Variation at 10 protein coding loci in the mbenzele pygmies from the central african republic and a comparison with microsatellite data

Ten protein coding loci (6‐PGD, A1‐AT, ACP1, CaII, ESD, GC, GPX1, Hbβ, PGM1, and TF) were analyzed in the Mbenzele Pygmies from the Central African Republic. The frequency data were used to calculate the genetic distances between Mbenzele Pygmies and other African groups. In the principal coordinate plot of F_ST genetic distances, the Mbenzele cluster together with other Pygmies of the western cluster, the Biaka from C.A.R., Gielli from Cameroon, and Babinga from Congo. By contrast, they are considerably distanced from other Pygmy groups of the eastern cluster (Twa from Rwanda, Mbuti from Zaire). Genetic distances obtained using protein loci were compared with those based on microsatellite loci. The two distance matrices are insignificantly correlated (r = 0.268; one tail probability = 0.332), and the main difference is in the higher genetic affinity between the Mbenzele and Biaka Pygmies observed at the protein level. Although reasons underlying the discrepancy between inter‐populational variation at protein and DNA loci are not established with certainty, the comparison suggests that the genetic distance between the Mbenzele and Biaka Pygmies at microsatellite loci could have been shaped by genetic drift. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:9–14, 2002.© 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Carbon dioxide laser salvage surgery after radiotherapy failure in T1 and T2 glottic carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: Recurrent glottic carcinoma after radiotherapy (RT) may be managed by open neck or endoscopic surgery. The impact of endoscopic treatment with CO(2) laser for recurrent glottic carcinoma after RT is reported. METHODS: We present the oncologic and vocal outcomes of a retrospective study based on a series of 16 patients with rT1 and rT2 glottic carcinoma who were endoscopically managed between February 1995 and December 1999 after RT failure. All patients were males with a mean age of 68.7 years (range, 50 to 87 years). Before RT, the lesions had been staged as T1 N0 in 11 patients and T2 N0 in 5, and after RT as rT1 N0 in 12 and rT2 N0 in 4. According to the European Laryngological Society classification, a total of 9 transmuscular, 3 total, and 4 extended cordectomies were performed. Mean follow-up was 45 months (range, 9 to 79 months). RESULTS: Endoscopic salvage surgery was successful in 14 patients. One of them developed a second recurrence and was definitively cured with an additional endoscopic procedure. Two of the 16 patients had recurrent disease after salvage laser surgery and died due to progression of disease. Ultimate local control with laser alone at 3 years was 87.1%, according to the Kaplan-Meier method. Laryngeal preservation was obtained in all survivors after endoscopic rescue surgery. Voice analysis showed a clear correlation between the amount of vocal cord tissue resected and decrease of the vocal outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The present series indicates that selected recurrences after primary RT for T1 and T2 glottic carcinoma are eligible for endoscopic salvage surgery with oncologic results comparable to those with open neck procedures but with a lower complication rate and a favorable functional outcome.     

Functional decline in frail community-dwelling stroke patients

Patients who suffer a stroke event are at high risk of functional decline after the post-acute rehabilitation period. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of factors associated with functional decline in a large sample of older patients with stroke living in the community. The study population consisted of all patients admitted to home care programs after a post-acute rehabilitation program--with at least 1 year of follow-up--in twenty-two Italian Home Health Agencies from 2000 to 2002 (n=1338). For the present study we selected 355 (26%) patients with diagnosis of stroke. After 1 year of in-home care program, 149 out of 355 stroke survivors (42%) had presented a worsening in the activities of daily living (ADL) scale score. In the final adjusted model, patients with cognitive impairment (OR 2.59, 95% CI, 1.45-4.64), pressure ulcer (OR 2.74, 95% CI, 1.45-5.18), urinary incontinence (OR 1.64, 95% CI, 1.01-3.29), or hearing impairment (OR 1.83, 95% CI, 1.02-3.29) were more likely to significantly decline in physical functioning after a period of 1 year in-home care program. Our study documents that functional decline of stroke patients was largely dependent on specific subjects' clinical characteristics. Three of four concomitant disabling conditions associated in our sample with functional decline--pressure ulcer, urinary incontinence, hearing--can be prevented and eventually treated or modified. Appropriate post-acute rehabilitation programs and adequate home care interventions focused on the prevention and treatment of these conditions might be correlated to better outcomes in older post-stroke patients.     

