Development of a high-throughput RT-PCR based viral infectivity assay for monitoring the stability of a replicating recombinant Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis viral vector.

Traditional virus infectivity titration methods for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) are laborious, time-consuming, and low-throughput (e.g., focus forming unit (FFA) assay).

Solid-state photocrosslinking of hyaluronan microfibres.

Hyaluronan (HA) was chemically modified to a photocurable derivative by the acylation with a mixed anhydride of trans-cinnamic acid and characterized by UV, IR and 2D NMR spectroscopy. Photocurable HA was processed to a microfibrous structure by wet-spinning technology. Water solubility of otherwise water-soluble HA microfibres was reduced significantly by the solid-state photocrosslinking.

[Benefits of the classical approach in surgery for pulmonary metastases].

Introduction: Distant metastases remain a significant problem in the treatment of malignancies. Surgical management of pulmonary metastases is considered valuable from the oncological view only on condition that R0 resection can be achieved. The whole spectrum of resection procedures can be used, however most commonly, extraanatomic lung resections are employed.

Investigations of a rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), BAFF and its receptors.

B-cell activation factor belonging to the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF) is a major contributor to survival of B lymphocytes during development and maturation. A relationship between circulating BAFF levels and disease activity has been reported in patients with the autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Clinical trials targeting BAFF or its receptors are currently in progress.

Characterization of rabbit CD5 isoforms.

Previously described polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to rabbit CD5, raised against expressed recombinant protein or peptides, recognize CD5 on most rabbit B cells. The mAb KEN-5 was originally reported to recognize rabbit CD5. However, KEN-5 binds almost exclusively to T cells and only to a minor population of B cells.

Expression and localization of rabbit B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and its specific receptor BR3 in cells and tissues of the rabbit immune system.

Rabbits are widely used for vaccine development, and investigations of human infectious and autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). For these applications, we cloned, sequenced and expressed rabbit B-cell Activating Factor (BAFF), and localized BAFF in cells and tissues of the rabbit immune system. The rabbit homolog of the human BAFF binding site (miniBR3 peptide) within the BAFF-specific receptor BR3 was synthesized.

Free latissimus dorsi muscle flap for chronic bronchopleural fistula.

The author presents experience with the treatment of chronic bronchopleural fistula in a patient who suffered a gunshot injury to his right chest. During the primary assessment the patient underwent resection of two lobes of the right lung, and the patient healed without complications. Four years later the patient presented with bronchopleural fistula with empyema.

Biomarkers of Contaminant Exposure in Chub (Leuciscus cephalus L.) - Biomonitoring of Major Rivers in the Czech Republic.

Biochemical analysis of organisms to assess exposure to environmental contaminants is of great potential use. Biochemical markers, specifically liver enzymes of the first and the second phase of xenobiotic transformation - cytochrome P450 (CYP 450), ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and tripeptide reduced glutathione (GSH) - were used to assess contamination of the aquatic environment at 12 locations near the mouths of major rivers in the Czech Republic. These rivers were the Lužnice, Otava, Sázava, Berounka, Vltava, Labe, Ohře, Svratka, Dyje, Morava and Odra.

[Bronchoplastic surgery for non small-cell lung cancer].

Bronchoplastic surgery enlarge the spectrum of standardlung resections as a treatment of non-small cell lung career with preserved oncological radicality. The aim of our study is to assess, based on our own experience with 39 patients that underwent this kind of surgery, the results in terms of post-operative morbidity and mortality, to point out the risks of complication linked with this kind of resection and to define the factors suitable to minimize these risks. Very good immediate as well as long-term results place the bronchoplastic surgery to the same level of importance to standard lung resections.

CD5+ B cells are preferentially expanded in rabbit appendix: the role of CD5 in B cell development and selection.

Although only a small proportion of mouse and human B cells are CD5(+), most adult rabbit B cells express CD5. However, CD5 was not detectable on the majority of B cells in neonatal appendix 1 and 3days after birth. Cell trafficking studies demonstrated that CD5(+) and CD5(-) CD62L(+) B cells from bone marrow migrated into appendix.

Management of benign stenoses of the large airways in the university hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1998-2003.

Background: Clinically significant benign stenoses of the large airways develop in about 1% of patients after intubation. The management of benign stenoses is not unified around the world, nor are there any accepted methods for their screening.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to describe and compare results of interventional bronchoscopy and surgical therapy of benign stenoses as well as to propose an algorithm for the management of this airways disorder.

Stable expression of the extracellular domains of rabbit recombinant CD5: development and characterization of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies.

