Are women nicer people than men? Sex and the stigma of mental disorders

The literature on sex differences in the social stigma associated with mental disorders is reviewed. Studies which have relied on non-behavioral measures (self-reports, attitude scales) are considered separately from those which have attempted to measure stigma behaviorally (denial of job, harsh treatment). Also, amount of stigma displayed by males and females toward an afflicted person is treated separately from the degree of disfavor in which society holds a male as compared to a female victim of mental disorder. Three main patterns are revealed by the literature: (1) Men and women express similar feelings and attitudes toward the mentally disordered but they behave in quite different ways toward them. (2) Women act in a much more benign and favorable way than men do. (3) Women who are present or former mental patients are treated more favorably than comparable men. An effort is made to understand these gender differences.     

Immunological Response in Egg-Sensitive Adults Challenged with Cheese Containing or Not Containing Lysozyme

Objective: Lysozyme is an enzyme that hydrolyzes bacterial peptidoglicans. For this reason, it is used in cheese manufacturing in order to prevent a defect of long-ripened hard cheese called “late blowing” due to the outgrowth of spores of Clostridium tyrobutyricum and Clostridium butyricum. Moreover, germination of Listeria monocytogenes spores into vegetative cells is also sensitive to lysozyme. The enzyme can be an allergenic molecule, and for this reason there are concerns about its use in food industry. The immunological and clinical response of consumption of lysozyme-containing cheese has been evaluated in 25 egg-sensitive subjects with or without lysozyme sensitization.

Methods: A total of 25 egg-sensitive subjects were enrolled in this study. All the subjects were already treated for egg-sensitization and presented a positive skin prick test. All the subjects had a body mass index ≤25 kg/m² and were in the age range of 20–50 years. Each subject was studied twice and received randomly 30 g of Grana Padano (containing lysozyme) or TrentinGrana cheese (lysozyme-free) of two different aging periods: 16 or 24 months. A washout period of 1 week between each cheese intake was adopted. Blood samples were taken in fasting conditions and 1 hour after cheese intake and IgA, total IgE, and lysozyme-, ovomucoid-, and ovalbumin-specific IgE were measured.

Results: No adverse reactions were observed in both groups of patients after cheese samples were given. Lysozyme did not determine any variation of specific IgE compared with basal level. In lysozyme-sensitive patients a significant relationship between IgA and lysozyme-specific IgE was observed when lysozyme-containing cheese was given, confirming that lysozyme can pass the gut barrier.

Conclusions: Neither adverse events nor immunological responses were observed after ingestion of cheese containing lysozyme. However, the immunological properties of peptides deriving from cheese protein hydrolysis need to be clarified, as does the effect of lysozyme on bacterial proteolytic activity.     

MUM-1 immunohistochemistry has high accuracy and reliability in the diagnosis of chronic endometritis: a multi-centre comparative study with CD-138 immunostaining

Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics - The current gold standard for chronic endometritis (CE) diagnosis is immunohistochemistry (IHC) for CD-138. However, IHC for CD-138 is not exempt...     

Usefulness of Claudin 4 in the cytological diagnosis of serosal effusions

The identification of metastatic cells in serous effusions has prognostic and therapeutic implications, thus leading to a continuous search for improvement of the existing diagnostic procedures, including immunocytochemistry. To evaluate the usefulness of an antibody recognizing the tight junction-associated protein Claudin 4 in detecting metastatic tumor cells and in the differential with reactive and neoplastic mesothelium, we stained 345 cases of benign and neoplastic serous effusions obtained from pleura, peritoneum, and pericardium. Two-hundred and twenty-eight of 230 cases (99.1%) of epithelial metastasis of different origin were strongly stained by anti-Claudin 4, whereas all cases of reactive mesothelitis (78) and malignant mesothelioma (37) were negative. With the exception of a single case of ovarian carcinoma hypercalcemic-type, all tumors originating from the anatomical sites that most frequently metastasize to the serosae, including lung (61), breast (23), female genital tract (67), gastrointestinal tract (27), and peritoneum (6), were found to be positive. Claudin 4 was also extremely useful in detecting single-tumor cells dispersed among heavy inflammatory reaction. Because of its high sensitivity (99.1%) and specificity (100%), Claudin 4 might be used as an ideal "single-shot" marker for the identification of metastatic epithelial cells in serous effusions.     

