[Urologic complications in gynecologic tumor interventions].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H Joos.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Fast-growing, aerobic, heterotrophic bacteria from the root surface of young sugar beet plants were inventoried. Isolation of the most abundant bacteria from the root surface of each of 1,100 plants between the second and tenth leaf stage yielded 5,600 isolates. These plants originated from different fields in Belgium and Spain. All isolates were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of total cellular proteins. Comparison of protein fingerprints allowed us to inventory the bacteria of individual plants of different fields or leaf stages and to analyze the composition and variability of the rhizobacterial population of young sugar beet plants. Each field harbored a specific population of bacteria which showed a highly hierarchic structure. A small number of bacteria occurring frequently at high densities dominated in each field. The major bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens, Xanthomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas paucimobilis, and Phyllobacterium sp. The former three species showed a high genetic variability as they were represented by different protein fingerprint types on the same or different fields or leaf stages. Twinspan analysis and relative abundance plots showed that the structure and composition of the bacterial populations varied strongly over time. Pseudomonads were typically early colonizers which were later replaced by X. maltophilia or Phyllobacterium sp.
The second most abundant bacterium on the root surface of young sugar beet plants was identified as a Phyllobacterium sp. (Rhizobiaceae) based on a comparison of the results of 39 conventional identification tests, 167 API tests, 30 antibiotic susceptibility tests, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic fingerprints of total cellular proteins with type strains of Phyllobacterium myrsinacearum and Phyllobacterium rubiacearum. It was found on 198 of 1,100 investigated plants between the 2nd and 10th leaf stage on three different fields in Belgium and one field in Spain. Densities ranged from 2 x 10 to 2 x 10 CFU/g of root. Five isolates exerted a broad-spectrum in vitro antifungal activity. DNA-DNA hybridizations showed that Phyllobacterium sp. does not contain DNA sequences that are homologous with the attachment genes chvA, chvB, the transferred-DNA (T-DNA) hormone genes iaaH and ipt from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, iaaM from A. tumefaciens and Pseudomonas savastanoi, or the nitrogenase genes nifHDK from Klebsiella pneumoniae. Phyllobacterium sp. produces indolylacetic acid in in vitro cultures and induces auxinlike effects when cocultivated with callus tissue of tobacco. When Phyllobacterium sp. was transformed with a Ti plasmid derivative, it gained the capacity to induce tumors on Kalanchoe daigremontiana. The potential role of Phyllobacterium sp. in this newly recognized niche is discussed.
A Lactobacillus hilgardii plasmid, pLAB1000, was studied to understand the organization of autonomous replicons from lactobacilli. Two cassettes could be identified. First, the replication region consisted of a sequence coding for a replication protein (Rep) and its corresponding target site, similar to those from plasmids pUB110, pC194 (Staphylococcus aureus), pFTB14, pBAA1 (Bacillus sp.), and pLP1 (Lactobacillus sp.). Sequence analysis indicated the possible synthesis of an antisense RNA that might regulate Rep production. The results also suggested that pLAB1000 replicates via a single-stranded DNA intermediate, and a putative lagging-strand initiation site was found that had similarities to those of alpha 3, St-1, and G4 isometric bacteriophages. The second cassette of pLAB1000 consisted of a sequence coding for a putative mobilization protein (Mob) and its corresponding RSA site. This cassette was similar to those found in pT181, pUB110, pE194 (S. aureus), and pG12 (Bacillus sp.), and it was found to be conserved among different Lactobacillus plasmid replicons. The origin and evolution of these functional cassettes are also discussed.
Data from 120 patients diagnosed as having renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and treated in an organ-preserving surgical manner were analyzed from 11 participating Austrian urological centers. The male to female ratio was 66:54. The subjects age ranged from 27 to 75 years with mean age of 59 years. The indication for conservative tissue-saving surgery was a solitary kidney in 48 instances, a bilateral RCC in 18 cases and, in 2 patients, a horseshoe kidney tumor. In 52 cases the indication for conservative surgery was a peripheral, easily resectable, low-stage tumor (elective indication). Results were comparable to radical nephrectomy of low-stage tumors especially relating to survival rates. Ninety-nine patients survived and were tumor free at the point of check up (December 1988). Thirteen patients had either local tumor recurrence and/or metastases and 5 patients died from the disease. The operative mortality and the morbidity rate was very low.
