Effect of interleukin 1 polymorphisms on gastric mucosal interleukin 1beta production in Helicobacter pylori infection

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Although epidemiological studies suggest that interleukin (IL)-1 genetic polymorphisms are involved in Helicobacter pylori-related gastric carcinogenesis, the data are conflicting regarding the effects of these polymorphisms on IL-1beta production. METHODS: IL-1B-511 polymorphism was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and IL-1RN variable number of tandem repeats was determined by PCR. Mucosal IL-1beta levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To determine which factors influence mucosal IL-1beta levels, gastric inflammation, and atrophy, multiple regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: We studied 117 H. pylori-infected Japanese patients. Carriers of the IL-1B-511T/T genotype or IL-1RN*2 allele had higher mucosal IL-1beta levels than noncarriers (partial regression coefficient [PRC] +/- SE), TT versus CC: 37.6 +/- 6 [antrum] and 32.1 +/- 6 [corpus] pg/mg protein (P < 0.001 for each), *1/*2 versus *1/*1: 24 +/- 8 [antrum] (P <0.01) and 36.5 +/- 7 [corpus] (P <0.001). Simultaneous carriers of IL-1B-511T/T genotype and IL-1RN*2 allele had the highest IL-1beta levels (82.9 +/- 12 [antrum] and 87.2 +/- 11 [corpus]) and showed a synergistic effect between 2 loci. The *1/*2 carriers were closely related to atrophy (PRC +/- SE; 0.87 +/- 0.4 [antrum] and 0.93 +/- 0.4 [corpus], P < 0.05), whereas being a carrier of the -511T/T genotype was related to severe gastric inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: IL-1 genetic polymorphisms influenced H. pylori-related gastric mucosal IL-1beta levels and were related to gastric inflammation and atrophy, factors thought to be important in gastric carcinogenesis.     

Effects of hypertonic mannitol on renal function in open heart surgery

An extracorporeal bypass was performed in mongrel dogs for 2 hours with or without hypertonic mannitol infusions. In animals given mannitol, the plasma osmolality was elevated maximally to 344 +/- 7.1 mOsm/L and the urine volume was maintained well during bypass. A hypertonic mannitol solution was effective in maintaining the CPAH during and after bypass, but was not effective in minimizing the reduction in Ccr. When the mean arterial pressure during bypass was kept at 60 mmHg, the carbon filling rates in glomeruli showed the favorable effects of mannitol upon renal function, but no effects were observed at a mean arterial pressure of 80 mmHg. In 11 patients who had undergone a bypass lasting more than 2 hrs with mannitol infusions, the plasma osmolality reflected the serum mannitol level and reached 320 +/- 11.0 mOsm/L at 150 min of bypass. The mean urine volume was 5.0 +/- 3.3 ml/min/M2 during the bypass, which was about 7 times as great as before the bypass. The Ccr increased during the first 30 min of the bypass, but it fell to about one half of the initial value after 90 min of the bypass. It was concluded that a hypertonic mannitol solution is effective in maintaining the RPF and urine volume during and after the bypass and that it also preserved the glomerular perfusion even at a low arterial pressure.     

Patient satisfaction with sedation for flexible bronchoscopy

Background and objective:   Patient satisfaction with health care has increasingly been recognized as an important health outcome, but few studies have examined patient satisfaction with flexible bronchoscopy (FB). The purpose of this study was to assess patient satisfaction with FB conducted under conscious sedation and to identify the aspects of the procedure related to patient satisfaction.
Methods:   Patients' willingness to return for repeat FB was measured on a 5-point scale. Patients were asked whether they were bothered by the anaesthetic spray, scope insertion, shortness of breath, coughing, pharyngeal pain, chest pain or swallowing pain. Patients were asked to assess the quality of the physician, the institution and nursing, and their satisfaction with the privacy, waiting time and information provided about the procedure.
Results:   Of 161 consecutive eligible patients who underwent FB, 129 (80.1%) completed the questionnaire. Of the 129 patients, 65.8% reported that they would return for a repeat FB (12.4% would definitely return and 53.4% would probably return). Male gender, shorter examination time, excellent physician quality and not being bothered by coughing, pharyngeal pain or swallowing pain were related to greater patient satisfaction. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that male gender was related to greater patient satisfaction.
Conclusions:   Bronchoscopists should try to recognize the factors that influence patient satisfaction and adjust their management accordingly.     

Effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on insulin secretion: direct or mediated?

In order to clarify the role of vitamin D (D) in regulating insulin secretion, we studied the effect of long term (10 days) and short term (3 days) supplementation with D and/or calcium (Ca) on insulin secretion from the isolated, perfused pancreas of D- and Ca-deficient rats. The influence of the nutritional state induced by D deficiency was also evaluated. The long term supplementation of either D, Ca, or both restored the body weight and improved insulin secretion induced by high glucose concentration to the same extent; thus, no significant difference in insulin secretion was found between the D-only-supplemented group and the Ca-only-supplemented group. When the insulin secretion was compared in D-deplete vs. D-replete rats given the same amount of Ca, insulin secretion was significantly higher in D-replete animals, although plasma Ca levels were also higher. In short term experiments, insulin release was significantly augmented to a similar extent in D- or Ca-replete rats as compared with D- and Ca-deficient rats, despite no significant change in body weight. In a separate experiment, the pancreas from D-deficient rats was perfused with or without 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-OH)2D3] to observe its acute effect on insulin release. The perfusion with 1,25-(OH)2D3 did not affect insulin release. This result suggests that impaired insulin secretion in D-deficient rats is caused by a decrease in Ca in the body fluid and possibly by the lack of D effect on the pancreas.     

Retraction: A reduction state potentiates the glucocorticoid response through receptor protein stabilization

Retraction: The above article in Genes to Cells (doi: 10.1111/j.1365‐2443.2007.01131.x ), published online on 2 November 2007 in Wiley Online Library ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Mitsuhiro Yanagida, and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd. The retraction has been agreed to due to lack of the gel images for the lanes 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 of ‘GR’ and lanes 1, 2, 9 and 10 of ‘Brg‐1’ in Figure 3(D) and the multiple usage of the gel images in Figure 3(B) and (C).     

Robotic-assisted surgery for rectal cancer with situs inversus totalis: A case report

We present a very rare case of rectal cancer in a patient with situs inversus totalis (SIT), which is a complete transposition of the thoracic and abdominal viscera. A woman in her 60s visited a local hospital reporting bloody stool and was diagnosed with upper rectal cancer and SIT. We made careful preoperative preparations for the congenital anomaly, and robotic-assisted high anterior resection with D3 lymph node dissection was performed. Although we adopted an unusual six-port placement, the operation was performed safely and efficiently without any adverse events. The patient recovered uneventfully. The pathological specimen was classified as pT3N2bM0 with negative resection margins. Robotic-assisted surgery is advantageous for rectal cancer treatment even when anatomical abnormalities make the surgical procedure more difficult.