title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Two related mechanisms by which "H. pylori" could promote cancer are under investigation. One mechanism involves the enhanced production of free radicals near "H. pylori" and an increased rate of host cell mutation. The other proposed mechanism has been called a "perigenetic pathway", and involves enhancement of the transformed host cell phenotype by means of alterations in cell proteins, such as adhesion proteins. "H. pylori" has been proposed to induce inflammation and locally high levels of TNF-α and/or interleukin 6 (IL-6). According to the proposed perigenetic mechanism, inflammation-associated signaling molecules, such as TNF-α, can alter gastric epithelial cell adhesion and lead to the dispersion and migration of mutated epithelial cells without the need for additional mutations in tumor suppressor genes, such as genes that code for cell adhesion proteins.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: The strain of "H. pylori" a person is exposed to may influence the risk of developing gastric cancer. Strains of "H. pylori" that produce high levels of two proteins, vacuolating toxin A (VacA) and the cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA), appear to cause greater tissue damage than those that produce lower levels or that lack those genes completely. These proteins are directly toxic to cells lining the stomach and signal strongly to the immune system that an invasion is under way. As a result of the bacterial presence, neutrophils and macrophages set up residence in the tissue to fight the bacteria assault.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: "H. pylori" is a major source of worldwide cancer mortality. Although the data varies between different countries, overall about 1% to 3% of people infected with "Helicobacter pylori" develop gastric cancer in their lifetime compared to 0.13% of individuals who have had no "H. pylori" infection. "H. pylori" infection is very prevalent. As evaluated in 2002, it is present in the gastric tissues of 74% of middle-aged adults in developing countries and 58% in developed countries. Since 1% to 3% of infected individuals are likely to develop gastric cancer, "H. pylori"-induced gastric cancer is the third highest cause of worldwide cancer mortality as of 2018.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Infection by "H. pylori" causes no symptoms in about 80% of those infected. About 75% of individuals infected with "H. pylori" develop gastritis. Thus, the usual consequence of "H. pylori" infection is chronic asymptomatic gastritis. Because of the usual lack of symptoms, when gastric cancer is finally diagnosed it is often fairly advanced. More than half of gastric cancer patients have lymph node metastasis when they are initially diagnosed.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: The gastritis caused by "H. pylori" is accompanied by inflammation, characterized by infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages to the gastric epithelium, which favors the accumulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species/reactive nitrogen species (ROS/RNS). The substantial presence of ROS/RNS causes DNA damage including 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). If the infecting "H. pylori" carry the cytotoxic cagA gene (present in about 60% of Western isolates and a higher percentage of Asian isolates), they can increase the level of 8-OHdG in gastric cells by 8-fold, while if the "H. pylori" do not carry the cagA gene, the increase in 8-OHdG is about 4-fold. In addition to the oxidative DNA damage 8-OHdG, "H. pylori" infection causes other characteristic DNA damages including DNA double-strand breaks.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: "H. pylori" also causes many epigenetic alterations linked to cancer development. These epigenetic alterations are due to "H. pylori"-induced methylation of CpG sites in promoters of genes and "H. pylori"-induced altered expression of multiple microRNAs.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: As reviewed by Santos and Ribeiro "H. pylori" infection is associated with epigenetically reduced efficiency of the DNA repair machinery, which favors the accumulation of mutations and genomic instability as well as gastric carcinogenesis. In particular, Raza et al. showed that expression of two DNA repair proteins, ERCC1 and PMS2, was severely reduced once "H. pylori" infection had progressed to cause dyspepsia. Dyspepsia occurs in about 20% of infected individuals. In addition, as reviewed by Raza "et al"., human gastric infection with "H. pylori" causes epigenetically reduced protein expression of DNA repair proteins MLH1, MGMT and MRE11. Reduced DNA repair in the presence of increased DNA damage increases carcinogenic mutations and is likely a significant cause of "H. pylori" carcinogenesis.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: The pathogenesis of "H. pylori" depends on its ability to survive in the harsh gastric environment characterized by acidity, peristalsis, and attack by phagocytes accompanied by release of reactive oxygen species. In particular, "H. pylori" elicits an oxidative stress response during host colonization. This oxidative stress response induces potentially lethal and mutagenic oxidative DNA adducts in the "H. pylori" genome.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Vulnerability to oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage occurs commonly in many studied bacterial pathogens, including "Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Hemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. mutans", and "H. pylori". For each of these pathogens, surviving the DNA damage induced by oxidative stress appears supported by transformation-mediated recombinational repair. Thus, transformation and recombinational repair appear to contribute to successful infection.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Transformation (the transfer of DNA from one bacterial cell to another through the intervening medium) appears to be part of an adaptation for DNA repair. "H. pylori" is naturally competent for transformation. While many organisms are competent only under certain environmental conditions, such as starvation, "H. pylori" is competent throughout logarithmic growth. All organisms encode genetic programs for response to stressful conditions including those that cause DNA damage. In "H. pylori", homologous recombination is required for repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). The AddAB helicase-nuclease complex resects DSBs and loads RecA onto single-strand DNA (ssDNA), which then mediates strand exchange, leading to homologous recombination and repair. The requirement of RecA plus AddAB for efficient gastric colonization suggests, in the stomach, "H. pylori" is either exposed to double-strand DNA damage that must be repaired or requires some other recombination-mediated event. In particular, natural transformation is increased by DNA damage in "H. pylori", and a connection exists between the DNA damage response and DNA uptake in "H. pylori", suggesting natural competence contributes to persistence of "H. pylori" in its human host and explains the retention of competence in most clinical isolates.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: RuvC protein is essential to the process of recombinational repair, since it resolves intermediates in this process termed Holliday junctions. "H. pylori" mutants that are defective in RuvC have increased sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents and to oxidative stress, exhibit reduced survival within macrophages, and are unable to establish successful infection in a mouse model. Similarly, RecN protein plays an important role in DSB repair in "H. pylori". An "H. pylori" recN mutant displays an attenuated ability to colonize mouse stomachs, highlighting the importance of recombinational DNA repair in survival of "H. pylori" within its host.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Colonization with "H. pylori" is not a disease in itself, but a condition associated with a number of disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Testing is recommended if peptic ulcer disease or low-grade gastric MALT lymphoma (MALToma) is present, after endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer, for first-degree relatives with gastric cancer, and in certain cases of dyspepsia. Several methods of testing exist, including invasive and noninvasive testing methods.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Noninvasive tests for "H. pylori" infection may be suitable and include blood antibody tests, stool antigen tests, or the carbon urea breath test (in which the patient drinks C – or C-labelled urea, which the bacterium metabolizes, producing labelled carbon dioxide that can be detected in the breath). It is not known for sure which non-invasive test is more accurate for diagnosing a "H. pylori" infection but indirect comparison puts urea breath test as a higher accuracy than others.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: An endoscopic biopsy is an invasive means to test for "H. pylori" infection. Low-level infections can be missed by biopsy, so multiple samples are recommended. The most accurate method for detecting "H. pylori" infection is with a histological examination from two sites after endoscopic biopsy, combined with either a rapid urease test or microbial culture.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Person-to-person transmission by either the oral–oral (kissing, mouth feeding) or fecal–oral route is most likely. Consistent with these transmission routes, the bacteria have been isolated from feces, saliva, and dental plaque of some infected people. Findings suggest "H. pylori" is more easily transmitted by gastric mucus than saliva. Transmission occurs mainly within families in developed nations, yet can also be acquired from the community in developing countries. "H. pylori" may also be transmitted orally by means of fecal matter through the ingestion of waste-tainted water, so a hygienic environment could help decrease the risk of "H. pylori" infection.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Due to "H. pylori" role as a major cause of certain diseases (particularly cancers) and its consistently increasing antibiotic resistance, there is a clear need for new therapeutic strategies to prevent or remove the bacterium from colonizing humans. Much work has been done on developing viable vaccines aimed at providing an alternative strategy to control "H. pylori" infection and related diseases. Researchers are studying different adjuvants, antigens, and routes of immunization to ascertain the most appropriate system of immune protection; however, most of the research only recently moved from animal to human trials. An economic evaluation of the use of a potential "H. pylori" vaccine in babies found its introduction could, at least in the Netherlands, prove cost-effective for the prevention of peptic ulcer and stomach adenocarcinoma. A similar approach has also been studied for the United States. Notwithstanding this proof-of-concept (i.e. vaccination protects children from acquisition of infection with "H. pylori"), as of late 2019 there have been no advanced vaccine candidates and only one vaccine in a Phase I clinical trial. Furthermore, development of a vaccine against "H. pylori" has not been a current priority of major pharmaceutical companies.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Many investigations have attempted to prevent the development of "Helicobacter pylori"-related diseases by eradicating the bacterium during the early stages of its infestation using antibiotic-based drug regimens. Studies find that such treatments, when effectively eradicating "H. pylori" from the stomach, reduce the inflammation and some of the histopathological abnormalities associated with the infestation. However studies disagree on the ability of these treatments to alleviate the more serious histopathological abnormalities in "H. pylori" infections, e.g. gastric atrophy and metaplasia, both of which are precursors to gastric adenocarcinoma. There is similar disagreement on the ability of antibiotic-based regiments to prevent gastric adenocarcinoma. A meta-analysis (i.e. a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple randomized controlled trials) published in 2014 found that these regimens did not appear to prevent development of this adenocarcinoma. However, two subsequent prospective cohort studies conducted on high-risk individuals in China and Taiwan found that eradication of the bacterium produced a significant decrease in the number of individuals developing the disease. These results agreed with a retrospective cohort study done in Japan and published in 2016 as well as a meta-analysis, also published in 2016, of 24 studies conducted on individuals with varying levels of risk for developing the disease. These more recent studies suggest that the eradication of "H. pylori" infection reduces the incidence of "H. pylori"-related gastric adenocarcinoma in individuals at all levels of baseline risk. Further studies will be required to clarify this issue. In all events, studies agree that antibiotic-based regimens effectively reduce the occurrence of metachronous "H. pylori"-associated gastric adenocarcinoma. (Metachronous cancers are cancers that reoccur 6 months or later after resection of the original cancer.) It is suggested that antibiotic-based drug regimens be used after resecting "H. pylori"-associated gastric adenocarcinoma in order to reduce its metachronus reoccurrence.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Superficial gastritis, either acute or chronic, is the most common manifestation of "H. pylori" infection. The signs and symptoms of this gastritis have been found to remit spontaneously in many individuals without resorting to "Helicobacter pylori" eradication protocols. The "H. pylori" bacterial infection persists after remission in these cases. Various antibiotic plus proton pump inhibitor drug regimens are used to eradicate the bacterium and thereby successfully treat the disorder with triple-drug therapy consisting of clarithromycin, amoxicillin, and a proton-pump inhibitor given for 14–21 days often being considered first line treatment.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Once "H. pylori" is detected in a person with a peptic ulcer, the normal procedure is to eradicate it and allow the ulcer to heal. The standard first-line therapy is a one-week "triple therapy" consisting of proton-pump inhibitors such as omeprazole and the antibiotics clarithromycin and amoxicillin. (The actions of proton pump inhibitors against H. pylori may reflect their direct bacteriostatic effect due to inhibition of the bacterium's P-type ATPase and/or urease.) Variations of the triple therapy have been developed over the years, such as using a different proton pump inhibitor, as with pantoprazole or rabeprazole, or replacing amoxicillin with metronidazole for people who are allergic to penicillin. In areas with higher rates of clarithromycin resistance, other options are recommended. Such a therapy has revolutionized the treatment of peptic ulcers and has made a cure to the disease possible. Previously, the only option was symptom control using antacids, H-antagonists or proton pump inhibitors alone.