Risk of infection with Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis A virus in different groups of hospital workers.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether different staff groups in an acute care hospital are at increased risk of acquiring Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis A virus infection.

Methods: We examined staff members of an acute care hospital for serum antibodies to H. pylori IgG (n = 457) and to hepatitis A virus (n = 434).

Determination of catalase activity at physiological hydrogen peroxide concentrations.

A method for the determination of catalase activity (EC 1.11.1.

Drug-induced apoptosis in hepatoma cells is mediated by the CD95 (APO-1/Fas) receptor/ligand system and involves activation of wild-type p53.

Chemotherapeutic drugs are cytotoxic by induction of apoptosis in drug-sensitive cells. We investigated the mechanism of bleomycin-induced cytotoxicity in hepatoma cells. At concentrations present in the sera of patients during therapy, bleomycin induced transient accumulation of nuclear wild-type (wt) p53 and upregulated expression of cell surface CD95 (APO-1/Fas) receptor in hepatoma cells carrying wt p53 (HepG2).

[Is preoperative scintigraphy in euthyroid nodular goiter necessary?].

Preoperative thyroid isotope scan would influence the operative procedure and the perioperative management in patients with nontoxic goiter only if it raises suspicion of malignancy. However, the scintigram shows significantly lower sensitivity and specificity in the detection and prediction of malignant nodules in the thyroid gland than the ultrasound examination. Thyroid isotope scan is more expensive than ultrasonography, and its routine use in the investigation of nontoxic nodular goiter should be abandoned.

[Coincidence of primary sclerosing cholangitis and sarcoidosis--case report and review of the literature].

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and sarcoidosis are diseases of unknown etiology which are rarely associated. Here we report the case of a 31-year-old man with PSC and pulmonary sarcoidosis. In addition, we include a brief review on PSC and sarcoidosis, in particular with respect to etiopathogenesis and diagnosis.

Sequence analysis of hepatitis GB virus C (GBV-C) isolates from 14 patients.

In 1995, a new human hepatitis virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae was described and designated hepatitis GBV-C. To investigate variations within the genome of GBV-C and to study the relationship of GBV-C to GBV-A/B or hepatitis C virus (HCV), we established a detection system using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the putative helicase region (NS3). So far, isolates derived from 14 different GBV-C-positive sera were analyzed (GBV-C/S3-36), showing 80.

Effect of surface and intracellular pH on hepatocellular fatty acid uptake.

Fatty acids enter hepatocytes, at least in part, by a carrier-mediated uptake mechanism. The importance of driving forces for fatty acid uptake is still controversial. To evaluate possible driving mechanisms for fatty acid transport across plasma membranes, we examined the role of transmembrane proton gradients on fatty acid influx in primary cultured rat hepatocytes.

Lymphocyte apoptosis induced by CD95 (APO-1/Fas) ligand-expressing tumor cells--a mechanism of immune evasion?

The CD95 (APO-1/Fas) system is an important mediator of T-cell cytotoxicity. We investigated this system in 22 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) from patients. All HCCs had partially or completely lost the expression of the CD95 receptor constitutively expressed by normal liver cells and might thus evade CD95-mediated killing.

Phenprocoumon for prevention of shunt occlusion after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunt: a randomized trial.

Development of stenosis or occlusion of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunt (TIPSS) is one of the major limiting factors in the long-term viability of this procedure. The efficacy of anticoagulation with heparin which is used in different centers is still unclear. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of phenprocoumon on shunt patency after TIPSS placement using Palmaz stents; 49 patients with Child's A and B cirrhosis, who underwent successful TIPSS placement were randomized into the treatment group (n = 24) who received phenprocoumon and a control group (n = 25).

A novel two-nucleotide deletion in the ornithine transcarbamylase gene causing fatal hyperammonia in early pregnancy.

Ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency shows X-linked inheritance. Typically, symptomatic females (who constitute 15%-20% of all carriers) have markedly reduced enzyme activity and show first symptoms in late infancy or early childhood. Here we present the case of a previously asymptomatic 24-year-old woman who died of severe hyperammonemia associated with orotic aciduria but normal OTC activity in the fourth month of pregnancy.

[Current diagnosis: hereditary metabolic diseases of the liver (primary hemochromatosis, Wilson disease)].

