Discrimination between malignant and bland portal vein thrombosis: Could diffusion weighted MRI help

Objective

To study the role of DWI in the differentiation between bland and malignant portal vein thrombus in HCC patients.

Ozone at high-pollution urban levels causes airway hyperresponsiveness to substance P but not to other agonists

Ozone (O(3)) causes airway hyperresponsiveness, but few studies have evaluated this effect at urban concentrations. In this work dose-response curves to intravenous acetylcholine, histamine or substance P were performed in guinea pigs with or without previous exposure to O(3) (0.15, 0.3, 0.6 or 1.2 ppm for 4 h, 16-18 h before the studies). We found airway hyperresponsiveness to histamine, but not to acetylcholine, only after 1.2 ppm O(3). By contrast, airway hyperresponsiveness to substance P was developed at O(3) levels encountered in highly-polluted cities (0.3 ppm). These results suggest that excitatory non-adrenergic non-cholinergic responses could be affected by air pollution, and that substance P is a useful pharmacological tool for evaluating the airway hyperresponsiveness induced by low O(3) concentrations.     

The effect of Kombucha on post-operative intra-abdominal adhesion formation in rats

Background  

Peritoneal adhesions are fibrous bands of tissues formed between organs that are normally separated and/or between organs and the internal body wall after peritoneal injury. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of intra-peritoneal administration of Kombucha on intra-peritoneal adhesions.     

Long-term insect successional patterns on pig carcasses in central Spain

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Baseline data on the insect successional patterns on carcasses can be a valuable estimation tool in the investigations of suspicious deaths, particularly...     

cGMP reduces the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca<Superscript>2+</Superscript> loading in airway smooth muscle cells: a putative mechanism in the regulation of Ca<Superscript>2+</Superscript> by cGMP

Ca²⁺ and cGMP have opposite roles in many physiological processes likely due to a complex negative feedback regulation between them. Examples of opposite functions induced by Ca²⁺ and cGMP are smooth muscle contraction and relaxation, respectively. A main Ca²⁺ storage involved in contraction is sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR); nevertheless, the role of cGMP in the regulation of SR-Ca²⁺ has not been completely understood. To evaluate this role, intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration ([Ca²⁺]i) was determinated by a ratiometric method in isolated myocytes from bovine trachea incubated with Fura-2/AM. The release of Ca²⁺ from SR induced by caffeine was transient, whereas caffeine withdrawal was followed by a [Ca²⁺]i undershoot. Caffeine-induced Ca²⁺ transient peak and [Ca²⁺]i undershoot after caffeine were reproducible in the same cell. Dibutyryl cGMP (db-cGMP) blocked the [Ca²⁺]i undershoot and reduced the subsequent caffeine peak (SR-Ca²⁺ loading). Both, the opening of SR channels with ryanodine (10 μM) and the blockade of SR-Ca²⁺ ATPase with cyclopiazonic acid inhibited the [Ca²⁺]i undershoot as well as the SR-Ca²⁺ loading. The addition of db-cGMP to ryanodine (10 μM) incubated cells partially restored the SR-Ca²⁺ loading. Cyclic GMP enhanced [Ca²⁺]i undershoot induced by the blockade of ryanodine channels with 50 μM ryanodine. In conclusion, the reduction of SR-Ca²⁺ content in airway smooth muscle induced by cGMP can be explained by the combination of SR-Ca²⁺ loading and the simultaneous release of SR-Ca²⁺. The reduction of SR-Ca²⁺ content induced by cGMP might be a putative mechanism limiting releasable Ca²⁺ in response to a particular stimulus.     

Detection and chronology of parasitic kinetoplast DNA presence in hair of experimental Leishmania major infected BALB/c mice by Real Time PCR

Hair can accumulate foreign chemical or biological substances. Recently, it has been reported that parasite DNA can also be detected in the hair of Leishmania infantum infected dogs. The aim of this work has been to find out whether parasite DNA incorporates in the hair of Leishmania major experimentally infected animals. For this purpose, a group of 4 BALB/c mice, intradermally inoculated in both ears with 1000 L. major V1 strain promastigote forms, was monitored for parameters associated to the infection during 35 days. Weekly, ear swelling was measured, and hair samples from ears and leg were collected. Blood samples were obtained before challenge and at day 35 post infection, when parasite load was measured in ear, lymph node and spleen by limit dilution. Ear swelling and other parameters observed in the infected mice were consistent with those described for this model. The presence of parasite kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) was detected by Real Time PCR in all ear and leg hair samples at the final timepoint. These data suggests that hair is a specialized tissue in the sequestration and removal of foreign DNA. Detection of DNA in hair could be, therefore, a useful tool to chronologically record the infection process during experimental mice assays.