Levels of organochlorine insecticides in Polish women's breast adipose tissue,in years 1997-2001

Although manufacture and use of chlorinated insecticides was banned or severely restricted in most of countries in the 1970s, the residues of these compounds are still detected in various environmental matrices all over the world. Their highest levels are found in adipose tissue of beings at the top of food chain, including humans. Levels of persistent organochlorine compounds in human specimens are monitored by numerous scientific organizations in various countries, including Poland. The purpose of the study was to survey the current levels of selected organochlorine insecticides (isomers alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-HCH, o,p'- and p,p'-DDT, DDE i DDE, oxy-chlordane and heptachlor) in women's breast adipose tissue which can be an indicator of body burden. A total of 67 samples of adipose breast tissue collected between 1997 and 2001 from non-cancer patients, aged from 15 to 74 years have been analyzed. The analytical procedure included extraction, clean-up and analysis by means of GC-ECD with GC-MS confirmation. In all the samples analyzed p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT and beta-HCH were present (mean values, expressed as mg/kg of fat: 0.7700, 0.0720, and 0.0635 respectively) with p,p'-DDE, found to be dominant analyte. The levels of the remaining compounds, were usually about or below the method quantification limits (from 0.0025 to 0.0060 mg/kg of fat). The results for DDTs and beta-HCH for the oldest group (above 50 years) were 2.1 to 3.6 times higher than the youngest group (below 39 years). The results obtained in this study are similar to those reported in analogous samples collected from women living in other European countries with similar climate and history or organochlorines usage as well as in the USA. The presence of some organo-chlorine insecticide residues in women's adipose tissue, even those, who were born even 10-15 years after most countries introduced severe restrictions or banned the use of these compounds may be cause for anxiety. That is due to the potential of these compounds to promote toxic effects, including disrupting the human endocrine system.     

Coexistence of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma within pontocerebellar angle schwannoma

We present an unusual case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma within pontocerebellar angle schwannoma in 62-year-old woman. The patient suffered for 5 months with V, VII and VIII nerves paresis and with cerebellar ataxia. CT scan demonstrated large hyperdensive mass in cerebellopontine angle translocating cerebellar hemisphere and cerebral trunk. The patient was subjected to surgery and the tumour was removed totally by suboccipital retromastoidal right craniectomy approach. Histopathological examination revealed schwannoma infiltrated with high grade B-cell lymphoma. The patient did well following surgery without any other lymphoma manifestations, and she died from a heart attack 20 months later. Solitary lymphoma of pontocerebellar angle coexisting with schwannoma is an unusual finding, thus our case is the first report.     

Cystic meningioma: report of three cases

Meningioma with cystic component is not a commonly encountered tumor. We report three patients with cystic meningioma histologically confirmed. Tomographic images of these tumours resembled those of a glial or metastatic origin with cystic or necrotic changes and were easily confused. In a 2-year period (1997-1999) in our Department we had three patients with cystic meningioma who account for 5.4% of all patients with meningiomas we have.     

Lack of association between 141C Ins/Del promoter polymorphism of DRD2 gene and schizophrenia

Results of family studies show the importance of genetic factors in etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia. Susceptibility to the disease is probably due to an interaction of many genes. This association study was conducted to investigate frequencies of alleles and genotypes in a group of patients with schizophrenia and in healthy controls. We examined DRD2 gene promoter polymorphism--insertion or deletion of the cytosine in the position -141 of 5'-flanking region of this gene. No relationship between the polymorphism under study and schizophrenia has been found.     

Lack of association between VNTR polymorphism of DAT gene and schizophrenia

The substantial importance of genetic factors in the etiology of schizophrenia was demonstrated in many studies. The complex model of disease inheritance seems to be the most probable, involving epistatic interaction of many genes. Association studies are based on the analysis of the so-called candidate genes, which are coding for neurotransmitter receptors, neurotransmitter transporters and enzymes involved in their metabolism. In the present work the results of an association study of VNTR polymorphism of dopamine transporter gene (DAT) in schizophrenia are presented. This polymorphism is characterised by a different number of tandem repeats (VNTR) within the 3'-untranslated region of gene. In Caucasians the 40 base pair motif has 3 to 11 repeats, the most common (about 90%) are alleles containing 9 and 10 repeats. In the present study no association between the polymorphism studied and schizophrenia was found.     

Molecular methods and techniques used in diagnosis and epidemiology of infections caused by pathogenic fungi

In this paper we reviewed the latest literature on molecular techniques used in diagnosis and epidemiology of infections caused by pathogenic fungi. Traditional methods used for the identification and typing of medically relevant fungi include morphological and biochemical analysis. These methods are time-consuming and base on phenotypic features what makes them unreliable. We described the usefulness in mycological studies of fast and very sensitive molecular methods which rely on PCR and hybridization techniques.     

