It is well known that the risk of development of gastric cancer (GC) in Helicobacter pylori-infected patients depends on several factors. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of proinflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms for IL-1β, IL-1RN and TNF-α on the development of GC in a Brazilian population. A total of 202 biopsies obtained from Brazilian patients with chronic gastritis and GC were included in the study. Infection with H. pylori cagA+ was determined by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as previously described. IL-1β, IL-1RN and TNF-α polymorphism genotyping was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR. Associations between gene polymorphisms, clinical diseases and virulence markers were evaluated using either the χ² test or the Fisher exact test. Our results demonstrated that the IL-1β -511 C/C and IL-1β -511 C/T alleles were associated with chronic gastritis in H. pylori-positive patients (P = 0.04 and P = 0.05, respectively) and the IL-1β -511 C/C genotype was associated with GC (P = 0.03). The frequency of IL-1RN alleles from patients with chronic gastritis and GC indicated that there was no difference between the genotypes of the groups studied. Similar results were found for TNF-α -308 gene polymorphisms. Our results indicate that the IL-1β -511 C/C and C/T gene polymorphisms are associated with chronic gastritis and GC development in H. pylori-infected individuals.

The effect of proton pump inhibitors and Helicobacter pylori infection on the bioavailability of antibiotics is poorly understood. We determined the effects of 5-day oral administration of 60 mg lansoprazole on the bioavailability of clarithromycin in individuals with and without H. pylori infection. Thirteen H. pylori-infected and 10 non-infected healthy volunteers were enrolled in a study with an open-randomized two-period crossover design and a 21-day washout period between phases. Plasma concentrations of clarithromycin in subjects with and without lansoprazole pre-treatment were measured by liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer. Clarithromycin Cmax and AUC0-10 h were significantly reduced after lansoprazole administration. In addition, lansoprazole treatment of the H. pylori-positive group resulted in a statistically significant greater reduction in Cmax (40 vs 15%) and AUC0-10 h (30 vs 10%) compared to lansoprazole-treated H. pylori-negative subjects. Thus, treatment with lansoprazole for 5 days reduced bioavailability of clarithromycin, irrespective of H. pylori status. This reduction, however, was even more pronounced in H. pylori-infected individuals.

It has been suggested that the measurement of metronidazole clearance is a sensitive method for evaluating liver function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of plasma hydroxy-metronidazole/metronidazole ratios as indicators of dynamic liver function to detect changes resulting from the various forms of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. A total of 139 individuals were studied: 14 healthy volunteers, 22 healthy, asymptomatic, consecutive anti-HCV-positive HCV-RNA negative subjects, 81 patients with chronic hepatitis C (49 with moderate/severe chronic hepatitis and 34 with mild hepatitis), and 20 patients with cirrhosis of the liver. HCV status was determined by the polymerase chain reaction. Plasma concentrations of metronidazole and its hydroxy-metabolite were measured by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection in a blood sample collected 10 min after the end of a metronidazole infusion. Anti-HCV-positive HCV-RNA-negative individuals demonstrated a significantly reduced capacity to metabolize intravenously infused metronidazole compared to healthy individuals (0.0478 ± 0.0044 vs 0.0742 ± 0.0232). Liver cirrhosis patients also had a reduced plasma hydroxy-metronidazole/metronidazole ratio when compared to the other groups of anti-HCV-positive individuals (0.0300 ± 0.0032 vs 0.0438 ± 0.0027 (moderate/severe chronic hepatitis) vs 0.0455 ± 0.0026 (mild chronic hepatitis) and vs 0.0478 ± 0.0044 (anti-HCV-positive, HCV-RNA-negative individuals)). These results suggest an impairment of the metronidazole metabolizing system induced by HCV infection that lasts after viral clearance. In those patients with chronic hepatitis C, this impairment is paralleled by progression of the disease to liver cirrhosis.

The human androgen receptor (AR) gene promoter lies in a GC-rich region containing two principal sites of transcription initiation and a putative Sp1 protein-binding site, without typical "TATA" and "CAAT" boxes. It has been suggested that mutations within the 5'untranslated region (5'UTR) may contribute to the development of prostate cancer by changing the rates of gene transcription and/or translation. In order to investigate this question, the aim of the present study was to search for the presence of mutations or polymorphisms at the AR-5'UTR in 92 prostate cancer patients, where histological diagnosis of adenocarcinoma was established in specimens obtained from transurethral resection or after prostatectomy. The AR-5'UTR was amplified by PCR from genomic DNA samples of the patients and of 100 healthy male blood donors, included as controls. Conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis was used for DNA sequence alteration screening. Only one band shift was detected in one individual from the blood donor group. Sequencing revealed a new single nucleotide deletion (T) in the most conserved portion of the promoter region at position +36 downstream from the transcription initiation site I. Although the effect of this specific mutation remains unknown, its rarity reveals the high degree of sequence conservation of the human androgen promoter region. Moreover, the absence of detectable variation within the critical 5'UTR in prostate cancer patients indicates a low probability of its involvement in prostate cancer etiology.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the distribution of polymorphisms for the androgen receptor (AR) (CAG, StuI, GGN), SRD5A2 (Ala49Thr, Val89Leu) and CYP17 (MspA1) genes that are considered to be relevant for risk of prostate cancer. We studied 200 individuals from two cities in the State of São Paulo, by PCR, PCR-RFLP and ASOH techniques. The allelic frequencies of the autosomal markers and the StuI polymorphism of the AR gene were very similar to those described in most North American and European populations. In relation to the CAG and GGN number of repeats, the study subjects had smaller repeat lengths (mean of 20.65 and 22.38, respectively) than those described in North American, European and Chinese populations. In the present study, 30.5% of the individuals had less than 22 CAG repeats and 45.5% had less than 23 GGN repeats. When both repeat lengths are considered jointly, this Brazilian population is remarkably different from the others. Further studies on prostate cancer patients need to be conducted to assess the significance of these markers in the Brazilian population.

Este trabalho relata um método envolvendo derivação in situ e extração para determinação de resíduos de PCP em amostras de água. O derivado acetilado de PCP é analisado por cromatografia a gás com detector por captura de elétrons. O limite de detecção do método é de 1 mg/L e sua eficiência é demonstrada pelos valores médios de recuperação (78-108%) estudados em três níveis de fortificação (2; 10 e 20 mg/L).

In this study, an in situ derivatization and extraction method for the determination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been applied successfully in the analysis of water samples. The PCP derivative analysis was performed by gas-liquid chromatography with electron capture detection. The limit of detection of the method is 1 mg/L and recoveries averaged 78-108% for PCP acetate at levels of 2, 10 and 20 mg/L.