Parkin deletion causes cerebral and systemic amyloidosis in human mutated tau over-expressing mice

Deposition of proteins leading to amyloid takes place in some neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Mutations of tau and parkin proteins produce neurofibrillary abnormalities without deposition of amyloid. Here we report that mature, parkin null, over-expressing human mutated tau (PK(-/-)/Tau(VLW)) mice have altered behaviour and dopamine neurotransmission, tau pathology in brain and amyloid deposition in brain and peripheral organs. PK(-/-)/Tau(VLW) mice have abnormal behaviour and severe drop out of dopamine neurons in the ventral midbrain, up to 70%, at 12 months and abundant phosphorylated tau positive neuritic plaques, neuro-fibrillary tangles, astrogliosis, microgliosis and plaques of murine beta-amyloid in the hippocampus. PK(-/-)/Tau(VLW) mice have organomegaly of the liver, spleen and kidneys. The electron microscopy of the liver confirmed the presence of a fibrillary protein deposits with amyloid characteristics. There is also accumulation of mouse tau in hepatocytes. These mice have lower levels of CHIP-HSP70, involved in the proteosomal degradation of tau, increased oxidative stress, measured as depletion of glutathione which, added to lack of parkin, could trigger tau accumulation and amyloidogenesis. This model is the first that demonstrates beta-amyloid deposits caused by over-expression of tau and without modification of the amyloid precursor protein, presenilins or secretases. PK(-/-)/Tau(VLW) mice provide a link between the two proteins more important for the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease.     

How to deal with prognostic factors and radiotherapy results in uterine neoplasms with a sarcomatous component?

Purpose  

Uterine tumours with a sarcomatous component are rare neoplasms with a wide pathologic heterogeneity in which the stage is the main prognostic factor. These aspects and their aggressiveness make the analysis of prognostic factors and radiotherapy difficult. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors by stages and to assess the impact of prognostic factors and the effect of radiotherapy on the outcome of the disease.     

Loco-regional control after postoperative radiotherapy for patients with regional nodal metastases from melanoma

Introduction  

The role of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) following nodal surgery in malignant melanoma remains controversial. There are no published randomised trials comparing surgery alone to surgery with postoperative RT.     

Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Comorbidity Index Predicts Outcomes in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes Receiving CD34+ Selected Grafts for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

To evaluate the association between the hematopoietic cell transplantation-comorbidity index (HCT-CI) and the recently developed age-adjusted HCT-CI (HCT-CI/age) and transplant outcomes in the setting of CD34-selected allogeneic HCT, we analyzed a homogeneous population of patients undergoing allogeneic HCT with CD34-selected grafts for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (n?=?346). Median HCT-CI and HCT-CI/age scores were 2 (percentile 25 to 75, 1 to 4) and 3 (percentile 25 to 75, 1 to 5), respectively. Higher HCT-CI and HCT-CI/age scores were associated with higher nonrelapse mortality (NRM) and lower overall survival (OS). The HCT-CI distinguished 2 risk groups (0 to 2 versus ≥3), whereas, with the HCT-CI/age, there was a progressive increase in NRM and decrease in OS with increasing scores in all 4 groups (0 versus 1 to 2 versus 3 to 4 versus ≥5). Higher scores in both models were associated with lower chronic graft-versus-host disease relapse-free survival but not with higher relapse. Both models showed a promising predictive accuracy for NRM (c??= .616 for HCT-CI and c??=?.647 for HCT-CI/age). In conclusion, the HCT-CI and HCT-CI/age predict transplant outcomes in CD34-selected allo-HCT, including NRM, OS, and chronic graft-versus-host disease relapse-free survival and may be used to select appropriate patients for this approach.     

Crossed atrioventricular connections

Four cases of crossed atrioventricular connections are described. All of them were diagnosed at cardiac catheterization by angiocardiography and one was examined pathologically. Two possessed situs solitus, one with concordant connections and the other with discordant connections; the other had two situs inversus, both of them with concordant connections. Two had double-outlet right ventricle, one had transposition of the great arteries, and the other had normally related and connected great arteries. These cases have been interpreted as representing abnormal rotation of the ventricles following sepatation. A review of 36 cases previously reported on and our own cases, suggests that most patients have concordant atrioventricular connections. There are many types of ventriculo-arterial connections, the most frequent being transposition of the great arteries. There has not been any case reported with persistent truncus arteriosus. On the basis of atrioventriculo-arterial connections, we propose a classification for this malformation. We discuss the importance of the bulboventricular loop in the type of atrioventricular connections, some clinical implications for the diagnosis, and analyze the value of the rules to localize the ventricles by means of the position of the great arteries.     

Dynamic resistance of teeth: technical considerations and applications of an experimental device

Abstract Tooth fracture by impact is the most common cause of fracture in human incisors. We have designed an experimental system to measure the dynamic fracture force of teeth in vitro, and initial results obtained from a sample of healthy, recently removed human incisors are reported. The method was reproducible and reliable, and the results provide a baseline for studies evaluating the effect of endodontic procedures on the dynamic fracture force of teeth.     

An improved method for lupus anticoagulant detection

The diagnosis of lupus anticoagulant (LA) becomes difficult when there is a weak titer of LA antibodies. This study demonstrates that 20 minutes' incubation increases the sensitivity of the mixing test to diagnose LA by 23% and to suspect the antibodies by 66%.