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BACKGROUND: We examined lymphocyte apoptosis, activity of caspases-1, -3, -8 and -9 and the relationship between those two events and inflammation response in septic shock. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were obtained within 24 h after diagnosis of septic shock from 16 patients to measure apoptosis, caspases-3, -8, -9 expression, changes in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and expression of Fas/FasL system of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Moreover, serum levels of caspase-1 and blood concentrations of IL-6, IL-12, IL-15 and IL-18 were assessed. RESULTS: PBMCs from patients with septic shock compared to control individuals exhibited a greatly increased frequency of apoptosis (39.10 +/- 7.33% vs 4.19 +/- 1.13%; p < 0.001), an over expression of caspases-3, -8, and -9 (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, p < 0.001 for caspases-3, -8 and -9, respectively) as well as of Fas/FasL system (p < 0.05) and significant changes in mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Blood levels of caspase-1 (101.5 +/- 18.2 pg/ml vs 9.09 +/- 2.7 pg/ml, p < 0.001) and of IL-6, IL-12, IL-15 and IL-18 were significantly higher in septic patients vs control (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05, p < 0.05 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Furthermore, a correlation linking IL-6 blood level with both the apoptotic rate (r(2) = 0.75; p = 0.001) and caspase-9 expression (r(2) = 0.92; p = 0.0001) of PBMCs was observed.

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There is no report of patients in whom pathological laughter, a rare condition characterized by uncontrollable episodes of laughter usually triggered by unrelated stimuli, was ever closely associated with a loss of consciousness overtly linked with the onset of such uncontrollable laughter, also referred to as a gelastic syncope. A 53-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of syncope following intense and uncoordinated laughter. Physical and neurological examination was normal and the patient had no other typical cerebellar signs. We found a mass in the cerebellar vermis abutting the floor of the fourth ventricle, which upon histological examination after surgery proved to be an ependymoma. We emphasize that pathological laughter and gelastic syncope could represent unique and sole features of a cerebellar disorder.

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Two young male patients with severe progressive Behcet's disease with neurological involvement (N-BD) were treated by high-dose immunosuppressive chemotherapy (HIC) followed by autologous CD34+ selected peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT). Neurological impairment and disability were quantified by means of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Neuroimaging included spine and brain MRI and brain SPECT by radiolabeling technetium (Tc99m) Ethyl Cisteynate Dimer (ECD). Disease progression halted after treatment in both patients. At 48 months of follow-up they were therapy-free and one showed neurological status and disability improvement. Brain MRI findings were unchanged in both patients, but SPECT-ECD showed an increase of blood flow in the hypoperfused cerebral areas in the ameliorated patient. Immune ablation followed by APBSCT can modify the course of severe N-BD. Because of the high risk and the transplant-related mortality, these cases have to be carefully selected.

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AIM: To investigate the efficacy of a high-potency probiotic preparation on prevention of radiation-induced diarrhea in cancer patients. METHODS: This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Four hundred and ninety patients who underwent adjuvant postoperative radiation therapy after surgery for sigmoid, rectal, or cervical cancer were assigned to either the high-potency probiotic preparation VSL#3 (one sachet t.i.d.,) or placebo starting from the first day of radiation therapy. Efficacy endpoints were incidence and severity of radiation-induced diarrhea, daily number of bowel movements, and the time from the start of the study to the use of loperamide as rescue medication. RESULTS: More placebo patients had radiation-induced diarrhea than VSL#3 patients (124 of 239 patients, 51.8%, and 77 of 243 patients, 31.6%; P<0.001) and more patients given placebo suffered grade 3 or 4 diarrhea compared with VSL#3 recipients (55.4% and 1.4%, P<0.001). Daily bowel movements were 14.7 +/- 6 and 5.1 +/- 3 among placebo and VSL#3 recipients (P<0.05), and the mean time to the use of loperamide was 86 +/- 6 h for placebo patients and 122 +/- 8 h for VSL#3 patients (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Probiotic lactic acid-producing bacteria are an easy, safe, and feasible approach to protect cancer patients against the risk of radiation-induced diarrhea.

