Utilizing redox-sensitive GFP fusions to detect in vivo redox changes in a genetically engineered prokaryote.

Understanding the in vivo redox biology of cells is a complex albeit important biological problem. Studying redox processes within living cells without physical disruption or chemical modifications is essential in determining the native redox states of cells. In this study, the previously characterized reduction-oxidation sensitive green fluorescent protein (roGFP2) was used to elucidate the redox changes of the genetically engineered Escherichia coli strain, SHuffle.

[From guilt and shame to professional handling of mistakes--risk management in surgical medicine].

Medical advances in diagnosis and therapy, especially in medical technology, lead to differenciated and more complex strategies in therapy with higher risks. Patients show higher expectations concerning the results of a therapy and claim more often that a mistake in treatment has been made. This makes patients turn to arbitration boards more often.

Unified patch clamp protocol for the characterization of Pannexin 1 channels in isolated cells and acute brain slices.

In the central nervous system, Pannexin 1 (Panx1) channels are implicated in a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. One of the prerequisites to enlighten the role of Panx1 is the development and standardization of reliable methods. Here, we address the applicability of voltage clamp protocols to identify Panx1 channel mediated currents in neurons of acutely dissected brain slices.

[Geriatric surgery or geriatrisation of surgical medicine].

In the western industrial nations the proportion of old people (according to WHO definition people over 75 years) has been rising for many years and with it the amount of surgical treatment on this group of the population. High age does not automatically mean a risk too high for surgical treatment. Very often the reasons for this age group being high-risk patients are hospital admission in an advanced stage of illness or complications due to the illness.

[Quality assurance by routine data (QAR)--a new dimension in quality management of inpatient treatment?].

Patients, admitting doctors and payers want to have more and more valid information about the medical results in hospitals really are. The quality of medical care in hospitals is demonstrated in the quality reports through structure and process data, data of volume about the most common main diagnoses and procedures and, in the current version, also through data of external quality assurance. For patients and payers, this means that it may be difficult to obtain sufficient information on relevant quality criteria for different therapies in hospital departments.

[Surgery on the fast track--"fast track" concepts in abdominal-/pediatric surgery and urology].

In surgical medicine there are traditions, myths, rites and dogmas which define concepts of treatment and strategies. Upheld and passed on without being examined or confirmed in further studies, these concepts and strategies include preoperative intestinal lavage and fasting, postoperative long-term drainage, tubes und catheters, long-term relaxation of the intestine after abdominal surgery or immobilisation for some days. New techniques and procedures in surgery and anaesthesia, including postoperative pain management like laparoscopic surgery and partial anaesthesia, reduce the need for surgery and minimize morbidity of treatment.

Possible role of MDR1 two-locus genotypes for young-age onset ulcerative colitis but not Crohn's disease.

Background: The role of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on positions 2677G>T/A and 3435C>T of the multi-drug-resistance gene 1 (MDR1) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear.

Aims: To further elucidate the potential impact of MDR1 two-locus genotypes on susceptibility to IBD and disease behaviour.

Patients And Methods: Three hundred eighty-eight German IBD patients [244 with Crohn's disease (CD), 144 with ulcerative colitis (UC)] and 1,005 German healthy controls were genotyped for the two MDR1 SNPs on positions 2677G>T/A and 3435C>T.

[Vestibular paroxysmia. A rare but important differential diagnosis].

The diagnosis and treatment of vertigo are very common in ear nose and throat medicine and neurology. As our case report demonstrates, an interdisciplinary approach is often useful for finding the correct diagnosis. Diagnosing disabling positional vertigo now seems uncomplicated using special MRI.

Structural basis for the photochemistry of alpha-phycoerythrocyanin.

Phycobiliproteins and phytochromes are light-harvesting and light-sensing proteins containing linear tetrapyrroles, so-called bile chromophores. The chromophores in certain biliproteins, including the phytochromes, isomerize reversibly from a stable Z-configuration to a stable E-configuration when irradiated with light of the appropriate wavelength. Here, we report the crystal structure of alpha-phycoerythrocyanin with its chromophore in the E-configuration, compare it with the Z-configuration found in trimeric phycoerythrocyanin, and reveal the structural bases of the isomerization.

DLG5 variants in inflammatory bowel disease.

Objectives: Genetic variants within DLG5 were recently reported to be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of our study was to test for allelic and haplotype associations of six DLG5 variants in 668 IBD patients from two European populations. Furthermore, we evaluated whether DLG5 variants alter gastrointestinal permeability in Crohn's disease (CD).

Local protein flexibility as a prerequisite for reversible chromophore isomerization in alpha-phycoerythrocyanin.

