The connection between HLA microsatellites and HLA-B*27 gene in patients with psoriatic arthritis in Croatian population

The polymorphism at HLA microsatellites (D6S248, D6S2674, D6S2811 and D6S273) among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (N = 22) and healthy control subjects (K; N = 94), as well as haplotypic associations between tested loci were analysed in this study. All subjects were previously typed for HLA-A and -B by PCR-SSP method and were HLA-B*27 positive. HLA microsatellites were analysed using PCR-STR method and electrophoresis in an ALFexpress sequencer. The results demonstrated statistically significant P value for following alleles: D6S273-3 (PsA-21.1% vs. K-4.9%; P = 0.0013) and D6S273-4 (PsA-15.8% vs. K-32.1%; P = 0.0180). Analysis of haplotypic associations showed the only statistically significant difference for combination HLA-B*27/D6S273-4 (PsA-10.5% vs. K-40.2%; P = 0.0164). The results presented in this study lead to the assumption that some other gene/s involved in ethiology of PsA are located in the proximity of D6S273 microsatellite, but in order to reach a final conclusion, an increase in the number of patients is necessary.     

Transplacental genotoxicity of antiepileptic drugs: animal model and pilot study on mother/newborn cohort

Antiepileptic drugs (AED) as transplacental agents are known to have adverse effects on fetal development. Genotoxicity of AEDs is still not fully understood. The aim of present study was to investigate the transplacental genotoxicity of valproate on animal model and in 21 mothers and their newborns receiving AED. In both studies, in vivo micronucleus (MN) assay was used. Pregnant dams were exposed to Na-valproate (100mg/kg) on gestational days 12-14. Dams and pups receiving Na-valproate showed a significantly increased MN frequency (5.17 ± 1.17/1000; 5.20 ± 1.48/1000) compared to the control (1.0 ± 0.58/1000; 1.67 ± 1.03/1000). In mother/newborn study a significant increase of MN frequency was detected in newborns of mothers taking AEDs (3.09 ± 0.49/10,000) compared to the referent newborns (1.56 ± 0.22/10,000). The results of this study suggest that AEDs may act as transplacental genotoxins. Launching the mother/newborn cohorts for genotoxicological monitoring may give a significant new insight in health effects of AEDs.     

Multiple angiokeratomas of the vulva: case report and literature review

Angiokeratomas of the vulva are relatively rare finding and a limited number of cases have been reported in the literature. Clinically, angiokeratomas of the vulva are benign vascular lesions usually occurring in middle-aged or older women. Microscopically these lesions are characterized by epidermal hyperkeratosis, papillomatosis, acanthosis, and marked dilatation of the papillary dermal vessels. In most patients, genital lesions are asymptomatic; however, bleeding, dyspareunia and other symptoms have been described. We report a case of a 45-year-old woman with numerous blue-to-red, scaly papules that spread over the entire area of both labia majora. The patient reported occasional pruritus and burning sensations, discomfort during the intercourse, and significant psychological burden. Histopathologic analysis of the lesion confirmed the diagnosis of angiokeratoma, and all lesions were electrocauterized under local anesthesia. The results of the treatment were very satisfactory, with no side effects or complications. During one-year follow-up, no relapses were noted and the patient remained asymptomatic. Therefore, dermatovenereologists should be aware of angiokeratomas and respective therapeutic options when examining a patient with pruritic, painful, or bleeding lesions in the genital region.     

Running for time: circadian rhythms and melanoma

Circadian timing system includes an input pathway transmitting environmental signals to a core oscillator that generates circadian signals responsible for the peripheral physiological or behavioural events. Circadian 24-h rhythms regulate diverse physiologic processes. Deregulation of these rhythms is associated with a number of pathogenic conditions including depression, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cancer. Melanoma is a less common type of skin cancer yet more aggressive often with a lethal ending. However, little is known about circadian control in melanoma and exact functional associations between core clock genes and development of melanoma skin cancer. This paper, therefore, comprehensively analyses current literature data on the involvement of circadian clock components in melanoma development. In particular, the role of circadian rhythm deregulation is discussed in the context of DNA repair mechanisms and influence of UV radiation and artificial light exposure on cancer development. The role of arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) enzyme and impact of melatonin, as a major output factor of circadian rhythm, and its protective role in melanoma are discussed in details. We hypothesise that further understanding of clock genes’ involvement and circadian regulation might foster discoveries in the field of melanoma diagnostics and treatment.     