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: An increasing number of infected individuals are found to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This results in initial treatment failure and requires additional rounds of antibiotic therapy or alternative strategies, such as a quadruple therapy, which adds a bismuth colloid, such as bismuth subsalicylate. In patients with any previous macrolide exposure or who are allergic to penicillin, a quadruple therapy that consisting of a proton pump inhibitor, bismuth, tetracycline, and a nitroimidazole for 10–14 days is a recommended first-line treatment option. For the treatment of clarithromycin-resistant strains of "H. pylori", the use of levofloxacin as part of the therapy has been suggested.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Ingesting lactic acid bacteria exerts a suppressive effect on "H. pylori" infection in both animals and humans, and supplementing with "Lactobacillus"- and "Bifidobacterium"-containing yogurt improved the rates of eradication of "H. pylori" in humans. Symbiotic butyrate-producing bacteria which are normally present in the intestine are sometimes used as probiotics to help suppress "H. pylori" infections as an adjunct to antibiotic therapy. Butyrate itself is an antimicrobial which destroys the cell envelope of "H. pylori" by inducing regulatory T cell expression (specifically, FOXP3) and synthesis of an antimicrobial peptide called LL-37, which arises through its action as a histone deacetylase inhibitor.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: The substance sulforaphane, which occurs in broccoli and cauliflower, has been proposed as a treatment. Periodontal therapy or scaling and root planing has also been suggested as an additional treatment.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphomas (also termed MALT lymphomas) are generally indolent malignancies. Recommended treatment of "H. pylori"-positive extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the stomach, when localized (i.e. Ann Arbor stage I and II), employs one of the antibiotic-proton pump inhibitor regiments listed in the "H. pylori" eradication protocols. If the initial regimen fails to eradicate the pathogen, patients are treated with an alternate protocol. Eradication of the pathogen is successful in 70–95% of cases. Some 50-80% of patients who experience eradication of the pathogen develop within 3–28 months a remission and long-term clinical control of their lymphoma. Radiation therapy to the stomach and surrounding (i.e. peri-gastric) lymph nodes has also been used to successfully treat these localized cases. Patients with non-localized (i.e. systemic Ann Arbor stage III and IV) disease who are free of symptoms have been treated with watchful waiting or, if symptomatic, with the immunotherapy drug, rituximab, (given for 4 weeks) combined with the chemotherapy drug, chlorambucil, for 6–12 months; 58% of these patients attain a 58% progression-free survival rate at 5 years. Frail stage III/IV patients have been successfully treated with rituximab or the chemotherapy drug, cyclophosphamide, alone. Only rare cases of "H. pylori"-positive extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the colon have been successfully treated with an antibiotic-proton pump inhibitor regimen; the currently recommended treatments for this disease are surgical resection, endoscopic resection, radiation, chemotherapy, or, more recently, rituximab. In the few reported cases of "H. pylori"-positive extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the esophagus, localized disease has been successfully treated with antibiotic-proton pump inhibitor regimens; however, advanced disease appears less responsive or unresponsive to these regimens but partially responsive to rituximab. Antibiotic-proton pump inhibitor eradication therapy and localized radiation therapy have been used successfully to treat H. pylori-positive extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphomas of the rectum; however radiation therapy has given slightly better results and therefore been suggested to be the disease' preferred treatment. The treatment of localized "H. pylori"-positive extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the ocular adenexa with antibiotic/proton pump inhibitor regimens has achieved 2 year and 5 year failure-free survival rates of 67% and 55%, respectively, and a 5-year progression-free rate of 61%. However, the generally recognized treatment of choice for patients with systemic involvement uses various chemotherapy drugs often combined with rituximab.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a far more aggressive cancer than extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma. Cases of this malignancy that are "H. pylori"-positive may be derived from the latter lymphoma and are less aggressive as well as more susceptible to treatment than "H. pylori" negative cases. Several recent studies strongly suggest that localized, early-stage diffuse "Helicobacter pylori" positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, when limited to the stomach, can be successfully treated with antibiotic-proton pump inhibitor regimens. However, these studies also agree that, given the aggressiveness of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, patients treated with one of these "H. pylori" eradication regimes need to be carefully followed. If found unresponsive to or clinically worsening on these regimens, these patients should be switched to more conventional therapy such as chemotherapy (e.g. CHOP or a CHOP-like regimen), immunotherapy (e.g. rituximab), surgery, and/or local radiotherapy. "H. pylori" positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has been successfully treated with one or a combination of these methods.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Helicobacter pylori is linked to the majority of gastric adenocarcinoma cases, particularly those that are located outside of the stomach's cardia (i.e. esophagus-stomach junction). The treatment for this cancer is highly aggressive with even localized disease being treated sequentially with chemotherapy and radiotherapy before surgical resection. Since this cancer, once developed, is independent of "H. pylori" infection, antibiotic-proton pump inhibitor regimens are not used in its treatment.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: "Helicobacter pylori" colonizes the stomach and induces chronic gastritis, a long-lasting inflammation of the stomach. The bacterium persists in the stomach for decades in most people. Most individuals infected by "H. pylori" never experience clinical symptoms, despite having chronic gastritis. About 10–20% of those colonized by "H. pylori" ultimately develop gastric and duodenal ulcers. "H. pylori" infection is also associated with a 1–2% lifetime risk of stomach cancer and a less than 1% risk of gastric MALT lymphoma.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: In the absence of treatment, "H. pylori" infection – once established in its gastric niche – is widely believed to persist for life. In the elderly, however, infection likely can disappear as the stomach's mucosa becomes increasingly atrophic and inhospitable to colonization. The proportion of acute infections that persist is not known, but several studies that followed the natural history in populations have reported apparent spontaneous elimination.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: It is possible for "H. pylori" to re-establish in a person after eradication. This "recurrence" can be caused by the original strain ("recrudescence"), or be caused by a different strain ("reinfection"). According to a 2017 meta-analysis by Hu et al., the global per-person annual rates of recurrence, reinfection, and recrudescence is 4.3%, 3.1%, and 2.2% resepctively. It is unclear what the main risk factors are.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Mounting evidence suggests "H. pylori" has an important role in protection from some diseases. The incidence of acid reflux disease, Barrett's esophagus, and esophageal cancer have been rising dramatically at the same time as "H. pylori"s presence decreases. In 1996, Martin J. Blaser advanced the hypothesis that "H. pylori" has a beneficial effect by regulating the acidity of the stomach contents. The hypothesis is not universally accepted as several randomized controlled trials failed to demonstrate worsening of acid reflux disease symptoms following eradication of "H. pylori". Nevertheless, Blaser has reasserted his view that "H. pylori" is a member of the normal flora of the stomach. He postulates that the changes in gastric physiology caused by the loss of "H. pylori" account for the recent increase in incidence of several diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and asthma. His group has recently shown that "H. pylori" colonization is associated with a lower incidence of childhood asthma.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: At least half the world's population is infected by the bacterium, making it the most widespread infection in the world. Actual infection rates vary from nation to nation; the developing world has much higher infection rates than the developed one (notably Western Europe, North America, Australasia), where rates are estimated to be around 25%.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: The age when someone acquires this bacterium seems to influence the pathologic outcome of the infection. People infected at an early age are likely to develop more intense inflammation that may be followed by atrophic gastritis with a higher subsequent risk of gastric ulcer, gastric cancer, or both. Acquisition at an older age brings different gastric changes more likely to lead to duodenal ulcer. Infections are usually acquired in early childhood in all countries. However, the infection rate of children in developing nations is higher than in industrialized nations, probably due to poor sanitary conditions, perhaps combined with lower antibiotics usage for unrelated pathologies. In developed nations, it is currently uncommon to find infected children, but the percentage of infected people increases with age, with about 50% infected for those over the age of 60 compared with around 10% between 18 and 30 years. The higher prevalence among the elderly reflects higher infection rates in the past when the individuals were children rather than more recent infection at a later age of the individual. In the United States, prevalence appears higher in African-American and Hispanic populations, most likely due to socioeconomic factors. The lower rate of infection in the West is largely attributed to higher hygiene standards and widespread use of antibiotics. Despite high rates of infection in certain areas of the world, the overall frequency of "H. pylori" infection is declining. However, antibiotic resistance is appearing in "H. pylori"; many metronidazole- and clarithromycin-resistant strains are found in most parts of the world.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: "Helicobacter pylori" migrated out of Africa along with its human host "circa" 60,000 years ago. Recent research states that genetic diversity in "H. pylori", like that of its host, decreases with geographic distance from East Africa. Using the genetic diversity data, researchers have created simulations that indicate the bacteria seem to have spread from East Africa around 58,000 years ago. Their results indicate modern humans were already infected by "H. pylori" before their migrations out of Africa, and it has remained associated with human hosts since that time.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: "H. pylori" was first discovered in the stomachs of patients with gastritis and ulcers in 1982 by Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren of Perth, Western Australia. At the time, the conventional thinking was that no bacterium could live in the acid environment of the human stomach. In recognition of their discovery, Marshall and Warren were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Before the research of Marshall and Warren, German scientists found spiral-shaped bacteria in the lining of the human stomach in 1875, but they were unable to culture them, and the results were eventually forgotten. The Italian researcher Giulio Bizzozero described similarly shaped bacteria living in the acidic environment of the stomach of dogs in 1893. Professor Walery Jaworski of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków investigated sediments of gastric washings obtained by lavage from humans in 1899. Among some rod-like bacteria, he also found bacteria with a characteristic spiral shape, which he called "Vibrio rugula". He was the first to suggest a possible role of this organism in the pathogenesis of gastric diseases. His work was included in the "Handbook of Gastric Diseases", but it had little impact, as it was written in Polish. Several small studies conducted in the early 20th century demonstrated the presence of curved rods in the stomachs of many people with peptic ulcers and stomach cancers. Interest in the bacteria waned, however, when an American study published in 1954 failed to observe the bacteria in 1180 stomach biopsies.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Interest in understanding the role of bacteria in stomach diseases was rekindled in the 1970s, with the visualization of bacteria in the stomachs of people with gastric ulcers. The bacteria had also been observed in 1979, by Robin Warren, who researched it further with Barry Marshall from 1981. After unsuccessful attempts at culturing the bacteria from the stomach, they finally succeeded in visualizing colonies in 1982, when they unintentionally left their Petri dishes incubating for five days over the Easter weekend. In their original paper, Warren and Marshall contended that most stomach ulcers and gastritis were caused by bacterial infection and not by stress or spicy food, as had been assumed before.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Some skepticism was expressed initially, but within a few years multiple research groups had verified the association of "H. pylori" with gastritis and, to a lesser extent, ulcers. To demonstrate "H. pylori" caused gastritis and was not merely a bystander, Marshall drank a beaker of "H. pylori" culture. He became ill with nausea and vomiting several days later. An endoscopy 10 days after inoculation revealed signs of gastritis and the presence of "H. pylori". These results suggested "H. pylori" was the causative agent. Marshall and Warren went on to demonstrate antibiotics are effective in the treatment of many cases of gastritis. In 1994, the National Institutes of Health stated most recurrent duodenal and gastric ulcers were caused by "H. pylori", and recommended antibiotics be included in the treatment regimen.


