Epidemiologie, Diagnostik und Prävention

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Its diagnosis is based on clinical examination, including ultrasound, laboratory analyses, as well as determination of the tumour marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). If evidence for HCC is present, further imaging techniques (CT, MRI), and, if required, histopathological examination are necessary. The most important risk factors are chronic hepatitis B, C, and D, metabolic liver diseases, especially hereditary hemochromatosis, toxins (alcohol, aflatoxin) and states of insulin resistance. This knowledge provides us with strategies for HCC prevention that are of great clinical significance, in particular because, in spite of recent advances, the current therapeutic options for most patients remain very limited.     

Personality dimensions of sexually transmitted disease repeaters assessed with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory

OBJECTIVE: To assess the personality characteristics of patients with repeated sexually transmitted diseases (STD). METHOD: A case-control study comparing 101 STD repeaters (subjects with a lifetime history of three or more STDs) with 182 controls who had no history of STD. All subjects attended the City Department for Skin and Venereal Diseases in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) from June 1997 to April 1998. Personality characteristics was assessed by the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI). RESULTS: The analysis of MCMI test showed that STD repeaters had higher scores on narcissistic, antisocial and paranoid scales. The difference between STD repeaters and the controls was significant on antisocial, psychotic thinking and psychotic delusion scales, although scores on clinical syndromes were low for both cases and controls. Discriminant analysis showed that antisocial personality was predictive for STD repeaters. CONCLUSIONS: This study support the hypothesis that STD repeaters are different from controls in terms of their psychological characteristics. The behaviour of STD repeaters is ego-syntonic, which makes the treatment of their personality difficult and emphasizes the importance of work on primary and secondary prevention of STD.     

Emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile and butyl acrylate, 10. Effect of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl on the polymerization process

The emulsion copolymerization of acrylonitrile with butyl acrylate, initiated by ammonium persulfate in the presence of disodium dodecylphenoxybenzenedisulfonate and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), was kinetically investigated at 70°C by conventional GLC and gravimetric methods. The copolymerization under batch conditions was conducted to both low and high conversion. In the presence of a small amount of DPPH the molecular weight of the copolymer is little decreased when compared with that prepared without DPPH. In addition, the rate of copolymerization unexpectedly decreases with increasing emulsifier concentration. The radical scavenger was found to decrease the average particle size. In the interval 2 the rate of polymerization is approximately proportional to the 0,35th power of the emulsifier concentration and to the 0,5th power of the initiator concentration (without DPPH). The dependence of the rate of polymerization on the final particle number and of the final particle number on the emulsifier concentration also deviates from the simple micellar theory predictions. The results can be explained by a coagulative nucleation mechanism.     

Reduction of FK-506 requirements by combination with polyethylene glycol superoxide dismutase in orthotopic rat liver transplantation

Reperfusion after ischemia results in endothelial cell injury and Kupffer cell activation. Inflammatory cytokines thus released can induce major histocompatibility complex antigens and increase the immunogenecity of the graft. An orthotopic rat liver allotransplant model was used to test the hypothesis that prevention of reperfusion injury by infusion of polyethylene glycol superoxide dismutase (PEG-SOD) would result in long-term allograft survival in the presence of subthreshold immunosuppressive dosages. ACI rats were used as donors, and Lewis strain rats as recipients. Orthotopic liver transplantation was initially performed to identify a subthreshold dose of the immunosuppressant FK-506, which would be unable to extend survival longer than control untreated rats with this strain combination. After testing three intramuscular FK-506 doses of 0.04, 0.08, and 0.16 mg/kg, it was observed that an FK-506 dose of 0.04 mg/kg/day for 14 days was unable to extend survival longer than in untreated recipients. This dose of FK-506 was used in combination with PEG-SOD at doses of 1000, 3000, 10,000, or 30,000 units. Recipient animals were treated intravenously with PEG-SOD as a loading dose to facilitate tissue penetration on day 1, and beginning on the day of transplantation, every 2 days for the duration of the study. Results of histologic studies and mean survival time were compared in untreated recipients and in rats treated with PEG-SOD plus 0.04 mg/kg/day FK-506. Mean survival time was increased significantly in these animals (p < 0.007) to 40.6 ± 25.6 days as compared with either untreated rats (10.0 ± 2.7 days) or rats treated with 0.04 mg/kg FK-506 alone (13.7 ± 4.2 days). Histologic examination demonstrated a significant reduction in the cellular infiltrate in rats treated with PEG-SOD plus FK-506, as compared with recipients treated with either agent alone or left untreated. Our results therefore suggest a potential approach to reducing immunosuppression in transplantation. (J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL 1995;95:1276-81.)     

