Lactate and Pyruvate Levels in the Testicular Vein of Subfertile Males with Varicocele as a Test for the Theory of Underlying Hypoxia

Lactat- und Pyruvat-Werte in der Vena testicularis von subfertilen Männern als Test für die Theorie der vorhandenen Hypoxie
Um die These von der testikulären Hypoxie bei subfertilen Männern mit Varikocele zu überprüfen wurden die Blutwerte von Lactat und Pyruvat aus der Vena testicularis mit denen einer Kontrollgruppe verglichen. Statistisch ergab sich ein niedrigerer Mittelwert für Lactat und Pyruvat bei den Varikocele-Patienten. Daraus wird die Schlußfolgerung gezogen, daß bei Varikocele keine Akkumulation von Milchsäure erfolgt und daß damit eine Hypoxie ausgeschlossen werden kann. Als die Mittelwerte der Konzentrationen für Lactat und Pyruvat in der Vena testicularis miteinander korreliert wurden, deutete sich an, daß bei Vorhandensein einer Varikocele eine gestörte Glykolyse besteht, die dem Stadium der Pyruvatbildung vorhergeht.     

Array comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH) analysis of premenopausal breast cancers from a nuclear fallout area and matched cases from Western New York

High-resolution array comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH) analysis of DNA copy number aberrations (CNAs) was performed on breast carcinomas in premenopausal women from Western New York (WNY) and from Gomel, Belarus, an area exposed to fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. Genomic DNA was isolated from 47 frozen tumour specimens from 42 patients and hybridised to arrays spotted with more than 3000 BAC clones. In all, 20 samples were from WNY and 27 were from Belarus. In total, 34 samples were primary tumours and 13 were lymph node metastases, including five matched pairs from Gomel. The average number of total CNAs per sample was 76 (range 35-134). We identified 152 CNAs (92 gains and 60 losses) occurring in more than 10% of the samples. The most common amplifications included gains at 8q13.2 (49%), at 1p21.1 (36%), and at 8q24.21 (36%). The most common deletions were at 1p36.22 (26%), at 17p13.2 (26%), and at 8p23.3 (23%). Belarussian tumours had more amplifications and fewer deletions than WNY breast cancers. HER2/neu negativity and younger age were also associated with a higher number of gains and fewer losses. In the five paired samples, we observed more discordant than concordant DNA changes. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis revealed two distinct groups of tumours: one comprised predominantly of Belarussian carcinomas and the other largely consisting of WNY cases. In total, 50 CNAs occurred significantly more commonly in one cohort vs the other, and these included some candidate signature amplifications in the breast cancers in women exposed to significant radiation. In conclusion, our high-density aCGH study has revealed a large number of genetic aberrations in individual premenopausal breast cancer specimens, some of which had not been reported before. We identified a distinct CNA profile for carcinomas from a nuclear fallout area, suggesting a possible molecular fingerprint of radiation-associated breast cancer.     

Octylcyanoacrylate (Dermabond) for skin closure at the time of head and neck surgery: a longitudinal prospective study

OBJECTIVES: A prospective non-randomised evaluation of the octyl-2-cyanoacrylate (Dermabond) for skin closure in head and neck surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An inception cohort of 52 patients managed by six otorhinolaryngologists head and neck surgeons at a single institution (university teaching and tertiary referral center) during the months of May-July 2004. The length of the skin incision varied from 3 to 30 cm (mean: 7 cm). Morbidity evaluation, longitudinal analysis of the evolution of the scar, and analysis of the degree of satisfaction. RESULTS: Postoperative death was not encountered. The overall morbidity rate was 3.8% (2/52). There was no instances of wound dehiscence's. A subcutaneous abscess was noted in one patient. From an aesthetic point of view, the scar appearance was considered to be slightly retracted during the first postoperative month and to be very good 2 to 4 months from initial surgery. Only one patient developed a minimal cheloid scar. Among the 47 patients who expressed an opinion postoperatively regarding the use of the octyl-2-cyanoacrylate (Dermabond) for skin closure, the degree of satisfaction was very high due to the ability to take an early shower (40 patients) followed by the lack of skin sutures (5 patients) and the lack of any allergic skin reaction (2 patients). CONCLUSION: At our department, the octyl-2-cyanoacrylate (Dermabond) for skin closure at the time of head and neck surgery is becoming more and more utilized due to the completion of a solid and aesthetic suture, the ability to take an early shower and the high degree of satisfaction expressed by the patients.     

