Influence of age of onset on clinical features in obsessive-compulsive disorder

We compared early-onset and late-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients in terms of demographic and clinical features. One hundred sixteen outpatients whose primary diagnosis was OCD according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were recruited. Early-onset (n=50) and late-onset (n=66) OCD groups were compared with respect to demographic variables and scores obtained on various scales. A male gender predominance was found in early-onset OCD group. Symmetry/exactness obsessions, religious obsessions, hoarding/saving obsessions, and hoarding/collecting compulsions also were significantly more frequent in the early-onset group than in the late-onset group. The results may suggest a phenotypic difference between the two groups. Further studies are needed to investigate the differences between early-onset and late-onset OCD groups to examine the hypothesis that early-onset OCD is a distinct subtype of the disorder.     

The importance of genomic copy number changes in the prognosis of glioblastoma multiforme

Glial tumors are the most common tumors of the nervous system, affecting individuals at any age. Since understanding of the molecular pathologies underlying human gliomas is still very poor, the treatment and therefore prognosis of this malignancy could not yet be improved. In order to determine whether different glioblastoma-associated genomic aberrations may serve as prognostic markers in combination with histopathological findings, 20 primary glioblastoma multiforme tumors were screened by comparative genomic hybridization, and the results were compared with histopathological and clinical features. All tumors showed genomic copy aberrations detected by comparative genomic hybridization. Regional and numerical increases in chromosome 7 copy number were the most frequently seen abnormality (10/20 tumors), followed by loss of chromosome 10 (8/20). Both of these aberrations were associated with shorter surveillance time. Chromosome 12q amplification was detected in seven tumors. Loss of 17p, 1p, and 19q in combination was seen in three cases. One of them was a giant cell GBM, whereas the remaining two cases were still alive. Combination of chromosome 1p and 19q deletions was also seen in a case with long surveillance. According to the preliminary findings of this study, in addition to the EGFR gene, amplification of other genes on chromosome 7 and the deletion of PTEN gene and other cancer-related genes on chromosome 10 appeared important to the development of glioblastoma multiforme and were associated with poor prognosis, whereas the combination of chromosome 1p and 19q deletions seems to be an informative molecular marker for better prognosis. The clinical features and genetic alterations of primary and secondary glioblastoma multiforme should be compared in large series to clarify the effective prognostic markers; and further molecular analyses focused on chromosomes 7 and 10 will be very helpful for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of glioblastoma.     

Immobilization of catalase by entrapping in alginate beads and catalase biosensor preparation for the determination of hydrogen peroxide decomposition

In this study, catalase enzyme was immobilized by entrapping in alginate beads in the presence of gelatin. In the optimization studies of the bioactive layer immobilized some parameters such as enzyme amount, alginate, gelatin, and crosslinking agent glutaraldehyde amount were determined as 700 U/mL, 2.0%, 18 mg/mL, and 5.0%, respectively. Effects of pH and temperature on the immobilization were also investigated. In the characterization studies of the immobilized enzyme storage and thermal stability experiments were done. The immobilized enzyme was used for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in milk samples and also by using a catalase biosensor prepared by the decomposition level of hydrogen peroxide was detected.     

Inhibin alpha and beta expression in ovarian stromal tumors and their histological equivalences

Inhibin is a heterodimeric protein hormone that appears to be a sensitive immunohistochemical marker of sex cord-stromal tumors. Although sex cord-stromal tumors can usually be distinguished from ovarian epithelial tumors or their metastases by morphology or by using antibodies against intermediate filaments, the diagnosis remains difficult in rare situations in such cases as sarcomatoid granulosa-theca cell tumors, ovarian small cell carcinomas, or soft-tissue sarcomas. The purposes of this study were to examine inhibin alpha and beta immunoreactivity in a wide range of gonadal stromal neoplasms and to assess its value in the differential diagnosis of problematic tumors. A total of 108 paraffin-embedded ovarian and extraovarian tumors were examined immunohistochemically by using anti-alpha inhibin and anti-beta inhibin. Inhibin alpha immunostaining was identified in 46 (81%) of 57 gonadal stromal tumors, one (14%) of seven endometrial stromal tumors, and one (50%) of two primary ovarian carcinoid tumors. Inhibin beta immunostaining was detected in 55 (96%) of 57 gonadal stromal tumors, two (29%) of seven endometrial stromal tumors, one (50%) of two dysgerminomas, and in all of two (100%) primary ovarian carcinoid tumors. Inhibin alpha expression was not detected in any ovarian surface epithelial tumor cells. Some surface epithelial tumors showed stromal inhibin alpha (15% of cases) and inhibin beta (48% of cases) positivity. Weak immunoreactivity for inhibin beta was found in most (83% of cases) ovarian surface epithelial tumors. Two ovarian Burkitt lymphomas were negative for inhibin alpha and beta. Inhibin alpha is a sensitive immunohistochemical marker of gonadal stromal tumors and is of value in the differential diagnosis of ovarian neoplasia. Inhibin beta is a nonspecific marker for ovarian neoplasms, showing expression on tumor and stromal cells of different epithelial or stromal tumors.     

