Treatment with intravenous iron sucrose is effective, safe, well tolerated and superior to oral iron in correcting haemoglobin and iron stores in patients with IBD.

The only peptide of Sendai virus that is recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in B6 mice was found with (g) the use of recombinant vaccinia virus constructs containing separate genes of Sendai virus and (d) a set of overlapping peptides completely spanning the identified nudeoprotein (NP) gene product. This immunodominant NP peptide is recognized by Sendai virus-specific CTL that are known to have therapeutic effects in vivo. By subcutaneous i'mmunization, this peptide induced Sendai virus and NP peptide-specific CTL memory responses in vivo. Most importantly, mice that had been immunizd with this peptide were protected against a lethal virus dose, indicating that viral peptides can be used as antiviral T-cell vaccines. The induction of T-cell memory by free peptide immunization potentially has wide applicability in biology and medicine, including protection against infectious disease.

No abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the function of the autonomic nervous system in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). The study was designed as a cross-sectional case-control study. Fifty-one patients were included, and the findings were compared with those in 66 controls. Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) during supine rest, during controlled breathing and after tilting was performed in each patient and control case. The patients performed overnight sleep recordings the night before the HRV recordings. Individuals with an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) above 20 were regarded as OSAS patients and those with AHI lower than 20 as snorers. Differences in HRV and blood pressure between patients and controls were analysed by multiple linear regression with age, body mass index and sex as independent variables. During free and controlled breathing there was a significant decrease in indices reflecting vagal modulation, indicating parasympathetic dysfunction in OSAS patients compared with controls. The mid-frequency component was also significantly reduced in OSAS patients after tilting but not in the lying position. This may be related to the parasympathetic dysfunction, but could also indicate a decreased sympathetic reserve capacity. We found no significant relation between AHI and indices of vagal modulation in the patient group. Our findings show an autonomic dysfunction in patients with OSAS. The dysfunction involves the parasympathetic system, and may be related to the increased cardiovascular mortality and malignant arrhythmia described in OSAS.

Background Intravenous iron allows for efficient and well-tolerated treatment in iron deficiency and is routinely used in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Objective The aims of this study were to determine the probability of relapse of iron deficiency over time and to investigate treatment routine, effectiveness, and safety of iron isomaltoside. Methods A total of 282 patients treated with iron isomaltoside were observed for two treatments or a minimum of one year. Results Out of 282 patients, 82 had Crohn's disease and 67 had ulcerative colitis. Another 133 patients had chronic blood loss, malabsorption, or malignancy. Patients who received an iron isomaltoside dose above 1000 mg had a 65% lower probability of needing retreatment compared with those given 1000 mg. A clinically significant treatment response was shown, but in 71/191 (37%) of patients, anaemia was not corrected. The mean dose given was 1100 mg, lower than the calculated total iron need of 1481 mg. Adverse drug reactions were reported in 4% of patients. Conclusion Iron isomaltoside is effective with a good safety profile, and high doses reduce the need for retreatment over time. Several patients were anaemic after treatment, indicating that doses were inadequate for full iron correction. This trial is registered with NCT01900197.

Adherence to European guidelines was rather poor and needs to be improved. The effect on iron parameters of intravenous FCM was significant, and resulted in a ferritin level that indicates an effect on the iron stores. The effect was mostly sustained for a year since only one-quarter of the patients were given repeated iron infusions. No unforeseen safety concerns emerged during the observation period.

VitroSummary, Pieces of rabbit gallbladders were incubated in vitro for 1 hr in Ringer's solution at 37 ~ (" transporting epithelium"), or in Ringer's containing 1 mM ouabain (" inhibited epithelium"). The tissues were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde, postfixed in OsO~ and embedded in Epon. Stereological analysis was carried out on electron micrographs; with this type of analysis it is possible to obtain quantitative data for the three-dimensional structure of the tissue. The following data were obtained for crest transporting epithelium (crypt epithelium in parentheses): Epithelial height, 28 (18) ~tm; nucleus, 16.9 (18.7) % of cell volume; mitochondria, 18.7 (14.1) % of cytoplasmic volume; paracellular channels, 28.3 (11.0) % of epithelial volume; lateral plasma membrane, 4.1 (2.9) m2/cm 3, and apical membrane, 0.5 (0.6) m2/cm 3 of cell volume. The paracellular channels appeared as interconnected tissue sheets of a highly varying width. They were broader in the basal portion of the epithelium than in the apical portion; however, immediately above the basement membrane the channels became very narrow. The arithmetic mean width of the channels was 0.9 (0.2) ~tm and their length was in the range of 40 120 gm. Our stereological data seem compatible with the standing gradient model for water transport.The ouabain inhibited cells were swollen with collapsed paracellular channels. It cannot be ruled out that volume changes occurred in the cells and the paracellular channels during the processing of the tissue. However, qualitatively the same morphology was observed by light microscopy of transporting and inhibited gallbladder epithelium fixed by freeze-drying and embedded in Epon. This constitutes a strong indication of the presence of such channels in the living, in vitro transporting rabbit gallbladder epithelium.The gallbladder has been extensively used in studies of water and electrolyte transport, and on the basis of such studies theories have been advanced which have explained transport processes across simple epithelia. Diamond and Bossert (1967) focused attention on electrolyte pumps which, by osmotic forces, drag water into paracellular channels. The capacities of the transepithelial transport rest partly on the structural characteristics of the paracellular channels-length, width, and surface area are included among the parameters discussed (Diamond & Bossert,

Cimetidine, 75 mg/kg body weight, was given twice daily by gastric tube to rats with experimental gastric ulcers. After 130 days' treatment the rats were killed, and sections from the wounds and normal mucosa were prepared for light and electron microscopy. Light microscopic studies showed that the regenerating mucosa in the wounds was thicker in the cimetidine-treated animals than in the controls. Stereological analyses demonstrated no differences in mean size of the parietal cells or in parietal cell volume density between the cimetidine-treated and the untreated groups, but an increase in the secretory surface density was detected in the parietal cells from rats that had been given cimetidine.