iTRAQ: a method to elucidate cellular responses to mycotoxin zearalenone

Mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEN) is a secondary metabolite produced by some Fusarium species that contaminate a large variety of grains and feedstuffs worldwide. ZEN has been associated with a wide variety of adverse health effects including hepatotoxic, hematologic, immunotoxic and genotoxic. In order to better understand the mechanism of ZEN toxicity, a proteomic approach was applied to characterize cellular responses of hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2) to ZEN exposure. Protein extracts from cultured HepG2 cells treated with 100 µm ZEN for 8 h, as well as extracts from control cells. The screening method applied to compare the proteome was based on the stable isotope approach of isobaric tagging for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ). This study identified 982 proteins, among which peptides and their corresponding proteins were identified and quantified by matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Ingenuity pathways analysis software was then used to determine the biological functions and canonical pathways associated with the ZEN‐responsive proteins. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictive factors of long-term follow-up attendance in very long-term childhood cancer survivors

Background

Long-term follow-up (LTFU) clinics have been developed but only some childhood cancer survivors (CCS) attend long-term follow-up (LTFU).

Objective

To identify factors that influence LTFU attendance.

Methods

Five-year CCS treated for a solid tumor or lymphoma in Gustave Roussy before 2000, included in the FCCSS cohort (French Childhood Cancer Survivor Study), aged >18 years and alive at the date of the LTFU Clinic opening (January 2012) were invited to a LTFU visit. Factors associated with attendance at the LTFU clinic between 2012 and 2020 were estimated using logistic regression analyses. Analyses included different types of factors: clinical (tumor characteristics, cancer treatments, late effects), medical (medical expenses were used as a proxy of survivor’s health status), social (deprivation index based on census-tract data relating to income, educational level, proportion of blue-collar workers, and unemployed people living in the area of residence), and spatial (distance to the LTFU clinic).

Results

Among 2341 CCS contacted (55% males, mean age at study, 45 years; SD ± 10 years; mean age at diagnosis, 6 years; SD ± 5 years), 779 (33%) attended at least one LTFU visit. Initial cancer-related factors associated with LTFU visit attendance were: treatment with both radiotherapy and chemotherapy (odds ratio [OR], 4.02; 95% CI, 2.11–7.70), bone sarcoma (OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.56–3.78), central nervous system primitive tumor (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.02–2.67), and autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.34-3.20). Late effects (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.31–2.20), highest medical expenses (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.22–2.22), living in the most advantaged area (OR vs. the most deprived area = 1.60; 95% CI, 1.15–2.22), and shorter distance from LTFU care center (<12 miles) also increased attendance.

Conclusions

Patients who are apparently healthy as well as socially disadvantaged and living far away from the center are less likely to attend LTFU care.

Plain Language Summary

• Among 2341 adult childhood cancer survivors contacted between 2012 and 2020, 33% attended at least one long-term follow-up visit.
• Clinical factors related to attendance were multimodal treatment of first cancer (combining chemotherapy and radiotherapy), stem cell transplant, type of diagnosis (bone tumor and central nervous system primitive tumor), late effects (at least one disease among second malignancy, heart disease, or stroke), and highest medical expenses.
• In addition, the study identified social and spatial inequalities related to attendance, with independent negative effects of distance and social deprivation on attendance, even though the medical costs related to the long-term follow-up examinations are covered by the French social security system.

     

Wild-type genotypes of BRCA1 gene SNPs combined with micro-RNA over-expression in mammary tissue leading to familial breast cancer with an increased risk of distant metastases’ occurrence

The objectives of this study were to identify specific long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and to clarify the function of cisplatin and paclitaxel on the confirmed laryngeal cancer lncRNAs. Fifty-four pairs of laryngeal tumor and adjacent normal tissue were collected. Candidate lncRNAs were searched in authorized databases. The significant lncRNAs were identified and confirmed through high-output real-time PCR. Chemotherapy assay evaluated the influences of cisplatin and paclitaxel on the significant lncRNAs. Thirty-seven cancer-related candidate lncRNAs were selected. Three up-expressed and two down-expressed significant lncRNAs were identified and confirmed. The expressions of lncRNA CDKN2B-AS1, HOTAIR and MALAT1 were dramatically reduced with the increasing concentration of cisplatin and paclitaxel and also lengthening of the treatment duration. Cisplatin and paclitaxel have target function on significant lncRNAs in LSCC, which presents novel molecular targets to cure LSCC patients and also leads an orientation for developing new drugs.     