Phycoerythrocyanin is the only cyanobacterial phycobiliprotein containing phycoviolobilin as a chromophore. The phycoviolobilin chromophore is photo-reactive; upon irradiation, the chromophore undergoes a Z/E-isomerization involving the rotation of pyrrole-ring D. We have determined the structure of trimeric phycoerythrocyanin at three different experimental settings: monochromatically at 110 K and 295 K as well as with the Laue method at 288 K.

The value of Ems Mineral Salts in the treatment of rhinosinusitis in children. Prospective study on the efficacy of mineral salts versus xylometazoline in the topical nasal treatment of children.

Unlabelled: The treatment of rhinosinusitis seen in the light of uncertain pathogenesis and variable symptoms is under discussion and ranges from the administration of antibiotics, decongestants and anti-allergic agents to no treatment. In this randomized, prospective, double-blind and controlled study the effect of a 14-day treatment (1-2 sprays into each nostril t.d.

Fatty acids in colostrum from mothers of children at high risk of atopy in relation to clinical and laboratory signs of allergy in the first year of life.

Background: It remains controversial whether fatty acid (FA) composition of breast milk relates to development of atopy in the infant. This study evaluates FA in colostrum from mothers of children at high risk of atopy in association with atopy at the age of 1 year.

Methods: The FA of colostrum were analyzed for 218 children (60 with low birth weight between 1500 and 2500 g, 84 with a history of maternal atopy, and 74 with an elevated cord blood immunoglobulin (Ig)E of >0.

[Improvement of functional deficits, physical mobility and cognitive function by treatment in a geriatric day hospital].

Objectives And Methods: Several studies showed the efficacy of inpatient geriatric treatment. Different outcomes were reported for geriatric patients treated in outpatient facilities. To analyze the course of rehabilitation, 312 patients (62.

Circulating vascular cell adhesion molecules VCAM-1, ICAM-1, and E-selectin in dependence on aging.

Background: Elevated levels of circulating cell adhesion molecules (cCAMs) such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin) are found in subjects with vascular diseases and in subjects with several risk factors for atherosclerosis. However, data evaluating cCAMs and biological age are limited.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess in subjects with different cardiovascular risk profiles the levels of cVCAM-1, cICAM-1, and cE-selectin in dependence on age.

Purification, crystallization, NMR spectroscopy and biochemical analyses of alpha-phycoerythrocyanin peptides.

The alpha-phycoerythrocyanin subunits of the different phycoerythrocyanin complexes of the phycobilisomes from the cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus perform a remarkable photochemistry. Similar to phytochromes - the photoreceptors of higher plants - the spectral properties of the molecule reversibly change according to the irradiation wavelength. To enable extensive analyses, the protein has been produced at high yield by improving purification protocols.

A rapid, quantitative immunofunctional assay for measuring human leptin.

Background: We have developed a rapid, sensitive and quantitative in vitro assay for leptin based upon its ability to bind to the soluble extracellular domain of the leptin receptor (sOB-R). Such an assay is theoretically capable of differentiating between physiologically active leptin molecules from those with modified, either enhanced or reduced, binding activity.

Methods: A preparation of sOB-R was immobilized to capture leptin from serum samples or standards.

[Age dependence of laboratory parameters in a health study--attempt at calculating a laboratory index for assessing biological aging].

The laboratory analyses of 404 participants of the health study GUNDULA, 201 men and 203 women between 30 and 80 years old, were performed to evaluate the variables for the determination of biological age. From the more than 70 laboratory variables resulting from clinical-chemical and hematologic tests and from urinalysis, less than 40 are significantly age-dependent. About half of these variables were examined by regression analysis to evaluate whether they are useful for the estimation of biological age by a laboratory index.

[Soluble leukocyte adhesion molecules in vegetarians of various ages].

Objectives: Upregulation of leukocyte adhesion molecules under atherogenic conditions is accompanied by the release of soluble forms of adhesion molecules into the bloodstream. Vegetarians have a favorable cardiovascular risk profile. The aim of the present study was to assess the levels of circulating E-selectin (cE-selectin), circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (cICAM-1), and circulating vascular adhesion molecule-1 (cVCAM-1) in both vegetarians and subjects of the average population and furthermore to evaluate the age dependence of cell adhesion molecules.

The exon 3-retaining and the exon 3-deleted forms of the growth hormone-binding protein (GHBP) in human serum are regulated differently.

Recently, two isoforms of the growth hormone-binding protein (GHBP), which is identical with the extracellular domain of the growth hormone receptor (GHR), have been described. One isoform contains the exon 3 (E3+GHBP) and one excludes the exon 3 (E3-GHBP). The distribution of both isoforms in peripheral blood and their functional relevance is so far unknown.