A rare case of ceruminous tumor of the cerebellopontine angle

In this case report we describe the development in the cerebellopontine angle of a very rare tumor, ceruminous adenoma. In the few cases described in the literature this tumor occurred in the external acoustic meatus. In four cases it developed in the cerebellopontine angle by infiltration of the petrous bone or by subcutaneous spread. In the present case no connection was found between the cerebellopontine angle and the external acoustic meatus. The most likely pathogenetic hypothesis in this case is that of a tumor of dysembryogenetic origin.     

Loss of heterozygosity at the short arm of chromosome 3 in microdissected cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is a common genetic finding in many human neoplasms, including cervical cancer. The detection of LOH at specific loci in the precursor of cervical cancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) may help in elucidating the evolution of this cancer, which has a clearly defined histological premalignant phase. However, molecular genetic investigation of CIN is difficult because many of the lesions are very small and sometimes ill defined topographically. In this study we analyzed eighteen polymorphic microsatellite repeats on chromosome 3p in CINs using a method of primer extension pre-amplification (PEP) for whole genome amplification combined with microdissection. These markers encompass chromosome region 3pter-3p12. LOH at one or more loci was detected in five (33%) out of the 15 informative cases with low grade CIN (CIN 1), while 22 (92%) out of 24 cases with high grade CIN (CIN 2 and 3) (P<0.01). The highest incidence (41%) of LOH was detected at locus D3S1038 (3p26.1-3p25.2). Frequent LOH (more than 20%) was also found at other loci including D3S1110 (3p25.3-3p25.1) (31%), D3S656 (3p25.1) (24%), D3S1076 (3p21.2-3p21.1) (29%), D3S1300 (3p21.1-3p14.2) (24%), D3S1600 (3p14.2-3p14.1) (24%), and D3S1079 (3p13) (25%). The results from this study taken together with others indicate that the genetic alterations on chromosome 3p are common in high grade of CIN and are probably early events in cervical carcinogenesis. Tumor suppressor gene(s) that play a role in cervical neoplasm may be located on the short arm of chromosome 3, likely at or near 3p26.1-25.1, 3p21.2-21.1, and 3p14.2-13.     

From telescope to binoculars. Dyadic outcome resulting from psychological counselling for infertile couples undergoing ART

Objective: This longitudinal study aims to evaluate the effect of psychological counselling on quality of life, marital satisfaction and need for parenthood in couples undergoing fertility treatments (ART).

Background: Recent guidelines on the ART suggest that psychological counselling should target both members of the infertile couple in order to improve their conjoint management of the infertility-related stress. However, studies on the dyadic outcome of couples are scarce.

Methods: 262 patients were originally considered in the study and completed questionnaires on quality of life, need for parenthood and marital satisfaction, before treatment (T1) and at the day of intrauterine insemination/embryo transfer (T2). For the purposes of this study, 34 counselled couples were then matched to 34 non-counselled couples by propensity scores. The Common Fate Model (CFM) was used to examine dyadic changes.

Results: Couples receiving counselling had higher dyadic quality of life and lower dyadic stress due to the need for parenthood at T2 compared to non-counselled couples. No differences were found on marital satisfaction.

Conclusion: The findings provide support for the effectiveness of counselling on interpersonal outcome. The CFM allows researchers to examine how the dyad as a whole responds to counselling, highlighting the change in the couple’s relational dynamics.     

Novel Tay-Sachs disease mutations from China.

We describe three HEXA mutations associated with infantile Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) in three unrelated nonconsanguineous Chinese families. Novel mutations were found in two of these families. The third is a previously reported mutation (G-->A transition at nt 1444) (Nakano et al., 1988). Direct sequencing of PCR products identified a novel insertion of an A after nt 547 in family 1. This change generates an early termination codon 6 bp downstream from the insertion site. Allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization confirmed homozygosity in the proband. Single strand conformational polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing of amplified exon 13 revealed a T-->C transition at nt 1453 with the corresponding amino acid substitution W485R in the second family. This mutation creates an Fnu4HI restriction site. The proband is homozygous for this allele. When the site-specific mutagenized alpha cDNA carrying the T-->C transition at nt 1453 was expressed in COS 1 cells hexosaminidase S activity was not detectable above background. A G-->A transition at nt 1444 (exon 13) corresponding to the E482K substitution was found in the third family. This mutation occurs at a CpG dinucleotide. It has been reported in an Italian TSD proband and causes defective intracellular transport of the alpha-subunit from the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus.     

