Postoperative spindle cell nodule of the breast: Pseudosarcomatous myofibroblastic proliferation following endo‐surgery

Despite the frequent use of fine‐needle aspiration, core biopsy and surgery, postoperative spindle cell nodule (PSCN) is a rare pathological complication that may be diagnostically treacherous. Presented herein is the case of a 52‐year‐old woman who developed a 7 mm mammary nodular lesion 66 days after removal of an area of columnar cell hyperplasia involving cellular and architectural atypia, performed with the Mammotome Breast Biopsy System. The lesion was highly cellular and composed of intersecting fascicles of plump spindle cells with blunt‐ended elongated nuclei and nucleoli easily visible. Interspersed mononuclear cells and hemosiderin‐laden macrophages were evident. PSCN is a reactive, benign myofibroblastic proliferation. Differential diagnosis includes benign and malignant spindle cell lesions of the breast. Recognition of this reactive lesion will avoid overdiagnosis of spindle cell malignant tumor. Attention to clinicopathological and histological features should result in accurate recognition of this lesion.     

Induced recruitment of NK cells to lymph nodes provides IFN-gamma for T(H)1 priming

Naive T cells are stimulated by antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) in secondary lymphoid organs, but whether other types of cell participate in T cell priming is unclear. Here we show in mice that natural killer (NK) cells, which are normally excluded from lymph nodes, are rapidly recruited in a CCR7-independent, CXCR3-dependent manner to lymph nodes on stimulation by the injection of mature DCs. Recruitment of NK cells is also induced by some, but not all, adjuvants and correlates with the induction of T helper cell type 1 (T(H)1) responses. NK cell depletion and reconstitution experiments show that NK cells provide an early source of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) that is necessary for T(H)1 polarization. Taken together, our results identify an induced pathway of NK cell migration in antigen-stimulated lymph nodes and a mechanism by which some adjuvants may facilitate T(H)1 responses.     

Migration of human blood dendritic cells across endothelial cell monolayers: adhesion molecules and chemokines involved in subset-specific transmigration

Distinct subsets of dendritic cells (DCs) are present in blood, probably "en route" to different tissues. We have investigated the chemokines and adhesion molecules involved in the migration of myeloid (CD11c(+)) and plasmacytoid (CD123(+)) human peripheral blood DCs across vascular endothelium. Among blood DCs, the CD11c(+) subset vigorously migrated across endothelium in the absence of any chemotactic stimuli, whereas spontaneous migration of CD123(+) DCs was limited. In bare cell migration assays, myeloid DCs responded with great potency to several inflammatory and homeostatic chemokines, whereas plasmacytoid DCs responded poorly to all chemokines tested. In contrast, the presence of endothelium greatly favored transmigration of plasmacytoid DCs in response to CXCL12 (stromal cell-derived factor-1) and CCL5 (regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted). Myeloid DCs exhibited a very potent transendothelial migration in response to CXCL12, CCL5, and CCL2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1). Furthermore, we explored whether blood DCs acutely switch their pattern of migration to the lymph node-derived chemokine CCL21 (secondary lymphoid-tissue chemokine) in response to microbial stimuli [viral double-stranded (ds)RNA or bacterial CpG-DNA]. A synthetic dsRNA rapidly enhanced the response of CD11c(+) DCs to CCL21, whereas a longer stimulation with CpG-DNA was needed to trigger CD123(+) DCs responsive to CCL21. Use of blocking monoclonal antibodies to adhesion molecules revealed that both DC subsets used platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 to move across activated endothelium. CD123(+) DCs required beta(2) and beta(1) integrins to transmigrate, whereas CD11c(+) DCs may use integrin-independent mechanisms to migrate across activated endothelium.     

Determination of Ole e 1 by enzyme immunoassay and scanning densitometry. Validation by skin-prick testing

Ole e 1 is an important allergen in Olea europaea pollen extracts. This study describes the development of two new methods that can be used to estimate the Ole e 1 content in olive tree pollen extracts. They are based on (1) an enzyme immunoassay that uses rabbit polyclonal, monospecific antibodies and purified Ole e 1, and (2) scanning densitometry of SDS-PAGE gels. Twelve extracts were evaluated by in vivo and in vitro methods. The in vivo biological potency was estimated by prick skin testing 17 allergic individuals; the in vitro allergenic potency by direct IgE and IgE inhibition assays. The enzyme immunoassay showed an operative range of 0.03-100 microg/ml and demonstrated to be specific for Ole e 1. The Ole e 1 content ranged from 1% to 5% of the total protein in the 12 extracts. The amount of Ole e 1, assessed by gel scanning densitometry significantly correlated with the Ole e 1 content obtained by the immunoassay (r = 0.92; p < 0.001). The Ole e 1 content showed a significant correlation with the total allergenic potency of the extracts, evaluated by direct IgE, specific IgE inhibition and skin-prick testing. These two methods can be used to determine the Ole e 1 content in olive pollen extracts. The content of Ole e 1 can vary from 1% to 5% of the total protein in the extracts.     

