What Do Cytokine Profiles Tell Us About Subsets of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis?

Classification of juvenile idiopathic arthritis is an ongoing process and up to now has been predominantly based on clinical manifestations—mainly number of joints at onset of disease. In the meantime, basic studies have advanced our knowledge regarding the disease pathogenesis. Unfortunately, studies of cytokines and cytokine polymorphisms have not followed the predominantly clinical International League of Associations for Rheumatology classification in that no significant biological differences among the different disease categories have been demonstrated with robust associations. Only systemic-onset disease seems to be quite different from other disease categories with regard to biologic mechanisms; indeed, it now seems closer to autoinflammatory than to classic autoimmune diseases. New players in the immunologic basis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (eg, interleukin-17 and regulatory T cells) are also discussed in this review.     

The role of cytoreductive surgery in advanced-stage ovarian cancer: a systematic review

It has already been proven that ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer among women, and it is considered the leading cause of death by gynecologic cancer in developed countries. This article is a literature review based on the use of cytoreductive surgery matched with adjuvant chemotherapy in advanced-stage ovarian cancer. According to the statistics, the difficulty of obtaining an early diagnosis results in a delay in the disease treatment and as a consequence, in many cases, ovarian cancer is still diagnosed in the advanced stage of the disease. Primary surgery is performed, in addition to diagnosis and staging, to achieve optimal cytoreduction. The purpose of this article is to review the different surgical approaches in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer, specifically the high-stage disease, with a special concentration on the most recent therapeutic additions to our current knowledge, such as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and new therapeutic drugs. Surgical treatment still plays a pivotal role in the management of advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Complete cytoreduction continues to be, when feasible, the objective to be attempted in the surgical treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. Obviously, the success of the operation depends on numerous factors, including patient selection, the locations of tumors, and surgeon expertise. To offer patients the best possible outcome with the least accompanying morbidity, strong consideration should be given to the referral of such patients to expert care centers for primary surgery, because it may be the best means currently available for improving overall survival.     

Advancements in the treatment of hypothyroidism with L-T4 liquid formulation or soft gel capsule: an update

Introduction: The most recent advance concerning levothyroxine (L-T4) therapy is the development of novel oral formulations: the liquid preparation, and the soft gel capsule.

Areas covered: This review evaluates the most recent clinical studies about these new formulations. The liquid formulation has been shown to overcome: the food and beverages intereference with L-T4 tablets absorption, caused by food or coffee at breakfast; malabsorption induced by the increased gastric pH, resulting from atrophic gastritis, or due to proton-pump inhibitors; and malabsorption after bariatric surgery. The use of liquid L-T4 has been studied also in pregnancy, newborns and infants, suggesting a better bioequivalence than tablets. Finally, liquid L-T4 is more active than tablets in the control of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in hypothyroid patients without malabsorption, drug interference, or gastric disorders, leading to a hypothesized higher absorption of liquid L-T4 also in these patients. Few studies have evaluated soft gel L-T4 with promising results in patients with malabsorption related to coffee or gastritis.

Expert opinion: Liquid L-T4 (and soft gel capsules) are more active than the tablet L-T4 in the control of TSH in hypothyroid patients with gastric disorders, malabsorption, or drug interference, but also in patients without absorption disorders.     

ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen-Phone Version (ALS-CBS™-PhV): norms,psychometrics, and diagnostics in an Italian population sample

Neurological Sciences - Up to 50% of motor neuron disease (MND) patients show neuropsychological deficits which negatively affect prognosis and care. However, disability-related logistical issues...     

Prognostic role of ERCC1 protein expression in upper tract urothelial carcinoma following radical nephroureterectomy with curative intent

Background

Excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) has been associated with outcomes of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, but was not yet studied in upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic role of ERCC1 expression in a large international cohort of UTUC patients.

Methods

Immunohistochemical ERCC1 expression was evaluated in 716 UTUC patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy with curative intent. ERCC1 was considered positive when the H-score was >1.0. Associations with overall survival and cancer-specific survival were assessed using univariable and multivariable Cox models.

Results

ERCC1 was expressed in 303 tumors (42.3 %) and linked with the presence of tumor necrosis (16.2 vs. 10.4 %, p = 0.023), but not with any other clinical or pathological variable. ERCC1 status did not predict cancer-specific survival and overall survival on both univariable (p = 0.70 and 0.32, respectively) and multivariable analyses (p = 0.48 and 0.33, respectively).

Conclusions

ERCC1 is expressed in a significant proportion of UTUC and is linked with tumor necrosis, but its expression appears not to be associated with prognosis following radical nephroureterectomy.

     

Pneumo- and neurotropism of avian origin Italian highly pathogenic avian influenza H7N1 isolates in experimentally infected mice

An experimental infection of mice was performed in order to investigate the potential for interspecies transmission in mammals of Italian HPAI viruses of the H7N1 subtype. Three avian origin isolates were selected, two strains obtained from ostrich (one of which contained a PB2-627 Lysine residue) and one from a chicken. Following intranasal infection of mice, clinical signs and mortality were recorded in the experimental groups challenged with the two ostrich isolates, while only weight loss was observed in those receiving the chicken strain. Viruses were recovered to a varying extent from respiratory and nervous tissues of infected animals. These results suggest that HPAI viruses, other than H5N1 and H7N7, may have zoonotic implications, and support the consensus that AI infections in poultry are to be eradicated rather than contained.