Copper/zinc superoxide dismutase transgenic brain accumulates hydrogen peroxide after perinatal hypoxia ischemia

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the risk of esophagectomy in the elderly compared with younger patients and to determine whether results of esophagectomy in the elderly have improved in recent years. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: An increased life expectancy has led to more elderly patients presenting with carcinoma of the esophagus in recent years. Esophagectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and advanced age is often considered a relative contraindication to esophagectomy despite advances in modern surgical practice. METHODS: The perioperative outcome and long-term survival of 167 elderly patients (70 years or more) with esophagectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus were compared with findings in 570 younger patients with esophagectomy in the period 1982 to 1996. Changes in perioperative outcome and survival between 1982 to 1989 and 1990 to 1996 were separately analyzed. RESULTS: The resection rate in the elderly was 48% (167/345), lower than the 65% (570/874) resection rate in younger patients (p < 0.001). There were significantly more preoperative risk factors and postoperative medical complications in the elderly, but no significant differences were observed in surgical complications. The 30-day mortality rate was higher in the elderly (7.2%) than in younger patients (3.0%) (p = 0.02), but the hospital mortality rate was not significantly different in the elderly (18.0%) and younger age groups (14.4%) (p = 0.27). The long-term survival after curative resection in elderly patients was worse than younger patients (p = 0.01). However, when deaths from unrelated medical conditions were excluded from analysis, survival was similar between the two age groups (p = 0.23). A comparison of data for the periods 1982 to 1989 and 1990 to 1996 revealed that the resection rate had increased from 44% to 54% in the elderly, with significantly fewer postoperative complications and lower 30-day and hospital mortality rates. Long-term survival has also improved, although this has not reached a statistically significant level. CONCLUSIONS: With current surgical management, esophagectomy for carcinoma of the esophagus can be carried out with acceptable risk in the elderly, but intensive perioperative support is required. The improved results of esophagectomy in the elderly in recent years are attributed to increased experience and better perioperative management. Long-term survival was similar to that of younger patients, excluding deaths caused by unrelated medical conditions.     

Cloning and characterization of cDNA for human adenylate kinase 2A

Considerable genomic microdiversity has been reported previously among Helicobacter pylori isolates. We have constructed genome maps of four unrelated H. pylori strains (NCTC11637, NCTC11639, UA802 and UA861) using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with NotI and NruI, hybridization with extracted PFGE DNA fragments and probing with 17 gene probes. These strains of H. pylori were compared with a fifth unrelated H. pylori strain NCTC11638 mapped previously. Considerable diversity in gene arrangement was evident among the five H. pylori maps, and no consistent gene clustering was found. The association of only four genes, katA (catalase gene), vacA (vacuolating cytotoxin gene), hpaA (a putative adhesin gene), and pfr (bacterial ferritin gene) were generally conserved within approximately the same 25% of the genome; however, the order of these genes also varied. Our study demonstrates that macrodiversity, i.e. variability in gene order, in addition to microdiversity, is a characteristic of the H. pylori genome.     

Antigen-independent suppression of the IgE immune response to bee venom phospholipase A2 by maternally derived monoclonal IgG antibodies

The IgE immune response to ovalbumin in rats can be suppressed by prior immunization of the dams. The results reported in this paper extend this observation to include a different antigen and another species, namely the IgE immune response to bee venom phospholipase A2 (PLA2) in CBA/J mice. The degree of suppression seemed to depend on the amount of IgG antibodies transferred to the offspring. Moreover, we found that the maternally mediated suppression of the IgE response could be achieved in a completely antigen-free system in which exogenous monoclonal anti-PLA2 IgG antibodies were transferred from the dams to the offspring. The following results were obtained: (i) The IgE suppression by monoclonal IgG antibodies was induced as efficiently with one single anti-PLA2 IgG1 antibody as with a mixture of ten antibodies (nine IgG1, one IgG2b). (ii) Even after several immunizations up to an age of 6 months with a dose of PLA2 that normally induces IgE production, none of the F1 mice developed an IgE response. (iii) This long-lasting suppression was observed in mice which were first immunized at an age of 4 weeks (i.e. when low amounts of maternally derived monoclonal IgG were still present), as well as in mice which were first immunized at an age of 8 weeks, when no such maternal antibodies could be detected in their sera. The corresponding IgG responses showed, compared to normal mice, a transient enhancement in the maternally influenced mice. It is concluded that the immunological experience of the mother is of particular importance for the isotype regulation in the newborns, especially with respect to the ability to elicit an IgE response. The possible implications for the development of allergic diseases in humans are discussed.