Epidemiology of cancer in Malaysia

Some information on cancer in Malaysia are available, and its epidemiology is described. There is a need for systematic and coordinated collection of cancer statistics which are essential to patient management, cancer control programme formulation, implementation and evaluation. The decision of the Ministry of Health to introduce National Cancer Registry and to encourage epidemiological studies, which will ultimately lead to the utilization of data and introduction of control and preventive activities for cancers are positive steps in the right direction. Meanwhile, curative and palliative treatment is available from the existing hospital facilities, and preventive activities such as actions on smoking and health will be continued until such time when a comprehensive prevention and control programme for cancers in the country is evolved.     

肾移植患者移植前后纤溶功能变化观察

目的:肾移植的排斥反应易导致纤溶功能改变,本文旨在探讨肾移植患者移植前后的纤溶改变的机理及临床意义。方法:20例患者手术前、后一天、三天、一周分测①t-PA、②PAI:A、③PLG:A、④PLM:A、均为发色底物法⑤D-Dimer ELLSA法。结果:[1]患者术前①②③④项较正常组差异明显;[2]患者术后三次②⑤明显高于正常组和术前[3]患者术后第三天除D二聚体外,其余均较第一天、一周结果相差显著。结论:重型肾病本身易形成血栓,术前亦可见局限性纤溶活性增强。肾移植之排斥反应亦可导致血栓形成,致继发性纤溶元进,定期检测有利于了解排斥反应的出现时间与严重程度,以便及早采取措施.提高移植的成功率。     

Expression and characterization of glutathione peroxidase activity in the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni.

Antioxidants may play an important role in immune evasion by schistosome parasites. Previous studies have focused on the roles of superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase. In the present study, glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity was measured in different fractions of worm extracts from several developmental stages of Schistosoma mansoni. The enzyme activity was shown to be developmentally regulated, with higher specific activities being found in the tegument-enriched Nonidet P-40 extract of adult worms (the stage least susceptible to immune killing) than in the larval stages (which are most susceptible to immune elimination). In all extracts tested, the activity against cumene hydroperoxide, even when glutathione S-transferase activity was removed, was higher than that for hydrogen peroxide. The expression of GPX cDNA in pGEX-2T by bacteria produced a 50-kDa fusion protein and a 32-kDa truncated protein. The latter was due to termination at the internal UGA codon that codes for selenocysteine. GPX activity was detected in the recombinantly produced GPX but not with Sj26-glutathione S-transferase from the vector. Mutating the TGA codon to TGT produced a full-length product, GPXm (19 kDa), that was used to produce 19 monoclonal antibodies. Anti-GPXm monoclonal antibodies recognized a 19-kDa molecule in adult-worm extract which, upon removal by immunoprecipitation, resulted in the loss of over 90% of the GPX activity, suggesting that a single form of GPX exists in the schistosome.     

The effects of Type I and Type II corticosteroid receptor agonists on exploratory behavior and spatial memory in the Y-maze

We investigated the effects of two adrenal steroid agonists on adrenalectomized (ADX) rats' performance on the Y-maze. The Y-maze was chosen because memory can be assessed quickly and because it is sensitive to various parameters of exploratory behavior and spatial memory performance. Four days after surgery, ADX rats were injected with aldosterone (ALDO, a selective Type I receptor agonist), RU362 (a selective Type II receptor agonist) or sesame vehicle at three different time points (120 min prior to Trial 1, immediately after Trial 1 or 120 min after Trial 1). SHAM-operated rats injected with vehicle were also tested. The results indicate that vehicle-treated ADX rats were impaired on spatial recognition memory compared to SHAM rats. Treatment with ALDO restored spatial recognition memory performance of ADX rats to a level comparable to SHAM-treated rats by acting on acquisition and consolidation, whereas treatment with RU362 did not change the poor spatial recognition memory performance of ADX rats. Discrimination memory was improved only when either agonist was injected prior to the first trial, strongly suggesting a non-selective effect of corticosteroids on discrimination memory such as increasing arousal. A detailed analysis of exploratory behavior showed that both the ALDO- and RU362-treated rats explored the Y-maze more than the ADX and SHAM groups at all periods of the experiment. These results show that the non-specific increase in exploratory behavior induced by replacing corticosteroids targeted at Type I and Type II receptors was used differentially with the ALDO-treated rats learning and consolidating spatial information better than the RU362-treated rats. These data are discussed along with other evidence to suggest that Type II receptors may require the simultaneous occupancy of Type I receptors to affect learning and memory processes.