Fünf neue Menacanthus-Arten aus mitteleuropäischen Singvögeln

Zusammenfassung Aus mitteleuropäischen Singvögeln werden die folgenden neuen Menacanthus-Arten beschrieben: M. festivus nov. spec. von Fringilla coelebs, M. pius nov. spec. von Turdus merula, M. polonicus nov. spec. von Turdus pilaris, M. vistulanus nov. spec. von Sylvia borin und M. wipszyckii nov. spec. von Chloris chloris. Die Tatsache, daß das insgesamt aus mehreren Funden und besonders für M. pius nov. spec. aus zahlreichen Exemplaren bestehende, dieser Arbeit zugrunde liegende Untersuchungsmaterial fast ausschließlich Weibchen enthält, wird als Ausgangspunkt für eine Diskussion des Speziesbegriffs bei uniparentalen Mallophagenarten herangezogen. Zur Klärung dieser auch evolutionstheoretisch bemerkenswerten Problematik wird ein Forschungsprogramm für Menacanthus-Arten entwickelt.Mit 10 Textabbildungen     

Topographische Spezialisation bei Ektoparasiten

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Endocrine studies in an arrhenoblastoma responsive to dexamethasone, ACTH and human chorionic gonadotropin

Urinary and plasma steroid studies were performed in a 19 year old girl before and after removal of a virilizing arrhenoblastoma. Prior to surgery, base line urinary 17-ketosteroid (17-KS) excretion levels were slightly elevated whereas the plasma testosterone level was markedly elevated and in the normal male range. Individual 17-KS levels were within the normal range, but there was an abnormal androsterone to etiocholanolone ratio. Dexamethasone administration resulted in a fall in plasma testosterone levels and a decrease in urinary 17-KS excretion. The administration of both human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and ACTH was associated with impressive increments in plasma testosterone and/or urinary 17-KS excretion, whereas the administration of HCG alone resulted in increments in only the 11-deoxy 17-KS fractions; ACTH alone raised both the 11-deoxy and 11-oxy 17-KS fractions, with the most notable changes occurring in the former. Within 1 week of surgery, the plasma testosterone level had fallen to normal and urinary 17-KS excretion to subnormal levels. The pre- and postoperative peripheral blood and urinary studies, and the finding of an elevated ovarian vein testosterone level on the side draining the tumor at the time of surgery, demonstrate testosterone secretion by the tumor and, for the first time, an arrhenoblastoma unique in its hormonal responsiveness to dexamethasone, HCG and ACTH.     

Arteriovenous interposed prostheses in children for dialysis of allogenic, aldehyde preserved, form-fixed veins with silicone-coated inner surfaces

Arterio-venous shunts of new allogenic, aldehyde-preserved, form-fixed saphena with silicone-coated inner surfaces were applied to the upper arms of seven children aged between four months and ten years. Two children died of open shunt, and two transplants underwent thrombosis, within a follow-up period of 27 months. The causes of death and thrombosis were in no way related to the transplant material. Infection, aneurysm, and stenosis did not occur.     

Prognostic significance of immunohistochemical RhoA expression on survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a high-throughput analysis

Among all human carcinomas, pancreatic cancer has one of the worst survival rates. Most patients will die of this cancer shortly after diagnosis, and currently, surgery is the only potential cure. Ductal adenocarcinoma is the most common histologic type. The search for prognostic parameters has progressed from mere physical or histomorphological tumor properties to molecular parameters. These, in turn, might point toward new therapeutic strategies. The K-ras oncogene is known to play a role in early stages of ductal adenocarcinoma carcinogenesis, and ras homologues are differentially expressed in cancerous versus normal ductal cells. RhoA belongs to a family of ras homologues comprising RhoA, RhoB, and RhoC. It is a guanosine triphosphatase associated with the cytoskeleton that seems to be involved in epithelial mesenchymal transition, a process of dedifferentiation. Immunohistologic RhoA expression was studied in a tissue microarray of 94 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas and correlated with clinicopathologic parameters and follow-up. RhoA protein expression, measured as labeling intensity or evaluated as percentage of reactive tumor cells, correlated with overall survival. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that RhoA protein expression is independent from other known prognostic parameters such as tumor size or grade. Moreover, a score combining RhoA expression with tumor size and grade resulted in a highly significant increase in the prognostic value for the overall survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.     

Predictive value of Ki67 and p53 in locally advanced rectal cancer：Correlation with thymidylate synthase and histopathological tumor regression after neoadjuvant 5-FU-based chemoradiotherapy

AIM： To investigate the predictive value of Ki67 and p53 and their correlation with thymidylate synthase （TS） gene expression in a rectal cancer patient cohort treated according to a standardized recommended neoadjuvant treatment regimen.METHODS： Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded pre-therapeutical tumor biopsies （n = 22） and post-therapeutical resection specimens （n = 40） from patients with rectal adenocarcinoma （clinical UICC stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ） receiving standardized neoadjuvant 5-fluorouracil （5-FU） based chemoradiotherapy were studied for Ki67 and p53 expression by immunohistochemistry and correlated with TS mRNA expression by quantitative TaqMan real-time PCR after laser microdissection. The results were compared with histopathological tumor regression according to a standardized semiquantitative score grading system.RESULTS： Responders （patients with high tumor regression） showed a significantly lower Ki67 expression than non-responders in the pre-therapeutical tumor biopsies （81.2% vs 16.7%; P 〈 0.05） as well as in the post-therapeutical resection specimens （75.8% vs 14.3%; P 〈 0.01）. High TS mRNA expression was significantly correlated with a high Ki67 index and low TS mRNA expression was significantly correlated with a low Ki67 index in the pre-therapeutical tumor biopsies （corr. coef. = 0.46; P 〈 0.01） as well as in the post-therapeutical resection specimens （corr. coef. = 0.40; P 〈 0.05）. No significant association was found between p53 and TS mRNA expression or tumor regression.CONCLUSION： Ki67 has, like TS, predictive value in rectal cancer patients after neoadjuvant 5-FU based chemoradiotherapy. The close correlation between Ki67 and TS indicates that TS is involved in active cell cycle processes.     

Selected urticaria patients benefit from a referral to tertiary care centres – results of an expert survey

Background Urticaria is a frequent reason for consultations. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the management of chronic spontaneous urticaria (csU) in the practice setting does not fully comply with published guidelines. In addition, it was shown that one of four csU patients is referred to specialized centres. Objective To analyse the management of urticaria patients in tertiary referral centres. Methods During a standardized expert‐to‐expert interview, 41 specialists from German tertiary care centres were asked for different aspects of urticaria patient care with a special focus on csU. Results On average, the participating centres saw 25 csU patients per month. All ran programmes for the identification of underlying causes with an average success rate of 45 ± 3% which is considerably higher as has been found in the practice setting. In those patients where an identification succeeds, infections, drugs, intolerance and autoreactivity were reported to be causes in 41%, 20%, 17% and 16%. In their symptomatic treatment the majority of centres (71%) followed the guidelines by using regular dosed non‐sedating H₁‐antihistamines as first line and higher doses (61%) as second line option. In contrast to the practice setting, meaningful experience also existed for alternative therapies in antihistamine‐resistant patients, such as dapsone, cyclosporin and omalizumab. The expenditure of time, laboratory costs and frequency of follow‐up visits was reported to be above average in case of csU. Conclusion This study indicates that some urticaria patients, especially those with unknown causes or with an H₁‐antihistamine‐resistant disease, may benefit from a referral to tertiary care centres.     

Deüber Dassellarven vom Elch (Alces alces L.). (Untersuchungen Über Hypodermiden. I)

Ohne Zusammenfassung