No abstract

In vivo exercise interventions differentially regulate serum COMP concentrations and knee cartilage deformations. The relation between changes in COMP and in cartilage volume seems to depend on both mechanical and biochemical factors.

In a prospective randomized study, one- and two-layer anastomoses were compared following subtotal oesophagectomy and gastric substitution with cervical oesophagogastric anastomosis. After 54 one- and 53 two-layer procedures the rates of anastomotic leakage were the same (19 per cent). After a mean follow-up of 44 weeks, 13 of 51 patients (25 per cent) undergoing one-layer anastomosis and 28 of 50 (56 per cent) having the two-layer procedure complained of cervical dysphagia and required dilatation. The anastomotic strictures were fibrotic in 11 of 51 patients (22 per cent) undergoing one-layer anastomosis and in 24 of 50 (48 per cent) receiving the two-layer operation. Strictures were malignant in two and four patients (4 and 8 per cent) respectively. The lower incidence of fibrotic stricture following one-layer anastomosis was significant (P < 0.01), but not that of malignant stricture. With comparable leakage rates, one-layer anastomosis is superior to the two-layer procedure because of the lower incidence of fibrotic stricture.

Elevated plasma lipoprotein(a) has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We report a significant elevation of total plasma apolipoprotein(a) levels in cancer patients compared with hospitalized control patients and normal healthy blood donors. Of the cancer patients studied, 48% had levels in excess of 350 mg/l compared to 20% in normal blood donors and 29% of hospitalized control patients. The elevation was more prevalent but less extreme than that reported in patients with cardiovascular disease. Density gradient centrifugation studies of plasma from cancer patients revealed the presence of apolipoprotein(a) at a density of 1.085 g/ml in the region where mRNA-containing proteolipids, neoproteolipids and malignancy-associated lipoproteins had previously been isolated.

In contrast to previous results, these data do not provide evidence that the contribution of H. pylori infection to the carcinogenesis of gastric cancer is of major significance in a population with low gastric cancer rates and with high socioeconomic status.