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BACKGROUND: Several compounds used in anesthesia practice have demonstrated to impair immune function and to influence the process of apoptotic death in T cell population following surgical trauma. We designed this study to test in vitro the impact of neuromuscular blocker, such as pancuronium, at clinically relevant concentration on lymphocyte apoptosis, death factor expression and mitochondrial function. METHODS: Following isolation, lymphocytes were incubated with pancuronium bromide at a clinically relevant concentration (0.136 micro mol l-1) for 3 h at 37 C in a 5% carbon-dioxide-humidified atmosphere and the frequency of apoptotic lymphocytes was then measured. We also investigated crucial steps in the apoptotic process, including Fas/Fas ligand (FasL) phenotype, intracellular expression of the interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme (ICE) p20, mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim), generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, and glutathione (GSH) levels. Control experiments were performed incubating cells in the complete culture medium added with the dilution medium of the drug without addition of the drug. RESULTS: Expression of Fas, FasL and ICEp20 was six-fold, four-fold, and five-fold increased, respectively, among pancuronium-treated lymphocytes with respect to control cultures (P = 0.0001). The percentage of cells exhibiting either dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential or increased production of reactive oxygen species was seven-fold increased following exposure to pancuronium compared with untreated lymphocytes (P = 0.0001). These findings were associated with a decrease in GSH level. In addition, the frequency of apoptotic cells was 10-fold greater among lymphocytes cultured in the presence of the drug with respect to control cultures. (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest an apoptogenic effect of pancuronium in vitro at clinically relevant concentration on peripheral blood lymphocytes. This could be implicated in the transient immune suppression following a surgical operation.

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Schnitzler's syndrome is a rare condition with chronic urticaria, intermittent fever, bone pain, and a monoclonal IgM gammopathy. Most patients have a chronic and indolent course, but a small number ultimately progress to a lymphoplasmacytic malignancy. We describe a patient with Schnitzler's syndrome who entered an accelerated phase of clinical deterioration with repeated thromboses of the cerebral and coronary arteries that ultimately led to a fatal outcome. We found that the he fulfilled the Sapporo criteria for definite antiphospholipid syndrome and had elevated blood levels of homocysteine during the active clotting phase of the disease. We suggest that the association with immune-mediated or metabolic disorders, such as the antiphospholipid syndrome and hyperhomocysteinemia, may unfavorably affect the otherwise chronic and stable course of patients with Schnitzler's syndrome. The systemic clotting disorder, the association with the antiphospholipid syndrome and hyperhomocysteinemia, and the biclonal rather than monoclonal IgM gammopathy were striking features of this atypical case of Schnitzler's syndrome.

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Pituitary apoplexy is a severe and potentially life-threatening condition that may be highly variable in its clinical presentation. We report a 37-year-old man presenting to the emergency department with diplopia that abruptly developed while he was eating canned and bottled food prepared at home. A computed tomography scanning revealed an isodense mass within the sellar region and, subsequently, a magnetic resonance imaging showed a pituitary apoplexy causing a compression of the right III and VI oculomotor nerves. There was no improvement with hydrocortisone therapy and the patient underwent a transsphenoidal excision of the mass with an uneventful course. Pituitary apoplexy may raise in the appropriate setting the suspicion of botulism. The abrupt-onset paralysis of oculomotor nerves has been described as the chief presenting sign of pituitary apoplexy in only few cases including this. A pathophysiology, differential diagnosis with botulism and other causes of multiple cranial nerve paralysis, and treatment are described.

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BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that a profound suppression of immune function transiently occurs in patients who undergo surgery under general anesthesia. The decline in the absolute counts of peripheral blood lymphocytes constitutes a major factor accounting for this immune defect, and recent evidence indicates that apoptosis plays a crucial role in determining postsurgical lymphocytopenia. HYPOTHESIS: An altered oxidation-reduction status of mitochondria may contribute through apoptosis to the loss of lymphocytes following surgical trauma and general anesthesia. DESIGN: We studied 16 patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists' physical status I or II who underwent elective surgery under general anesthesia. The data were collected prospectively. SETTING: University hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Samples of peripheral blood were drawn on the day before surgery and at 24 and 96 hours after the operation. Following lymphocyte isolation, the mitochondrial transmembrane potential was assessed by flow cytometry using 3,3'-dihexylocarbo-cyanine iodide, and stains with hydroethidine and 2'-7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate were used to determine the generation of reactive oxygen species. The labeling of lymphocytes with monobromobimane was used to assess the presence of reduced glutathione. RESULTS: At 24 hours after surgery, we detected a significantly elevated frequency of peripheral blood lymphocytes (P =.002), which incorporated low levels of 3,3'-dihexylocarbo-cyanine iodide, compared with the preoperative period. At this same time point, the frequency of lymphocytes with the hydroethidine- and 2'-7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate-positive phenotype was elevated compared with baseline levels. Conversely, at 24 hours after surgery, the frequency of cells that stained positive for glutathione was strongly decreased compared with preoperative values. Overall measurements returned to the baseline levels at 96 hours after surgery. CONCLUSION: The strict association we observed between the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and the disruption of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential supports the view that alterations in mitochondrial energy metabolism, paralleled by the presence of a pro-oxidant oxidation-reduction status, could be involved in the accelerated apoptotic loss of lymphocytes following surgical trauma and general anesthesia.