Population‐based screening for Lynch syndrome in Western Australia

We showed earlier that routine screening for microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of mismatch repair (MMR) protein expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) led to the identification of previously unrecognized cases of Lynch syndrome (LS). We report here the results of screening for LS in Western Australia (WA) during 1994–2012. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for loss of MMR protein expression was performed in routine pathology laboratories, while MSI was detected in a reference molecular pathology laboratory. Information on germline mutations in MMR genes was obtained from the state's single familial cancer registry. Prior to the introduction of routine laboratory‐based screening, an average of 2–3 cases of LS were diagnosed each year amongst WA CRC patients. Following the implementation of IHC and/or MSI screening for all younger (<60 years) CRC patients, this has increased to an average of 8 LS cases diagnosed annually. Based on our experience in WA, we propose three key elements for successful population‐based screening of LS. First, for all younger CRC patients, reflex IHC testing should be carried out in accredited pathology services with ongoing quality control. Second, a state‐ or region‐wide reference laboratory for MSI testing should be established to confirm abnormal or suspicious IHC test results and to exclude sporadic cases by carrying out BRAF mutation or MLH1 methylation testing. Finally, a state or regional LS coordinator is essential to ensure that all appropriate cases identified by laboratory testing are referred to and attend a Familial Cancer Clinic for follow‐up and germline testing.     

Myo-inositol supplementation reduces the amount of gonadotropins and length of ovarian stimulation in women undergoing IVF: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Purpose

To evaluate whether oral myo-inositol supplementation (MI) is able to reduce the amount of gonadotropins (GA) and the length of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (SL) in both Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and non-PCOS women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Methods

We performed a systematic review (PROSPERO ID: CRD42017069439) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We searched articles published in English between January 1985 to August 2017, using the combination of the Medical Subject Headings “Inositol” with “Ovulation Induction”, “follicle-stimulating hormone, human, with HCG C-terminal peptide”, “Reproductive Techniques, Assisted”, and “Fertilization in Vitro”. We collected data about GA and SL comparing MI to no treatment or d-Chiro-Inositol (DCI) supplementation (controls). A subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate selected outcomes in PCOS and non-PCOS women.

Results

We included 8 studies embedding 812 participants. We found a reduction in GA (p?<?0.00001) and SL (p?=?0.0007) in patients receiving MI with respect to controls. MI was effective in both PCOS (p?<?0.00001) and non-PCOS women (p?=?0.02) in reducing GA; conversely, MI supplementation decreased the SL only in PCOS women (p?<?0.00001).

Conclusion

During IVF, MI is effective in both PCOS and non-PCOS women in saving gonadotropins, but reduces efficiently SL only in PCOS women.

     

Post space debridement in oval-shaped canals: the use of a new ultrasonic tip with oval section

This study evaluates the effect on post space debridement in oval-shaped canals of an experimental ultrasonic tip with oval section (Satelec) compared with a circular ultrasonic tip (KaVo). Thirty teeth with an oval-shaped canal were endodontically treated and obturated and then randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 10) according to the procedure used for post space debridement: Satelec tip, Largo #2 drill + KaVo file, and Largo #2 drill + water. Debris and dentin tubules were evaluated by assigning scores to scanning electron microscope post spaces images; lower scores corresponded to fewer debris and higher number of open tubules. The Satelec group showed significantly lower debris and open tubules scores than KaVo group (p < .05) and control group (p < .05), which differed significantly between each other (p < .05). Also the debris and open tubules scores in different post space regions differed significantly among the experimental groups (p < .001). The oval ultrasonic tip resulted in a better post space debridement than a circular ultrasonic tip in oval-shaped canals.