Up-regulation of osteopontin and alphaBeta-crystallin in the normal-appearing white matter of multiple sclerosis: an immunohistochemical study utilizing tissue microarrays

Tissue microarrays assembled from control and multiple sclerosis (MS) brain tissue have been used to assess the expression patterns and cellular distribution of two antigens, the proinflammatory cytokine osteopontin and the inducible heat shock protein alphaBeta-crystallin, which have previously been implicated in MS pathogenesis. Tissue cores were taken from paraffin-embedded donor blocks containing chronic active or chronic inactive plaques and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) in seven MS cases, and white matter (WM) in five control cases. Expression patterns of both proteins were assessed against myelin density and microglial activation in the different tissue categories. Both proteins showed increased expression in all categories of MS tissue compared with control WM. The results indicate progressive up-regulation of expression of osteopontin with increased plaque activity, while elevation of alphaBeta-crystallin expression in MS tissue was independent of demyelination. In MS NAWM a significant correlation was observed between high levels of expression of osteopontin and alphaBeta-crystallin. Osteopontin expression was predominantly confined to astrocytes throughout MS tissues. alphaBeta-crystallin was expressed on astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and occasionally on demyelinated axons. Taken together, these data indicate a wider distribution of osteopontin and alphaBeta-crystallin in MS tissues than previously described and support their proposed role in MS pathogenesis.     

A randomized, controlled trial of cognitive behavioral social skills training for middle-aged and older outpatients with chronic schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: The number of older patients with chronic schizophrenia is increasing. There is a need for empirically validated psychotherapy interventions for these patients. Cognitive behavioral social skills training teaches cognitive and behavioral coping techniques, social functioning skills, problem solving, and compensatory aids for neurocognitive impairments. The authors compared treatment as usual with the combination of treatment as usual plus cognitive behavioral social skills training. METHOD: The randomized, controlled trial included 76 middle-aged and older outpatients with chronic schizophrenia, who were assigned to either treatment as usual or combined treatment. Cognitive behavioral social skills training was administered over 24 weekly group sessions. Blind raters assessed social functioning, psychotic and depressive symptoms, cognitive insight, and skill mastery. RESULTS: After treatment, the patients receiving combined treatment performed social functioning activities significantly more frequently than the patients in treatment as usual, although general skill at social functioning activities did not differ significantly. Patients receiving cognitive behavioral social skills training achieved significantly greater cognitive insight, indicating more objectivity in reappraising psychotic symptoms, and demonstrated greater skill mastery. The overall group effect was not significant for symptoms, but the greater increase in cognitive insight with combined treatment was significantly correlated with greater reduction in positive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: With cognitive behavioral social skills training, middle-aged and older outpatients with chronic schizophrenia learned coping skills, evaluated anomalous experiences with more objectivity (achieved greater cognitive insight), and improved social functioning. Additional research is needed to determine whether cognitive insight mediates psychotic symptom change in cognitive behavior therapy for psychosis.     

Application of bacterial artificial chromosome array-based comparative genomic hybridization and spectral karyotyping to the analysis of glioblastoma multiforme

Identification of genetic losses and gains is valuable in analysis of brain tumors. Locus-by-locus analyses have revealed correlations between prognosis and response to chemotherapy and loss or gain of specific genes and loci. These approaches are labor intensive and do not provide a global view of the genetic changes within the tumor cells. Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) arrays, which cover the genome with an average resolution of less than 1 MbP, allow defining the sum total of these genetic changes in a single comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) experiment. These changes are directly overlaid on the human genome sequence, thus providing the extent of the amplification or deletion, reflected by a megabase position, and gene content of the abnormal region. Although this array-based CGH approach (CGHa) seems to detect the extent of the genetic changes in tumors reliably, it has not been robustly tested. We compared genetic changes in four newly derived, early-passage glioma cell lines, using spectral karyotyping (SKY) and CGHa. Chromosome changes seen in cell lines under SKY analysis were also detected with CGHa. In addition, CGHa detected cryptic genetic gains and losses and resolved the nature of subtle marker chromosomes that could not be resolved with SKY, thus providing distinct advantages over previous technologies. There was remarkable general concordance between the CGHa results comparing the cell lines to the original tumor, except that the magnitude of the changes seen in the tumor sample was generally suppressed compared with the cell lines, a consequence of normal cells contaminating the tumor sample. CGHa revealed changes in cell lines that were not present in the original tumors and vice versa, even when analyzed at the earliest passage possible, which highlights the adaptation of the cells to in vitro culture. CGHa proved to be highly accurate and efficient for identifying genetic changes in tumor cells. This approach can accurately identify subtle, novel genetic abnormalities in tumors directly linked to the human genome sequence. CGHa far surpasses the resolution and information provided by conventional metaphase CGH, without relying on in vitro culture of tumors for metaphase spreads.