Histamine, mast cells and tumour cell proliferation in breast cancer: does preoperative cimetidine administration have an effect?

Endogenous histamine has been shown to effect growth mechanisms in experimental mammary carcinomas via H2 membrane receptors (Cricco et al, 1994). Both H1 and H2 binding sites are present in human mammary glands but only 75% malignant carcinomas express H2 receptors (Lemos et al, 1995). The presence of mast cells around tumour tissue raises questions concerning the source of histamine in breast tumour tissue. While cimetidine, an H2 antagonist, has been shown to influence the presence of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in colorectal cancer (Adams and Morris, 1994, 1997) that was not found to be the case in breast cancer (Ng et al, 1995). In recent studies tumour cell proliferation, as measured by Ki-67 antibody labelling, has been seen as an additional prognostic indicator in breast cancer (Railo et al, 1993, 1997; Ferno, 1998; Schauer et al, 1998). We investigated the possibility that cimetidine may influence tumour proliferation by blocking the growth-promoting effects of histamine. No relationship between preoperative cimetidine administration and tumour cell proliferation was seen overall. A weak correlation was seen between tissue histamine content and mast cell count which was not influenced by cimetidine. Tumour cell proliferation correlated well with other prognostic indicators such as grade and differentiation. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Evaluation of the impact of a school gardening intervention on children's fruit and vegetable intake: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Current academic literature suggests that school gardening programmes can provide an interactive environment with the potential to change children’s fruit and vegetable intake. This is the first cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate whether a school gardening programme can have an effect on children’s fruit and vegetable intake. Methods: The trial included children from 23 schools; these schools were randomised into two groups, one to receive the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)-led intervention and the other to receive the less involved Teacher-led intervention. A 24-hour food diary (CADET) was used to collect baseline and follow-up dietary intake 18 months apart. Questionnaires were also administered to evaluate the intervention implementation. Results: A total of 641 children completed the trial with a mean age of 8.1 years (95% CI: 8.0, 8.4). The unadjusted results from multilevel regression analysis revealed that for combined daily fruit and vegetable intake the Teacher-led group had a higher daily mean change of 8 g (95% CI: −19, 36) compared to the RHS-led group -32 g (95% CI: −60, −3). However, after adjusting for possible confounders this difference was not significant (intervention effect: −40 g, 95% CI: −88, 1; p = 0.06). The adjusted analysis of process measures identified that if schools improved their gardening score by 3 levels (a measure of school gardening involvement - the scale has 6 levels from 0 ‘no garden’ to 5 ‘community involvement’), irrespective of group allocation, children had, on average, a daily increase of 81 g of fruit and vegetable intake (95% CI: 0, 163; p = 0.05) compared to schools that had no change in gardening score. Conclusions: This study is the first cluster randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate a school gardening intervention. The results have found very little evidence to support the claims that school gardening alone can improve children’s daily fruit and vegetable intake. However, when a gardening intervention is implemented at a high level within the school it may improve children’s daily fruit and vegetable intake by a portion. Improving children’s fruit and vegetable intake remains a challenging task

Study protocol: can a school gardening intervention improve children's diets?

BACKGROUND: The current academic literature suggests there is a potential for using gardening as a tool to improve children's fruit and vegetable intake. This study is two parallel randomised controlled trials (RCT) devised to evaluate the school gardening programme of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening, to determine if it has an effect on children's fruit and vegetable intake. METHOD/DESIGN: Trial One will consist of 26 schools; these schools will be randomised into two groups, one to receive the intensive intervention as "Partner Schools" and the other to receive the less intensive intervention as "Associate Schools". Trial Two will consist of 32 schools; these schools will be randomised into either the less intensive intervention "Associate Schools" or a comparison group with delayed intervention. Baseline data collection will be collected using a 24-hour food diary (CADET) to collect data on dietary intake and a questionnaire exploring children's knowledge and attitudes towards fruit and vegetables. A process measures questionnaire will be used to assess each school's gardening activities. DISCUSSION: The results from these trials will provide information on the impact of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening on children's fruit and vegetable intake. The evaluation will provide valuable information for designing future research in primary school children's diets and school based interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN11396528