The clinical consequences of changes occurring in HCV population during the first weeks of chronic hepatitis C treatment with interferon and ribavirin

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an extremely dangerous human pathogen. It is widespread all over the world and often leads to the development of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), which can eventually result in cirrhosis a hepatocellular carcinoma. The efficiency of the current applied methods of treatment of HCV infection remains unsatisfactory. The main course of development of CHC and of therapeutic problems is the genetic polymorphism of HCV. The conducted analysis of the structure of the virus' population permits are conclude that the degree of diversity it presents is a crucial agent in the prediction of the outcome of IFN and ribavirin therapy.     

Measles in Poland in 2003

In Poland 48 measles cases were registered in 2003 (0.13 per 100,000 population)--of which 65% were cases imported from Chechnya and Afghanistan. Measles outbreaks occurred in 3 centers for immigrants. In total, 31 cases were reported, of which 96.8% were unvaccinated, and 93.5% were under 15 years of age. Of 17 local cases, 5 (29.4%) cases occurred in unvaccinated persons, 3 (17.6%) in persons vaccinated with one dose and 7 (41.2%) in those vaccinated with two doses of measles vaccine (administered at the age of 13-15 months and 7 years). Among 12 vaccinated cases only one 2-year old child was recently vaccinated. The remaining cases were in the 3-7 and 10-24 age ranges. The most affected were infants (incidence 0.57 per 100,000), 1-year old (0.28) and 2-year old children (incidence 0.27). Cases among adolescents and adults over 15 years of age increased from 23.5% in 2002 to 47.1% in 2003. The increasing age of locally-acquired cases, together with constantly high immunization coverage indicates high effectiveness of vaccinations in Poland. Out of all reported cases 13 (38%) were hospitalized. There were no deaths due to measles in Poland in 2003. Poland participates in the WHO Measles Elimination Strategy. Presently, the most important is the maintenance of a sensitive and timely surveillance of measles and measles-compatible cases, with serologic confirmation of one rash-like illness per 100 000 population. The performance of the surveillance system is insufficient with only 55 measles-compatible cases reported in 2003 (15% of expected reports). Serologic confirmation of cases was also insufficient, with 22 cases (40.0%) confirmed by IgM ELISA test. These results indicate the need to maintain the high immunisation coverage and improve measles surveillance system.     

Evaluation of the usefulness of SIS and MS/MS mode for the determination of persistent organochlorine compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls in human specimens

This study aimed of examining of the applicability of the SIS (Selected Ion Storage) and the MS/ MS (Tandem Mass Spectrometry) methods for analyzing organochlorine pesticide (OCs) residues and PCBs in human specimens. The samples of human abdominal adipose tissue, women's breast adipose tissue, and human milk were used as study material. The samples were analyzed using the gas chromatography method with EC and MS detectors. MS/MS and SIS mode allow to eliminate system-based (e.g., column, septum) ions and the biological samples extract impurities' ions from the background to achieve the analytical system sensitive enough for trace analysis of organochlorine compounds in human specimens.     

The evolution of epidemiology and clinical characteristics of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma in Poland from 1991 to 2001

On the base of retrospective analysis of 12,888 cases of carcinoma of larynx and hypopharynx, diagnosed in 19 ENT Departments in Poland from 1991 to 2001, the assessment of basic epidemiological data, including the localization of tumor and stage of local and clinical advancement of the disease at the time of diagnosis has been conducted. In analyzed period of 11 years the trends to change of the mentioned above parameters has been examined. The significant increase of female patients in this period was observed, with average proportion M:F = 8:1. The glottis localization of carcinoma dominated (47.6%), followed by supraglottis (40.8%) and pyriform fossa (7.8%), with significant increase of pyriform fossa tumors in the analyzed period of 11 years. In the majority of cases the carcinoma of larynx and hypopharynx was diagnosed in the advanced stage (T3 + T4) of local disease, with the highest percentage in localization within the pyriform fossa (81.0%), and the lowest percentage in glottis tumors (45.6%). The regional lymph nodes metastases has been diagnosed in 46.7% of the analyzed group, with the highest percentage in tumors localized in pyriform fossa (82.9%), and the lowest percentage in tumors of glottis localization (33.1%). In the 11 years time the significant drop down of N0 cases and tendency to increase of N2 and N3 in the supraglottis localization of tumor. The distant metastases in the analyzed group at the time of diagnosis has been registered in 2.0%, with the highest percentage in posterior pharyngeal wall (7.6%) and pyriform fossa (7.4%). The authors postulate the renewal of prospective study on epidemiology, clinical characteristics and treatment results of larynx and hypopharynx carcinoma in Poland.