St Bartholomew's Hospital

About: St Bartholomew's Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 11054 authors who have published 13229 publications receiving 501102 citations. The organization is also known as: St. Bartholomew's Hospital & The Royal Hospital of St Bartholomew.

Irritable bowel, irritable body, or irritable brain?

Abstract: Summary points The irritable bowel syndrome affects about 20% of adults in the industrialised world The condition is a disturbance of gastrointestinal function of unknown cause, but abnormalities of intestinal motility and visceral sensation are found in some patients Symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome are often associated with extraintestinal manifestations, including urinary symptoms, dyspareunia, and fatigue Overall, 40–60% of patients with the irritable bowel syndrome who seek medical advice have psychological symptoms of depression or anxiety, or both Diagnosis of the irritable bowel syndrome can usually be made on the basis of clinical history and examination, but exclusion of organic disease is advisable in patients aged >45 years who present with new bowel symptoms No uniformly successful treatment exists for the irritable bowel syndrome. End organ treatment aimed at relieving abdominal pain (antispasmodic drugs) or disturbed bowel habit (antidiarrhoeal and bulking agents) can produce symptomatic relief, and “central” treatment (for example, anti-depressants, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy) should be considered in patients with associated affective disorders

Mutations of CEBPA in acute myeloid leukemia FAB types M1 and M2

Abstract: CEBPA encodes the transcription factor C/EBPα and is specifically up-regulated during granulocytic differentiation. The gene is mutated in approximately 20% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) FAB type M2 and occurs in the absence of the t(8;21). In much the same way as specific translocations are associated with a particular AML FAB type, the identification of non-random associations of gene mutation with karyotype or FAB type may be helpful in elucidating the molecular basis of certain forms of leukemia. To confirm these initial findings, 99 patients with AML FAB type M1 or M2 were screened for CEBPA mutations by use of a PCR–single-strand conformational polymorphism and sequencing approach. Nine CEBPA mutations were identified in eight patients. The mutations were clustered toward the COOH terminal of the protein and occurred exclusively in the intermediate cytogenetic risk group (8/64, 12.5%). Two patients with biallelic mutation, one homozygous for 1137Ins (57 bp) and another with two CEBPA mutations, 1096Ins (27 bp) and 363Ins (GGCC), were observed. There was no evidence for deletion of this region in the other six mutated samples analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization with a BAC clone spanning the CEBPA locus. CEBPA mutation status was not demonstrated to be of prognostic importance in this patient group, although this may reflect the selection and size of the AML population studied. In conclusion, mutation of CEBPA is a recurrent finding in AML and appears specific to the intermediate cytogenetic risk group patients. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Morphological integrity of the bronchial epithelium in mild asthma.

Abstract: In severe asthma bronchial epithelial cells are damaged and detached, and it has been proposed that such damage might lead to the bronchial hyperresponsiveness that characterises asthma. To investigate the relation between airway hyperresponsiveness and epithelial damage, biopsy specimens of the bronchial mucus membrane were obtained at fibreoptic bronchoscopy from 11 patients with mild atopic asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness (provocative concentration of methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20) less than 1.0 mg/ml), and from 17 healthy non-atopic subjects who did not have airway hyperresponsiveness (PC20 methacholine greater than 8.0 mg/ml). Observers who were blind to the presence or absence of asthma examined the biopsy specimens by light and electron microscopy. Epithelial cells, intercellular spaces, and goblet cells were counted. Intercellular junctional complexes were examined, and a semiquantitative assessment was made of ciliary loss, non-parallel central ciliary filaments, and vacuoles in ciliated cells. There were no differences between the asthmatic and healthy groups in any of these measurements. These findings indicate that airway hyperresponsiveness may be present when there is no apparent change in the structure of the bronchial epithelium.