Case-control study: Determination of potential risk factors for the colonization of healthy volunteers with Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus.

Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus was identified in humans and animals as commensal of the gut and can act as a causative agent of endocarditis and septicemia. A case-control study was performed to identify yet unknown risk factors for the transmission of this facultative pathogen. The prevalence in the gut of 99 healthy volunteers was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction resulting in 62.5% S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus positive excrements. Subsequent cultivation offered three isolates and epidemiological analysis based on MLST revealed sequence type (ST) 3 and ST 7, previously detected from bovine and endocarditis patients. These results support the hypotheses of the zoonotic potential of this bacterium. Participant questionnaires were evaluated concerning personal characteristics, nutritional habits and animal contact. Specifically, closer contact between participants and animals influenced the colonization of the human gut significantly and was further affected if volunteers used excrement for the fertilization of plants.

Incarceration of Meckel's diverticulum in a left paraduodenal Treitz' hernia.

Meckel's diverticula incarcerated in a hernia were first described anecdotally by Littré, a French surgeon, in 1700. Meckel, a German anatomist and surgeon, explained the pathophysiology of this disease 100 years later. In addition, a congenital paraduodenal mesocolic hernia, known as a Treitz hernia, is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction. These hernias are caused by an abnormal rotation of the primitive midgut, resulting in a right or left paraduodenal hernia. We treated a patient presenting with pain and diagnosed extraluminal air in the abdomen after a computed tomography examination. We performed a laparotomy and found a combination of these two seldomly occurring congenital diseases, incarceration and perforation of Meckel's diverticulum in a left paraduodenal hernia. We performed a thorough review of the literature, and this report is the first to describe a patient with a combination of these two rare conditions. We considered the case regarding the variety of terminology as well as the treatment options of these conditions.

Smooth and textured silicone surfaces of modified gel mammary prostheses cause a different impact on fibroproliferative properties of dermal fibroblasts.

Our study addressed the question of whether surface properties of modern standard gel prostheses may have a measurable impact on the fibrogenic properties of cultured human dermal fibroblasts. Fibroblasts were isolated from breast implants by using the explant culture technique and incubated either on smooth or on textured silicone elastomere surfaces. Fibroblast growth was observed 4 weeks following incubation. Expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1 was measured after cell culture. Incubated fibroblasts on textured surfaces showed a fivefold lower growth rate during all experiments. TGF-ß1 expression was lowered in smooth surface fibroblasts compared with textured surface cultures. Our results show that smooth and textured silicone surfaces of modified gel breast implants have a different impact on the fibroproliferative properties of dermal fibroblasts. These preliminary results seem promising and we aim to further perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of the inflammatory processes in the environment of the implant and their link to the TGF-ß pathway.