ABSTRACT
Lyophilized Enterococcus faecium M-74 was administered to 12 adult subjects in a daily oral dose of 5 x 10(9) bacteria for six weeks. The bacterium temporarily colonized the host intestine and its excretion with stool persisted for five weeks after the last does. The mean levels of serum cholesterol and LDL showed a a biphasic effect--an elevation followed by a sharp decrease (on day 64 of investigation). The decrease corresponded in time with a significant increase in the ability to reduce iodonitrotetrazolium and superoxide production by peripheral neutrophils incubated with zymosan or phorbol myristate acetate, and also with an elevated production of IgG by peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Hence, intake of E. faecium may have a hypocholesterolemic and immunostimulatory effect. It was also demonstrated that E. faecium significantly reduced the average activity of beta-D-glucuronidase in stools.
Subject(s)
Adjuvants, Immunologic/therapeutic use , Anticholesteremic Agents/therapeutic use , Enterococcus faecium , Adjuvants, Immunologic/administration & dosage , Administration, Oral , Adult , Aged , Antibody Formation/drug effects , Anticholesteremic Agents/administration & dosage , Cholesterol/blood , Enterococcus faecium/immunology , Enterococcus faecium/physiology , Female , Freeze Drying , Humans , Immunoglobulin G/biosynthesis , Lipoproteins, LDL/blood , Male , Middle Aged , Neutrophils/drug effects , Neutrophils/metabolism , Oxidation-Reduction , Respiratory Burst/drug effects , Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate/pharmacology , Zymosan/pharmacologyABSTRACT
We compared cytologic and scintigraphic findings with pathohistologic diagnosis in 60 patients (11 males and 49 females) with nodular goiter. In the preoperative period, apart from clinical examination, all patients underwet thyroid gland scyntigraphy, puncture, T3, T4, TSH hormon test, and if clinically relevant, thyroglobulin. On the basis of pathohistologic diagnosis, two groups were formed: nontumour and tumour lesions. The nontumour lesion gruop consisted of 24 colloid and 8 cystic noduli. Cytologic diagnosis was confirmed in 29 cases. All cystic and 6 colloid noduli were scintigraphically "cold", while the rest were "relatively cold". In the tumour lesion group there were 14 follicular and 3 Hürthle's adenomas, 5 papillary, 1 follicular, 3 anaplastic and 2 metastatic carcinomas. Cytologic diagnosis was confirmed in 22 cases. All noduli were "cold". Cytologic diagnosis was compatible with pathohistologic diagnosis in 85% of cases. The difference between cytologic and pathohistologic diagnosis was not statistically significant.