Detection of ophthalmic arterial doppler signals with Behcet disease using multilayer perceptron neural network

Doppler ultrasound is known as a reliable technique, which demonstrates the flow characteristics and resistance of ophthalmic arteries. In this study, ophthalmic arterial Doppler signals were obtained from 106 subjects, 54 of whom suffered from ocular Behcet disease while the rest were healthy subjects. Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) employing delta-bar-delta training algorithm was used to detect the presence of ocular Behcet disease. Spectral analysis of the ophthalmic arterial Doppler signals was performed by least squares (LS) autoregressive (AR) method for determining the MLPNN inputs. The MLPNN was trained with training set, cross validated with cross validation set and tested with testing set. All these data sets were obtained from ophthalmic arteries of healthy subjects and subjects suffering from ocular Behcet disease. Performance indicators and statistical measures were used for evaluating the MLPNN. The correct classification rate was 96.43% for healthy subjects and 93.75% for unhealthy subjects suffering from ocular Behcet disease. The classification results showed that the MLPNN employing delta-bar-delta training algorithm was effective to detect the ophthalmic arterial Doppler signals with Behcet disease.     

Multiscale structure of sheet nacre

This work was conducted on Pinctada maxima nacre (mother of pearl) in order to understand its multiscale ordering and the role of the organic matrix in its structure. Intermittent-contact atomic force microscopy with phase detection imaging reveals a nanostructure within the tablet. A continuous organic framework divides each tablet into nanograins. Their shape is supposed to be flat with a mean extension of 45nm. TEM performed in the darkfield mode evidences that at least part of the intracrystalline matrix is crystallized and responds like a 'single crystal'. The tablet is a 'hybrid composite'. The organic matrix is continuous. The mineral phase is thus finely divided still behaving as a single crystal. It is proposed that each tablet results from the coherent aggregation of nanograins keeping strictly the same crystallographic orientation thanks to a hetero-epitaxy mechanism. Finally, high-resolution TEM performed on bridges from one tablet to the next, in the overlying row, did not permit to evidence a mineral lattice but crystallized organic bridges. The same organic bridges were evidenced by SEM in the interlaminar sequence.     

Therapeutic effect of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells on Cisplatin induced testicular damage in adult male albino rat

Infertility represents a major medical, economic, and psychological problem. Stem cells therapy for infertility has a great interest nowadays especially for cancer survivors at pre-reproductive and reproductive age.

 Thirty-two adult male albino rats were used, divided equally into four groups; Group I (Control group) received isotonic saline intraperitoneally (i.p.) as vehicle. Group II (Cisplatin-treated group) received Cisplatin (i.p.) at a single dose of 7 mg/kg, and then were sacrificed after 5 days. Group III (Stem-cell-treated group) received Cisplatin (i.p.) at a single dose of 7 mg/kg, then after 5 days received adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) (1 × 10⁶). Cells were injected in the rete testis, then after 60 days, the animals were sacrificed. Group IV (Auto healing group) received Cisplatin (i.p.) at a single dose of 7 mg/kg, and then left for 65 days then the animals were sacrificed. Cisplatin administration resulted in degenerative changes in the testicular architecture in the form of thickened irregular BM of seminiferous tubules. The germinal epithelium showed disorganization and marked reduction in the thickness, associated with Sertoli cells preservation. Features of apoptosis assured by elevated caspase-3 expression were noticed. The interstitium showed cellular infiltration and distorted Leydig cells. Injection of (ADMSCs) resulted in great improvement of testicular architecture and increase in the testosterone level associated with strong immune reaction of the CD-44. ADMSCs are recommended as a new treatment modality for male infertility.

Abbreviation: i.p.: intraperitoneally; BM: basement membrane; ADMSCs: adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells; WHO: World Health Organization; MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells; DMEM: Dulbecco modified eagles media; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; CP: Cisplatin; ROS: reactive oxygen species; CAT: catalase; SOD: superoxide dismutase; OS: oxidative stress; SSCs: spermatogonia stem cells; GCs: germ cells; UCMSCs: umblical cord mesenchymal stem cells; TGFb1: transforming growth factor beta-1; BMP4: Bone morphogenic protein 4; BMP8b: bone morphogenic protein 8b.