Comparison of two methods for the in-vivo diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection using a tablet of 13C-urea.

BACKGROUND: The urea Breath-test is a widely-used method to detect the presence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. Recently, new technologies were introduced, to obtain an immediate test result by continuous breath samples analysis after labeled urea intake. The total test duration is shorter than 20 minutes. METHODS: The study compared two diagnostic methods requiring the administration of EXPIROBACTER® (Sofar SpA, Trezzano Rosa, Milan, Italy) 100 mg as a source of labeled urea. Subjects with clinical indication to urea breath test for H. pylori were enrolled. This study was designed to directly compare the accuracy of urea breath test performed with both the classic method and BreathID® (Exalenz Bioscience, Inc., Manasquan, NJ, USA). Each patient simultaneously underwent to both tests, to measure the concordance between the results (positive or negative test), minimizing the risks of differences related to the intra- and inter-individual variability. RESULTS: Forty-six subjects were enrolled. Forty-one patients (91.1%) were found negative with both methods and 5 (10.1%) were positive for H. pylori infection in both tests. Correlation between the two methods was excellent (κ=1.00). BreathID® was significantly preferred by patients, with a 7.83 (95% CI: 3.35 to 12.30, P=0.001) difference in mean patient satisfaction, measured by a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). No adverse event was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Correlation between the two methods was excellent. Moreover, the patient satisfaction, measured by VAS, showed a significantly greater acceptance of BreathID® method. This study support the use of a product containing 13C-urea 100 mg and citric acid for immediate determination of HP infection by urea breath test performed with BreathID®.

Molecular features and clinical outcome of lung malignancies in very young people.

INTRODUCTION: We describe the clinical features, outcome and incidence of druggable targets of lung cancers in patients ≤ 40 years old. MATERIALS & METHODS: Young patients were compared with two other groups (41-64 and ≥ 65 years). Neuroendocrine tumors, adenocarcinoma and non-adenocarcinoma/unspecified non-small-cell lung cancer were analyzed separately. Molecular characteristics of adenocarcinoma were evaluated in a subset of young patients. RESULTS: Of 2847 patients with lung cancer, 100 were ≤ 40 years old. The young group contained more women, never-smokers and patients presenting with advanced disease. The commonest tumor in young patients was adenocarcinoma. In total, 19 of 34 young patients with adenocarcinoma had tumors with specific molecular alterations. CONCLUSION: Lung cancers in young patients have distinctive features but outcomes similar to those in older patients.

Visual evaluation of binding to mucosal cells of a medical device against the common cold.

The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of visualizing the ability of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and a nasal spray (First Defense), in which the bioadhesive is HPMC, to bind to human mucosal cells using inorganic (black carbon particles and Congo red dye) and organic markers (Escherichia coli). A significant reduction in the bacterial adhesiveness has been observed. Our findings indicate the possibility of counteracting the lock-and-key mechanism of microorganism adhesion using the bioadhesive properties of polymers, such as HPMC, in First Defense to prevent a possible contact between adhesins and complementary receptors.

Thymol inhibits Candida albicans biofilm formation and mature biofilm.

Candida albicans has a high propensity to develop biofilms that are resistant to traditional antifungal agents. Thymol is credited with a series of pharmacological properties including antimicrobial and antifungal effects. As C. albicans biofilms are known to be important factors underlying its virulence and pathogenicity, the aim of this study was to investigate whether thymol can interfere with biofilm formation as well as acting on mature biofilms. Tests of C. albicans strains ATCC 3153A and ATCC MYA 2876 showed that thymol interferes with the starting phases of biofilm production as well as with mature C. albicans biofilms. The metabolic activity of sessile cells was reduced by >90% at twice the minimum inhibitory concentration of planktonic cells. As biofilm is a multifactorial phenomenon, the multiple mechanisms of thymol (terpenes) could act on different steps in the evolution of mature biofilm.

Antioxidant effect of sulphurous thermal water on human neutrophil bursts: chemiluminescence evaluation.

BACKGROUND: The activities of the HS (sulfhydryl or thiolic) group in the cysteine of glutathione or various low-weight soluble molecules (thiolic drugs), such as N-acethylcysteine, mesna, thiopronine and dithiotreitol or stepronine and erdosteine (prodrugs), include its antioxidant activity in the airways during the release of reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (ROS, RNS) by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) activated in response to exogenous or endogenous stimuli. OBJECTIVE: In addition to being administered by means of thiolic molecules, the HS group can also be given by means of the inhalation of sulphurous thermal water. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sulphurous thermal water on the release of ROS and RNS during the bursts of human PMNs. METHODS: The luminol-amplified chemiluminescence methodology was used to investigate the ROS and RNS released by PMNs stimulated with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, before and after incubation with sulphurous water. Effects on cell-free systems were also investigated. RESULTS: The water significantly reduced the luminol-amplified chemiluminescence of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine- andphorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-activated PMNs on average from 0.94 to 15.5 mug/ml of HS, even after the addition of L-arginine, a nitric oxide (NO) donor. Similar findings have also been obtained in a cell-free system, thus confirming the importance of the presence of the HS group (reductive activity). CONCLUSIONS: The positive effects of the activity of sulphurous thermal waters has been partially based on the patients' subjective sense of wellbeing and partially on not always easy to quantify symptomatic (or general) clinical improvements. Our findings indicate that, in addition to their known mucolytic activity and trophic effects on respiratory mucosa, the HS groups present in the sulphurous thermal water of this spring also have antioxidant activity that contributes to the therapeutic effects of the water in upper and lower airway inflammatory diseases.