Tumour-associated epilepsy: clinical impact and the role of referring centres in a cohort of glioblastoma patients. A multicentre study from the Lombardia Neurooncology Group

Abstract Epilepsy in high-grade glioma patients is a major concern, mainly as regards indications to treatment and best choice; toxicities, and pharmocokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions of drugs. All these generally unsolved problems complicate patients’ quality of life and interfere with the evaluation of response criteria in clinical trials. A prospective, multicentre data collection on 132 adult newly diagnosed, histologically proven glioblastomas from 9 Lombardy hospitals collected in the same database during a one-year period was recently published. From this database we report epidemiological and clinical characteristics in epilepsy-symptomatic (31%) glioblastoma patients vs. the group with other presenting symptoms (69%). We analyse demographic and clinico-radiological features, timing of onset and the course of seizures, and modalities of treatment in the two groups of patients. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups as regards age, site of lesion(s), extent of surgery and survival in relation to anticonvulsant treatment status or pharmacokinetic properties of drugs.     

Increased plasma fibronectin concentration in diabetic patients with microalbuminuria

Raised levels of plasma fibronectin (PF), an alpha 2-glycoprotein produced by vascular endothelia, have been previously described in diabetic patients with retinopathy and overt nephropathy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of microalbuminuria is associated with increased PF concentrations. Twenty Albustix-negative diabetic outpatients with microalbuminuria [median albumin excretion rate (AER): 30.2 micrograms/min; range 12.1-194 micrograms/min] were compared with 58 sex- and age-matched patients without microalbuminuria (median AER 3.1 micrograms/min; range 0.8-12 micrograms/min) and 34 control subjects (median AER 2.8 micrograms/min; range 0.8-12.1 micrograms/min). Mean PF was significantly higher in the group with microalbuminuria (406.7 +/- 85.5 micrograms/ml) than in the group without it (325.3 +/- 76.5 micrograms/ml or in control subjects (334.5 +/- 76 micrograms/ml; P less than .05). PF increase associated with microalbuminuria was independent of the presence of retinopathy. Furthermore, in the whole group of diabetic patients, PF was significantly correlated with AER (r = .33; P = .003). Such correlation also remained significant (P = .0002) after covariance analysis by a stepwise discriminant procedure taking into account age, duration of disease, sex, blood pressure, body weight, therapy, and HbA1. In conclusion, PF increase is associated with microalbuminuria independent of the other considered variables; its role as a possible marker for early diabetic nephropathy remains to be fully clarified.     

Mutated c-Ha-ras oncogene alters cytokeratin expression in the human breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A.

MCF-10A, a spontaneously immortalized human breast epithelial cell line, has been transformed by transfection with the mutated c-Ha-ras oncogene obtained from T24 carcinoma cells. The pattern of cytokeratin expression was studied in MCF-10A cells in comparison with plasmid transfected or MCF-10Aneo cells, normal ras proto oncogene transfected or MCF-10AneoN cells, and transformed or MCF-10AneoT cells. Cytokeratin expression was studied by western immunoblot of total cellular proteins separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Blots with cytokeratin specific AE1 and AE3 antibodies showed identical molecular weight species of cytokeratins in MCF-10A, MCF-10Aneo, MCF-10AneoN, and MCF-10AneoT cells; however, in MCF-10AneoT cells, the intensity of immunostaining and the number of immunoreactive phosphorylated polypeptides keratins 7, 8, 15, and 16 was decreased. It was concluded that c-Ha-ras oncogene-induced transformation alters quantitatively the cytokeratin pattern of human breast epithelial cells and that these changes could explain some of the morphologic alterations observed in c-Ha-ras transformed cells.     

Typhoid fever in the neapolitan area: A case-control study

Typhoid fever is endemic in the Neapolitan area, where its yearly incidence rate largely exceeds the corresponding national figure. During the period from January to June, 1990, a matched case-control study was carried out in order to identify risk factors of the disease in this area; 51 subjects (mean age 27.2 years) with typhoid fever were compared with 102 controls matched with respect to age, sex and educational level. Consumption of raw shellfish was reported by 76.5% of the cases, as opposed to 19.6% of the controls (P < 0.01). Subjects who had eaten this food item had a 13.3-fold risk (C.I. 95% = 5.5 - 32.8) of contracting typhoid fever. In contrast, no risk was found to be associated with consumption of cooked shellfish, raw vegetables, ice-cream, non-potable water, or unpasteurized milk.The risk factor identified in this study shows that hazardous dietary habits and inadequate sewage treatment facilities, combined with lack of sanitation in the harvesting and marketing of shellfish, play a major role in the endemicity of typhoid fever in the Neapolitan area.Corresponding author.