Aims : To report a case of pyothorax‐associated lymphoma in a non‐immunocompromised 78‐year‐old man with a 45‐year history of tuberculous pleuritis and left pleural effusion. Pyothorax‐associated ...lymphoma is a high‐grade non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma occurring in 2% of patients with long‐standing tuberculous pleuritis and pyothorax. Pyothorax‐associated lymphoma is frequently Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)‐associated, mainly reported in Japan but exceedingly rare in western countries.
Methods and results : Histology revealed a high‐grade, diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma with immunoblastic and plasmacytoid features and marked angiocentricity with focal destruction of the vessel walls. Immunohistochemistry revealed a post germinal B‐cell phenotype. RNA in‐situ hybridization and molecular analysis showed a latent EBV infection and absence of human herpes virus‐8 (HHV‐8).
Conclusions : Pyothorax‐associated lymphoma represents a rare but distinctive type of diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma, with characteristic clinico‐epidemiological, immunohistological, and biological features.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Background
Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC) are the two main entities of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified more than 200 ...risk loci in populations of predominantly European ancestry.
Methods
Here we report the GWAS study of IBD data from an extended cohort of 573 Greek IBD patients (364 C and 209 UC) and 445 controls. We implicate 89 loci in IBD risk. Additionally, through pathway-based analysis we identified distinct functional pathways associated with each of the two IBD forms and their phenotypes.
Results
For the majority of the IBD susceptibility loci, the direction and magnitude of effect are consistent in IBD cohorts. Pathway analysis to detect functional interactions was performed using the KEGG and Reactome databases via the Enrichr gene list enrichment analysis tool. Protein associations were subsequently analysed using the STRING functional enrichment association network platform, to create extended protein networks enriched with additions from various experimental, bibliographical and gene interaction databases. These phenotype-specific functional interaction networks, through centrality analysis, reveal well known IBD-related genes and their interactors.
Conclusions
We introduce a novel approach that ranks the associated proteins and signalling pathways by disease implication and provides new insights into IBD’s molecular background, highlighting targets of potential diagnostic and therapeutic value.
Acute stimulation of cholesterol transport into mitochondria involves the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), and the steroidogenesis acute regulatory ...(StAR) proteins. We investigated the respective role of these proteins in hormone-induced steroidogenesis. Oligonucleotides antisense, but not sense, to PBR and StAR reduced their respective levels in steroidogenic cells and inhibited hormone-stimulated steroid formation in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells. In search of the proteins regulating PBR we identified a protein, PAP7, which interacts with PBR and the PKA regulatory subunit RIα, is present in adrenal and gonadal cells and is found in mitochondria. Overexpression of the full length PAP7 increased the hormone-induced steroid production. However, inhibition of PAP7 expression reduced the gonadotropin-induced steroid formation. In search of a PBR functional antagonist that would facilitate the studies on the biological function of PBR, we screened a phage display library. A 7-mer competitive PBR peptide antagonist was identified, which when transduced into Leydig cells inhibited the benzodiazepine and hormone-stimulated steroid production suggesting that the endogenous PBR agonist receptor interaction is critical for the hormone-dependent steroidogenesis. These data indicate that hormone-induced cholesterol transport and the subsequent steroid formation is a dynamic multistep process involving protein-protein interactions.
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DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Background
Dissection and other complications of ascending aortic aneurysms are potentially life-threatening. Several factors may be implicated in aneurysm progression and dissection. The ...role of tissue microRNAs may be of interest.
Purpose
To examine how serum biomarkers and tissue expression of microRNAs are associated with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissection.
Methods
We compared three groups of patients; 21 patients with aneurysm of the aortic root, ascending aorta or aortic arch undergoing scheduled repair, 11 patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection who underwent emergency surgery and 18 patients with normal aortic diameter undergoing other cardiac surgery (control group). Prior to surgery, peripheral blood samples were obtained from patients, to assess osteoprotegerin and adiponectin levels with the ELISA method. Tissue samples from ascending aortic wall were obtained from patients during surgery. Following appropriate storage and homogenization, tissue Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9 were measured with the ELISA method, while tissue microRNAs 29 and 195 were measured using qrtPCR, after RNA extraction.