Expression of proinflammatory cytokines by hepatic macrophages in acute classical swine fever

Fourteen pigs were inoculated with the 'Alfort 187' strain of classical swine fever (CSF) virus and killed in pairs at 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 14 or 17 days post-inoculation for histopathological, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical examination. For the latter method, the antibodies used were those against viral antigen Gp55, porcine myeloid marker SWC3, IL-1alpha, IL-6, TNF-alpha and Factor VIII-related antigen. Activation and increase in the number of hepatic macrophages was observed following viral detection in liver, as well as an increase in IL-1alpha and IL-6 production, mainly by Kupffer cells. Maximum detection of viral antigen was observed in the middle stage of the experiment coinciding with overexpression of the three cytokines studied, with IL-6 production by interstitial macrophages prominent at the end. Additionally, the labelling of platelets for Factor VIII-related antigen and the ultrastructural study of the sinusoids revealed activation and aggregation of thrombocytes close to Kupffer cells at the beginning of the infection. The liver seems to play a prominent role in the origin of the thrombocytopenia that occurs in CSF and contributes to the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines considered responsible for the disorders observed during the course of the disease.     

A multimedia database system for thermal ablation therapy of brain tumors

A prototype multimedia medical database is described for supporting thermal ablation therapy of brain tumors. Its design is motivated by the major need to manage and access multimedia information on the progress and reaction of tumors to various therapy protocols. The database links images to patient data in a way that permits the user to view and query medical information using alphanumeric, temporal, and feature-based predicates. Visualization programs permit the user to view or annotate the query results in various ways. These results support the wide variety of data types and presentation methods required by neuroradiologists to manage thermal ablation therapy data. The database satisfactorily meets the requirements defined by thermal ablation therapy. A similar approach is being undertaken for supporting different therapies of other types of tumors, thus showing the generality of our approach.     

5-Azacytidine produces differential undercondensation of alpha,beta and classical human satellite DNAs

Fluorescencein situ hybridization employing human alphoid, beta and classical satellite DNA probes was performed on 5-azacytidine treated and untreated chromosomes obtained from human lymphocytes. The individual used in this study presented a polymorphism of constitutive heterochromatin of chromosomes 1 and 9 as revealed byin situ digestion with the restriction endonucleaseAlul. Neither the alphoid nor the beta satellite DNA domains were susceptible to condensation-inhibition by 5-azacytidine. Only the classical satellite localized on chromosome 9 was affected. The constitutive heterochromatin size polymorphism was shown to depend mainly on variations of the classical satellite DNA domain. Therefore, condensation-inhibition, as a phenomenon which may modify the natural folding of the chromatin fibre, regionally affects human constitutive heterochromatin and seems to be dependent on the heterochromatic family.     

Time adaptive denoising of single trial event-related potentials in the wavelet domain

We present a new wavelet-based method for single trial analysis of transient and time variant event-related potentials (ERPs). Expecting more accurate filter settings than achieved by other techniques (low-pass filter, a posteriori Wiener filter, time invariant wavelet filter), ERPs were initially balanced in time. By simulation, better filter performance could be established for test signals contaminated with either white noise or isospectral noise. To provide an example of real application, the method was applied to limbic P300 potentials (MTL-P300). As a result, variance of single trial MTL-P300s decreased, without restricting the corresponding mean. The proposed method can be regarded as an alternative for single-trial ERP analysis.     

Investigation for a more virulent variant among the c:2b:P1.2,5 Spanish meningococcal epidemic strains by molecular epidemiology

A rise in the incidence of meningococcal disease has occurred in Spain in recent years, especially in some regions in the north-west of the country. Most cases have been caused by meningococci characterised as Neisseria meningitidis C:2b:P1.2,5. A total of 107 C:2b:P1.2,5 meningococcal isolates (60 from patients and 47 from carriers) and 12 isolates showing related antigenic combinations (C:2b:NST, C:2b:P1.2, C:2b:P1.5, C:NT:P1.2,5) was analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to determine the genetic variability of the epidemic and related strains. Endonucleases BglII and NheI were used to cut chromosomal DNA. When BglII was used, most of the C:2b:P1.2,5 isolates showed the same pulsotype regardless of whether they were from clinical cases or carriers. Isolates showing the principal profile after digestion with endonuclease BglII were analysed with NheI. Four pulsotypes were identified, of which two were found in only one isolate each. The major profiles (1 and 2) showed differential distribution among clinical and carrier isolates; pulsotype 1 was the most frequent among clinical isolates. However, the proportions of isolates showing profiles 1 and 2 were similar among carrier isolates. This could indicate that there are two variants of the C:2b:P1.2,5 strain with differing pathogenicity.     

Diagnosis ofMycoplasma pneumoniae infection by microparticle aggluination and antibody-capture enzyme-immunoassay

The performance of two new commercial assays for the serological diagnosis ofMycoplasma pneumoniae infection (microparticle agglutination and antibody-capture enzyme-immunoassay) was studied using a panel of 169 serum samples from patients withMycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia and a control group. Both assays were shown to be sensitive and specific for diagnosis. The performance of the capture immunoassay, however, decreased in older patients, probably due to its inability to detect cases of reinfection without IgM antibody response.