Seroprevalence of turkey coronavirus in North American turkeys determined by a newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on recombinant antigen

Turkey coronavirus (TCoV) causes diarrhea in young turkey poults, but little is known about its prevalence in the field. To address this, the complete nucleocapsid gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Expressed nucleocapsid gene produced two distinct proteins (52 and 43 kDa); their specificity was confirmed by Western blotting using two different monoclonal antibodies. Recombinant N protein was purified and used as an antigen to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the serological detection of TCoV that was then validated using experimentally derived turkey serum. The N-based ELISA showed (97%) sensitivity and (93%) specificity for TCoV, which was significantly higher than an infectious bronchitis coronavirus-based commercial test for TCoV. To assess the utility of this recombinant ELISA, 360 serum samples from turkey farms in Ontario, Canada, and 81 serum samples from farms in Arkansas were tested for TCoV-specific antibodies. A high seroprevalence of TCoV was found in turkeys from the Ontario farms with 73.9% of breeders and 60.0% of meat turkeys testing seropositive using the N-based ELISA. Similarly, a high field prevalence was found in the turkeys from Arkansas, for which 64.2% of the serum samples tested seropositive.     

Efficiency of pharmacological treatment of chronic post-traumatic headaches

BACKGROUND: Chronic post-traumatic headache (CPH) is a complex clinical entity. The clinical features of CPH are variable and may resemble those of primary headaches (migraine, tension-type headache or cluster headache), as well as of cervicogenic headache. Therefore, the treatment must be individualized according to the headache type. There were few studies addressing the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment in patients with CPH. AIM: The aim of the present study was to analyze the efficiency of pharmacological treatment with analgesic drugs and concomitant psychotropic drugs in outpatients with CPH. METHODS: We studied 59 outpatients with CPH (39 males and 20 females, mean age 36+/-13 years) who were taking analgetic monotherapy for their headache (simple analgesics, NSAIDs, atypic analgesics and triptans in subjects with migraine) and in case of comorbid psychic disorders some of them were taking psychotropic drugs. The efficiency of drug therapy was evaluated by the outcome scale based on the patients' headache diaries (outcome graded as improved, unchanged or worsened). RESULTS: Most of the study patients reported that their CPH was unchanged. The improvement was greater in the subgroup of cervico-occipital headache sufferers, but it was not statistically significant when compared to other subgroups. Post-traumatic migraine was the type of headache most refractory to drug therapy. The patients who took analgesics without psychotropic drugs had a reliably (p<0.05) better improvement of their headache. CONCLUSION: Analgesic drug monotherapy did not produce favorable therapeutic response in patients with CPH. Appropriate psychopharmacotherapy should be prescribed to CPH patients with psychiatric comorbidity.     

Iron deficiency anaemia influences cognitive functions

Many diseases, different nutritional, metabolic and hormonal changes, ageing and drugs can alter cognitive functions. Anemia via cerebral hypoxia and other possible mechanisms has been suggested to have a great influence on cognition. Iron deficiency anemia, the most common form of anemia, has been suggested to result in cognitive deterioration and alteration of neurological functions. Previous studies resulted in significant discrepancies considering correlation between anemia and cognitive achievement mainly because different or not sensitive enough tests used to measure cognition. We suggest a significant influence of iron deficiency anemia on dynamic properties and functional features of the central nervous system activity. Cognitive achievement is strongly related to hemoglobin level and could be expected in all patients. Higher hemoglobin level results in better CNS function. As a first step in confirming or refuting our hypotheses we suggest standardization of the method used to measure cognition, such as a very sensitive apparatus like Complex reactiometer Drenovac (CRD).     

HIV-1 infection–induced apoptotic microparticles inhibit human DCs via CD44

Acute HIV-1 infection results in dysregulated immunity, which contributes to poor control of viral infection. DCs are key regulators of both adaptive and innate immune responses needed for controlling HIV-1, and we surmised that factors elicited during acute HIV-1 infection might impede DC function. We derived immature DCs from healthy donor peripheral blood monocytes and treated them with plasma from uninfected control donors and donors with acute HIV-1 infections. We found that the plasma from patients with HIV specifically inhibited DC function. This suppression was mediated by elevated apoptotic microparticles derived from dying cells during acute HIV-1 infection. Apoptotic microparticles bound to and inhibited DCs through the hyaluronate receptor CD44. These data suggest that targeting this CD44-mediated inhibition by apoptotic microparticles could be a novel strategy to potentiate DC activation of HIV-specific immunity.