A genetic variant in a putative ion channel gene co-segregates with inherited catatonic schizophrenia in an extensive pedigree.

The risk for acute respiratory tract infection is higher in children with a mannose-binding lectin deficiency genotype.

Patients with chronic gastritis produced by Helicobacter pylori are at risk of duodenal and gastric ulceration and gastric cancer. The majority of H. pylori-colonized individuals remain asymptomatic, however, and the mechanism of this resistance is not fully understood. A study published in the March issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that genetic differences between strains of Helicobacter pylori influence host inflammatory responses (J Clin Invest 2001, 107:611-620). Dawn Israel

6-fold after unusual mixing of rural and urban populations during World War II adds to the evidence for infection as a cause of childhood leukaemia.

Natural killer cells from multiple sclerosis patients in remission have properties resembling those of NK type 2 cells, which can favour functional deviation of T cells toward Th2 and prohibit autoimmune effector T cells.

Postnatal administration of corticosteroids for treatment and prevention of chronic lung disease such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia is a widespread practice and to date there have been no adequate analyses of long-term adverse effects. According to a meta-analysis just published in BMC Pediatrics, postnatal steroid treatment is associated with dramatic increases in neuro-developmental impairment and steroid use to prevent or treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia should be abandoned (BMC Pediatrics 20

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) causes an infection common in US hospitals and is resistant to all commercially available antibiotics. Hospital outbreaks are rare in Europe, although VREF carriage among healthy individuals and livestock is common. A study from the National Institute of Public Health, Bilthoven, Netherlands, published in the online version of the Lancet on 13 March, suggests that genetic screening of E. faecium carriers could help eradicate this infection (Lancet

DNA priming followed by a recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (rMVA) booster has controlled a highly pathogenic immunodeficiency virus challenge in a rhesus macaque model.

Parkinson's disease is associated with the loss of dopamine neurons in the caudate and putamen nuclei of the brain. Several groups have tried to slow down the neuron loss by transplanting embryonic precursors of dopaminergic cells and obtained some promising results. In the 8 March issue of New England Journal of Medicine a team from University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, published the first double-blind placebo controlled study of the transplant therapy (N Engl J Med 2001, 344:710-7

1994, but this does not correlate with a small relative increase in the MMR immunization rate.

Insulin resistance is mainly characteristic for type 2 diabetes, a common disorder that is also a potent risk factor for coronary heart disease. Genetic associations with type 2 diabetes have recently been drawn, and genes underlying rare monogenic causes of insulin resistance have been identified. But the molecular basis of the common insulin resistance remains unknown.In 3 March Lancet, Koji Miyaoka and colleagues from Osaka University, Japan present evidence for insulin resistance in CD36-def

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the metabolism of chemotherapy drugs. The mechanisms have been linked to the genes that encode glutathione S-transferase (GST) which are critical in protection against oxidative stress.In March Journal of Clinical Oncology Stella Davies and colleagues demonstrate that presence or absence of GST genes may influence the outcome of treatment for childhood acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).Davies et al genotyped the GST isoenzyme genes GSTT1 and GSTM1 in 306 child