Peritoneal repairing cells: a type of bone marrow derived progenitor cells involved in mesothelial regeneration.

The peritoneal mesothelium exhibits a high regenerative ability. Peritoneal regeneration is concomitant with the appearance, in the coelomic cavity, of a free-floating population of cells whose origin and functions are still under discussion. We have isolated and characterized this cell population and we have studied the process of mesothelial regeneration through flow cytometry and confocal microscopy in a murine model lethally irradiated and reconstituted with GFP-expressing bone marrow cells. In unoperated control mice, most free cells positive for mesothelin, a mesothelial marker, are green fluorescent protein (GFP). However, 24 hrs after peritoneal damage, free mesothelin(+)/GFP(+) cells appear in peritoneal lavages. Cultured lavage peritoneal cells show colocalization of GFP with mesothelial (mesothelin, cytokeratin) and fibroblastic markers. Immunohistochemical staining of the peritoneal wall also revealed colocalization of GFP with mesothelial markers and with procollagen-1 and smooth muscle α-actin. This was observed in the injured area as well as in the surrounding not-injured peritoneal surfaces. These cells, which we herein call peritoneal repairing cells (PRC), are very abundant 1 week after surgery covering both the damaged peritoneal wall and the surrounding uninjured area. However, they become very scarce 1 month later, when the mesothelium has completely healed. We suggest that PRC constitute a type of monocyte-derived cells, closely related with the tissue-repairing cells known as 'fibrocytes' and specifically involved in peritoneal reparation. Thus, our results constitute a synthesis of the different scenarios hitherto proposed about peritoneal regeneration, particularly recruitment of circulating progenitor cells and adhesion of free-floating coelomic cells.

Nonadherence and osteoporosis treatment preferences of older women: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Physicians must have an understanding of patients' medication beliefs in order to enhance medication adherence. To increase understanding, this study examined how beliefs about medication and four osteoporosis treatments influenced treatment selection and adherence. METHODS: Six focus groups, three with 28 African Americans and one with 11 non-Hispanic white women, were conducted in English. Two groups with 16 Hispanics were conducted in Spanish. The convenience sample was recruited from senior centers and housing in lower socioeconomic geographic areas. The average age was 74.8 +/- 1.1 years. RESULTS: Adherence was associated with recognition of the serious consequences of nonadherence, realization of the beneficial effects, and the belief that medicines are not harmful. Doubts about physicians' competence to prescribe appropriate drugs were also revealed. Women who thought they were unlikely to fracture or perceived fracture outcomes as not severe chose no treatment. If they identified a need, they weighed benefits against the attendant risks to find the best alternative among the affordable options. Price considerations eliminated raloxifene and alendronate. Consideration of side effects eliminated estrogen and raloxifene. Calcium was viewed as a low-cost, low-risk alternative. Those who could afford alendronate and who viewed its side effects as preventable preferred it. Benefit and risk assessments may have been biased by fear of cancer and thromboembolic events. CONCLUSIONS: Women's beliefs about necessity of treatment, medication safety, cost of treatment, and treatment goals appear critical to osteoporosis treatment selection and adherence.

Gastric leiomyoblastoma associated with extraadrenal paraganglioma and pulmonary chondroma: a new case of Carney's triad.

Carney's triad is extremely rare. The authors report on a 12-year-old patient who had gastric epithelioid leiomyosarcoma, multiple pulmonary chondroma, and mediastinal paraganglioma. Thirty-five other cases are reviewed and analyzed.

Children whose diet contained olive oil had a lower likelihood of increasing their body mass index Z-score over 1 year.

OBJECTIVE: Changes in eating habits may be influential in the ever-increasing rate of childhood obesity. Our aim was to determine whether those children who consume olive oil have a lower risk of weight gain compared with children who consume other oils. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study included 18 girls and 74 boys, all aged 13-166 months. A survey was completed for each subject about eating habits and physical activity. A sample of subcutaneous adipose tissue was also obtained for cellular study. Data were recorded on the mean size of the adipocytes, the number of preadipocytes, and the concentration of particular fatty acids. The weight and height of the children were measured 13 months later. RESULTS: The likelihood that after 1 year the children would have increased their body mass index (BMI) Z-score above the initial score was less in the children who consumed only olive oil (odds ratio (OR)=0.22; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08-0.63; P=0.005). These results remained after adjusting for age, physical activity and BMI (OR=0.19; 95% CI: 0.06-0.61; P=0.005) and after adjusting for age, physical activity and adipocyte volume (OR=0.15; 95% CI: 0.04-0.52; P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Diets with mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)-rich olive oil could reduce the risk of obesity in childhood.