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BACKGROUND: Hyperoxaluria is a major risk factor for renal stones, and in most cases, it appears to be sustained by increased dietary load or increased intestinal absorption. Previous studies have shown that components of the endogenous digestive microflora, in particular Oxalobacter formigenes, utilize oxalate in the gut, thus limiting its absorption. We tested the hypothesis of whether oxaluria can be reduced by means of reducing intestinal absorption through feeding a mixture of freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria. METHODS: Six patients with idiopathic calcium-oxalate urolithiasis and mild hyperoxaluria (>40 mg/24 h) received daily a mixture containing 8 x 10(11) freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria (L. acidophilus, L. plantarum, L. brevis, S. thermophilus, B. infantis) for four weeks. The 24-hour urinary excretion of oxalate was determined at the end of the study period and then one month after ending the treatment. The ability of bacteria to degrade oxalate and grow in oxalate-containing media, and the gene expression of Ox1T, an enzyme that catalyzes the transmembrane exchange of oxalate, also were investigated. RESULTS: The treatment resulted in a great reduction of the 24-hour excretion of oxalate in all six patients enrolled. Mean levels +/- SD were 33.5 +/- 15.9 mg/24 h at the end of the study period and 28.3 +/- 14.6 mg/24 h one month after treatment was interrupted compared with baseline values of 55.5 +/- 19.6 mg/24 h (P < 0.05). The treatment was associated with a strong reduction of the fecal excretion of oxalate in the two patients tested. Two bacterial strains among those used for the treatment (L. acidophilus and S. thermophilus) proved in vitro to degrade oxalate effectively, but their growth was somewhat inhibited by oxalate. One strain (B. infantis) showed a quite good degrading activity and grew rapidly in the oxalate-containing medium. L. plantarum and L. brevis showed a modest ability to degrade oxalate even though they grew significantly in oxalate-containing medium. No strain expressed the Ox1T gene. CONCLUSIONS: The urinary excretion of oxalate, a major risk factor for renal stone formation and growth in patients with idiopathic calcium-oxalate urolithiasis, can be greatly reduced with treatment using a high concentration of freeze-dried lactic acid bacteria. We postulate that the biological manipulation of the endogenous digestive microflora can be a novel approach for the prevention of urinary stone formation.

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OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between circulating interleukin-10 (IL-10) and the occurrence of lymphocyte apoptosis after surgical/anesthesia trauma. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively on 18 adult patients undergoing elective major surgery. Blood sampling for assessment of lymphocyte apoptosis and IL-10 levels was performed on the day before surgery (t(0)) and at 24 and 96 hours after operation (t(1) and t(2), respectively). After lymphocyte isolation, quantification of apoptosis was made by staining apoptotic cells with 7-amino-actinomycin D. Plasma IL-10 concentrations were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: A significantly increased frequency of apoptotic CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells (p < 0.05) was observed at t1 measurement (8.10% +/- 0.58% and 12.21% +/- 1.47% for CD4(+) and CD8(+), respectively) compared with preoperative values (1.53% +/- 0.38% and 1.32% +/- 0.45% for CD4(+) and CD8(+), respectively). Plasma IL-10 levels showed a significant elevation at both t(1) and t(2) times, peaking at t(1). At t(1), IL-10 levels were correlated with the frequency of CD4(+) and CD8(+) apoptotic lymphocytes (r = 0.78, p = 0.0005 for IL-10 vs. apoptotic CD4(+); r = 0.71, p = 0.003 for IL-10 vs. apoptotic CD8(+)). CONCLUSION: Surgical trauma is associated with a significant but transient increase in lymphocyte commitment to apoptosis and IL-10 production. The exact relationship linking the overproduction of IL-10 with lymphocyte apoptosis after a surgical operation is still elusive and requires further investigation.

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