[Differential gene expression in the wear particle induced and infectious periprosthetic membrane of loosened knee-endoprostheses].

About 5 to 12 % of hip endoprostheses will loosen after ten years. The periprosthetic membran between bone and prosthesis plays a crucial role in prosthesis loosening. Different pathomechanisms lead to the growth of such a membran, which can be discriminated by different histomorphologies: wear particle induced type, infectious type, combined type, indifferent type.

Treatment of patients with recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation with peginterferon alfa-2B plus ribavirin.

Background: Recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) after liver transplantation (OLT) is a major cause of graft loss in HCV-positive patients. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon alfa-2b (peginterferon) and ribavirin treatment for recurrent HCV after OLT and analyzed the influence of antiviral treatment on the histological course of recurrent hepatitis.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with recurrent HCV (genotype 1 n=20 and 2-4 n=5) received peginterferon (1 mg/kg/weekly) and ribavirin (600 mg) for 48 weeks.

Extended treatment duration for hepatitis C virus type 1: comparing 48 versus 72 weeks of peginterferon-alfa-2a plus ribavirin.

Background & Aims: The treatment of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) type 1 remains a challenge necessitating innovative strategies to improve treatment outcome. The extension of treatment duration beyond 48 weeks is one possible strategy to address this problem.

Methods: The efficacy and safety of 48 weeks (group A, N = 230) vs 72 weeks (group B, N = 225) of treatment with pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a (180 microg/wk) plus ribavirin (800 mg/day) were studied in treatment-naive patients with HCV type 1 infection.

Glioma assessment using quantitative blood volume maps generated by T1-weighted dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: a receiver operating characteristic study.

Purpose: To investigate the use of blood volume maps in the non-invasive separation of glioma grades.

Material And Methods: T1-weighted quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging was used to quantify the fractional intratumoral blood volume of 41 gliomas (World Health Organization (WHO) grades II-IV). Two methods, mean fractional intratumoral blood volume determination and a system based on thresholds for extracting the tumor pixels with the highest vascularization from the blood volume maps, were investigated by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Differential effects of low glucose concentrations on seizures and epileptiform activity in vivo and in vitro.

In vivo, severe hypoglycemia is frequently associated with seizures. The hippocampus is a structure prone to develop seizures and seizure-induced damage. Patients with repeated hypoglycemic episodes have frequent memory problems, suggesting impaired hippocampal function.

Bench to bedside: the quest for quality in experimental stroke research.

Over the past decades, great progress has been made in clinical as well as experimental stroke research. Disappointingly, however, hundreds of clinical trials testing neuroprotective agents have failed despite efficacy in experimental models. Recently, several systematic reviews have exposed a number of important deficits in the quality of preclinical stroke research.

BOLD signal in the motor cortex shows a correlation with the blood volume of brain tumors.

Purpose: To investigate whether and how the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) signal is modified by brain tumors.

Materials And Methods: The BOLD signal depends on the perfusion, which in turn may be affected in the presence of a tumor. Some studies have demonstrated a reduced BOLD signal in the tumor-bearing hemisphere.

Eye imaging with a 3.0-T MRI using a surface coil--a study on volunteers and initial patients with uveal melanoma.

MRI of uveal melanoma using 1.5-T technology and surface coils has developed into a standard procedure. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of 3.

[Acute mesenteric ischemia in a patient with relapsing polychondritis].

We report about a 43-year old woman with relapsing polychondritis, admitted with progressive malaise, fatigue, anorexia and profound weight loss. Two years ago a nasal chondritis with characteristic changes of the nasal profil, scleritis, laryngitis and unspecific general symptoms (fever, fatigue, signs of a systemic inflammation) developed and relapsing polychondritis was diagnosed. The patient was treated initially with azathioprine followed by methotrexate in combination with ciclosporine and glucocorticoids.

[A new method for standardized diagnosis following renal transplantation. Ultrasound with contrast enhancement].

Ultrasound (US) imaging is an important diagnostic tool following renal transplantation. Unfortunately, due to the heterogeneity of the recipients and their multimorbidity, imaging procedures in the early phase after kidney transplantation are difficult and of limited use. We performed a study to evaluate the use of a contrast enhancer for US examination as a standardized method in the follow-up of kidney transplant recipients.

[Junctional epidermolysis bullosa non-Herlitz with urethral affection].