Joint hypermobility syndrome and mitral valve prolapse in panic disorder

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to test the association between joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) and panic disorder (PD) and to determine whether mitral valve prolapse (MVP) modifies or accounts in part for the association. METHOD: A total of 115 subjects are included in this study in three groups. Group I (n = 42): panic disorder patients with MVP. Group II (n = 35): panic disorder patients without mitral valve prolapse. Group III (n = 38): control subjects who had mitral valve prolapse without any psychiatric illness. Beighton criteria were used to assess joint hypermobility syndrome. Two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography was performed on each subject to detect mitral valve prolapse. RESULTS: Joint hypermobility syndrome was found in 59.5% of panic disorder patients with mitral valve prolapse, in 42.9% of patients without mitral valve prolapse and in 52.6% of control subjects. Beighton scores was 4.93 +/- 2.97 in group I, 4.09 +/- 2.33 in group II, and 4.08 +/- 2.34 in group III. There was no significant difference between groups according to Beighton scores. CONCLUSION: We did not detect a statistically significant relationship between panic disorder and joint hypermobility syndrome. Mitral valve prolapse and joint hypermobility syndrome are known to be etiologically related and we suggest that mitral valve prolapse affects the prevalence of joint hypermobility syndrome in the panic disorder patients.     

Polyostotic monosystemic calvarial and spinal langerhans' cell histiocytosis treated by surgery and chemotherapy

There are several treatment modalities for Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (LCH) of bone, formerly usually referred to as eosinophilic granuloma, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In spinal lesions, surgery is not recommended generally, because of the potential for reconstitution of vertebral height. We report a case of multifocal monosystemic LCH treated by surgery and chemotherapy for calvarial and spinal lesions. A 7-year-old boy was initially operated for an occipital monostotic LCH of bone. Then, he was treated by surgery for cervical and thoracic lesions, and by chemotherapy with vinblastine. The patient had no complaints at the 24-month follow-up. Although surgery is not recommended for spinal lesions in children with LCH of bone, short segmental fusion and internal fixation may be a suitable choice for selected cases, especially in children who are not likely to comply with activity restrictions and in those who it is difficult to follow up. The treatment must be planned according to the characteristics of the patient.     

The role of intra-peritoneal honey administration in preventing post-operative peritoneal adhesions

OBJECTIVE(S): The accelerative effect of honey in the wound healing process is known. This effect is related to its specific physical properties of hygroscopicity, hypertonicity, lower pH and complex chemical composition. Because peritoneal healing is a kind of wound healing process we hypothesised that post-operative peritoneal adhesions (PPA) may be reduced with intra-peritoneal honey administration. STUDY DESIGN: The study was conducted with 40, 6-month-old, out-bred female Wistar albino rats with a mean weight of 197 +/- 12 g. The rats were divided into two equal groups. An adhesion model was constituted in the cecum and terminal ileum of all rats in each groups. Later the adhesion areas were washed with 0.9% NaCl solution and 5 ml of the same solution was left in the peritoneal cavity in the control group. The same area in the rats in the other group was covered with honey and 5 ml of honey was left in the peritoneal cavity of each animals. Ten days later the rats were sacrificed and the adhesions were graded according to their degree of severity. Statistical analysis was performed with the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS: In the control group, there were no rats with grade-0 or grade-1 adhesions but in the honey administered group there were six rats (30%) with grade-0 and 12 rats (60%) with grade-1 adhesions. In the control group, there were six rats (30%) with grade-2 and 14 rats (70%) with grade-3 adhesions. In the honey administered group while two rats (10%) with grade-2 adhesions were present, no rat with grade-3 adhesions was seen. In the comparison, the difference between the groups was found to be highly significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION(S): The wound healing accelerative effect and the mechanical barrier formed by the honey, since, it has a high density and, thus, absorbed slowly from peritoneal cavity, may be the reasons for its inhibitory effect on the PPA. This study indicates that though the mechanism is not clear intra-peritoneal honey administration reduces PPA.     

Abdominal skin metastasis of endometrial adenocarcinoma: case report

Skin metastasis from endometrial adenocarcinoma in the radiotherapy field is reported. A 60-year-old woman with FIGO stage IB, grade 2 endometrial adenocarcinoma presented 24 months after initial surgery with skin metastasis located on the abdomen.