Results
There was no significant difference among control, aneurysm and dissection groups in terms of age (62±10 years vs 66±12 years vs 59±12 years, p=0.052), gender distribution (77.8% male vs 81% male vs 90% male, p=0.28) or BMI (28.51±2.92 kg/m2 vs 25.72±3.09 kg/m2 vs 27.02±3.2 kg/m2, p=0.76). There was also no difference among control, aneurysm and dissection groups regarding hypertension (72% vs 62% vs 73%, p=0.73), diabetes mellitus (22% vs 19% vs 36%, p=0.54), smoking (44% vs 29% vs 46%, p=0.09) or dyslipidemia (78% vs 43% vs 55%, p=0.08). The groups of control subjects, aneurysms and dissections did not differ in osteoprotegerin 44 (28, 52) pmol/l vs 31 (28, 37) pmol/l vs 45 (24, 71) pmol/l, p=0.17, adiponectin 6,65 (2,39, 9,79) μg/ml vs 5,28 (2,34, 6,98) μg/ml vs 4,13 (2,49, 7,52) μg/ml, p=0.43, tissue MMP2 0.97 (0.42, 27.66) ng/ml vs 9.12 (1.72, 61.49) ng/ml vs 2.51 (0.22, 235.72) ng/ml, p=0.34 and tissue MMP9 levels 0.96 (0.29, 8.56) ng/ml vs 10.31 (1.18, 25.58) ng/ml vs 2.76 (0.63, 54.83) ng/ml, p=0.09 (Figure 1). Importantly, tissue expression of mir29 was 2.11-fold higher in the dissection group (p=0.001) and 2.99-fold higher in the aneurysm group (p<0.001) compared to the control group. Tissue expression of mir195 was 2.72-fold higher in the dissection group (p<0.001) and 2.00-fold lower in the aneurysm group (p=0.08) compared to the control group (Figure 2).
Conclusions
These findings highlight the role of epigenetic modifications through altered microRNA tissue expression in aortic wall synthesis, extracellular matrix degradation and progress of aneurysm formation and dissection. The exact role of microRNA expression in aortic dilatation and dissection, as well as their role as potential biomarkers, merit further validation.
Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1Figure 2
Fractionation of the resin Ladano from Cistus creticus subsp. creticus and susceptibility testing using the chromatographic fractions showed that its antistaphylococcal activity was mainly due to the ...diterpene sclareol. The antimicrobial activity of its essential oil, of the chromatographic fractions, and of the isolated compounds was also evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Staphylococcus hominis.
The chemical composition of the essential oils of the flowering parts and of the hexane extracts of the leaves, of three species of the genus Ferulago (Apiaceae) from Greece, i.e., F. thyrsiflora, F. ...sylvatica and F. nodosa, was analysed by GC and GC-MS. Manoyl oxide isomers and lupanine, were identified in the hexane extracts of F. thyrsiflora. Dillapiole, was identified in all hexane extracts. Ent-3 beta-hydroxy-13-epi-manoyl oxide was identified and isolated from the essential oil of F. thyrsiflora. All these compounds are new reports for the genus Ferulago and are useful chemotaxonomic markers. Chemical data of F. thyrsiflora is presented for the first time. The essential oils and the extracts were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms.
Leishmaniosis is a zoonotic, parasitic disease caused by members of the genus
Leishmania. The disadvantages of the traditional methods have currently rendered the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the ...most reliable alternative for the laboratory diagnosis of this disease. Several relevant protocols have been described in the past but their application is in most cases limited to research use. The latter combined with the diagnostic problems that can be caused by the genetic variability of the different
Leishmania strains or the presence of PCR inhibitors, indicate that an alternative approach should be followed for the development of a standard diagnostic tool for leishmaniosis.
In the present study, we have evaluated several PCR-based protocols, in order to identify a primer combination that would allow the reliable detection of
Leishmania DNA from clinical material and the verification of its results, in a manner that could be applicable even for routine use.
The evaluation consisted of a BLAST verification of the specificity of the previously described primers, PCR testing, and optimisation of the reaction conditions. Our assessment was completed with the comparative evaluation of the results produced by the proposed PCR assay, light microscopy, and indirect fluorescent antibody technique (IFAT), on clinical samples collected from dogs suspected of leishmaniosis.
The proposed assay which consists of a combination of two pairs of primers, targeted to different areas of the kinetoplast DNA of
Leishmania spp., specific for
Leishmania infantum,
Leishmania donovani and
Leishmania chagasi, showed optimum performance on our test samples, and detected 41.9%
Leishmania-positive dogs from our 160 clinical cases. From the same number of cases, 46.25% were positive by IFAT (titre ≥200), and 19% by microscopic examination of lymph node aspirates.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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