against Helicobacter pylori in vitro.

The bactericidal activity of the proton pump inhibitors omeprazole and lansoprazole alone and in combination with a beta-lactam or macrolide antibiotic were investigated in vitro. Time-kill curves against Helicobacter pylori NCTC 11637 and a recent clinical isolate revealed significant concentration-dependent killing with all drugs other than amoxycillin. Combinations of proton pump inhibitor and erythromycin showed synergic activity.

Oxygen concentration influences proton pump inhibitor activity against Helicobacter pylori in vitro.

Omeprazole and lansoprazole are proton pump inhibitors that have shown activity against Helicobacter pylori and other Helicobacter species when tested by agar dilution. Lansoprazole was more active against H. pylori than was omeprazole, and the activity was independent of urease production.

Metronidazole resistance: a predictor of failure of Helicobacter pylori eradication by triple therapy.

Triple therapy (bismuth and two antibiotics) will eradicate Helicobacter pylori infection in 70-90% of subjects. Treatment failure has been attributed to patient compliance and antimicrobial drug resistance. The aim of this study was to examine factors influencing the eradication of H.

A practical single sample dry latex agglutination test for Helicobacter pylori antibody detection.

Assessment of a single serum sample for Helicobacter pylori antibodies is frequently requested in routine diagnostic laboratories. Current enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits are not ideal for testing small numbers of serum samples and some have low sensitivities, specificities or large grey zones. A panel of 90 serum samples from patients who had presented for routine upper endoscopy was used to compare three kits for the detection of H pylori antibodies: (1) Pyloriset Dry, total antibody latex agglutination, Orion Diagnostica, Espoo, Finland; (2) Pyloriset enzyme immunoassay (EIA), IgG ELISA, Orion; and (3) Hel-p, IgG ELISA, Amrad, Kew, Victoria, Australia.