<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> antibacterial activity and acute toxicity studies of aqueous-methanol extract of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sida rhombifolia</Emphasis> Linn. (Malvaceae)

Background  

Many bacteria among the Enterobacteria family are involved in infectious diseases and diarrhoea. Most of these bacteria become resistant to the most commonly used synthetic drugs in Cameroon. Natural substances seem to be an alternative to this problem. Thus the aim of this research was to investigate the in vitro antibacterial activity of the methanol and aqueous-methanol extracts of Sida rhombifolia Linn (Malvaceae) against seven pathogenic bacteria involved in diarrhoea. Acute toxicity of the most active extract was determined and major bioactive components were screened.     

The etiology, frequency, and prevention of gas embolism during CO(2) hysteroscopy.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To assess the frequency of clinically apparent and undetected cardiopulmonary emboli during diagnostic CO(2) hysteroscopy, to determine the causes of these events, and to define a risk profile. DESIGN: Retrospective and prospective case study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). SETTING: Obstetric-gynecologic clinic of an academic teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Five thousand one hundred ninety-three women. INTERVENTION: Diagnostic CO(2) hysteroscopy performed between September 1990 and December 1998. MEASUREMENTS and MAIN RESULTS: From September 1990 to December 1996, 1 (0.03%) severe but nonfatal embolism occurred in 3932 diagnostic CO(2) hysteroscopies. Undetected emboli were present in 20 patients (0.51%). Starting in January 1997 the gas supply tube (volume 40 ml) was deaerated before the procedures, and no emboli occurred in the next 1261 examinations up to December 1998. The decrease in frequency was statistically significant (p = 0.009). No pathologic flow sounds were found in any of 50 hysteroscopies monitored by Doppler stethoscope. CONCLUSION: A manifest gas embolism is rare in diagnostic CO(2) hysteroscopy. The 10% to 50% frequency of undetected gas emboli cited by other authors could not be confirmed. If the supply tube system that holds room air is purged with CO(2) before the procedure, the already low risk drops to zero or almost zero, confirming the theory that emboli that occur during CO(2) hysteroscopy are caused by room air.     

Is there any relationship between serum and urine neopterin and serum interferon‐γ levels in the activity of Behcet's disease?

Background  Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem vasculitic disorder. There is no reliable laboratory marker that indicates disease activity. Neopterin is an immunological marker of cellular immune activation, which is secreted by monocytes/macrophages as a result of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) secretion by activated T lymphocytes.
Objective  We aimed to investigate serum and urine neopterin levels in BD patients.
Methods  Forty-five patients who were diagnosed according to the criteria of the International Study Group for BD and 45 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Disease activity was considered by clinical findings. Serum and urine neopterin levels and serum IFN-γ levels were measured.
Results  The mean values of serum and urine neopterin levels were 12.68 ± 4.87 nmol/L and 167.53 ± 148.73 µmol/mol creatinine, respectively, in BD patients ( P =  0.000 and P  = 0.008, respectively), which were statistically significantly different from the control group. However, there was no significant statistical difference between serum and urine neopterin levels of the clinically active and inactive patients. It was also found that the mean value of serum IFN-γ levels was higher in healthy controls than in BD patients ( P =  0.000).
Conclusions  We conclude that serum and urinary neopterin measurement can not be used as a reliable laboratory marker as the BD patients' serum and urinary neopterin levels do not increase in the active stage even though these levels increase when compared to healthy controls.     

Peripheral blood stem cells used to augment autologous bone marrow transplantation

Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) were used to augment autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT), aiming to hasten engraftment after high dose treatment in a group of heavily pretreated patients. PBSC were obtained by leukapheresis during the rebound after standard chemotherapy. In 11 patients aged 7-17 years, high dose chemotherapy consisted of busulphan 16 mg/kg orally with melphalan 160 mg/m2 intravenously for seven patients, and melphalan 200 mg/m2 intravenously alone for four. The median number of granulocyte-macrophage colony forming units in the reinfused PBSC was 3.42 x 10(4)/kg (3.03-18.01) and bone marrow 12.4 x 10(4)/kg (4.16-28.6). Neutrophil recovery to > or = 0.5 x 10(9)/l and platelet transfusion independence occurred at a median of 14 days (11-18) and 22 days (9-84) respectively. In five patients the early engraftment was transient with neutrophils again dropping below 0.5 x 10(9)/l then slowly recovering. There was one toxic death due to sepsis. PBSC harvesting in these children was undertaken without interrupting routine chemotherapy and without the use of bone marrow growth factors. In some patients PBSC failed to influence engraftment and the use of combined chemotherapy and growth factor priming for PBSC collection may give improved results.     

Laparoskopische Operationsverfahren in der Gynäkologie

The international significance of, for example, vaginal surgical techniques has been increased by laparoscopy. Surgery for extrauterine pregnancy, or adnexectomy and partial adnexal resection are only carried out with a laparotomy in exceptional cases; for the therapy of benign uterine diseases this is used in less than 10% of cases. The spectrum of laparoscopy ranges from endometrial ablation over hysteroscopic resection and laparoscopic enucleation of myomas, to the various types of hysterectomy: laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), laparoscopic assisted supracervical hysterectomy (LASH) and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH). In addition, tumor surgery can be carried out, either partially or completely, using laparoscopy. Laparoscopic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy are also established techniques. Endoscopic surgical techniques are still not as widely used as could be. In 2003, 60% of hysterectomies in Germany still involved abdominal surgery. Future developments in operative techniques require our particular attention, as do the establishment of already evaluated procedures in their total breadth, especially in the training of the younger generations of gynecologists.     

Cystic adventitial disease

Cystic adventitial disease represents an unusual cause of peripheral vascular insufficiency. A mucinous cyst in the outer media or adventitia progressively compromises the arterial lumen. The therapy can be either aspiration of the cyst or resection with graft interposition. We present two cases involving the popliteal artery that were treated by resection. This lesion may be recognized by its angiographic appearance associated with a lack of generalized atherosclerotic disease.     

Immuncytochemische Darstellung des Östrogenrezeptors und Progesteronrezeptors am Endometrium unter physiologischen Bedingungen

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