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: The bacterium was initially named "Campylobacter pyloridis", then renamed "C. pylori" in 1987 ("pylori" being the genitive of "pylorus", the circular opening leading from the stomach into the duodenum, from the Ancient Greek word "πυλωρός", which means gatekeeper.). When 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and other research showed in 1989 that the bacterium did not belong in the genus "Campylobacter", it was placed in its own genus, "Helicobacter" from the ancient Greek "έλιξ" ("hělix") "spiral" or "coil".


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: In October 1987, a group of experts met in Copenhagen to found the European "Helicobacter" Study Group (EHSG), an international multidisciplinary research group and the only institution focused on "H. pylori". The Group is involved with the Annual International Workshop on Helicobacter and Related Bacteria, the Maastricht Consensus Reports (European Consensus on the management of "H. pylori"), and other educational and research projects, including two international long-term projects:


title: Helicobacter pylori

text: Results from "in vitro" studies suggest that fatty acids, mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids, have a bactericidal effect against "H. pylori", but their "in vivo" effects have not been proven.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Adriana Lima (; born 12 June 1981) is a Brazilian model, who was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2018. She was the longest-running model and named "the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel" in 2017. She is also known as a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics since 2003, and for her Super Bowl and Kia Motors commercials. At age 15, Lima won Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" competition, and took second place the following year in the Ford "Supermodel of the World" competition before signing with Elite Model Management in New York City.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima is currently ranked by models.com as one of the "New Supers". Since 2014, Lima has been the world's second highest-paid model. In 2012, she came in 4th place on the "Forbes" top-earning models list, estimated to have earned $7.3 million in one year. In 2013, she came in 3rd place and in 2014 she came in 2nd place with earnings of $8 million. In 2015, she came in 2nd place with earnings of $9 million. In 2016, she kept the second place with earnings of US$10.5 million.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima has served as brand ambassador for the clothing brand Desigual based in Barcelona, Spain, for the Beachwear collection of Italian brand Calzedonia, and for the ready-to-wear collection of Italian brand Sportmax. She is currently an ambassador for IWC, Puma, Maybelline, and Chopard.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima was born on 12 June 1981 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Many sources stated that "Francesca" is her middle name, but Lima herself denied this in an interview to W Radio Colombia in 2010, and confirmed that her name is only Adriana Lima. Her parents are Nelson Torres, a carpenter, and Maria das Graças Lima, a social worker. Her father left the family when she was six months old, and Lima was raised only by her mother. Lima was raised in the Castelo Branco neighbourhood of Salvador. She has stated that prior to starting modelling, she had wanted to pursue a career as a paediatrician.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima is of Portuguese, Native Brazilian, African, Japanese, Swiss, and West Indian descent. She personally identifies as Afro-Brazilian.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima never thought about being a model, although she had won many beauty pageants in elementary school. However, a friend at school who wanted to enter a modeling contest and did not want to enter alone, so Lima entered with her. Both sent in pictures, and the contest sponsor soon asked Lima to come out for the competition. Soon after, at age 15, she entered and finished in first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" model search. She subsequently entered the 1996 Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest and finished in second place. A year later, Lima moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima made her runway debut at Anna Sui's New York Fashion Week show in September 1997. As a runway model, she has walked the catwalk for designers such as Rosa Cha, Blue man, Fashion's Night Out, Caio Gobbi, Fause Haten, M. Officer, Luca Luca, Liverpool Fashion, Dosso Dossi, Carmen Steffens, Cía Maritima, Agua de Coco, Lino Villaventura, Forum, Vassarette, Zoomp, Joan Vass, Cori, Emilio Pucci, Fendi, Giles Deacon, Carmen Marc Valvo, Emanuel Ungaro, Baby Phat, Giorgio Armani, Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Sportmax, Vera Wang, Valentino, Miu Miu, Givenchy, Versace, Cividini, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Jason Wu, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Paco Rabanne, Victoria's Secret, Sean John, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Desigual, Cynthia Rowley, Sully Bonnelly, Anna Sui, Guy Laroche, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Yigal Azrouël, Ralph Lauren, Christian Lacroix, Escada, Nanette Lepore, Richard Tyler, Triton, and Betsey Johnson.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Her first magazine cover was Marie Claire Brazil in September 1998. Her first Vogue covers were the Italian "Vogue Gioiello" in September 2000, on their 20th Anniversary issue, and Vogue Brasil the next month.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima became a GUESS? girl in 2000, appearing in that year's fall ad campaign. She also appeared in the book "A Second Decade of Guess? Images".


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima continued to build upon her portfolio, doing more print work for Maybelline, for whom she has worked as a spokesmodel since 2003 to 2009. Also in the same year, she appeared in the company's first calendar and did an ad campaign for Swatch. Lima has also worked for notable fashion brands bebe, Armani, Versace, De Beers, Elie Saab, Colcci, Schiaparelli, Prada, Intimissimi, GUESS?, LOEWE, H&M, Bulgari, Miu Miu, DKNY, Emporio Armani, Givenchy, Keds, Mossimo, Jason Wu, Balmain, Blumarine, Marc Jacobs, Maybelline, BCBG, and Louis Vuitton.


title: Adriana Lima

text: She also appeared on the covers and in the editorials of other fashion magazines such as "Vogue", "Harper's Bazaar", "ELLE", "Grazia", "Cosmopolitan", "Interview", "GQ", "W", "Arena", "V", "Esquire", "Garage", and "French Revue des Modes".


title: Adriana Lima

text: Her April 2006 "GQ" cover was the highest-selling issue of that magazine for the year. It was also one of the all-time best selling issues of the publication. The magazine named her "The World's Most Voluptuous Virgin".