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a hereditary, blistering form of dermatosis, can be divided into the following three main groups: epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS), junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) and dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). The previously known form of generalized atrophic benign epidermolysis bullosa (GABEB) is classified as junctional epidermolysis bullosa non-Herlitz (JEB-nH) today. An 11-year-old boy with junctional epidermolysis bullosa non-Herlitz with urethal involvement had a complicated course with bladder obstruction and secondary renal insufficiency.

[New developments in the systemic treatment of psoriasis].

The current standard systemic therapeutic modalities for psoriasis have many potential side effects. Progress made in the understanding of the pathophysiology of psoriasis as a T-cell-mediated dermatosis provide options for new more precise therapeutic approaches. These immunological therapeutic strategies involve the inhibition/depletion of activated T-lymphocytes, the inhibition of antigen presentation and thus the regulation of T-cell activation, the inhibition of adhesion of inflammatory cells, the inhibition of effects of proinflammatory mediators and the administration of antiinflammatory cytokines.

Quantitative measurement of leakage volume and permeability in gliomas, meningiomas and brain metastases with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.

The spatial properties and function of the tumor vasculature differ with the tumor type and grade. T1-weighted dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging technique enables the simultaneous quantification of some functional parameters of the vasculature. These are the fractional contrast-enhancing volumes of the tissue compartments (blood volume and leakage/extravascular extracellular volume) and the exchange parameters (perfusion and permeability).

Angiotensin II sensitivity of afferent glomerular arterioles in endothelin-1 transgenic mice.

Background: Although endothelin I (ET-1) is a very potent vasoconstrictor, ET-1 transgenic (ET-1 tg) mice are not hypertensive. This might be due to higher bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) in ET-1 tg, which counteracts the effect of vasoconstrictors. We hypothesized lower angiotensin II (Ang II) sensitivity of afferent arterioles in ET-1 tg.

Does passage of a patency capsule indicate small-bowel patency? A prospective clinical trial?

Background And Study Aims: At many centers wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) without prior radiographic examination to rule out relevant strictures is considered to be contraindicated in suspected obstructive small-bowel disease. However, the accuracy of radiography in this situation has often been questioned. The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate the feasibility and safety of the recently developed patency capsule, and its predictive value regarding the clinical relevance of radiographic small-bowel strictures.

Fullerene-pyropheophorbide a complexes as sensitizer for photodynamic therapy: uptake and photo-induced cytotoxicity on Jurkat cells.

The main challenge in searching for new photosensitizers is to improve their specificity for target cells to avoid toxicity towards normal cells. New modular drug delivery systems were proposed consisting of a multiplying unit with the property of carrying several drug moieties and an addressing unity with high selectivity for target cells. Following this concept, two new fullerene-bis-pyropheophorbide a derivatives were synthesized: a mono-(FP1) and a hexa-adduct (FHP1).

Use of proteomics to study chemosensitivity.

Chemoresistance remains an unresolved problem in clinical oncology. Therefore it is important to identify molecular factors that lead to an understanding of the mechanisms of drug resistance in cancer cells. On the protein-expression level, this can be done using proteomics, which has become the focus of significant interest and research over the past decade.

Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome: fourteen new patients and a clinical analysis.

The Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome (SGS) is a disorder of unknown cause comprising craniosynostosis, a marfanoid habitus and skeletal, neurological, cardiovascular, and connective-tissue anomalies. There are no pathognomonic signs of SGS and diagnosis depends on recognition of a characteristic combination of anomalies. Here, we describe 14 persons with SGS and compare their clinical findings with those of 23 previously reported individuals, including two families with more than one affected individual.

Introducing everolimus (Certican) in organ transplantation: an overview of preclinical and early clinical developments.

Everolimus (Certican) is a novel proliferation signal inhibitor with potent immunosuppressant effects that has been shown to prevent and reverse acute rejection in preclinical models of kidney, heart, and lung transplantation. These effects have been confirmed by clinical studies in which everolimus demonstrated comparable efficacy to azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil in heart and renal transplantation, respectively, when combined with full-dose cyclosporine (CsA; Neoral). Experimental studies have also shown that everolimus inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation and prevents neointimal thickening and transplant arteriosclerosis.

Regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation: role of NF-kappaB revisited.

The transcription factor NF-kappaB regulates cell cycle progression and proliferation in a number of cell types. An important unresolved issue is the potential role of NF-kappaB in the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) as a basis for the development of vascular disease. To investigate the contribution of NF-kappaB to mitogen-induced proliferation of VSMCs, a knock-in mouse model expressing the NF-kappaB superrepressor IkappaBalphaDeltaN (c(IkappaBalphaDeltaN)) was used.