Helicobacter pylori and EBV in gastric carcinomas: methylation status and microsatellite instability.

Aim: To verify the methylation status of CDH1, DAPK, COX2, hMLH1 and CDKN2A genes and to evaluate their association with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-cagA(+) and Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infections in gastric adenocarcinomas.

Methods: Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) assay was performed in 89 primary gastric carcinomas (intestinal and diffuse types).

Autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis: benefits and risks.

Autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation has been evaluated over the last years as a possible new therapeutic strategy in severe forms of multiple sclerosis unresponsive to the approved therapies. Up to now, more than 400 patients have been treated and numerous are the phase I and phase II studies which addressed the feasibility of this treatment, the efficacy, side effects and transplant-related mortality. The clinical response is strongly related to the intensity of the conditioning regimen utilized as well as to the phase of the disease course in which the therapy is carried out.

Association of ideomotor apraxia with frontal gray matter volume loss in corticobasal syndrome.

Objective: To determine the brain areas associated with specific components of ideomotor apraxia (IMA) in corticobasal syndrome (CBS).

Design: Case-control and cross-sectional study.

Participants: Forty-eight patients with CBS and 14 control subjects.

Mycobacteria exploit p38 signaling to affect CD1 expression and lipid antigen presentation by human dendritic cells.

Group I CD1 proteins are specialized antigen-presenting molecules that present both microbial and self lipid antigens to CD1-restricted alpha/beta T lymphocytes. The production of high levels of gamma interferon and lysis of infected macrophages by lipid-specific T lymphocytes are believed to play pivotal roles mainly in the defense against mycobacterial infections. We previously demonstrated that Mycobacterium tuberculosis and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (Mycobacterium bovis BCG) induce human monocytes to differentiate into CD1- dendritic cells (DC), which cannot present lipid antigens to specific T cells.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigma factor sigmaB is required for full response to cell envelope stress and hypoxia in vitro, but it is dispensable for in vivo growth.

The numerous sigma (sigma) factors present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis are indicative of the adaptability of this pathogen to different environmental conditions. In this report, we describe the M. tuberculosis sigma(B) regulon and the phenotypes of an M.

Amyloid-beta42 plasma levels are elevated in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is considered a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We measured plasma levels of amyloid-beta40 (Abeta40) and Abeta42 in 191 subjects with aMCI. Seventy-nine of them were clinically followed for two years.

Characteristics of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Abkhazia (Georgia), a high-prevalence area in Eastern Europe.

Although multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in Eastern Europe, the factors contributing to emergence, spread and containment of MDR-TB are not well defined. Here, we analysed the characteristics of drug-resistant TB in a cross-sectional study in Abkhazia (Georgia) between 2003 and 2005, where standard short-course chemotherapy is supplemented with individualized drug-resistance therapy. Drug susceptibility testing (DST) and molecular typing were carried out for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains from consecutive smear-positive TB patients.

White matter reduced streamline coherence in young men with autism and mental retardation.

Background And Purpose: It has been proposed that white matter alterations might play a role in autistic disorders; however, published data are mainly limited to high-functioning autism. The goal of this study was to apply diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and fiber tractography (FT) to study white matter in low-functioning autism and the relationship between white matter and cognitive impairment.

Methods: Ten low-functioning males with autism (mean age: 19.

Allelic frequencies of HPA-1 to 5 human platelet antigens in patients infected with hepatitis C virus.

Studies have suggested that hepatitis C virus (HCV) may infect not only hepatocytes but may also be carried by platelets. Platelets express more than 20 polymorphic antigenic determinants on their surface, which are called human platelet antigens (HPA). To determine the allele frequency of the HPA-1 to -5 in patients infected with HCV, blood samples were collected from 257 blood donors for the control group and from 191 patients infected with HCV.

A novel diagnostic target in the hepatitis C virus genome.

Background: Detection and quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is integral to diagnostic and therapeutic regimens. All molecular assays target the viral 5'-noncoding region (5'-NCR), and all show genotype-dependent variation of sensitivities and viral load results. Non-western HCV genotypes have been under-represented in evaluation studies.

Executive dysfunction in frontotemporal dementia and corticobasal syndrome.

Objective: To determine the pattern of executive dysfunction in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and to determine the brain areas associated with executive dysfunction in these illnesses.

Method: We administered the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), a collection of standardized executive function tests, to 51 patients with behavioral-variant FTD and 50 patients with CBS. We also performed a discriminant analysis on the D-KEFS to determine which executive function tests best distinguished the clinical diagnoses of FTD and CBS.

Age-related decline in mentalizing skills across adult life span.

In the literature, there are few and conflicting reports regarding age-related changes in adult mentalizing abilities: whereas Happe et al. (1998, Developmental Psychology, 34, 358-362) showed better performances of elderly compared with young subjects in an advanced theory of mind (ToM) task, Mayor et al. (2002, British Journal of Psychology, 93, 465-485) and Sullivan and Ruffmann (2004, British Journal of Psychology, 95(Pt 1), 1-18) found an age-related decline.

Olfactory function in corticobasal syndrome and frontotemporal dementia.

Background: Formal olfactory testing may be useful as a bedside tool to help differentiate between conditions such as atypical parkinsonism, dementia, and psychiatric conditions. However, the neural basis of olfactory dysfunction, the effect of concurrent cognitive deficits on olfactory testing results, and the exact prevalence of olfactory deficits in populations with corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and the frontal variant of frontotemporal dementia (FTD-FV) are to date unclear.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and the neural basis of olfactory recognition deficits in patients with a clinical diagnosis of CBS or FTD-FV.

