Colon cancer and protein arginine methyltransferase 1 gene expression.

BACKGROUND: In this study, the possible relation of the expression pattern of arginine methyltransferase 1 and colon cancer progression is investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Colon cancer samples as well as normal colon samples were used to define the arginine methyltransferase 1 expression by RT-PCR. The results were associated with clinical and histological parameters of the tissues. RESULTS: In colon cancer tissue, only PRMT1 variants v1 and v2 were often expressed. Statistical significance for the clinicopathological parameters examined was found only for PRMT1 variant v2. PRMT1 v2 expression was associated with nodal status and tumour grade. PRMT1 v2 expression analysis in 25 pairs of cancerous/non-cancerous colon tissue showed higher or equal expression in cancer versus normal tissue. In 18 inflamed colon tissues examined for PRMT1 expression and compared with the expression of 90 colon cancer tissue samples, statistical significance was found only for variants v1 and v2. A higher percentage of PRMT1 v2 expression was observed in older patients. CONCLUSION: From the present preliminary results, it can be said that PRMT1 variant v2 can probably be regarded as a marker of unfavourable prognosis in colon cancer patients.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 in peptic ulcer disease: an inverse association with Helicobacter pylori.

AIM: To assess the frequency of herpes simplex virus type I in upper gastrointestinal tract ulcers and normal mucosa with the modern and better assays and also with a larger number of well characterized patients and controls and its relationship to Helicobacter pylori(H pylori). METHODS: Biopsy specimens from 90 patients (34 with gastric ulcer of the prepyloric area and 56 with duodenal ulcer) were evaluated. Biopsies from 50 patients with endoscopically healthy mucosa were considered as the control group. The method used to identify herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) was polymerase chain reaction. H pylori was detected by the CLO-test and by histological method. RESULTS: Herpes simplex virus-1 was detected in 28 of 90 patients with peptic ulcer (31%) [11 of 34 patients with gastric ulcer (32.4%) and 17 of 56 with duodenal ulcer (30.4%)] exclusively close to the ulcerous lesion. All control group samples were negative for HSV-1. The likelihood of H pylori negativity among peptic ulcer patients was significantly higher in HSV-1 positive cases than in HSV-1 negative cases (P = 0.009). Gastric ulcer patients with HSV-1 positivity were strongly associated with an increased possibility of Helicobacter pylori negativity compared to duodenal ulcer patients (P = 0.010). CONCLUSION: HSV-1 is frequent in upper gastro-intestinal tract ulcers but not in normal gastric and duodenal mucosa. There is an inverse association between HSV-1 and H pylori infection.

An open-label, non-comparative, non-interventional, multi-center, post-authorization safety study on the administration of rabeprazole to adults with gastro-esophageal reflux disease.

BACKGROUND: Rabeprazole produces a profound and long-lasting inhibition of gastric acid secretion. The aim of the study was to monitor the safety and efficacy of rabeprazole administered to patients with erosive or symptomatic non-erosive reflux disease, in real-life healthcare settings. METHODS: Male and female patients, aged ≥18 years, with endoscopy diagnosed GERD were included; patients received at least 8 weeks treatment with rabeprazole. Changes in severity of symptoms recorded on the Likert scale were analysed using marginal homogeneity tests. RESULTS: 186 patients were enrolled across 17 study sites; 127 patients (68.3%) completed the study. Almost 75% of patients had an initial diagnosis of GERD with Grade A or B esophagitis. The most commonly reported adverse events (AEs) were diarrhea, flatulence, dizziness, cough, abdominal pain, upper abdominal pain and somnolence. Over half of AEs were unrelated to study drug; 1 severe AE of diarrhea was possibly related to study drug. No new AEs were reported not included in the current version of Summary of Product Characteristics. Rabeprazole was effective in reducing the symptoms of GERD; the Likert scale scores of symptoms decreased significantly for all patients from 0-4 weeks and 4-8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, rabeprazole was safe and effective in reducing the symptoms of GERD.

Expression analysis of BCL2L12, a new member of apoptosis-related genes, in colon cancer.

Apoptosis is an active process regulated by a variety of genes. Recently, the molecular cloning, physical mapping and expression analysis of a novel gene of the Bcl-2 family, BCL2L12, was reported. Expression analysis of the BCL2L12 gene in breast cancer confirmed an association of BCL2L12 with favorable prognosis of patients. In the present study, the expression of the BCL2L12 gene was analyzed in colon cancer by RT-PCR. Two transcripts, BCL2L12 and BCL2L12-A, were overexpressed in the cancer tissues as compared to their paired normal mucosa. An association was found between BCL2L12-A transcript expression and nodal status, as well as Dukes' stage. The BCL2L12-A transcript appears to be of importance for colon cancer since its expression is associated with disease progression.

SR-A1, a member of the human pre-mRNA splicing factor family, and its expression in colon cancer progression.

SR (serine-arginine) proteins are essential pre-mRNA splicing factors. Several SR proteins have been characterized in humans, among them SR-A1. It has been demonstrated by members of our group that the SR-A1 gene is constitutively expressed in most of the human tissues, while its transcription is increased in breast carcinoma cell lines. Moreover, the SR-A1 gene is overexpressed in a set of ovarian tumors, suggesting that it may be involved in the pathogenesis and/or progression of ovarian cancer. Therefore, in the present study we examined the expression of the SR-A1 gene in colon cancer tissues by RT-PCR and found that it is overexpressed as compared to normal mucosa (p=0.01). The SR-A1 gene was expressed more frequently in well-differentiated tumors than those with poor differentiation. Survival curves determined by the Kaplan-Meier method and univariate analysis demonstrated that SR-A1-positivity is associated with a long survival (p=0.044). However, when entered into a Cox multivariate model adjusted for other clinicopathological features studied, SR-A1 expression status was not found to be of independent prognostic significance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining the expression of the novel gene SR-A1 in colon cancer progression.