Previous studies in our laboratory suggested that there was positive selection of B cells during early development in the appendix of normal and V(H) mutant (ali/ali) rabbits. Preferential expansion and survival of B lymphocytes was affected by the Ig V(H) frameworks 1 and 3 sequences expressed on the cell surface. We demonstrated a specific interaction between rabbit CD5 and the V region of rabbit heavy chains and suggested that CD5 is a potential selecting ligand for B-cell surface immunoglobulin framework region sequences.

[Treatment of benign stenoses of the large airways at the Faculty Hospital Praha-Motol during 1998-2003].

The authors present diagnostic and therapeutical results in the group of 80 patients with benign stenoses of large airways, who were hospitalized at the TRN ward (Department of TB and respiratory disorders) of the Faculty hospital Motol in Prague between the years 1998-2003. 62 patients sufferred from stenoses in cosequence of their tracheal intubation or tracheostomy. In 18 cases the stenoses resulted from other disorders or pathological condidtions (Wegener's granulomatosis, status post lung transplantation, etc.

[Lymphadenectomy in gastric carcinoma--present status, new trends and personal experience].

The only hope for long time survival in gastric cancer is radical surgery with complete tumour removal. Lymphadenectomy as a part of surgical procedure helps to remove tumour completely. The value of lymphadenectomy for staging is clear and surgeons have no doubt about it.

Sentinel node biopsy in gastric cancer: preliminary results.

Background: Extent of lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer is one of the still unresolved and ongoing questions. Whether extensive procedures lead to better survival remains controversial. The detection of sentinel node could become a helpful method to define the desirable extent of lymph node dissection for each particular patient.

[Importance of parenchymal-sparing operations in the treatment of bronchogenic carcinoma].

Parenchyma-sparing operations or bronchoplastic operations are an important surgical technique in the surgical treatment of centrally located bronchogenic carcinoma. At present they are used in indicated cases also in patients without restricted pulmonary functions who are able to undergo pneumonectomy. For the patient bronchoplastic operations involve a smaller surgical stress as compared with pneumonectomy and a lower postoperative mortality and morbidity.

[Surgical treatment of bronchogenic carcinoma 1970-2001].

Background: Lung cancer (LC) is a permanent medical and social problem. 5709 patients died in the year 2000 of this disease in Czech Republic. Its incidence in men is 100/100,000 and it shows only small trend to decrease.

[Benign stenoses of the large respiratory airways].

Background: Benign stenoses of main respiratory pathways develop usually in patients after intubation or tracheostomy. Incidence of such states is not known, they are frequently diagnosed too late, and there are different views of their treatment. In order to contribute to the improvement of our knowledge of this serious impairment we followed prospectively all patients with this diagnose at our department since March 1998.

[Occlusion of a post-pneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula using the Dumon stent].

A postoperative bronchiopleural fistula associated with empyema of the chest is a serious complication in thoracic surgery, in particular when it develops after pneumonectomy. Some patients are in a condition which threatens their life and rules out extensive surgical interventions. Immediate thoracic drainage, thoracoscopic revision and sanation of the empyema cavity and endoscopic closure of the fistula are in indicated cases a therapeutic alternative of open surgical procedures.

[Radical treatment of a primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the thoracic wall].

Primitive neuroectodermal tumours are one of the histological types of soft tissue sarcomas. Although the maximum incidence of these tumours is at a relatively young age, they may be encountered also after the fifth decade. As apparent from the submitted case-record, their clinical and histological diagnosis can be relatively difficult.

CD5 is A potential selecting ligand for B-cell surface immunoglobulin: a possible role in maintenance and selective expansion of normal and malignant B cells.

Although the function of CD5 on B cells is unknown, previous studies suggested that CD5 interaction with V(H) framework regions of surface immunoglobulins (Igs) may contribute to survival and expansion of B cells. Here we used B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells and transformed B-cell lines from normal and B-CLL patients to study CD5-Ig interactions. Immobilized Ig binds and permits isolation of CD5 from lysates of CD5-expressing cell lines.

[The role of Czech physicians in the etiology, clinical aspects and epidemiology of exanthematous typhus].

Typhus fever was a lethal disease of mankind. Elucidation of its origin and spread was due to more or less unscientific approaches at the time. Only in the second half of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century the period of a scientific approach to knowledge of its etiology, clinical aspects and epidemiology started.

[Chylothorax--a rare type of pleural effusion. Case report].

Chylothorax is a rare type of pleural exudate. The diagnosis, assessment of etiology, reflections on the type of treatment, as well as treatment are associated with various pitfalls. The authors present the case-history of a patient with spontaneous chylothorax on the right who was successfully treated by surgery after possible ways of conservative treatment were exhausted.