Gastrointestinal stromal tumor in ileal neobladder

Abstract  Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a recently described mesenchymal tumor that can develop in any portion of the gastrointestinal tract. The occurrence of a GIST in the urinary tract is rare, but GIST can present as tumor of the urinary tract or invade the urinary tract. This is the first reported case of GIST in the ileal neobladder, which presented as a submucosal tumor. The patient underwent an open exploration and partial resection of the neobladder pouch.     

Studies on the In-vitro Percutaneous Penetration of Indomethacin from Gel Systems in Hairless Mice

The influence of co-solvents on the in-vitro percutaneous penetration of indomethacin from gel systems was studied using a simplex lattice experimental design. Gel formulations were prepared by gelling the vehicle mixture of water, either alcohol or isopropanol and either propylene glycol or PEG 400 with 1% w/w Carbomer 940. Hairless mouse skin was employed as the barrier in a Franz-type diffusion cell. The penetration rates at steady state for seven formulations were fitted to a polynomial equation based on this simple lattice method and a three-dimensional plot was constructed. The formulation having the maximal penetration rate was determined to be the vehicle with a solvent ratio of water: alcohol: propylene glycol equal to 15:33:52, and which possessed a solubility parameter of 15 and a drug solubility of around 10 mg mL^?1. When the solubility parameter of the vehicle was > 15, the drug solubility increased. However, the penetration rate decreased with an increasing solubility parameter. For those vehicles with a solubility parameter < 15, both the drug solubility and the penetration rate decreased with a decrease in the solubility parameter. There was shown to be an approximately 20-fold increase in the relative enhancement factor when using both alcohol and isopropanol, but only a threefold increase for both propylene glycol and PEG 400, when compared with water.     

An evaluation of the existence of soluble suppressor factors in cloned antigen-specific T suppressor lymphocytes

The suppressive activity of two bovine serum albumin-specific class II-restricted T suppressor cell clones (BVI/5 and 83/2-D11) was compared to that of a feeder cell-independent, IL 2-dependent subline (HF1.IL-2) of an originally antigen-dependent class II-restricted Ts cell clone (HF1). No soluble suppressor factors can be found in BVI/5 and 83/2-D11 Ts cell extracts or culture supernatants under conditions where an unspecific factor can be derived from HF1.IL-2 cells. This factor, when isolated from cell extracts in the presence of n-octyl-beta-D-glycopyranoside, has a molecular weight of 70-80 kD. In absence of this non-ionic detergent, it has a high affinity to membrane fragments and is associated with a molecular weight of 300 kD or more. The data are discussed in connection with recent findings of direct T suppressor to T helper interaction by cell-cell contact.     

Serogroup B meningococcal disease in the Norwegian armed forces: What can we learn from an inconclusive vaccine protection trial?

Military recruits serving in the armed forces were severelyaffected during the latest serogroup B meningococcal epidemicin Norway. The risk of developing systemic meningococcal disease(SMD) proved highest during the first 12 weeks of service. Adouble-blind, placebo-controlled protection trial with a meningococcalouter membrane vesicle vaccine took place between 1988 and 1991,but the number of proven SMD cases was too low to allow forany conclusions. However, the results of a parallel efficacystudy of the same vaccine among students in secondary school,cross-society examinations for asymptomatic throat carriageof meningococci and recent immunogenicity studies after two-and three-dose vaccination schedules, suggest that a basic immunizationof young teenagers followed by a booster injection at enrolmentwould contribute significantly to preventing SMD in the armedforces.