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2006, Lima ranked as the fifth highest paid supermodel. Between 2007 and 2008, she ranked as the world's fourth highest paid supermodel by Forbes Magazine.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2008, she again fronted the cover of GQ, this time attracting a record number of visits to the publication's website. She also appeared in the 2005 Pirelli Calendar and became the face of Italy's cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile, a move that earned her the nickname, "the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."


title: Adriana Lima

text: In February 2008, Lima was featured on the cover of "Esquire", re-creating the classic 1966 Angie Dickinson cover on Esquire's 75th anniversary. She appeared only in shoes, diamonds and gloves for the November 2007 issue of "Vanity Fair" celebrating 20 years of supermodels with her fellow Victoria's Secret Angels. In February 2008, she was chosen to be the face of Mexico's Liverpool department store chain and launched the partnership with a press conference, runway show, and a summer campaign.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima returned to the high fashion runway in 2009, walking for Givenchy. In the same year, after visiting Turkey, she signed a contract with Doritos to appear in print campaigns and television commercials which began airing in Turkey that April. She was also one of the faces of Givenchy for the Fall/Winter 2009 season.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2011, Lima signed a deal as a spokeswoman for Megacity by Votsu, a Brazilian social gaming company, to appear in their commercials. Lima has worked with the most established photographers in fashion such as Annie Leibovitz, Juergen Teller, Bruce Weber, J.R. Duran, Paolo Roversi, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matidin, Vincent Peters, Mario Sorrenti, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Steven Meisel, David Sims, and Mario Testino.


title: Adriana Lima

text: She became the face of Donna Karan's spring 2012 advertising campaign, which was accused of having racist undertones due to a photo featuring Lima posing in front of huddled local Haitians.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In early 2012, Turkish clothing company Mavi Jeans hired Lima to be the face and spokesmodel for the brand. In the first quarter of 2012, her advertisement campaign increased sales by 50%. It also provided a 20% increase in stores and online traffic. Furthermore, her television commercial, which was watched by 28 million people, became a trending topic at Twitter and the number of people on Mavi's Facebook page increased by 20%. Store officials at Mavi say the clothing Lima wore in the ad campaigns was met with so much demand that they ran out of stock. Due to her success rate with the company, the European and Russian branch of Mavi decided to make her the global face of the brand.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima was photographed by artist Richard Phillips on the famed Copacabana sidewalk in Brazil for Visionaire no. 62 which was released in mid-2012. In an interview, Phillips talks about Lima: "She's so powerful, really an entity, in a way." Then added "You meet her and there's a generosity of spirit and very friendly and easy manner, and then all of sudden, the lights go on, and you realize you're working with this absolutely extraordinary person who's capable of creating these powerful images."


title: Adriana Lima

text: For the second time, she was featured in the Pirelli calendar by setting a record of being the first pregnant woman to be ever featured in the calendar for the 2013 edition.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In July 2013, Spanish fashion brand Desigual announced that Lima would be the face of the brand during Barcelona Fashion Week Spring-Summer '14, following Bar Refaeli in the same role in January 2013. In April 2014, Lima was chosen as the first brand ambassador of Desigual for the brand's 30th anniversary. She has been named the "ambassador of la vida es Chula", Desigual's "life is cool" motto. Desigual marketing director, Borja Castresana, stated that Adriana "reflects our values and represents Desigual women who are confident, optimistic and full of life." The campaign was launched on April 20, 2014, with television commercials in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2013, she ranked as the third highest paid supermodel according to Forbes, with earnings of $6 million. In 2014, she ranked as the world's second highest paid supermodel with earnings of $8 million.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In June 2014, she returned to her role as a Maybelline New York spokesmodel. She had been the face of the brand between 2003 and 2009. Lima was also chosen as the new face of Jason Wu Fall/Winter 2014 campaign. Jason Wu stated about Lima, "She's sexy, and there's this feline-esque prowess that felt appropriate for the clothes. And she's got those eyes! She's like our own Bianca Jagger. Adriana is a new take on the supermodel - she's from a different era. At the end of the day, these ads are about the women and the sexiness, and I continue to choose women who inspire me."


title: Adriana Lima

text: In September 2014, Lima starred in a campaign for luxury Swiss watch label IWC alongside Karolina Kurkova.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2015, she became the face of Vogue Eyewear and of Marc Jacobs' fragrance "Decadence". In the same year, she was ranked as the world's second highest paid supermodel with earnings of $9 million.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In April 2016, Lima became the face of Italian lingerie brand Calzedonia's Swimwear collection. In July 2016, Lima was chosen by NBC alongside fellow Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio as the channel's food and culture correspondents for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The NBC feature also showed the duo practicing in the Brazilian martial art Capoeira in the build up to the Olympic games.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In January 2017, Lima starred in the ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2017 campaign for the Italian brand Sportmax.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2018, Lima became a brand ambassador for Puma, and for the Brazilian-based footwear and accessories label Schutz.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2019, Lima was the face of Miu Miu cruise campaign, of Chopard Spring/Summer campaign. She was also the face of the Maybelline x Puma collaboration, of the Schutz resort 2019 campaign, and starred in the Palms Casino Resort commercial with others including Cardi B and Rita Ora.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima is probably best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. She walked her first Victoria's Secret runway in 1999, at age 17 and since being contracted as an Angel in 2000, she has appeared on subsequent shows ever since, opening the show in 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2010. In 2012, she opened the show for the 5th time less than two months after giving birth to her second child.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2004, she was one of the five Angels promoting Victoria's Secret nationwide in the so-called "Angels Across America" Tour, alongside Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen and Alessandra Ambrosio. She missed the 2009 show due to her pregnancy. Lima has appeared on several television ads for the brand, including the praised and criticized 2004 commercial "Angel in Venice" with Bob Dylan.


title: Adriana Lima

text: 2008 continued with Lima hosting the "What Is Sexy?" program for the E! Entertainment Network and a July tour for the BioFit Uplift Bra launch. She was also featured in November's Miracle Bra relaunch. Topping the year off, Lima wore the "Fantasy Bra" for the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The bra, created by American jewelry designer Martin Katz, was set with 3,575 black diamonds, 117 certified white round diamonds, 34 rubies, and two black diamond drops totaling . Valued at over $5 million, the bra carried more than .


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2010, she again wore the Fantasy Bra, called the Victoria's Secret Bombshell Fantasy Bra. The bra which weighs in at 142 carats with 60 carats of white diamonds and 82 carats of topazes and sapphires is worth 2 million dollars. She wore the fantasy bra again in 2014, along with Alessandra Ambrosio, with each bra valuing $2,000,000.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In July 2016, Victoria's Secret launched its own sports bra line, "Victoria Sport", and Lima starred on the commercial alongside models Elsa Hosk, Romee Strijd, Jasmine Tookes and Josephine Skriver.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In January 2017, Lima was named "the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel" according to analytics company D'Marie, which conducted research that factored in social media likes, followers, sales conversions and engagement to come up with the results. "We've developed an algorithm that compiles over 24 specific metrics from each social media platform that determines an individual's ranking amongst others' in any variety of categories," D'Marie explained.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In November 2018, Lima walked in her final Victoria's Secret Fashion Show after participating in 18 catwalks for the brand.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima's made her acting debut alongside Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker, in "The Follow" (2001), a short film in BMW's series "The Hire", opposite Clive Owen and directed by Wong Kar-wai. She also appeared with her fellow Angels in a guest spot playing herself in the CBS comedy series "How I Met Your Mother" in November 2007, in the episode "The Yips". She also played herself, along with fellow Victoria's Secret Angels, in the 2013 series "The Crazy Ones" alongside Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. In 2008, Lima appeared on the American television series "Ugly Betty", where she played herself and made friends with the series' title character, Betty Suarez.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima was the host and executive producer of the American reality competition show "American Beauty Stars", which premiered on September 23, 2017, on Lifetime.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima's 2008 solo Victoria's Secret's Super Bowl XLII ad was the single most-seen ad of the game, watched by 103.7 million viewers.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In February 2012, Lima became the only celebrity to ever star in two Super Bowl commercials in one game. She starred in Super Bowl XLVI commercials for online flower service Teleflora and Kia Motors which were watched by more than 200 million viewers. Her Kia Motors Super Bowl commercial – promoting the new Kia Optima – sent sales to their highest mark since the design debuted. Sales were up 31% from January 2012 and 138.6% from February 2012. The commercial was also voted No.3 out of the 55 commercials on USA TODAY and Facebook's Super Bowl Ad Meter. A teaser of the commercial was released in movie theaters in January before the game. It is believed to be the first time a Super Bowl commercial premiered in movie theaters.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Forbes named her Teleflora commercial as one of the best during Super Bowl XLVI, with the comment, "Teleflora ... Adriana Lima. 'Nuff said". Among the many reviews of the commercial, The Huffington Post said: "One of the basic goals of any commercial is to capture the viewer's attention, and by this measure, Teleflora.com's ad featuring supermodel Adriana Lima was most definitely successful." ESPN.com noted: "This actually makes sense when you think about it: Launch your Valentine's Day campaign in the middle of the Super Bowl. That's actually what flower company Teleflora is doing on Sunday. Even smarter? Hire supermodel Adriana Lima to star in it."


title: Adriana Lima

text: From 2001 to 2003, Lima was in a relationship with American singer Lenny Kravitz. They moved in together and got engaged. Lima was featured on the music video for Kravitz's 2002 single, "Yesterday Is Gone (My Dear Kay)".


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2009, Lima married Serbian NBA player Marko Jarić on Valentine's Day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In May 2009, it was reported that Lima had applied for Serbian citizenship, but it was never granted to her. Jarić and Lima have two daughters. On 2 May 2014, Lima and Jarić announced their separation after five years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in March 2016.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2021, Lima started dating film producer Andre Lemmers. On 18 February 2022, Lima announced on TikTok that she was expecting her third child and her first baby with Lemmers. She shared a video of her ultrasound and wrote that her baby is "coming fall 2022". In August 2022, Lima gave birth to a son.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In April 2006, Lima told "GQ" that she is a devout Roman Catholic who attends Mass every Sunday. She also stated she was a virgin. "Sex is for after marriage," she said. "[Men] have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me." She also denounced abortion as a crime, and stated that she agrees with all of the Church's teachings. Lima is known to bring a copy of the Bible with her backstage before she goes onstage. She has also stated that, before she became a Victoria's Secret Angel, she had wanted to become a nun. Regarding her spirituality, Lima stated, "The church is in me — I always connect. If you're connected with the divine and always have pure intentions with everything you're doing, you're protected by the angels. I'm very spiritual. I believe in nature, I believe in energy, I believe in spirits." On her social media, Lima often mentions and pays tribute to Yemanjá, a water spirit from the Yoruba religion.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima does charitable work helping with an orphanage, "Caminhos da Luz" (Paths of Light), located in Salvador. She helps with construction to expand the orphanage and buys clothes for poor children in Salvador, Bahia. In 2009, she appeared on "Var mısın? Yok musun?", the Turkish version of "Deal or No Deal", where her prize money went to a hospital in Istanbul for children fighting leukemia.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima was listed in the 2005 Forbes' edition of The World's Best-Paid Celebrities Under 25. She ranked ninety-nine in the 2005 and 2006 Forbes' edition of The Celebrity 100 lists. In 2012, she was listed on Forbes Celebrity 100 power list for earning more than 7 million between May 2011 and May 2012. In 2012, she ranked number eight on Forbes' "The World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrities" list for earning more than 7 million dollars.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima was chosen to be a part of "People" magazine's 100 most beautiful people in the world list, sharing that space with the Angels, with whom she also received a star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" prior to the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That same year, she ranked 7th on "FHM"s "100 Sexiest Women 2007" list.


