Immunohistochemical characteristics of diffuse sclerosing variant of papillary carcinoma: comparison with conventional papillary carcinoma

Koo JS, Shin E, Hong SW. Immunohistochemical characteristics of diffuse sclerosing variant of papillary carcinoma: comparison with conventional papillary carcinoma. APMIS 2010; 118: 744–52. Diffuse sclerosing variant of papillary carcinoma (DSVPC) is a rare variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). It shows different clinicopathologic features to the conventional PTC, but the immunohistochemical characteristics of DSVPC are yet to be more clearly defined. The purpose of this study was to investigate the immunohistochemical features of DSVPC, which are different from those of PTC. Tissue microarray was constructed from the paraffin‐embedded tissue of 49 DSVPC and 50 conventional PTC samples. Immunohistochemical stains for p63, p53, galectin‐3, cytokeratin 19, β‐catenin, Bcl‐2, EMA, E‐cadherin, CD15, and CD56 were performed on each tissue microarray. Immunohistochemical stain for p63 was negative in all conventional PTCs, but 14 (28.6%) cases of DSVPC showed p63 expression (p = 0.000). p53 was expressed in 38 (76.0%) cases of conventional PTC and 21 (42.9%) cases of DSVPC (p = 0.001). Galectin‐3 was expressed in all 50 cases of conventional PTC, but eight (16.3%) cases of DSVPC did not express galectin‐3 (p = 0.003). EMA was expressed more in DSVPC (40.8%) than in conventional PTC (20.0%, p = 0.024). In univariate analyses, Bcl‐2 positivity (p = 0.016) and EMA negativity (p = 0.036) in DSVPC were associated with shorter time interval to tumor recurrence, but there was no significance for the two in multivariate analyses. DSVPC, a rare variant of PTC, has different immunohistochemical features from the conventional PTC, showing higher expression rate of p63 and lower expression rate of p53. It also shows galectin‐3 negativity and EMA positivity.     

Behavioural Effects of the Methanolic Root Bark Extract of Securinega Virosa in Rodents

Securinega virosa is used traditionally as sedative in children and in mental illnesses. In this study, the behavioral effects of methanolic root bark extract of S. virosa were investigated in mice. The results revealed that the extract significantly (P<0.05) and dose-dependently reduced the onset and prolonged the duration of sleep. The extract significantly (P<0.05) decreased exploratory activity and reduced the rate of apomorphine-induced stereotyped climbing at the doses tested (6.25–25mg/kg). It also produced a significant and dose-dependent motor coordination deficit in mice at the doses tested (P<0.01). The intraperitoneal median lethal dose in mice was 774.6mg/kg while the preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids. These results suggest that methanolic root bark extract of S. virosa contains biologically active principles that are sedative in nature and lend pharmacological credence to the ethnomedical use of the plant.     

Obesity predisposes to Th17 bias

Obesity is associated with numerous inflammatory conditions including atherosclerosis, autoimmune disease and cancer. Although the precise mechanisms are unknown, obesity‐associated rises in TNF‐α, IL‐6 and TGF‐β are believed to contribute. Here we demonstrate that obesity selectively promotes an expansion of the Th17 T‐cell sublineage, a subset with prominent pro‐inflammatory roles. T‐cells from diet‐induced obese mice expand Th17 cell pools and produce progressively more IL‐17 than lean littermates in an IL‐6‐dependent process. The increased Th17 bias was associated with more pronounced autoimmune disease as confirmed in two disease models, EAE and trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid colitis. In both, diet‐induced obese mice developed more severe early disease and histopathology with increased IL‐17⁺ T‐cell pools in target tissues. The well‐described association of obesity with inflammatory and autoimmune disease is mechanistically linked to a Th17 bias.     

Correlation of human spermatozoa heparin binding with the zona-free hamster egg in vitro penetration assay

The purpose of our research was to determine whether heparin-binding characteristics of human spermatozoa are related to fertilizing potential, as determined by the hamster egg in vitro penetration assay. Penetration rates were standardized (hamster egg in vitro penetration assay index) by comparison with semen from fertile controls in each bioassay. Saturation of heparin-binding domains was achieved in 100% of raw ejaculates (prewash), but in only 53% of "swim-up" (postwash) samples. The dissociation constants ranged from 0.31 to 48.75 nmol/10(6) cells, and binding site concentrations from 0.47 to 20.82 x 10(17) binding sites/cell. Heparin-binding affinity was significantly greater in prewash compared with postwash samples (p less than 0.01). In prewash samples the number of binding sites differed significantly between subjects having low and high penetration indices (5.67 +/- 1.05 vs 2.01 +/- 0.34 x 10(17) binding sites/cell, p less than 0.05). In prewash samples, binding affinity for heparin significantly correlated with hamster egg in vitro penetration assay indices (R2 = 0.142, p less than 0.05). In contrast, the number of binding sites in prewash samples was negatively correlated with hamster egg in vitro penetration assay indeces (R2 = 0.201, p less than 0.05). These data indicate that the heparin-binding assay may prove to be a rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive means of assessing fertilizing potential of human spermatozoa.     

Latanoprost-associated recurrent herpes simplex keratitis

PURPOSE/METHOD: We present a case of a patient who developed recurrent epithelial herpes simplex keratitis after starting treatment with latanoprost. Her ophthalmic history was only remarkable for a past episode of herpetic keratitis 21 years previously. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Episodes of herpetic keratitis were under remission only when latanoprost was discontinued. No recurrences of herpes simplex keratitis have been observed since then. Latanoprost usage might be associated with recurrent episodes of herpes simplex keratitis in patients with previous history of ocular herpes simplex virus infection.     

Columnar organization and reciprocity of commissural connections in cat primary auditory cortex (AI)

The laminar distribution and reciprocity of commissural axon terminals and cells of origin in cat primary auditory cortex (AI) were studied after injections of tritiated proline combined with horseradish peroxidase in the middle ectosylvian gyrus. Terminal fields were found in every cortical layer in the contralateral AI, and they were characterized quantitatively. The largest concentration of silver grains was in layer III (about 25% of the total number of silver grains) and, to a lesser extent, in layers V, VI, and I (some 18% of the total in each layer). The labeling in layer I was concentrated in its deeper half, while the labeling in the other layers was more homogeneous. Layer IV had the least labeling, followed by layer II, each receiving about 10% of the total. The labeling was always heaviest over the neuropil and lightest over neuronal perikarya. Commissural terminal fields formed radial patches oriented perpendicularly to the pia, and averaging 543 micron in width. There was consistently three times more silver grains in a patch than in an inter-patch area. However, the number of silver grains in an inter-patch area was always significantly above background, indicating a possible commissural projection to these zones as well. The patches of commissural terminal fields formed bands oriented across AI and running in a caudoventral to rostrodorsal direction. Strict reciprocity between the commissural cells of origin and terminal fields was not found at the light microscopic level when adjacent sections, corrected for differential shrinkage, were compared. Often, patches of terminal fields were free of retrogradely labeled cells and, conversely, there were patches of labeled cells without an overlying commissural terminal field. The terminal fields connected homotopic regions of the contralateral AI, and every region of AI received commissural innervation, unlike the primary somatic sensory and visual cortex, where large zones receive only a few commissural afferents. The more complete pattern of interhemispheric connectivity in auditory cortex is in contrast to the less continuous commissural representation in other sensory neocortical fields. Perhaps this pattern contributes to the anatomical representation of binaurality in auditory cortex.