Food intolerance: our practice

This paper describes the clinical presentation of food allergy and/or intolerance (F.A.I.). The role of a diagnostic dietary trial is reviewed. Finally dietary management is discussed.     

In vivo MRI of cancer cell fate at the single-cell level in a mouse model of breast cancer metastasis to the brain.

Metastasis (the spread of cancer from a primary tumor to secondary organs) is responsible for most cancer deaths. The ability to follow the fate of a population of tumor cells over time in an experimental animal would provide a powerful new way to monitor the metastatic process. Here we describe a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that permits the tracking of breast cancer cells in a mouse model of brain metastasis at the single-cell level. Cancer cells that were injected into the left ventricle of the mouse heart and then delivered to the brain were detectable on MR images. This allowed the visualization of the initial delivery and distribution of cells, as well as the growth of tumors from a subset of these cells within the whole intact brain volume. The ability to follow the metastatic process from the single-cell stage through metastatic growth, and to quantify and monitor the presence of solitary undivided cells will facilitate progress in understanding the mechanisms of brain metastasis and tumor dormancy, and the development of therapeutics to treat this disease.     

Serum intact parathyroid hormone levels in elderly Chinese females with hip fracture

Summary Serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25 hydroxyvitamin D(25OHD), 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)₂D), albumin, and ionized calcium were measured in 61 Chinese female patients with hip fracture and 61 control subjects. Hip fracture patients had low albumin, ionized calcium, and 250HD levels. Serum PTH and 1,25 (OH)₂D values were not different between the two groups. We conclude that although 250HD level in hip fracture patients is low, there is no evidence of secondary hyperparathyroidism, suggesting that the low 250HD levels may be a secondary phenomenon in response to the fracture.     

Differential immunoreactivity of her-2/neu oncoprotein in prostatic tissues.

To investigate HER-2/neu oncoprotein immunoreactivity, monoclonal antibody TA1 immunohistochemical examination of flash-frozen radical prostatectomy specimens was performed (n = 35). All prostatic specimens contained benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and/or prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), as well as prostatic carcinoma (CaP). HER-2/neu oncoprotein immunoreactivity in BPH tissues was not significantly different than that for the PIN basal cell layer (P = 0.10) or for the PIN luminal cells (P = 0.17). There was significantly more HER-2/neu oncoprotein immunoreactivity in BPH than in areas of CaP (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the amount of immunoreactivity present in PIN basal cells when compared to the PIN luminal cells (P = 0.49). Both the PIN basal cells and luminal cells stained for the HER-2/neu oncoprotein to a higher degree than cells in the CaP areas (P < 0.001 in both cases). HER-2/neu oncoprotein immunoreactivity is present at a significantly higher degree in BPH and PIN than in malignant prostatic epithelium.     

Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a: three siblings with a mild neurological phenotype.

We report 3 siblings (1 male and 2 female) recently diagnosed with congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ia (CDG-Ia) in their mid-20s. They experience mild mental retardation but manage to function independently in society. Their professions are library assistant, professional artistic painter and secretarial work. All three siblings have cerebellar hypoplasia and ataxia, but are able to ambulate easily. Two of the siblings have required strabismus surgical repairs. All have antithrombin III deficiency, osteoporosis, and mild dysmorphic features. Hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism was a feature of the two female siblings. A type 1 sialotransferrin pattern and phosphomannomutase (PMM) deficiency have been demonstrated. They are compound heterozygotes for R141H and L32R mutations in the PMM2 gene. While there is clinical heterogeneity in CDG-Ia, we believe that our patients are among the mildest of intellectually affected CDG-Ia patients reported to date.