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Serotonin signaling influences satiety and motivation through known actions in the hindbrain and hypothalamus. Recently, we reported that some classes of serotonin receptors also modulate food intake through actions in the ventral tegmentum and the nucleus accumbens. In the current experiments, we examined whether activation or blockade of individual serotonin receptor subtypes in the ventral tegmentum might also affect appetitive motivation for sugar pellets as assessed in a progressive ratio (PR) task. Separate groups of rats were tested following stimulation or blockade of ventral tegmental serotonin 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2C, or 3 receptors. Rats within each group received multiple doses of a single drug across days; each test was separated by 72 h. Progressive ratio break point was significantly affected by stimulation of ventral tegmental serotonin 1A receptors with 8-OH-DPAT (0, 2, 4, 8 μg/side) or stimulation of serotonin 3 receptors with mCPBG (0, 10, & 20 μg/side). High doses of both agents tended to decrease break point. Additionally, stimulation of serotonin 2C receptors with RO60-0175 (at 0, 2, and 5 μg/side) reduced total lever presses and demonstrated a trend towards reducing break point. There were no effects of stimulating ventral tegmental serotonin 1B, 2A, or 2B receptors on break point; neither did antagonism of any of the serotonin receptor subtypes significantly affect performance. These data provide additional evidence that serotonergic signaling in the mesolimbic pathway affects motivated behavior, and demonstrate that a subset of serotonin receptors impact not only food consumption, but appetitive food-seeking as well., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Twenty eight patients with previously untreated oesophageal carcinoma without distant metastases were divided into two groups: Group A consisted of 18 pts. treated with conventional external radiotherapy only. Another group of 10 pts. (Group B) received treatment with external beam irradiation with further high dose rate intraluminal brachytherapy up to a dose of 4-12 Gy delivered in 2-3 sessions of 4 Gy (one session a week). All pts. were evaluated clinically, radiologically and endoscopically every 3 months. At the end of treatment there was a marked difference in relief of dysphagia (39% in Group A vs. 90% in Group B), local control (56.7% in Group A vs. 100% in Group B) and time to progression of dysphagia (20.8 weeks in Group A vs. 67.7 weeks in Group B). No marked difference was observed in overall survival. The complication rate was low in both groups and major complications were observed in pts. treated with external radiotherapy alone (two fistulas). The association of external beam and intraluminal radiotherapy can give a better local control of the disease, improving the quality of life.

The prognosis of esophageal adenocarcinoma is extremely poor. Despite recent improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, the 5-years survival rate remains below 10%. Management is primarily surgical or radiotherapeutical, although pre- or postoperative radiation or chemotherapy are often employed. Chemotherapy alone, however, has not demonstrated great therapeutic efficacy in the management of this neoplasm. As most patients with cancer of the lower esophagus have an advanced stage of the disease and a very poor prognosis, the main aim of treatment should be to improve the quality of life. Intracavitary radiation (high dose rate) is a well recognised method of treatment alone or in combination with external radiotherapy. Its simplicity, the convenience of short treatment time and radiation safety provided by the remote after loading system make this the ideal palliative treatment in esophageal cancer. Endoscopic techniques, like dilation and endoprosthesis placement, laser therapy or BI-CAP probe, provide good palliation for dysphagia, with a low morbidity rate. The paper describes a case of lower esophageal adenocarcinoma treated with combined external and intracavitary radiation and endoscopic palliative techniques. Good control of the disease was achieved and the patient is alive 26 months after treatment with a good quality of life.

Isolate esophageal ulcer caused by Geotrichum candidum in a case of AIDS. We report the case of a 29-year-old white man, AIDS affected, presented with odynophagia, dysphagia and chest pain. X-ray and endoscopic study revealed an isolated esophageal ulcer whose culture demonstrated to be caused by Geotrichum candidum. This etiologic agent was not previously described in this kind of lesion.