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Query: UMLS:C1519176 (PSA)
 5,490 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Currently, radical retropubic prostatectomy is the standard procedure for clinically localized prostate cancer. The surgical technique has been continuously refined for decades, resulting in reduced morbidity and improved functional and oncologic results. Since the late 90s, radical prostatectomy has been increasingly performed laparoscopically. A search of the available data has found that the articles published so far have proven the feasibility of the laparoscopic procedure but never confirmed its less invasiveness. In accordance with previous studies that have evaluated the invasiveness of various open and laparoscopic procedures, our clinic, which has routinely performed both techniques for several years, addressed the question whether laparoscopic prostatovesiculectomy indeed induces less severe surgical trauma. This prospective nonrandomized comparison study of the University Clinic of Urology at the Martin-Luther University at Halle-Wittenberg recruited a total of 64 patients, who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (n = 32) or open retropubic prostatectomy (n = 32) from January 2003 to April 2004. Both patient groups were comparable as to preoperative staging, PSA value and Gleason score. Besides perioperative parameters, such as surgical time, intra- and postoperative complications, blood loss and transfusion rate, need for analgetics and length of hospital stay, the comparison included oncologic data, such as Gleason score, pathologic stage and numbers of positive specimen margins. To get objectively reproducible data, the range of the systemic answers concerning the surgically induced tissue trauma was recorded as laboratory data. In all patients, pre-, intra-, and postsurgical markers of the acute-phase C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A (SAA), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were measured. The transfusion rate was 6 % for laparoscopic prostatectomies and 12 % for open prostatectomies. A rectal tear had to be intraoperatively repaired in one laparoscopically operated patient. The postoperative use of analgetics was comparable in both groups. The median hospital stay was 12.4 days for the laparoscopic and 11.2 days for the open surgical group. For T2 tumors, positive specimen margins were found in 6 cases (17 %) of the laparoscopic and in 4 cases (12 %) of the open surgical group. As to the indicators of any systemic reaction, no significant difference could be found during the entire clinical course between both surgical methods. In comparison with patients who underwent conventional open prostatectomy, patients with laparoscopically radical prostatectomy had identical to slightly higher serum levels of the acute-phase parameters, as evidence of an equal or a discretely manifested systemic response to the surgical trauma. The so far assumed less invasiveness of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is not objectively supported by the data from this study. Thus, surgical trauma and its linked invasiveness must be considered equal for both methods, at least for the time being.
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PMID:[Minimal invasiveness of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: reality or dream?]. 1536 29

Humans are colonized by multitudes of commensal organisms representing members of five of the six kingdoms of life; however, our gastrointestinal tract provides residence to both beneficial and potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Imbalances in the composition of the bacterial microbiota, known as dysbiosis, are postulated to be a major factor in human disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. We report here that the prominent human symbiont Bacteroides fragilis protects animals from experimental colitis induced by Helicobacter hepaticus, a commensal bacterium with pathogenic potential. This beneficial activity requires a single microbial molecule (polysaccharide A, PSA). In animals harbouring B. fragilis not expressing PSA, H. hepaticus colonization leads to disease and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in colonic tissues. Purified PSA administered to animals is required to suppress pro-inflammatory interleukin-17 production by intestinal immune cells and also inhibits in vitro reactions in cell cultures. Furthermore, PSA protects from inflammatory disease through a functional requirement for interleukin-10-producing CD4+ T cells. These results show that molecules of the bacterial microbiota can mediate the critical balance between health and disease. Harnessing the immunomodulatory capacity of symbiosis factors such as PSA might potentially provide therapeutics for human inflammatory disorders on the basis of entirely novel biological principles.
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PMID:A microbial symbiosis factor prevents intestinal inflammatory disease. 1850 31

Over the past several years, there have been remarkable advances in our understanding of how commensal organisms shape host immunity. Although the full cast of immunogenic bacteria and their immunomodulatory molecules remains to be elucidated, lessons learned from the interactions between bacterial zwitterionic polysaccharides (ZPSs) and the host immune system represent an integral step toward better understanding how the intestinal microbiota effect immunologic changes. Somewhat paradoxically, ZPSs, which are found in numerous commensal organisms, are able to elicit both proinflammatory and immunoregulatory responses; both these outcomes involve fine-tuning the balance between T-helper 17 cells and interleukin-10-producing regulatory T cells. In this review, we discuss the immunomodulatory effects of the archetypal ZPS, Bacteroides fragilis PSA. In addition, we highlight some of the opportunities and challenges in applying these lessons in clinical settings.
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PMID:The yin yang of bacterial polysaccharides: lessons learned from B. fragilis PSA. 2216 11