title: Adriana Lima

text: Lima was also voted on "Maxim"s "Hot 100" 2007 at the No. 53 spot. She was voted No.1 as the Most Desirable Woman in 2005 by visitors of the men's lifestyle website AskMen.com and placed 4th in 2006 and 2007, 10th in 2008, and 19th in 2009. She received the award for "Hottest Girl on the Planet" in the 2007 Spike Guys' Choice Awards. Since November 2008, Models.com has featured her at number one on the list of the "Sexiest Models". In July 2011, she was ranked No. 4 in the website's "Money Girls" list. The website also lists her on "the Supers" list. The list, which has only 8 supermodels, is about supermodels that transcend the boundaries of the fashion industry and have public recognition in and out of fashion. In 2010, she was voted eighth in "FHM's Sexiest Women in the World". FHM ranked her at No. 6 in 2009, No. 21 in 2008 and No. 4 in 2007.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2010, Lima was ranked No. 46 on the 50 most popular women on the Web according to Google search results. A results from a market research study in 2011 about the UEFA Champions League released by Heineken, showed that 52% of men would rather watch their team lift the Champions League trophy than go on a date with Lima. McAfee ranked Lima as the 6th most "dangerous" celebrity in cyberspace in 2010. The ranking, relating to the use of the names of popular celebrities to lure people to websites that are laden with malicious software, ranked Lima number eight in 2011. In 2012, Complex ranked her 4th in the list of "The 100 Hottest Supermodels of All Time".


title: Adriana Lima

text: On October 6, 2015, it was announced that Adriana will have her own wax figure at the Madame Tussauds New York. She is the first Victoria's Secret Angel and the second Brazilian figure to join the Tussauds star lineup, after soccer star Pelé. Her wax figure was unveiled on 30 November 2015.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In 2021, Lima was chosen by "HOLA! USA" as one of the "Changemakers" of their "Latina Powerhouse Top 100" list.


title: Adriana Lima

text: In a 2011 interview with "The Daily Telegraph", prior to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Lima said that for nine days before the show she drinks only protein shakes, and no liquids at all for the last 12 hours "so you dry out, sometimes you can lose up to eight pounds just from that." She also stated that for the last three weeks before the show, she works out twice a day. The interview prompted criticism from the media commentators. Shortly afterwards, Lima defended herself in an interview with E!. "I know it's very intense but ... I just have an athlete's mind and I appreciate doing this thing," she said. "It's not that I do crazy diets throughout the year. I just do it for this particular thing. After this show, I become normal again." The Adriana Lima diet became one of the top five most searched diets on the web in 2012.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's "The Majority Report".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on "The Ben Stiller Show", "The Larry Sanders Show", and "Saturday Night Live", then appeared in more than 50 movies, with leading or major roles in "The Truth About Cats and Dogs", "Wet Hot American Summer", "The Matchmaker", "Reality Bites", "The Wild", "Steal This Movie!", "Clay Pigeons", "Sweethearts", "Mystery Men", "The Minus Man", and "The Independent", among numerous others. She has been a series regular on television programs such as "", "24", "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce". and "Ideal".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo was born in Newton, New Jersey, the daughter of Joan and Carmine Garofalo. Her mother was a secretary, in the petrochemical industry, who died of cancer when Janeane was 24. Her father is a former executive at Exxon. Garofalo is of Italian/Irish descent. She grew up in various places, including Ontario, California; Madison, New Jersey; and Houston, Texas, where she graduated from James E. Taylor High School. Garofalo is quoted as having disliked life in Houston because of the heat and humidity and the emphasis on prettiness and sports in high school.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: While studying history at Providence College, Garofalo entered a comedy talent search sponsored by the Showtime cable network, winning the title of "Funniest Person in Rhode Island." Her original gimmick was to read off her hand, which was not successful in subsequent performances. Dreaming of earning a slot on the writing staff of the TV show "Late Night With David Letterman", she became a professional standup upon graduating from college with degrees in History and American Studies. She struggled for a number of years, even working briefly as a bike messenger in Boston.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo officially began her career in stand-up comedy in the mid-1980s during the pre-grunge era. Her appearance was often in line with very mid-1980s style: disheveled with thick black glasses and unkempt hair. Her comedy is often self-deprecating; she has made fun of popular culture and the pressures on women to conform to body image ideals promoted by the media.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo's comedy shows involve her and her notebook, which is filled with years' worth of article clippings and random observations she references for direct quotes during her act. Garofalo has said that she does not tell jokes as much as make observations designed to get laughs. She was part of the alternative comedy scene in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, appearing at Un-Cabaret and other venues and co-created the "Eating It" alternative stand-up comedy show, which ran at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side of New York City between 1995 and 2005, frequently hosting the show and appearing as a performer.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: She appeared on HBO's "Comedy Half-Hour" and "Comedy Hour" specials in 1995 and 1997, respectively, among similar subsequent appearances, including a one-hour stand-up special entitled "If You Will", performed at Seattle's Moore Theatre that aired on "Epix" in June 2010 and was released on DVD in September 2010.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo has performed a variety of roles in more than 50 feature films, playing leading or large roles in "The Truth About Cats & Dogs", "I Shot a Man in Vegas", "The Matchmaker", "Clay Pigeons", "Steal This Movie!", "Sweethearts", "Mystery Men", "The Independent", "Wet Hot American Summer", "Manhood", "Ash Tuesday", and "Bad Parents".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo's first movie role, filmed the year before she appeared on national television, was a brief comical appearance as a counter worker in a burger joint in "Late for Dinner" in 1991, but her real breakthrough into film came in "Reality Bites" (1994) as Winona Ryder's character's Gap-managing best friend Vickie.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Further television work and supporting roles in feature films included "Bye Bye Love" and "Now and Then", and a leading role in "I Shot a Man in Vegas", until 1996 when she was cast in the starring role in the romantic comedy "The Truth About Cats & Dogs", a variation on "Cyrano de Bergerac" which featured Uma Thurman in the top-billed but smaller role as a beautiful but vapid model, while Garofalo played a highly intelligent radio host. Initially an independent film, it became a studio movie when Uma Thurman was signed to play the shallow model.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Based on the success of this film, a producer then offered her the part of Dorothy Boyd in "Jerry Maguire" with Tom Cruise if she could lose weight; after trimming down, however, she learned that Renée Zellweger had won the part instead.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: She turned down the role of television reporter Gale Weathers in Wes Craven's "Scream" because she thought the film would be too violent: "I said I didn't want to be in a movie where a teen girl was disemboweled. I didn't know it turned out so good, and it was a funny movie."


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Following up "The Truth About Cats and Dogs", Garofalo played the lead role in "The Matchmaker", a 1997 romantic comedy film about the misadventures of a cynical American woman who reluctantly visits Ireland. That same year, she played a supporting role as a deputy sheriff in the drama "Cop Land", a police gangster film starring Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro. In 1998, she performed her first voice-acting job playing "Ursula the Artist" in Disney's English dub of Studio Ghibli's "Kiki's Delivery Service" and briefly appeared in "Permanent Midnight". In 1999, she starred as "The Bowler" in the film "Mystery Men", about an underdog group of super heroes.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In 2000, she portrayed Abbie Hoffman's wife Anita Hoffman opposite Vincent D'Onofrio as Hoffman in "Steal This Movie!", involving the couple's political activism during the Vietnam War era. Later that same year, she received second billing under Jerry Stiller in a comedic film about a low-budget movie producer entitled "The Independent". The following year, Garofalo was top-billed in "Wet Hot American Summer", the 2001 cult comedy about an American summer camp, and starred in "The Search for John Gissing".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In 2002, she played Catherine Connolly in "The Laramie Project" and in 2003, she starred in "Manhood" and "Ash Tuesday", and appeared in the crime film "Wonderland". She played a supporting role in "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood" in 2004.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: A puppet version of Garofalo appeared (and was graphically killed off) in the 2004 movie ""; while Garofalo was irritated by the parody, she was more upset by the filmmakers' lack of correspondence. "I ran into them in the street, Trey and the other guy, and I said to them, 'The least you could do is send me a puppet.' And they said OK, took my address down ... and never sent me a puppet! So while "Team America" bothered me, the fact they didn't send me my puppet, that bothered me even more."