From 114 patients treated with local radiotherapy after nephrectomy up to now 46 patients are alive. 59 patients died; 55 patients died because of the tumor, 4 patients died because of other genesis. At 4 patients, who are alive, a secondary therapy because of pulmonary metastasis was performed. Three times a solitary metastasis of the lung was removed surgically. One female patient came into a CR under therapy with Gestagen (Depo Provera). Three patients (2.6%) died because of a local recidive. There was no change of survival rates and local recidive rates compared to surgery alone.
Two plasmids, pLAB1000 and pLAB2000 (3.3 and 9.1 kb, respectively), have been isolated from a grass silage strain of Lactobacillus hilgardii. Both plasmids were cloned in Escherichia coli and characterized through restriction mapping. A 1.6-kb XbaI-SacI fragment of pLAB1000 appeared to be sufficient for autonomous replication in Lactobacillus plantarum and in Bacillus subtilis. Different shuttle vectors for E. coli and gram-positive bacteria were developed using the pLAB1000 plasmid. These could stably be maintained in Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, and Bacillus under selective conditions. Plasmids sharing DNA homologies with pLAB1000 have been observed in different strains of the related species L. plantarum.
A commercial grass silage starter strain of Lactobacillus plantarum was transformed by high-frequency electroporation with plasmids containing an alpha-amylase gene from Bacillus stearothermophilus and an endoglucanase gene from Clostridium thermocellum. Both genes were expressed from their native regulatory signals, and active enzymes were found in the supernatant. However, the segregational stability of the transforming plasmids was rather low. Therefore, the transforming genes were inserted in the L. plantarum chromosome by means of single homologous recombination. In the majority of the transformants, this led to extremely stable segregation and expression of the transforming genes, without generating secondary mutations in the host. Increased selective pressure led to tandem amplification of the transforming DNA. The transformed strains demonstrated the ability of L. plantarum to express heterologous gene products; they can be used to detect the inoculum in silage ecology studies; and they demonstrate the feasibility of engineering truly cellulolytic silage starter bacteria.
A double-blind study with Serocytol "Muqueuse urinaire" (immune serum against mucosa of the urinary tract) and Serocytol "S.R.E." (immune serum against reticulo-endothelial system) and placebo was designed for treatment of different bladder diseases (interstitial cystitis sui generis, after radiotherapy and in connection with multiple transurethral resections of bladder tumour, cystitis granularis). Twenty-four patients (17 women and 5 men, aged 41-75, with interstitial cystitis, and 2 women, aged 42 and 75, with cystitis granularis) were included in this study. According to the procedure and after breaking the code 13 patients were treated with Serocytol and 11 patients with the placebo. Nine out of 13 patients who were treated with Serocytol showed an improvement of their condition. In 1 patient the condition was unchanged. Three patients treated with the active compound dropped out of the study during the treatment phase. In one instance the patient did not appear for further check-up; in another the therapy was discontinued after 3 weeks, and in one case a general exanthema occurred. Of the 11 patients treated with placebo, there was an improvement in 2 patients, whereas in 9 cases their status was unchanged. Serocytol and placebo were well tolerated by most of the patients. There were no side effects resulting from the almost daily suppository application over a period of 2 months. No changes in the blood counts, electrolytes, liver and renal function could be found in any of these patients.
Fracture of the corpus cavernosum occurs when one or both corpora are ruptured usually during sexual intercourse and less often owing to blunt trauma. The injury may be associated with an urethral lesion and is easy to recognize; the treatment, however, remains controversial. 7/8 patients had primary or secondary surgical therapy, 1/8 was treated by conservative measures. The results after surgery were very satisfactory, with no immediate perioperative or postoperative complications. The success rate of the surgical management corresponds to a high degree with reports from the literature (complication rate is less than 10%). Based on literature review, conservative treatment is associated with a 25-30% complication rate. Early surgical repair might be the treatment of choice for rupture of the corpus cavernosum with and/or without concomitant lesion of the urethra.
