Granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (GR-MDSC) accumulate in cord blood of preterm infants and remain elevated during the neonatal period.

Preterm delivery is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Among the most important complications in preterm infants are peri- or postnatal infections. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are myeloid cells with suppressive activity on other immune cells.

Leakage of Hepaticojejunal Anastomosis: Reoperation.

Background: Leakage of a hepaticojejunal anastomosis is a rare event with potential major morbidity. Surgeons must be aware of the technical armamentarium and pitfalls in revisional surgery for hepaticojejunal anastomosis leakage.

Methods: Review of the available literature and discussion of technical details based on experience and expert opinion.

Improved risk stratification in prevention by use of a panel of selected circulating microRNAs.

Risk stratification is crucial in prevention. Circulating microRNAs have been proposed as biomarkers in cardiovascular disease. Here a miR panel consisting of miRs related to different cardiovascular pathophysiologies, was evaluated to predict outcome in the context of prevention.

Inhibitory Effect of 1,8-Cineol on β-Catenin Regulation, WNT11 Expression, and Cellular Progression in HNSCC.

Objectives: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common tumors worldwide. The high mortality rates have not changed during the last three decades, and thus there is an enormous need for innovative therapy approaches. Several recent studies suggest an important role of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in the tumorigenesis of HNSCC.

Quality Indicators in Pancreatic Surgery: Lessons Learned from the German DGAV StuDoQ|Pancreas Registry.

Background: Political and public interest in quality management in surgery is increasing. The German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV) established the DGAV StuDoQ, a nationwide registry for quality assessment in visceral surgery, with the organ-specific module DGAV StuDoQ|Pancreas. The first prerequisite for the measurement of quality is the definition of quality indicators.

A haplotype block downstream of plasminogen is associated with chronic and aggressive periodontitis.

Aim: The intronic variant rs4252120 in the plasminogen gene (PLG) is known to be associated with aggressive periodontitis (AgP) and atherosclerosis. Here, we examined the chromosomal region spanning PLG for associations with both chronic periodontitis (CP) and AgP.

Materials And Methods: The association of PLG candidate rs4252120 was tested in a German case-control sample of 1,419 CP cases using the genotyping assay hCV11225947 and 4,562 controls, genotyped with HumanOmni BeadChips.

Functional disability and its predictors in systemic sclerosis: a study from the DeSScipher project within the EUSTAR group.

Objectives: The multisystem manifestations of SSc can greatly impact patients' quality of life. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with disability in SSc.

Methods: SSc patients from the prospective DeSScipher cohort who had completed the scleroderma health assessment questionnaire (SHAQ), a disability score that combines the health assessment questionnaire and five visual analogue scales, were included in this analysis.

Form follows function: Morphological and immunohistological insights into epithelial-mesenchymal transition characteristics of tumor buds.

In cancer biology, the architectural concept "form follows function" is reflected by cell morphology, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition protein pattern. In vivo, features of epithelial-mesenchymal transition have been associated with tumor budding, which correlates significantly with patient outcome. Hereby, the majority of tumor buds are not truly detached but still connected to a major tumor mass.

The PF4/PPBP/CXCL5 Gene Cluster Is Associated with Periodontitis.

Periodontitis is a common dysbiotic inflammatory disease with an estimated heritability of 50%. Due to the limited sample size of available periodontitis cohorts and the underlying trait heterogeneity, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of chronic periodontitis (CP) have been unsuccessful in discovering susceptibility factors. A strategy that combines agnostic GWAS with a well-powered candidate-gene approach has the potential to discover novel loci.

Granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells from human cord blood modulate T-helper cell response towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype.

Infections are a leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. The outstandingly high susceptibility to infections early in life is mainly attributable to the compromised state of the neonatal immune system. One important difference to the adult immune system is a bias towards T helper type 2 (Th2) responses in newborns.

A genome-wide association study identifies nucleotide variants at SIGLEC5 and DEFA1A3 as risk loci for periodontitis.

Periodontitis is one of the most common inflammatory diseases, with a prevalence of 11% worldwide for the severe forms and an estimated heritability of 50%. The disease is characterized by destruction of the alveolar bone due to an aberrant host inflammatory response to a dysbiotic oral microbiome. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have reported several suggestive susceptibility loci.

Endoscopic treatment of symptomatic fibroids at reproductive age and beyond.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of endoscopic treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids based on patient and fibroid characteristics in reproductive, pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women.

Material And Methods: The medical records of women with symptomatic uterine fibroids who underwent surgical procedures from 2010 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: A total of 819 patients, of which 710 (86.

The Prognostic Impact of the Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Ampullary Cancer - A Retrospective Single Center Study.

Carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule (CEA) is a commonly immunohistochemically used antibody in pathological routine diagnostics with an overexpression in different cancers. We aimed to examine the immunohistochemically detectable CEA level in ampullary cancer and to correlate it with clinico-pathological data. Shot-gun proteomics revealed CEA in undifferentiated ampullary cancer cell lines.

Genome-wide association study of glioma subtypes identifies specific differences in genetic susceptibility to glioblastoma and non-glioblastoma tumors.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have transformed our understanding of glioma susceptibility, but individual studies have had limited power to identify risk loci. We performed a meta-analysis of existing GWAS and two new GWAS, which totaled 12,496 cases and 18,190 controls. We identified five new loci for glioblastoma (GBM) at 1p31.

Interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy as salvage treatment for locally recurrent prostate cancer after definitive radiation therapy: Toxicity and 5-year outcome.

Purpose: We report our results with interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) as a salvage therapy option after external beam therapy with or without BT. Emphasis was put on toxicity and 5-year outcome.

Methods And Materials: From 2003 to 2011, 29 patients with local failure after previous radiotherapy for prostate cancer were treated with salvage interstitial HDR-BT.

Hypointense Vessels Detected by Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging Identifies Tissue at Risk of Infarction in Anterior Circulation Stroke.

Background And Purpose: The diagnostic value of susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of acute stroke patients has shown potential as a surrogate marker of impaired hemodynamics. We investigate the value of asymmetrical hypointense cerebral vessels (HV) for the identification of vessel status and tissue at risk of infarction (TaR).

Methods: Symmetry of HV was visually rated on SWI data from a well-defined population of acute anterior circulation stroke with onset <24 hours.

Pregnancy Specific β-1 Glycoprotein 1 is Expressed in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and its Subcellular Localization Correlates with Overall Survival.

Proteins of the pregnancy specific β-1 glycoprotein (PSG) family are renowned for their elevated expression during pregnancy. Only few reports have investigated their expression in adenocarcinomas. We studied the expression of PSG1 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Histopathological tumor invasion of the mesenterico-portal vein is characterized by aggressive biology and stromal fibroblast activation.

Background: Mesenterico-portal vein resection (PVR) during pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic head cancer was established in the 1990s and can be considered a routine procedure in specialized centers today. True histopathologic portal vein invasion is predictive of poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between mesenterico-portal venous tumor infiltration (PVI) and features of aggressive tumor biology.

Laparoscopic versus open distal pancreatectomy-a propensity score-matched analysis from the German StuDoQ|Pancreas registry.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess intraoperative, postoperative, and oncologic outcome in patients undergoing laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) versus open distal pancreatectomy (ODP) for benign and malignant lesions of the pancreas.

Methods: Data from patients undergoing distal pancreatic resection were extracted from the StuDoQ|Pancreas registry of the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery. After propensity score case matching, groups of LDP and ODP were compared regarding demography, comorbidities, operative details, histopathology, and perioperative outcome.

Cold-evoked potentials - Ready for clinical use?

Background: Cold-evoked potentials (CEPs) are known to assess the integrity of A-delta fibres and the spinothalamic tract. Nevertheless, the clinical value was not investigated previously. The aim of this study was to measure CEPs in 16 healthy subjects from the face, hand and foot sole and to investigate whether CEPs reliably detect A-delta fibre abnormalities.

Incidences and Risk Factors of Organ Manifestations in the Early Course of Systemic Sclerosis: A Longitudinal EUSTAR Study.

Objective: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare and clinically heterogeneous autoimmune disorder characterised by fibrosis and microvascular obliteration of the skin and internal organs. Organ involvement mostly manifests after a variable period of the onset of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). We aimed to map the incidence and predictors of pulmonary, cardiac, gastrointestinal (GI) and renal involvement in the early course of SSc.

Collection of Medical Original Data with Search Engine for Decision Support.

Medicine is becoming more and more complex and humans can capture total medical knowledge only partially. For specific access a high resolution search engine is demonstrated, which allows besides conventional text search also search of precise quantitative data of medical findings, therapies and results. Users can define metric spaces ("Domain Spaces", DSs) with all searchable quantitative data ("Domain Vectors", DSs).

Uncoupling protein 2 protects mice from aging.

Uncoupling protein (UCP) 2 is a mitochondrial transporter protein that plays various roles in cellular metabolism, including the glucose and lipid metabolism. Polymorphisms in UCP2 are associated with longevity in humans. In line with this, mice carrying the UCP2 transgene under the control of hypocretin promoter were reported to have an extended lifespan, while, conversely, mice deficient in Ucp2 demonstrated a significantly shorter lifespan.

Gingipains of Porphyromonas gingivalis Affect the Stability and Function of Serine Protease Inhibitor of Kazal-type 6 (SPINK6), a Tissue Inhibitor of Human Kallikreins.

Periodontitis, a chronic inflammation driven by dysbiotic subgingival bacterial flora, is linked on clinical levels to the development of a number of systemic diseases and to the development of oral and gastric tract tumors. A key pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, secretes gingipains, cysteine proteases implicated as the main factors in the development of periodontitis. Here we hypothesize that gingipains may be linked to systemic pathologies through the deregulation of kallikrein-like proteinase (KLK) family members.

Regulatory T cell frequencies are increased in preterm infants with clinical early-onset sepsis.

The predisposition of preterm neonates to invasive infection is, as yet, incompletely understood. Regulatory T cells (Tregs ) are potential candidates for the ontogenetic control of immune activation and tissue damage in preterm infants. It was the aim of our study to characterize lymphocyte subsets and in particular CD4(+) CD25(+) forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)(+) Tregs in peripheral blood of well-phenotyped preterm infants (n = 117; 23 + 0 - 36 + 6 weeks of gestational age) in the first 3 days of life in comparison to term infants and adults.