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In 2005, she played the ex-wife of a man coping with the reverberations of a divorce in "Duane Hopwood". In 2006, she performed Bridget the giraffe's voice in the computer-animated Disney feature film "The Wild". In 2007, she provided the voice of Colette Tatou, a chef in the Pixar/Disney feature film "Ratatouille", in which Garofalo affected a pronounced French accent for the role, appropriate for a character based on a French cook described as the world's best female chef. She made cameo appearances in "The Guitar" in 2008 and "Labor Pains" in 2009, and starred in "Bad Parents" in 2012, a comedy about New Jersey soccer moms obsessing over their children's experiences playing the sport. She starred in the 2015 film "3rd Street Blackout".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo's big break came in 1990 after meeting Ben Stiller at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles, where they were hanging out with stand-up friends. They bonded over their "love of "SCTV", early "Saturday Night Live", and Albert Brooks."<ref name="http://www.papermag.com/arts_and_style/1999/08/the-ben-stiller-show-n-tell.php"></ref>


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Her first exposure on national television came soon thereafter by way of her appearance as a stand-up comic on MTV's "Half Hour Comedy Hour". Subsequently, her first television series debut was on the short-lived "Ben Stiller Show" on Fox in 1992, on which she was a cast member alongside longtime friends Bob Odenkirk and Andy Dick.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: A chance meeting on the set of that show led her to being offered the role of Paula on "The Larry Sanders Show" on HBO, earning her two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nominations in 1996 and 1997. For a time, she was actually working on both series simultaneously.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: After "The Ben Stiller Show" was cancelled, Garofalo joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live (SNL)" for its 1994–95 season. She left "SNL" in March 1995 (mid-season) after only six months, saying that the experience left her "anxious and depressed", and that a sexist attitude pervaded the show. She said that many of the sketches were "juvenile and homophobic". According to "New York Magazine", Garofalo was "largely stuck in dull, secondary wife and girlfriend roles", and quoted her friends as saying that she considered the stint "the most miserable experience of [her] life."


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Following "SNL", Garofalo appeared in a plethora of guest star roles: the grown-up daughter of the Buchmans on the final episode of "Mad About You"; Jerry Seinfeld's female counterpart (and, briefly, fiancée) Jeannie Steinman on "Seinfeld"; a recurring correspondent on Michael Moore's "TV Nation", and a former girlfriend of Dave Foley's character on "Newsradio". She provided the voice for the weekly conversations between the series lead and an older friend (Garofalo) in "Felicity". Two television pilots starring Garofalo, the 2003 ABC show "Slice O'Life" about a reporter consigned to sappy human interest stories appearing at the end of news broadcasts, and the 2005 NBC program "All In", based on the life of poker star Annie Duke, were not picked up by their respective networks.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Throughout the 2005–06 television season, Garofalo appeared on "The West Wing" as Louise Thornton, a campaign adviser to the fictional Democratic presidential nominee.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In 2006, she provided the voice for the animated character "Bearded Clam" on Comedy Central's "Freak Show". In 2007, she wrote a dedication for the mini-book included in the six-DVD box-set of the 1994 cult series "My So-Called Life".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo had segments entitled "the disquisition" in several episodes of the 2007 season of "The Henry Rollins Show" which took place in her apartment, much in the same way Rollins' segments take place at his house. In 2009, Garofalo joined the cast of "24", where she starred as Janis Gold. In 2010, Garofalo joined the cast of "Ideal" as Tilly. She was a cast member of the "Criminal Minds" short-lived spinoff TV series "" in 2011.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In 2014, she portrayed Lyla, an entertainment lawyer, in seven episodes of the TV series "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce". In 2015, she starred alongside most of the original cast in the Netflix to the 2001 comedy film "Wet Hot American Summer". In 2017, Garofalo starred in E4's comedy-drama series "Gap Year".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo co-wrote a comedic "New York Times" bestseller with Ben Stiller in 1999, entitled "Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction", a spoof of the self-help books so prevalent at the time. She wrote her "HBO Comedy Half-Hour" along with similar appearances and programs, co-wrote some sketches on "The Ben Stiller Show", wrote an episode of the television series "Head Case", and wrote and directed a 2001 comedy short entitled "Housekeeping".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo has been open and outspoken regarding her progressive political views. She is a feminist. In an interview for "Geek Monthly" magazine, she stated that she was raised in a conservative family.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: She has appeared with political figures such as Ralph Nader (whom she supported in the 2000 election, but opposed in 2004) and Jello Biafra at various events. In 2007, Garofalo described herself as an atheist, and participated in a radio interview by Freethought Radio, a show by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: She became more prominent as a progressive when she voiced opposition to what became the 2003 Iraq War, appearing on CNN and Fox News to discuss it. She said that she was approached by groups such as MoveOn.org and Win Without War to go on TV, because these organizations say that the networks were not allowing antiwar voices to be heard. Garofalo and the other celebrities who appeared at the time said they thought their fame could lend attention to that side of the debate. Her appearances on cable news prior to the war garnered her praise from the left and spots on the cover of "Ms." and "Venus Zine". Garofalo has had frequent on-air political disputes with Bill O'Reilly, Brian Kilmeade, and Jonah Goldberg.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Prior to the 2003 Iraq War, she took a position on the alleged threat posed by Saddam Hussein. For example, in an interview with Tony Snow on a February 23, 2003 episode of "Fox News Sunday", Garofalo said of the Iraqi dictator:


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In March 2003, she took part in the Code Pink anti-war march in Washington, D.C. That autumn, she served as emcee at several stops on the "Tell Us the Truth" tour, a political-themed concert series featuring Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, and others. Throughout the year, Garofalo also actively campaigned for Howard Dean. While on Fox News' program "The Pulse", O'Reilly asked Garofalo what she would do if her predictions that the Iraq war would be a disaster were to turn out wrong. Garofalo stated:


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo said she had misgivings in 2007 about the depiction of torture in the television series "24" but joined the cast because "being unemployed and being flattered that someone wanted to work with me outweighed my stance".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In April 2009, Garofalo drew criticism from "The Washington Times" when she denounced Tea Party protests, which she referred to as racist. She has continued to criticize Tea Party protesters.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: In late March 2004, Garofalo became a co-host for Air America Radio's new show "The Majority Report", alongside Sam Seder. The early days of Air America Radio are chronicled in the documentary "Left of the Dial", which includes a debate between Garofalo and her conservative father Carmine, who was initially a regular guest on "The Majority Report".


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo commented on her show of April 28, 2006 supporting the Scientology-linked New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a controversial treatment for workers suffering ailments from 9/11 clean-up efforts in New York City.


title: Janeane Garofalo

text: Garofalo married Robert Cohen, who was then a writer for "The Ben Stiller Show," in Las Vegas in 1991. She later explained that it was intended to be a joke, the pair thinking that the marriage was not binding unless it had been filed at a local courthouse. It was discovered later, when Cohen tried to marry someone else, that the marriage was indeed legal. The union was dissolved in 2012.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Dane Whitman or Black Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The third character to bear the Black Knight name, he was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and first appeared in "The Avengers" #47 (Dec. 1967). The original Black Knight's descendant and the supervillain Black Knight's nephew, he inherited a mystical sword that carried a curse and took the Black Knight name to help restore honor, and has been a long time member of the Avengers' various incarnations as well as the Defenders, Ultraforce, Heroes for Hire, and MI-13.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: The character was featured in a four-issue mini-series in 1990 and two one-shots in 1996 and 2007. Starting in 2015, he was the main character in Marvel's "All-New, All-Different Marvel" short-lived ongoing "Black Knight" series, the first ongoing series to feature Dane Whitman as the titular character.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Dane Whitman made his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film "Eternals" (2021), portrayed by Kit Harington.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Following his introduction, the Dane Whitman Black Knight became a recurring character in the superhero-team comic "The Avengers", with his first solo story appearing shortly afterward in "Marvel Super-Heroes" #17 (Nov. 1968). From 1979 to 1980, the Black Knight also appeared in a black and white feature in the Marvel UK comic "Hulk Weekly", where the feature was to be the longest-lasting of the comic's UK-originated material, appearing in the majority of the title's 63 issues. It was written by Steve Parkhouse with art by Paul Neary and John Stokes. He also appeared in his own Marvel US title, the miniseries "Black Knight" #1–4 (June–Sept. 1990) by husband-and-wife writers Roy and Dann Thomas and successive pencillers Tony DeZuniga and Rich Buckler. This was followed by the one-shot "Black Knight: Exodus" #1 (Dec. 1996), by writer Ben Raab and penciller Jimmy Cheung.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Co-creator Roy Thomas commented on the character's conception, "The Black Knight was a combination, visually, of the Black Knight that Stan Lee and Joe Maneely made up in the mid-1950s, with the concept Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done as a villain of that name, complete with winged horse, in The Avengers. There was also a bit of an homage in there to a DC hero I'd liked in the 1940s, Shining Knight. I shouldn't have named his horse Aragorn, though. I wasn't even that great an admirer of The Lord of the Rings. John Buscema, was scheduled to be the artist of the story that introduced Dane Whitman dressed in the Black Knight costume into THE AVENGERS, but that wound up being a guest stint by George Tuska when Stan Lee took John off the book for one issue to do something else. It was John Verpoorten and I that designed the costume."


