<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycobacterium tuberculosis</Emphasis> monoarthritis in a child

A child with isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis monoarthritis, with features initially suggesting oligoarthritis subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, is presented. This patient illustrates the need to consider the possibility of tuberculosis as the cause of oligoarthritis in high-risk pediatric populations even in the absence of a tuberculosis contact history and without evidence of overt pulmonary disease.     

Carbon dioxide does not affect the methylation status of prognostic important oncogenes<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Rassf1A</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">DCR2</Emphasis> in neuroblastoma cells

Purpose  The aim of the current study was to investigate effects of CO₂ atmosphere, mimicking conditions of the pneumoperitoneum during laparoscopy, on epigenetic conditions of Rassf1A and DCR2 oncogenes in neuroblastoma cells. Methods  SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were exposed to 100% CO₂ for 4 h. Cells were lysed 4, 8 and 168 h after exposure. After methylation analysis of Rassf1A and DCR2 with polymerase chain reaction, results were compared to those of physiologically incubated neuroblastoma cells. Results  No significant changes were found after exposure to carbon dioxide compared to the control. Values of methylated Rassf1A were 12.6 ± 1.1 versus 13.2 ± 1.4 ng/μl in the controls, respectively (4 h after incubation), 12.6 ± 1.2 versus 15.1 ± 0.9 ng/μl (8 h) and 14.2 ± 1.5 versus 11.7 ± 1.3 ng/μl (168 h). DCR2 showed values of 4.6 ± 0.5 versus 3.7 ± 0.5 ng/μl (4 h), 3.8 ± 0.5 versus 4.1 ± 0.4 ng/μl (8 h) and 3.6 ± 0.4 versus 3.8 ± 0.5 ng/μl (168 h). Conclusion  Exposure of neuroblastoma cells to 100% CO₂ does not alter methylation of two prognostic relevant index genes. It seems therefore unlikely that effects on methylation levels within CO₂ pneumoperitoneum lead to epigenetic changes in neuroblastoma.