In 153 patients with verified neoplasias of the genitourinary tract, urinary neopterin excretion was monitored under different conditions. As control, urinary neopterin values were taken from 208 male and 209 female volunteers. Neopterin excretion was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Patients with early tumor stages, both with bladder tumor and carcinoma of the prostate, presented almost normal urinary neopterin levels. The difference of urinary neopterin excretion between low and high stages in bladder tumor (T0-1 versus T2-4) as well in carcinoma of the prostate (stage A-B versus stage C-D) is highly significant (p less than 0.001). In the group of patients with renal cell carcinoma we could not find any correlation between tumor stage and neopterin excretion. The basal urinary neopterin values in patients with testicle tumors were as follows: 1 of 6 patients stage-I seminomatous tumors and 2 of 4 patients with stage-I non-seminomatous tumors demonstrated elevated neopterin levels. In the higher stages all patients, in both groups, exhibited pathologically increased neopterin excretion. During therapy and follow-up: all 24 stage-I (seminomatous and non-seminomatous tumors) patients showed normal neopterin levels: 1 of 3 stage-II (non-seminomatous tumors) patients and all 5 stage-IV (seminomatous and non-seminomatous tumors) patients had elevated urinary neopterin excretion. Our experience suggests that neopterin measurements may supplement laboratory examinations in patients with malignant tumor diseases of the genitourinary tract, providing meaningful information in regard to early detection of tumor progression, tumor recurrence and follow-up.
Transmission of ColE1/pMB1-derived plasmids, such as pBR322, from Escherichia coli donor strains was shown to be an efficient way to introduce these plasmids into Agrobacterium. This was accomplished by using E. coli carrying the helper plasmids pGJ28 and R64drd11 which provide the ColE1 mob functions and tra functions, respectively. For example, the broad host-range replication plasmid, pGV1150, a co-integrate plasmid between pBR322 and the W-type mini-Sa plasmid, pGV1106, was transmitted from E. coli to A. tumefaciens with a transfer frequency of 4.5 x 10(-3). As pBR322 clones containing pTiC58 fragments were unable to replicate in Agrobacterium, these clones were found in Agrobacterium only if the acceptor carried a Ti plasmid, thus allowing a co-integration of the pBR322 clones with the Ti plasmid by homology recombination. These observations were used to develop an efficient method for site-specific mutagenesis of the Ti plasmids. pTiC58 fragnents, cloned in pBR322, were mutagenized in vitro and transformed into E. coli. The mutant clones were transmitted from an E. coli donor strain containing pGJ28 and R64drd11 to an Agrobacterium containing a target Ti plasmid. Selecting for stable transfer of the mutant clone utilizing its antibiotic resistance marker(s) gave exconjugants that already contained a co-integrate plasmid between the mutant clone and the Ti plasmid. A second recombination can dissociate the co-integrate plasmid into the desired mutant Ti plasmid and a non-replicating plasmid formed by the vector plasmid pBR322 and the target Ti fragment. These second recombinants lose the second plasmid and they are identified by screening for the appropriate marker combination.
A Ti plasmid mutant was constructed in which all the on-cogenic functions of the T-DNA have been deleted and replaced by pBR322. This Ti plasmid, pGV3850, still mediates efficient transfer and stabilization of its truncated T-DNA into infected plant cells. Moreover, integration and expression of this minimal T-DNA in plant cells does not interfere with normal plant cell differentiation. A DNA fragment cloned in a pBR vector can be inserted in the pGV3850 T-region upon a single recombination event through the pBR322 region of pGV3850 producing a co-integrate useful for the transformation of plant cells. Based upon these properties, pGV3850 is proposed as an extremely versatile vector for the introduction of any DNA of interest into plant cells.
