The choroid plexus epithelium as a novel player in the stomach-brain axis during Helicobacter infection.

Several studies suggest a link between shifts in gut microbiota and neurological disorders. Recently, we reported a high prevalence of Helicobacter suis (H. suis) in patients with Parkinson's disease. Here, we evaluated the effect of gastric H. suis infection on the brain in mice. One month of infection with H. suis resulted in increased brain inflammation, reflected in activation of microglia and cognitive decline. Additionally, we detected choroid plexus inflammation and disruption of the epithelial blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier upon H. suis infection, while the endothelial blood-brain barrier (BBB) remained functional. These changes were accompanied by leakage of the gastrointestinal barrier and low-grade systemic inflammation, suggesting that H. suis-evoked gastrointestinal permeability and subsequent peripheral inflammation induces changes in brain homeostasis via changes in blood-CSF barrier integrity. In conclusion, this study shows for the first time that H. suis infection induces inflammation in the brain associated with cognitive decline and that the choroid plexus is a novel player in the stomach-brain axis.

The use of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal to predict success in a baccalaureate nursing program.

No nationally available objective instrument is currently recognized as predictive of successful nursing program completion. Such a measure, available prior to program entry, might guide admissions procedures and be used to counsel applicants. This longitudinal descriptive-correlational study investigated the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal as a potential predictor of success as measured by a passing score on the NCLEX examination for nurse registration. From a southern Arizona population of 177 baccalaureate nursing students who graduated between December 1982 and May 1984, 145 graduates comprised the volunteer sample. These participants completed the Watson-Glaser Appraisal during their first week as upper-division nursing students, consented to participation in the study, and permitted reporting of NCLEX scores for use in statistical analyses. Fifty-three participants from this group repeated the Watson-Glaser Appraisal in the final month prior to graduation. Pearson Correlation for first semester total Watson-Glaser score and NCLEX score was .31 (p = .002). There was no significant change in total Watson-Glaser scores between first and last semesters as demonstrated by t-test. Multiple Regression analysis demonstrated that first semester Watson-Glaser scores and Entry GPAs together accounted for 15% of the variance in NCLEX scores (p = .001). Continuing data collection and analysis will expand the study population with 42 current graduates. Findings suggest that this instrument is not a valid measure of specific cognitive processes underlying the Nursing Process. Findings support the usefulness of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal as a potential pre-admission predictor of nursing success.

[Resection of a voluminous malignant tumor of the adrenal cortex by a combined thoraco-abdominal approach. Excellent survival over 5 years (author's transl)]. / Volumineux cortico-surrénalome malin, réséqué par thoraco-phréno-laparotomie droite. Survie supérieure à 5 ans.

The case of a 41 year-old female presenting a voluminous (2 kg) non-functioning tumor of the adrenal cortex with excellent survival at 5 years and 3 months is reported. The tumor extended mainly cephalad and occupied the cerebral right hepatic space. The importance of preoperative inferior cavogram as well as a large thoraco-abdominal approach is stressed. The key to success is exposure and control of the entire segment of the inferior vena cava between renal vein and diaphragm. Particular attention must be paid to the middle (principal) suprarenal vein, a very short vessel (less than or equal to 1 cm) on the right side, which may enter either the inferior vena cava on the right suprahepatic vein.

Benign stenosis of the papilla of Vater. Diagnosis of 119 cases with conventional and selective low radiomanometry.

Intra-operative radiomanometry with serial conventional films (panoramic cholangiography) and intra-abdominally placed large dental films (selective low cholangiography) produce a dynamic and static, millimetric study of the lower part of the common duct. It revealed in 2,095 patients with benign biliary pathology 119 cases of stenosis of the papilla of which 34 are detected during secondary operations of 85 patients. With the procedure of the authors a clear definition of the benign stenosis of the papilla is obtained radiomanometrically: 1. moderate hypertony; 2. disappearance of the normal rhythmical sphincter activity; 3. the biliary infundibulum, no longer conical, is wider than the intrapancreatic part of the common bile duct above it; 4. the biliary pancreatic reflux more rarely appears and, if it is discernible, pancreatic reflux is shorter than expected and the pancreatic duct obviously enlarged. These signs are quite characteristic of chronic stasis in both common bile duct and pancreatic duct, from infundibulum to intrahepatic ducts above the stenosic papilla (Acta chir. belg., 1977,76,523-532).