Spontaneous intramural gastric haematoma as a complication of oral anticoagulant therapy mimicking acute myocardial infarction

A 73-year-old patient was admitted for acute pain in the lowretrosternal area and nausea. He was a smoker and had a historyof myocardial infarction and paroxystic atrial fibrillationtreated with fluindione, amiodarone, and aspirin. At time ofadmission, the patient     

Perceptions of the causes of malaria and of its complications,treatment and prevention among midwives and pregnant women of Eastern Sudan

Background Malaria infection during pregnancy is a big burden in Sudan and has many adverse effects on both mother and fetus. There are no data concerning the local socio-cultural knowledge of malaria, its complications and prevention during pregnancy. Aim This study was conducted to assess the perceptions of the causes of malaria, its complications, treatment and prevention among midwives and pregnant women of Eastern Sudan so as to provide policy makers and malaria programme managers with information needed to improve the design of malaria control. Subject and methods Interviews were conducted with 87 midwives and 168 pregnant women. Results More than three-quarters (78.2%) of the midwives and (82.7%) pregnant women perceived that mosquitoes were the transmitters of malaria. The coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) was 65.5% among the interviewed pregnant women. There was poor knowledge about the complications of malaria during pregnancy and the effect of malaria treatment on the fetus among the interviewed midwives and pregnant women. More than 60% of the midwives (n = 59, 67.8%) and almost all of the pregnant women (n = 162, 96.4%) had no knowledge about intermittent preventive treatment (IPT). Conclusion Thus, in spite of good knowledge about symptoms of malaria during pregnancy, there was a lack of perception of prevention and the safety of IPT.     

Validation of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a new simple biomarker of adult onset Still’s disease: A STROBE-Compliant prospective observational study

This study was performed to investigate the role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the diagnosis of adult onset Still disease (AOSD) and its performance to improve the sensitivity of the classifications criteria (Yamaguchi and Fautrel Classifications).We conducted a multicenter prospective nationwide case-control study in Internal medicine, Rheumatology and Infectious disease departments, to include successively patients with suspected AOSD (2 or more major criteria of Yamaguchi or Fautrel classifications). All clinical and biological features were collected in a consensual and standardized clinical assessment at baseline and during follow-up. A receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to reassess the cutoff value of NLR. After determination of the cutoff value for NLR by ROC curve, 2 composite sets (Yamaguchi classification + NLR as a major criterion and Fautrel classification + NLR as a major criterion) were performed and evaluated.One hundred sixty patients were included, 80 patients with AOSD and 60 controls with different diagnoses. Twenty patients with incomplete data were excluded. The cutoff value for NLR equals 4 (area under the curve, AUC: 0.82). The NLR was ≥ 4 in 93.7% (75/80) of AOSD patients with a sensitivity of 93.8% and specificity of 61.7%. The association of NLR as a major criterion with the classification of Yamaguchi or Fautrel improved their sensitivity, respectively for Fautrel (76.3% to 92.5%, P = .004) and Yamaguchi (78.8% to 90%, P = .05).This study validates the NLR as a good simple biomarker of AOSD with a cutoff value of 4 and high sensitivity (93.8%). The addition of NLR (NLR ≥ 4) as a major criterion to the classifications (Yamaguchi and Fautrel) improved significantly their sensitivity and accuracy.     

Outbreak of Imported Seventh Pandemic Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor,Algeria, 2018

After a lull of >20 years, Algeria experienced a cholera outbreak in 2018 that included 291 suspected cases. We found that outbreak isolates were Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype Ogawa from seventh pandemic El Tor sublineage AFR14, which corresponds to a new introduction of cholera into Africa from South Asia.     

Gitelman syndrome,hypomagnesemia, and venous thrombosis: An intriguing association

Among salt‐wasting tubulopathies'' complications, venous thrombosis is one of the rarest. We report a case of a young woman with Gitelman syndrome (GS). She presented a deep venous thrombosis in her leg and was treated with heparin with favorable outcomes. We retained hypomagnesemia as the cause of the thrombosis.     

Death in Unverricht–Lundborg disease

The objective of this study is to report cases of unexpected deaths in Unverricht–Lundborg disease (ULD) patients, a comparatively benign form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy. We performed a multicentric study of the circumstances of death in ULD patients seen in the last 16 years. We assessed age, sex, severity and duration of disease, antiepileptic drugs, circumstances and presumed cause of death. Nineteen observations (12 females, 7 males) were collected from four centers (Tunis, Marseille, Milan, Belgrade). The most common causes of death are (1) SUDEP (six cases, all female), with 4/6 on phenobarbital alone, and (2) complications of severe ULD (six cases). Two patients committed suicide. Only one death was clearly unrelated to ULD (car accident), while four patients died of stroke, drowning, complications of chronic alcoholism and Wernicke encephalopathy, respectively. In conclusion, although the prognosis of ULD has progressed, there are still spontaneously severe forms and high risk of early death, including SUDEP.