„Klar bleiben“ – ein Wettbewerb für Schulklassen zur Reduktion des Alkoholkonsums

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - Alkohol ist in Deutschland im Jugendalter die populärste Droge. Alkoholpräventionsprogramme, die im Setting Schule...     

Ma?nahmen zur Tabakpr?vention

Systematic reviews on behavioral smoking prevention measures are presented and discussed. These include primary and secondary prevention measures. Primary prevention measures which are school-based, family-based, or community-based interventions as well mass media campaigns can be successful. There are a number of evidence-based cessation techniques available for patients already motivated to quit smoking. The majority of smokers quit on their own. The motivation to stop smoking can be sustainably supported in medical routine with the help of brief interventions.     

Is There a Flare Phenomenon on Bone Scintigraphy in Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer Treated With Radium-223?

Introduction

Radium-223 is an approved survival-prolonging treatment option in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and bone metastases. In the registration trial (ALSYMPCA), no regular imaging was mandated. We aimed to analyze men with metastatic mCRPC treated with radium-223 who had bone scintigraphy for staging and treatment monitoring.

Application of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells in pediatric patients following allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have immunomodulatory effects. The aim of this study was to demonstrate safety and feasibility of MSC transfusion in pediatric patients who had undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation from MMFD, MUD, MMUD and MSD. Patients with posttransplant complications based on deregulated immune effector cells who may benefit from an immunomodulatory effect of MSC had been selected. MSC were isolated from the hematopoietic stem cell donors in five cases and from a third party parental donor in two cases. We transfused ex vivo-expanded MSC in 11 doses into seven pediatric patients. Cell doses were escalated based on availability from 0.4x10(6) to 3.0x10(6) per kg bodyweight No adverse effects were detected with a maximum follow-up of 29 months. One out of three patients showed slight improvement of chronic GVHD. Two patients with severe acute GvHD did not progress to cGvHD. One patient received MSC to stabilize graft function after secondary haploidentical transplantation. One patient recovered from trilineage failure due to severe hemophagocytosis. This is the first case of a pediatric patient treated with MSC for trilineage failure after haploidentical stem cell transplantation from her father. We report the first series of 11 transfusions of expanded MSC in pediatric patients with immunological complications after allogeneic transplantation. Transfusion of MSC was safe and encouraging improvements in some patients were observed.     

School-based alcohol education: results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Objective   This study aimed to examine the effects of a school-based alcohol education intervention.
Design   Two-arm three-wave cluster-randomized controlled trial, with schools as the unit for randomization. Surveys were conducted prior to intervention implementation, then 4 and 12 months after baseline.
Setting   A total of 30 public schools in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Participants   Baseline data were obtained from 1686 7th graders. The retention rate was 85% over 12 months.
Intervention   The intervention consisted of four interactive lessons conducted by teachers, booklets for students and booklets for parents.
Measures   Knowledge, attitudes, life-time alcohol consumption (ever use alcohol without parental knowledge, ever been drunk and ever binge drinking) and past-month alcohol use.
Results   Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that intervention status was associated with more general knowledge about alcohol and lower levels of life-time binge drinking. No effects were found with respect to students' self-reported attitudes, intentions to drink, life-time alcohol use and past-month alcohol use.
Conclusions   The results indicate that this brief school-based intervention had a small short-term preventive effect on alcohol misuse.     

In vitro analysis of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells as potential cellular therapeutics in neurometabolic diseases in pediatric patients

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) play an important role in stromal support for hematopoietic stem cells, immune modulation, and tissue regeneration. We investigated their potential as cellular therapeutic tools in neurometabolic diseases as a growing number of affected children undergo to bone marrow transplantation. MSCs were isolated from bone marrow aspirates and expanded ex vivo under various culture conditions. MSCs under optimal good medical practice (GMP)-conform culture conditions showed the typical morphology, immunophenotype, and plasticity. Biochemically, the activities of beta-hexosaminidase A, total beta-hexosaminidase, arylsulfatase A (ASA), and beta-galactosidase measured in MSCs were comparable to those in fibroblasts of healthy donors. These four enzymes were interesting for their expression in MSCs, as each of them is defective, respectively, in well-known neurometabolic diseases. We found that MSCs released significant amounts of ASA into the media. In coculture experiments, fibroblasts from patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy, who are deficient for ASA, took up a substantial amount of ASA that was released into the media from MSCs. Mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) inhibited this uptake, which was in accordance with the M6P receptor-mediated uptake of lysosomal enzymes. Taken together, we show that MSCs produce appreciable amounts of lysosomal enzyme activities, making these cells first-choice candidates for providing metabolic correction when given to enzyme-deficient patients. With the example of ASA, it was also shown that an enzyme secreted from MSCs is taken up by enzyme-deficient patient fibroblasts. Given the plasticity of MSCs, these cells represent an interesting add-on option for cellular therapy in children undergoing bone marrow transplantation for lysosomal storage diseases and other neurometabolic diseases.