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BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are two major causes of gastric ulceration but interactions between H pylori and these drugs in gastric mucosal injury are unclear. AIMS: We studied the influence of experimental H pylori infection on gastric mucosal injury induced by aspirin. SUBJECTS: Male Mongolian gerbils free of specific pathogens were used. METHODS: H pylori ATCC43504 culture broth was administered by oral gavage at seven weeks of age. After three weeks, acidified aspirin (400 mg/kg) was administered orally, and three hours later the total area of gastric erosions, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (an index of neutrophil accumulation), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, an index of lipid peroxidation), and KC/GRO (a chemoattractive cytokine in rodents) were measured in gastric mucosa. To determine the role of neutrophils in these circumstances, antigerbil neutrophil rabbit serum (ANS) was administered to some animals 18 hours before aspirin. RESULTS: Aspirin caused more extensive haemorrhagic erosions (33.1 (12.3) mm2) associated with greater MPO activity (1887.7 (598.5) microU/mg protein) and TBARS (0.33 (0.14) nmol/mg protein) and KC/GRO concentrations (28.3 (9.5) pg/mg protein) in infected than in uninfected gerbils (13.7 (2.3); 204.0 (68.9); 0.12 (0.06); 3.1 (0.8), respectively) Pretreatment with ANS inhibited the increases in gastric erosions, MPO activity, and TBARS but not KC/GRO concentration. The reduction in aspirin induced mucosal injury by administration of ANS was much greater in H pylori infected animals (65%) than in uninfected animals (31%). CONCLUSIONS: H pylori infection potentiates aspirin induced gastric mucosal injury by mechanisms that include accumulation of activated neutrophils.

A total of 65 cases of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease with a history of cadaveric dura transplantation in Japan were analysed to clarify the epidemiologic features of such patients and to explore whether other such patients will appear in the future. The age at transplantation averaged 44·4 years with a standard deviation of 14·4 years. The age at onset had an average of 53·0 years with a standard deviation of 14·1 years. The shortest latent period was 14 months, and the longest was 218 months with an average of 103·1 months and a standard deviation of 49·9 months. From the relationship between the calendar year at transplantation and the latent period, other such patients will appear in the near future. The current data suggested that several patients with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease will occur from those receiving cadaveric dura mater grafts in the near future.

Introduction: Durvalumab plus tremelimumab combination therapy (STRIDE regimen) is a new first-line option for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), but little real-world data is available to determine which patients are most likely to respond., Methods: This study retrospectively evaluated patients with uHCC who were treated with the STRIDE regimen as the 1st line at our hospital. The primary endpoint of the study was the objective response rate (ORR). We focused on identifying factors associated with cases that had a favorable response., Results: 21 patients were included. In best response, there were 11 partial response cases, with an ORR of 52.4%. Median progression-free survival was 6.8 months, and overall survival did not reach the median time. A high tumor-to-liver ratio of the SUVmax (TLR) on baseline FDG-PET was associated with response, while TLRs were significantly higher in poorly differentiated uHCC., Conclusion: The STRIDE regimen may be beneficial for systemic therapy-naïve uHCC patients. High TLR on baseline FDG-PET could be a potentially useful biomarker for response., (The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)