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: He and other Marvel characters were brought to the short-lived Ultraverse imprint. The Black Knight appeared in the Ultraforce team book volumes 1 and 2 and related titles in 1995–96. Then the character became part of the teams: Heroes for Hire (1997), Excalibur (2003), MI-13 (2008) and Euroforce.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: In July 2015, it was announced that Frank Tieri and Luca Pizzari would be launching a new "Black Knight" series as part of Marvel's post-"Secret Wars" relaunch. This series features Whitman as the ruler of New Avalon, a kingdom he has claimed in the reality known as Weirdworld. The ongoing series was cancelled with issue #5 in 2016, as Marvel was unhappy with its sales. The writer of the series, Frank Tieri, then considered it a standalone limited series and expressed his feelings over the series being cut short. "Black Knight" is notable as the first "All-New, All-Different Marvel" comic book series to be cancelled.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Dane Whitman was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts to a rich family. In his youth, he studied physics. Whitman is best known as the modern-day Black Knight, continuing a legacy that began in medieval England. The first Black Knight, Whitman's ancestor Sir Percy of Scandia, lived during the reign of King Arthur. Percy's murder at the hand of his nemesis Mordred began a string of successors, all of them Percy's descendants.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: The Black Knight's legacy is revived by Whitman's uncle Nathan Garrett who becomes the supervillain the Black Knight II. After being mortally wounded during a battle with Iron Man, he escapes to his estate, summons his nephew to confess his crimes and asks him to restore honor to their family legacy and atone for Garrett's misdeeds, giving Whitman the weapons that he used for crime.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Whitman becomes the Black Knight, using the horse Aragorn for his mount. He uses the genetic techniques of his uncle to give the horse wings. During his first outing, he is mistaken for his uncle and attacked by the Avengers though they eventually realize their mistake. He later infiltrates the Masters of Evil, proving his worth to the Avengers who offer him provisional membership. Shortly afterwards he inherits Castle Garrett and travels to England. He encounters the spirit of Sir Percy of Scandia there and is given the Ebony Blade. He then encounters Doctor Strange and helps fight the extra-dimensional threat Tiboro.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: While still a provisional Avenger, he helps them in a battle against Kang the Conqueror. Kang was given the power of death over the Avengers by the Grandmaster as a prize for winning a recent game that Whitman has become unwittingly involved in. When he assists Goliath (Hawkeye) in defeating his chosen opponent, the Grandmaster calls that round of the game a draw since the Avengers did not defeat their opponents on their own. Since Whitman is not a full Avenger at the time, Kang has no power over him and so Whitman is able to defeat him with relative ease. Whitman then officially joins the Avengers in recognition of his aid. Later, the Ebony Blade is used by the Olympian war god Ares to put out the Promethean Flame and turn most of the Olympians to crystal. The Black Knight travels to Olympus with other members and helps defeat Ares.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Whitman is an early member of the Defenders. He was traveling with the Enchantress to the realm of the Asgardian sorceress Casiolena, to a parallel dimension. However, they were captured and imprisoned by the witch. When the Defenders also are trapped by Casiolena, the Black Knight and a newly invoked Valkyrie joins them in the battle against Casiolena. However Whitman becomes the first casualty of the Defenders, after he is treacherously converted to stone by a kiss from the Enchantress. Doctor Strange tries to revert the spell without success. Whitman's spirit is drawn to the 12th century by the sorcerer Amergin the Druid, and he takes spiritual possession of his ancestor, the Crusader Sir Eobar Garrington, until Garrington dies due to the Evil Eye. Meanwhile, Whitman chooses to stay in the 12th century and is cared for by fellow Defender, the Valkyrie. Whitman then battles the Fomor, alongside the time-traveling Avengers. He then employs the Evil Eye to seal the portal between Earth and Avalon. Whitman returns to the 20th century and his original body is restored. He is accompanied by a gift from Amergin: a black, winged horse called Valinor, named after the fictional location of that name.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Some time later, still in Garrington's body, the wizard Merlyn takes Whitman as his champion. He is commanded to find the hero Captain Britain, who is wandering in the coast of Cornwall. Merlyn needs the hero for the defense of Otherworld, his realm, that is being attacked by the Nethergods. The Black Knight is attacked many times by creatures invoked by the sorcerer Mordred but he finds Captain Britain, who is amnesiac. On the road to Otherworld, both heroes are assisted by the old witch Sarah Mumford, the Walker Vortigern, an old king of Britain, and the elf Moondog, the last two sent by Merlyn from Otherworld. On the road, they are attacked by the Iron Ogre, a magic creature invoked by the Evil Walker Cormac. The Ogre bests the heroes and destroys the Ebony Blade. Only a precise arrow shot by the elf Moondog stops the creature. Cormac sends Goblins to battle the heroes and briefly captures Moondog. Meanwhile, when the Black Knight is devastated by the loss of his sword, he meets the Lady of the lake, who gives him the magic sword Excalibur. With the sword, Whitman defeats Cormac. In the meantime Captain Britain is killed by the White Rider, one of the servants of the Nethergod Mandrac, at the door of the passage of Otherworld Whitman and his companions finally cross the doors of Otherworld and fight Mandrac, Lord of the Slain, who was in possession of the body of Captain Britain. Merlyn appears to help the knight and traps Mandrac inside the earth - Merlyn rescues the spirit of Captain Britain from Netherword and defeats Modred, who was attacking him and the knight. In the Otherworld dimension, the Black Knight and Captain Britain go to save Camelot from the attacks of the Nethergod Necromon. In the process, Merlyn reforges the Ebony Sword and King Arthur is resurrected. In the final assault, Whitman and King Arthur succeed in killing Necromon, but Camelot is destroyed. Black Knight and Captain Britain are briefly kidnapped by the Grandmaster to participate in the original Contest of Champions.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Once in modern times again, Whitman learns that the Ebony Blade is cursed: every time it draws blood, it drives its user closer to madness. Whitman frees Sir Percy's spirit from the Earthly plane, purging the blood curse from the sword. Whitman resumes active duty with the Avengers, helping his teammates Wasp and Captain Marvel experiment with their powers, and battles against the fourth version of the Masters of Evil when they invade Avengers Mansion.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: When the Sub-Mariner uses the sword to kill his wife Marrina, who had become a monster, the blood curse is revived. The curse begins to transform Whitman's body into the same mystic metal as the blade. He is forced to don an exoskeleton when the curse's creeping paralysis begins to affect his mobility. He also shows signs of mental instability. Ultimately, the blood curse becomes so virulent that it will draw blood from anyone even touching the Black Knight. After the Avengers were disbanded, Whitman joined Thor to defend Asgard from an invasion of the Egyptian God Seth. After the battle, the curse converted the Black Knight to a statue of stone again. The statue is brought by the Avengers to the knight's castle in England, under the care of Lady Victoria Bentley, an old friend of Whitman. After Lady Victoria tries a spell on the statue, Sir Percy takes possession of Whitman's body to stop the blood curse. He takes a young Irish man called Sean Dolan as his squire. Together they go to Doctor Strange's house to ask for help in the battle against Morgan le Fay and Mordred, who intended to return to the physical world using Morgan's old castle in Ireland. The witch summoned the demon Balor, but the heroes are rescued by Valkyrie (summoned by Victoria Bentley). After banishing the villains, Sir Percy's spirit merges with the Ebony Sword, canceling the curse and returning Whitman to his normal state. The Black Knight begins a relation with Victoria Bentley and keeps Sean Dolan as his squire.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: After rejoining the Avengers, Whitman is a major member of the team. In this time he develops a weapon that projects a sword-like sheath of energy as a replacement of his Ebony Blade. The Black Knight is involved in the Avengers' attack of the Kree Empire during the Operation Galactic Storm, forming part of the team that went to the capital world in Hala. At the end of the mission, tormented by the genocide inflicted by the Kree Supreme Intelligence on its own people, he and other Avengers follow Iron Man to kill the entity. The Black Knight is the one that struck the mortal blow on the Supreme Intelligence.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Captain America leaves the Avengers because of these events, and the Black Knight eventually becomes the "de facto" field leader of the Avengers. During this time, he becomes romantically involved with his teammate Sersi (of the Eternals), but is also attracted by Crystal, one of the Inhumans' royal family. The Avengers are attacked numerous times by alternate versions of themselves, called the Gatherers, led by the mysterious Proctor. The relationship between The Black knight and Sersi soon comes under strain, as Sersi proves increasingly unstable and more aggressive, so when the Avengers travel to the planet Polemachus and the tyrant Anskar killed an innocent girl, Sersi killed him immediately. Her fellow Eternals, led by Ikaris, pay a visit to the Avengers and tell them that Sersi was affected by the "Mahd W'yry", an incurable disease. In an attempt to stabilize her, and because she asked, Ikaris mentally bonds Sersi and Whitman with a process called the ""Gann Josin"", but this does little to slow the disease – not in the least due to Whitman's resentment at having the bond imposed upon him, and that he had come to the conclusion that it was Crystal he loved. With the bond, the Black Knight acquired more strength, red eyes, and an intimate mental connection with Sersi.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Meanwhile, the Ebony Sword comes into the possession of Sean Dolan, "squire" of the Black Knight; he becomes angry by Whitman's abandonment of Lady Victoria and transforms himself into the Bloodwraith when he could not endure the sword's curse. In a three-man fight with the Black Knight and Deadpool, Bloodwraith accidentally kills Lady Victoria.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: The mental health of Sersi becomes worse with time. When she is framed for the murder of two policemen, Sersi snaps completely, destroying the Avengers mansion and fleeing to the Brooklyn Bridge. She used the Gann Josin bond to call Whitman to aid her and they battle the Avengers together – until the sight of her attacking Crystal enables the Black Knight to break the "Gann Josin"'s hold on him temporarily. Then it is revealed that it was Proctor who caused the Mahd W'yry disease in Sersi. Whitman also discovers that Proctor is an alternate universe counterpart of himself. Having been rejected by his own Sersi and twisted by the "Gann Josin" and his Ebony Blade's curse, Proctor now travels the multiverse with the aid of the Gatherers and a captured Watcher named Ute on a mission to kill the Sersi of every reality. Ultimately, in the battle of the Avengers against the Gatherers, Sersi slays Proctor with his own Ebony Blade, but is still afflicted by the madness Proctor instilled in her. A mortally injured Ute uses the last of his power to create a gateway into another universe where Sersi could be free of the madness and restore her mind. Whitman decides to leave with her, partly because he does not want to come between Crystal and her husband Quicksilver and partly because he feels responsible for what happened to Sersi.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: The pair are transported to the Ultraverse (home of the Malibu Comics characters). They are separated and the Black Knight arrives at the Miami Beach of this universe. Here he meets the young heroes Prime and Prototype, members of a local superhero team called Ultraforce. Whitman impresses them and tells his story. He becomes a member of Ultraforce and begins the search for Sersi. After being tricked by the god Loki (Marvel Comics), Whitman meets Sersi again, but she was possessed by the seventh infinity gem, the Ego gem and attacked him. When he approached her, she recognized him and stopped. However, she was still being controlled by the Ego gem and captured him and Ultraforce for Loki. Black Knight and the rest of the team escaped. In a dispute between Loki and the Grandmaster for the possession of the Infinity Gems, the heroes of Ultraforce were put against his counterparts of Earth-616: the Avengers. The Black Knight was left as a wild card in the competition. Loki won but when the six original gems were reunited, the combined sentient power of the Gems was revealed as the entity Nemesis. The entity began to create a mixed reality when she combined elements of Ultraverse and Marvel. Both teams joined forces against Nemesis and The Black Knight struck a blow to Nemesis with a Nazi Ebony Sword that scattered the Infinity gems. Because of this, the Ultraverse was affected by a reality-warping event called Black September, after which Dane Whitman become the leader of Ultraforce. As leader, Dane Whitman brought Ultraforce in line, adopting new methods, bringing new members, managing the team and having a romantic tension with fellow member Topaz