Primary hemochromatosis is characterized by a specific pattern of clinical manifestations. It includes liver disease with hepatomegaly, glucose intolerance, e.g.

Kinetics of primary bile acids in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Administration of cyclosporin A (CsA) may induce cholestasis, and this effect has been attributed to impaired hepatocellular uptake, transport, secretion and intestinal absorption of bile acids. Disturbances of the enterohepatic circulation may affect metabolism of bile acids. To test whether liver transplantation and treatment with CsA alters pool sizes or synthesis and turnover rates, we determined kinetics of primary bile acids in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation on CsA.

Sodium, hydrogen antiporter activation by extracellular adenosine triphosphate in biliary epithelial cells.

Background & Aims: Extracellular nucleotides are secretagogues and influence ion permeability. The aim of this study was to investigate whether secretagogues activate transmembrane acid-base carriers, e.g.

Clinical relevance of elevated serum thrombomodulin and soluble E-selectin in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis and other systemic vasculitides.

Purpose: Vascular injury plays an important pathophysiological role in vasculitis. Soluble serum thrombomodulin (sTM), a promising marker of endothelial cell injury, is released into the circulating blood following cell damage and was therefore investigated as a parameter of disease activity in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) and various other vasculitides.

Patients And Methods: One hundred and ninety-seven sera of 102 patients with histologically proven WG of different disease activity and 41 sera of patients with other vasculitides at their active stage were investigated (12 Takayasu arteritis [TA], 7 giant cell arteritis [GCA], 10 polyarteritis nodosa [PAN], 12 Behcet's disease [BD]).

[PET studies with C-11 ethanol in intratumoral therapy of hepatocellular carcinomas].

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive functional method for the study of solid tumor perfusion, metabolism and interaction with different therapeutic agents. The aim of the study was the investigation of the metabolism of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) and the kinetics during a treatment with intratumoral ethanol by PET. The ongoing study includes seven patients with child.

Low prevalence of alterations in the pancreatic duct system in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Background And Study Aims: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare disease of unknown origin that involves the intrahepatic or extrahepatic biliary system, or both. To obtain more precise information on concomitant involvement of the pancreatic duct system, a comparatively large group of 44 patients was studied.

Patients And Methods: Between 1989 and 1995, 44 patients took part in a study of the therapeutic effect of ursodeoxycholic acid, and their data were analyzed.

Effect of dietary fatty acids on jejunal and ileal oleic acid uptake by rat brush border membrane vesicles.

To test the effect of dietary fatty acids on fatty acid uptake, the influx kinetics of a representative long-chain fatty acid, 3H-oleic acid, in both the jejunum and ileum of rats has been studied using brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV). Animals were fed with semipurified diets containing 5 g fat/100 g diet, as corn oil (control group), safflower oil (unsaturated group) and coconut oil hydrogenated (saturated group). With increasing unbound oleate concentration in the medium, the three dietary groups showed saturable kinetics in both jejunal and ileal BBMV (controls: Vmax = 0.

Long-term survival in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis.

Background & Aims: The course of hereditary hemochromatosis may depend on the degree of iron overload and the time of therapeutic intervention. This analysis evaluates the impact of early diagnosis and iron removal on survival and complications in hereditary hemochromatosis.

Methods: A Cohort of 251 patients with hemochromatosis was followed up for 14.

[-Therapy with ursodeoxycholic acid in primary biliary cirrhosis in pregnancy-].

Pregnancy is very uncommon in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and only few reports exist about pregnancy and PBC. However, no data are available on therapy and potential risks of treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in PBC, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. Furthermore, it is not known, whether UDCA is secreted into the breast milk during lactation.

Oleic acid uptake by jejunal and ileal rat brush border membrane vesicles.

In previous works, a membrane fatty acid transport system has been identified in brush border membrane vesicles, but no different intestinal regions were considered in these studies. To test the existence of a proximal-to-distal gradient of fat absorption along the small intestine, transmembrane influx kinetics of a representative long-chain fatty acid, 3H-oleic acid, in both jejunum and ileum of rat has been studied using brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV). With increasing concentration of unbound oleate in the medium, both jejunal and ileal BBMV showed saturable uptake kinetics (Vmax = 0.