Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, Sozialgesetzbuch Fünftes Buch – SGB V

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Arbeiten aus dem Gebiete der Pathologie des Zentralgefässsystems der Netzhaut

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Incidence and clinical characteristics of interstitial cystitis in the community

We utilized physician-coded diagnoses and chart reviews to estimate the incidence of interstitial cystitis (IC) in women. A computer search of the Kaiser Permanente database was performed to identify newly coded diagnoses of IC (ICD-9 code 595.1) between May 2002 and May 2005. Chart reviews were performed and patient demographics, diagnosing physicians, and symptom characteristics were recorded. The IC incidence rate was 15 per 100,000 women per year. The mean age of the patients was 51 years (range 31-81 years). The most common presenting symptoms were frequency (70%), dysuria (52%), urgency (50%), suprapubic pain (50%), nocturia (35%), and dyspareunia (13%). Cases diagnosed by primary care physicians had a shorter median symptom duration (9 months) compared with those diagnosed by urologists (1 year) and gynecologists (3 years). IC is an uncommon diagnosis in the community setting, with an incidence rate of 15 per 100,000 women per year.     

Über die Spontanerregungen von Nervenzellen und ihre Beeinflussung durch verschieden geformte elektrische Ströme

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Verhandlungen Ärztlicher Gesellschaften

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Urokinase-Receptor/Integrin Complexes Are Functionally Involved in Adhesion and Progression of Human Breast Cancer in Vivo

Interactions between specific cell-surface molecules, which include the urokinase receptor (uPAR) and integrins, are crucial to processes of tumor invasion and metastasis. Here we demonstrate that uPAR and beta1-integrins may cluster at distinct sites at the cell surface of metastatic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and form functional complexes. Attachment assays performed in the presence of a synthetic peptide (p25), which interferes with the formation of uPAR-integrin complexes, reveal that uPAR is able to regulate the adhesive function of integrins in breast cancer cells. On dissociation of the uPAR-integrin complexes by p25, tumor cell attachment to the extracellular matrix was either decreased (vitronectin) or increased (fibronectin). Moreover, the tumor cells display remarkable morphological changes when cultured on fibronectin in the continuous presence of p25, leading to increased cell spreading and attachment. In marked contrast to control conditions, increased cellular adhesion to fibronectin after p25 treatment was entirely beta1-integrin-mediated. The role of uPAR-integrin complexes in tumor progression was studied in an in vivo bone xenograft model. Stably transfected MDA-MB-231 cells that overexpress p25 showed a significant reduction in tumor progression in bone (P < or = 0.0001 versus mock-control). In line with these observations, continuous administration of p25 (25 microg/mouse/day, osmotic minipumps) for 28 days resulted in significantly reduced tumor progression of MDA-MB-231 cells in bone (P < or = 0.005) when compared to scrambled control peptide. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that uPAR can act as an adhesion receptor in breast cancer and is capable of regulating integrin function. Our findings strongly suggest that adhesive and proteolytic events are tightly associated in metastatic breast cancer cells and that functional integrin-uPAR complexes are involved in tumor progression in vivo.     

The influence of hypoxia on the myocardium of experimentally diabetic rats with and without protection by Ginkgo biloba extract. III: Ultrastructural investigations on mitochondria.

Completing our preceding ultrastructural studies on diabetes and additional acute hypoxia of rat myocardium and the protective effect of Ginkgo extract (EGb) we investigated specific ultrastructural-morphometric parameters of corresponding mitochondria. Aim of the study was to answer the question whether mitochondria of diabetic myocardium are more sensitive to hypoxia than in normal condition, and whether antioxidative protection by EGb is effective. Further we compared the ultrastructural reactions of mitochondria of different intracellular locations. Voluminal parameters of mitochondria indicated a moderate swelling after diabetes and a further slight swelling after additional hypoxia, which was slightly reduced after EGb pretreatment. Decrease of volume density of mitochondrial cristae was less expressed after diabetes and much stronger after additional hypoxia; slight protection by EGb was only visible after diabetes. Degenerative intramitochondrial areas increased significantly after diabetes and after hypoxia; EGb was protective only after additional hypoxia. The relative number of ATPase particles (F1-coupling factors) at the inner mitochondrial membranes was slightly but significantly reduced after diabetes and stronger reduced after additional hypoxia; only in the latter condition Ginkgo extract was slightly protective. The product of volume density of mitochondria x volume density of cristae x relative number of ATPase particles at the inner mitochondrial membrane (as structural equivalent of the myocardial capacity for ATP production) indicated better than single parameters the increasing mitochondrial damage after diabetes of 4 months duration and subsequent acute hypoxia of 20 min duration. After hypoxia this capacity amounted only to 46% of the normal and was improved by EGb to 53%.