Positive selection results in frequent reversible amino acid replacements in the G protein gene of human respiratory syncytial virus.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years of age and the elderly, causing annual disease outbreaks during the fall and winter. Multiple lineages of the HRSVA and HRSVB serotypes co-circulate within a single outbreak and display a strongly temporal pattern of genetic variation, with a replacement of dominant genotypes occurring during consecutive years. In the present study we utilized phylogenetic methods to detect and map sites subject to adaptive evolution in the G protein of HRSVA and HRSVB.

IFN-beta improves BCG immunogenicity by acting on DC maturation.

Given the variable protective efficacy provided by Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), there is an urgent need to develop new vaccines against tuberculosis. As dendritic cells (DC) play a critical role in initiating and regulating a protective T cell response against the pathogens, the comprehension of mycobacterium-induced modulation of DC functions is critical to pinpoint new, immunological strategies. To this end, a comparative analysis of the effect induced by BCG and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection on the DC immunophenotype indicated that BCG is less efficient in inducing DC maturation than Mtb.

Structural connectivity influences brain activation during PVSAT in Multiple Sclerosis.

To assess the influence of white matter pathology on cortical reorganization, we probed the fronto-parietal attention network in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients by combining the Paced Visual Serial Addition Test (PVSAT) with fMRI-guided fiber tractography (FT). During the PVSAT, the control subjects activated the left inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, precuneus, precentral gyrus, and medial and middle frontal gyri; while the precuneus and the inferior parietal lobule gyrus bilaterally, the left precentral and angular gyri and the right superior parietal lobule were activated in the MS group. At fMRI-guided FT, the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) was the main white matter tract connecting areas active during the PVSAT.

Integral calculus problem solving: an fMRI investigation.

Only a subset of adults acquires specific advanced mathematical skills, such as integral calculus. The representation of more sophisticated mathematical concepts probably evolved from basic number systems; however its neuroanatomical basis is still unknown. Using fMRI, we investigated the neural basis of integral calculus while healthy participants were engaged in an integration verification task.

The LTK63 adjuvant improves protection conferred by Ag85B DNA-protein prime-boosting vaccination against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection by dampening IFN-gamma response.

T helper type-1 response is essential to control Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection but excessive antigen-mediated inflammation concurs to pathology. In mice challenged with MTB, the protection elicited by an Ag85B-encoding DNA vaccine, was lost when mice were boosted with Ag85B-protein in the absence of adjuvant. This effect was due to the expansion of a set of IFN-gamma secreting-CD4+ T cells highly responsive to Ag85B-protein but which lost the ability to interact with MTB-infected macrophages and control MTB growth.

Relationship between EBV infection and expression of cellular proteins c-Myc, Bcl-2, and Bax in gastric carcinomas.

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been related to tumorigenesis in about 10% of all gastric carcinomas. Several studies have demonstrated strong evidence of its involvement in this process, but most of the mechanisms used by the virus to control this process are still unknown. Previous studies in vitro have indicated a relationship between the virus and some cellular genes involved in processes such as proliferation and apoptosis.

Boosting virology in Brazil.

The Viral Genetic Diversity Network, established in Brazil to enhance the study of viruses, antiviral drug resistance, and the spread of specific viral genotypes, also increased the net scientific production of virology research, and may provide a viable model for other developing countries to reduce the risks of pandemics and facilitate basic scientific research.

Using pegylated interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin to treat chronic hepatitis patients infected with hepatitis c virus genotype 1: are nonresponders and relapsers different populations?

The combination of pegylated interferon (PEG-INF) and ribavirin is currently the best treatment for chronic hepatitis C, providing a sustained virological response (SVR) in 54%-63% of patients. In patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, the SVR rate is 42%-52%. To evaluate the treatment efficacy of this drug combination, we conducted an open, prospective study of 58 consecutive treatment-naïve patients infected with HCV genotype 1 and treated at a university hospital, comparing those presenting an SVR (SVRs), nonresponders (NRs), and relapsers (RELs).

Functional magnetic resonance evidence of cortical alterations in a case of reversible congenital lymphedema of the lower limb: a pilot study.

We report the first application of brain functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to congenital peripheral lymphedema patients before and after microsurgical treatment. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of limb shape change on cortical organization of the motor system and how the cortical sensorimotor network restructures after microsurgical therapy. We acquired fMRI during active motor and motor imagery tasks before surgery and six months after surgery in a patient with congenital lymphedema of the left leg.

Cell wall-associated alpha-glucan is instrumental for Mycobacterium tuberculosis to block CD1 molecule expression and disable the function of dendritic cell derived from infected monocyte.

We previously described an escape mechanism exploited by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to prevent the generation of fully competent dendritic cells (DC). We have now tested the effect of isolated mycobacterial components on human monocyte differentiation into DC and demonstrated that cell wall (CW)-associated alpha-glucan induces monocytes to differentiate into DC (Glu-MoDC) with the same altered phenotype and functional behaviour of DC derived from Mtb-infected monocytes (Mt-MoDC). In fact, Glu-MoDC lack CD1 molecule expression, fail to upregulate CD80 and produce IL-10 but not IL-12.