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: After various adventures with Ultraforce, the Black Knight and other heroes of Ultraverse fought against an Alien robot, Maxis. Immediately after defeating the robot, the armada of the Tulkan aliens attacked New York with his powerful elite. Whitman led the victory against the aliens. After the flight of the Tulkans, the robot Maxis becomes more benevolent, and created an interdimensional portal. Whitman returned to Earth-616 with other exiles through this portal.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: He and Sersi briefly reunite to return to the Marvel Universe, but something goes wrong along the way. Instead of returning to the Marvel universe's present, they end up in the 12th century and Whitman once again finds his spirit in the body of Sir Eobar Garrington. His consciousness is buried under Garrington's, however, and Sersi is forced to pass Garrington's soul onto the next plane (with his permission) to restore Whitman's consciousness. Whitman finds himself embroiled in a conflict with the evil mutant Apocalypse alongside his ancestor's best friend Bennet du Paris, the mutant who would later become Exodus. Apocalypse tries to get du Paris to kill his friend, but du Paris refuses. Judging him weak, Apocalypse puts du Paris in a state of suspended animation. Out of respect for his ancestor's friendship with du Paris, Whitman organizes an order of knights to guard du Paris' body, which they do through the ages until he is found and revived by Magneto. Sersi creates another portal, this time to the correct time period, and she and Whitman depart the 12th century.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Whitman and Sersi are somehow separated in transit, which rips their "Gann Josin" bond apart. Whitman finds himself back in New York in the proper time, but without Sersi. He is soon dealt another shattering blow when he learns that the Avengers and most of the other major heroes have apparently perished in their battle with Onslaught while he was gone, including Crystal. Whitman then learns that the Lady of the Lake has selected him as the Pendragon for his age. She bestows upon him new mystical equipment from Avalon: a suit of armor, the enchanted flying horse Strider, the Shield of Night, which absorbs energy, and the Sword of Light, which returns that energy in the form of an energy projectile.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: The newly empowered Black Knight helps the Heroes for Hire defeat Nitro, then accepts Iron Fist's offer to join the newly formed team (due primarily to his concern over former teammate and friend Hercules, who has been drinking heavily out of grief for the Avengers' deaths). Whitman eventually learns what happened to Sersi when she reappears asking for help to defeat yet another of her old enemy Ghaur's nefarious schemes with the help of the Eternals. After the team-up, Sersi and Whitman decided to be separated. Later, the Heroes for Hire find themselves in the midst of a major conflict in the High Evolutionary's city of Wundagore. During this time, Whitman fought again with Quicksilver for the affection of the inhuman Crystal, but she rejected both of them. The Black Knight leaves Heroes for Hire to assist the Knights of Wundagore along with Quicksilver and later returns to the Avengers when they expand their roster to include satellite teams around the world. Whitman is sent to the Slorenian border, where the Bloodwraith has used the Ebony Blade to absorb the souls of the entire population after they have been killed by the android Ultron. After the "Kang War" arc, the Avengers disband these global teams.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Whitman reappears in "New Excalibur" in the mid-2000s. He has opened up a museum in England chronicling the Black Knights that have existed throughout history. Whitman learns that Sir Percy was not the original Black Knight, but that eight men had held the Ebony Blade prior to him. The Ebony Blade, however, corrupted these men, and Sir Percy was deemed the only one who was noble enough to wield the Blade. Also at this time, Merlin told Whitman that he must not destroy the Blade as he had previously been told to do. It is not clear whether he has access to his Avalonian equipment at present. In "New Excalibur", Whitman is invited to join the team, but after the second adventure with them he refuses, as he believes that his Ebony Blade is not the real one and he needs to find the original.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Whitman returns to join MI-13 as part of the "Secret Invasion" crossover event. He is armed by what he believes was the Ebony Blade, which strongly encourages him to kill, but is later revealed to be a fake created by Dracula; this fake possesses an intelligence and feeds on blood. Whitman also is revealed to have a literal stone heart, given to him by Sersi to keep him "above it all" and uninvolved.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Whitman battles the Skrull forces in London, showing a new informal and wisecracking personality (a deliberate defence against the "Ebony Blade's" suggestions), and quickly bonds with medic Faiza Hussain, with whom he appears to have romantic tensions. Following the Skrull war, he makes her his squire.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: After discovering that he did not have the real Ebony Blade, he goes to Wakanda and is given the real Blade back. He still retains the fake, vampiric sword. After recovering the sword, Whitman helps the team in the fight with the vampires that wanted to invade Britain. At the end, he begins a relationship with Faiza Hussain.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: During the events of "Original Sin", a historian named Rebecca Stevens learns that Whitman had violently attacked and nearly killed a new version of Savage Steel due to the influence of the Ebony Blade. Rebecca pleads with him to turn over the sword to S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, reasoning that its bloodlust is driving him mad, but Whitman refuses. Despite his assurance that he is fine, his home is seen covered in slash marks, with Whitman himself curled up on the floor in a mentally unhinged state. He is also seen threatening to slay Rebecca with the Blade, but she remains unaware of the danger.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Around this same time, Whitman returns to action as the leader of Euroforce, a team of European superheroes. Though he claims to not be bitter about being excluded from Captain America's new team of Avengers, it is implied that Whitman's deteriorating mental state had been the reason that he was passed over for membership.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: As part of the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" event, the Black Knight arrives on Weirdworld after killing Carnivore while losing control to the Ebony Blade, which causes him to flee from the scene of Carnivore's death. Upon arriving on Weirdworld, he kills King Zaltin Tar to establish New Avalon and builds an army with the help of two warriors named Shield and Spear. Black Knight has the army built in anticipation of the arrival of the Avengers Unity Division, who are seeking to bring him to justice. After struggling to maintain his sanity, Whitman is forced to battle the Uncanny Avengers, led by the aged Steve Rogers, who wish to arrest him for killing a criminal when he was still part of the Avengers team. It is revealed that Whitman accidentally entered Weirdworld, along with a HYDRA submarine, from 1945. The members of Hydra on board the submarine became the group known as the Fangs of the Serpent to the inhabitants of Weirdworld. As the Uncanny Avengers arrive to arrest Whitman, he unites the armies of the land to fight against them. Eventually, he is defeated and a truce is made: Rogers will take the Ebony Blade back to Earth and Whitman will be free to rule New Avalon. However, Rogers is possessed by the Blade and attacks his teammates. Meanwhile, the son of the king that Whitman overthrew to become the new lord gathers the Fangs of the Serpent to attack Whitman. After their defeat, Rogers and Doctor Voodoo agree that the only person who can bear the toll of the Ebony Blade is Whitman, and the Blade also shows this by not allowing any harm to come to Whitman. As the Avengers leave, leaving behind an expert on the Black Knight who came with them to look after Whitman, it is concluded that Whitman had been maintaining his sanity better than everyone had thought. Whitman concludes that for now ruling New Avalon is good, and the story ends on a light tone, Whitman not being persecuted as he has suffered enough under the Blade's spell.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: During "Secret Empire", Black Knight returns to Europe to help Euroforce fight HYDRA groups following their conquest of the United States. The group is imprisoned by HYDRA until they were freed by the Champions of Europe.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: In "The War of the Realms" event, the Black Knight, Union Jack, and Spitfire are defeated by Malekith the Accursed. Before he can slay them, he is attacked by Captain Marvel and the War Avengers. Later, he helped Punisher and his kill crew when they were attacking the Dark elves and some trolls.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: During the "Empyre" storyline, Black Knight tells Captain America that he has been focusing on becoming a hero again after fighting the Giants and Dark Elves. He joins other Avengers in the fight against the Cotati in the Savage Land.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Later in "Savage Avengers", Dane is contacted by the more ruthless iteration of Earth's mightiest after singlehandedly tearing down a KKK operation. He was specifically nominated by Cain Marko because they needed the help of his Ebony Blade to slay the dragon Sadurang, a leftover from Malekith's War of the Realms.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: Sometime after the Avengers reasserted their presence in the world, the Phoenix Force would descend after the attempted takeover by Moon Knight and his patron deity Khonshu. Dane would be amongst a host of other recipients selected by the enigmatic cosmic entity to participate in a tournament to decide its next host.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: With the onset of the "King in Black", The Black Knight has his hands full dealing with personal issues stemming from his loss of respect as a hero coupled with psychological issues begotten from bearing the accursed Ebony Blade. When the dark god Knull descended upon the Earth seeking to subsume it, he used his collective mind hive to invade the psyche space of the fallen hero in an attempt to claim his fabled blade from the stars. Revealing the swords true nature as an evil blade which amplifies the negative qualities in callow individuals already prone to hatred, violence and negative aspects not the other way around.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: The revelation shakes Whitman to his core, as he is forced to realize the sword was never corrupting him and that Merlin lied about only the most pure-hearted beings' eligibility to use it. That all those times he went ballistic were of his own volition, the blade merely exacerbating these qualities to strengthen itself, as that was its true function.


title: Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

text: With some convincing from the young heroine Aero however, Dane is able to come to grips with such insights and learn to own his faults in order to help save all of Shanghai from an enclave of Symbiote Dragons taking the form of Swordmaster's own personal boogie man. Learning to use his inner darkness in such a way to unlock new powers within his signature weapon that he'd never learned to use before. After helping out the Avengers in resolving a mysticism based problem at Central Park, Dane is summarily cut down by a mysterious assailant using the Obsidian Dagger; the opposing weapon of the Ebony Blade.