In an attempt to elucidate the transfer and integration mechanism of Agrobacterium DNA upon crown gall induction, we translocated a borderless T-DNA to different sites of the C58 Ti plasmid. As a result of the physical linkage of the T-DNA onc genes with other Ti plasmid functions, the concerned strain retained tumor-inducing capacity. However, when the borderless T-DNA is separated on an independent replicon while all other pTi functions are provided in trans, the strain can no longer induce tumors on plants. We provide evidence that the right T-DNA border region harbors one or more in cis active functions essential in the transfer and/or stabilization of the T-DNA into plant cells. The strains used in these experiments allowed us to conclude that some function(s) of the Ti plasmid can induce plant cell proliferations independently of the T-DNA transformation event. The results described here indicate that other Ti plasmid sequences than solely the T-region can be transferred to plant cells.
Four patients suffering from carcinoma of the prostate (2 in stage C and 2 in stage D) in whom orchidectomy was indicated clinically, were enrolled in the study. Two patients were given a single injection of 25 units of BCG per testis and the other two received 50 units intratesticularly. Testicular biopsy at 0, 4 and 16 weeks showed the effects of the procedure in the tubular and interstitial compartment. The tubules were partially or completely atrophied, Sertoli cells were vacuolated. In the interstitium, mononuclear infiltration was evident. The reaction was more intense in patients receiving 50 units. The plasma testosterone after a slight drop in the first month returned to normal and pretreatment levels, respectively, and remained so during the eight months of observation. There was no significant change either in plasma oestradiol and prolactin or in T3, T1 and cortisol levels. FSH and LH, however, increased beyond the basal levels after an initial drop. The general condition of the patients remained good. All four patients gained weight. No side effects other than scrotal swelling during the first few weeks were either seen or reported by the patients. The swelling subsided after four weeks. This preliminary study indicates that there is a partial or total destruction of geminal elements. As the plasma testosterone levels remained undiminished in these four cases over a period of 8 months, it is apparent that testosterone production is not affected by intratesticularly administered BCG.
Sonography for postoperative staging after malignant renal tumours was evaluated in this study based on multiple examinations in 63 patients. Sonography permits a critical examination of the liver, the abdomen in general, the retroperitoneal space, including the renal fossa and solitary kidney. Local recurrences after hypernephroma operation were found in 5.3% and after nephrectomy for renal pelvic carcinoma in 68%. Retroperitoneal lymph node metastases appeared in 17% of the patients operated on renal pelvic carcinoma and in 7.6% after hypernephroma operation. These data indicate that special attention should be drawn to the renal fossa after tumour nephrectomy. The higher incidence of recurrences in the renal fossa, and metastatic lymph node involvement in patients following nephrectomy for renal pelvic carcinoma compared with the situation after hypernephroma operation might be explained by the difference of the lymph drainage between the renal pelvis and renal parenchyma which, in addition, includes a separate ontogenetic development. The majority of secondary lesions in hypernephroma patients occur as lung and bone metastases which have been discovered by conventional X-ray examination. These data are not statistically evaluated in the study.
Plant crown gall tumor cells result from the insertion and expression of a defined DNA sequence, called T-DNA, which is derived from the Ti plasmid, harbored by Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains. To study the function of the genes of the T-DNA of the nopaline Ti plasmid, pTiC58, a collection of mutants was isolated so that T-DNA genes are inactivated either separately or in various combinations. It was found that no single T-DNA gene or T-region border is absolutely essential for stable tumor formation. We have identified the gene responsible for synthesis in transformed cells of the phosphorylated sugar, agrocinopine, and at least three additional genes controlling the morphology of plant tumors. Two of these latter genes work together to inhibit shoot formation and ensure efficient tumorous growth. Inactivation of these genes can be suppressed by the addition of auxins. The third gene inhibits root formation and appears to play a role in the cytokinin-independent growth of transformed cells. Mutants missing all three genes do not induce tumors, nor shoot or root formation, although the mutant T-DNA sequence is transferred to plant cells.