Eotaxin-2 activates chemotaxis-related events and release of reactive oxygen species via pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins in human eosinophils.

Eosinophils play an important role in allergic and autoimmune diseases. They are activated by distinct chemokines, leading to the immigration into the inflamed tissue, and mediate tissue damage by releasing reactive oxygen species. Recently, eotaxin was found to have the broadest spectrum of activities of all eosinophil-activating CC chemokines.

Carpal enchondroma.

Chondromas in the carpal bones are uncommon. A review of carpal bone cysts treated in this institution between 1983 and 1993 revealed three cases. We present these cases and a review of the literature.

Malformations in cochlear implant patients.

Objective: To report on cochlear implantation in children with bony inner ear malformations.

Patients: 30 children with bony inner ear malformations who have received cochlear implants.

Interventions: High-resolution spiral computed tomography is used to identify malformations.

Changes in cardiovascular risk factors and hormones during a comprehensive residential three month kriya yoga training and vegetarian nutrition.

In participants of a comprehensive residential three month yoga and mediation training programme living on a low fat lacto-vegetarian diet changes in cardiovascular risk factors and hormones were studied. Substantial risk factor reduction was found. Body mass index, total serum and LDL cholesterol, fibrinogen, and blood pressure were significantly reduced especially in those with elevated levels.

Comparative cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin and cisplatin in non-seminomatous germ cell cancer cell lines.

Approximately 70-80% of patients with metastatic testicular cancer will become disease free with cisplatin-based chemotherapy and most of these patients will be long-term survivors. Despite these impressive results, the two limitations of cisplatin are its severe and potentially long-term side-effects, and the emergence of drug resistance which prevents a small proportion of these patients from achieving long-term remission. Oxaliplatin has an improved toxicity profile compared to cisplatin and contains the diaminocyclohexane (DACH) substituent known to be correlated with a lack of cross-resistance with cisplatin.

Pre-clinical activity of taxol in non-seminomatous germ cell tumor cell lines and nude mouse xenografts.

Taxol (Paclitaxel) is a novel anti-cancer drug which has shown excellent clinical activity in a variety of solid tumors, particularly in metastatic breast and ovarian cancer. 70-80% of patients with metastatic non-seminomatous germ cell tumor (NSGCT) attain disease-free status with standard cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy but the emergence of drug resistance still prevents a small proportion of these patients from achieving long-term remission. Here we report the results of pre-clinical studies investigating whether taxol exhibits cross-resistance to cisplatin or ifosfamide in human NSGCT cell lines and in a cisplatin refractory xenograft model of human NSGCT.

Amifostine does not alter the antitumor activity of cisplatin in a pre-clinical model of testicular cancer.

Testicular germ cell tumors are so exquisitely sensitive to cisplatin that the majority of patients with this cancer are now cured with modern platinum-based chemotherapy. In contrast to some other tumor types, testicular germ cell tumors are known to express alkaline phosphatases (ALP). Amifostine is an aminothiol pro-drug which is rapidly dephosphorylated by ALP at the ell surface of healthy tissues and which exerts a clinically proven protective effect against chemotherapy associated toxicity.

Possible environmental, occupational, and other etiologic factors for Parkinson's disease: a case-control study in Germany.

In a case-control study, we investigated the possible etiologic relevance to Parkinson's disease (PD) of rural factors such as farming activity, pesticide exposures, well-water drinking, and animal contacts; toxicologic exposures such as wood preservatives, heavy metals, and solvents; general anesthesia; head trauma; and differences in the intrauterine environment. We recruited 380 patients in nine German clinics, 379 neighborhood control subjects, and 376 regional control subjects in the largest case-control study investigating such factors and collected data in structured personal interviews using conditional logistic regression to control for educational status and cigarette smoking. The latter was strongly inversely associated with PD.

Stress, cancer and immunity. New developments in biopsychosocial and psychoneuroimmunologic research.

Research in biobehavioral oncology has been focused on stress as one dispositional factor in the multifactorial origin and in the clinical progression of malignant disease. New insights into the transduction of environmental influences to the immune system and to other body systems by the brain and neurotransmitters have increased the salience of this approach. Behavioral medicine in the area of cardiovascular disease has been successful due to the introduction of a "Type A" or coronary prone behavior pattern in large epidemiologic studies.

Pathological fractures and lytic bone lesion of the femoral neck associated with beta 2-microglobulin amyloid deposition in long-term dialysis patients.

A correlation is demonstrated between chronic hemodialysis using cuprophane membranes (mean duration: 13 years) and pathological fractures (n = 7 in 6 patients) after lytic bone deposits of beta 2-microglobulin amyloid (n = 13 patients). The characteristic symptom complex includes painful impingement syndrome of the shoulder, carpal tunnel syndrome, painful hip and recurrent knee effusions. The first steps of the clinical diagnostic procedure are to demonstrate lytic defects in skeletal radiographs and to verify the presence of beta 2m by biopsy or puncture.