Biodegradation of poly(D(–)-3-hydroxybutyrate)/atactic poly(epichlorohydrin) blends by aureobacterium saperdae

The biodegradability of solution-cast films of poly(D (–)-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) blended with the melt-compatible component atactic poly(epichlorohydrin) (aPECH) was investigated. A bacterium which produced extracellular enzymes that degraded PHB even when blended with aPECH was isolated, and tentatively designated as Aureobacterium saperdae. The growth rate of A. saperdae decreased with increasing aPECH content in the blend, up to films containing 60 wt.-% aPECH, at which composition growth was completely inhibited. The decrease in the bacterial growth rate could be due to the dilution of PHB molecules on the blend film surface caused by the presence of aPECH molecules. At the stationary phase of bacterial growth the percentage of weight loss of blend films decreased with increasing aPECH fraction, which was probably due to the lower accessibility of PHB when blended with aPECH. During the bacterial growth only PHB was metabolized, whereas neither degradation nor abiotic release of aPECH was detected for blend films.     

Myxoid leiomyosarcoma of the ovary: Analysis of three cases

The first three cases of myxoid leiomyosarcoma occurring in the ovary are reported. Two cases in stage III were found in postmenopausal patients and a further case was found in stage I in a 32-year-old. All masses were large and gelatinous with cystic change, necrosis, and hemorrhage, but both uteri and ligaments and contralateral adnexa appeared normal. Microscopically, the tumors showed a predominantly reticular meshwork of elongated cells surrounded by abundant basophilic material. While electron microscopy proved inconclusive due to nondifferentiation, the use of monoclonal antibodies against smooth muscle actin demonstrated a smooth muscle type of differentiation. The differential diagnosis of this rare ovarian condition includes other myxoid ovarian lesions, such as ovarian edema, myxoma, endodermal sinus tumors, and the sarcomatous component of malignant mixed müllerian tumor and carcinosarcoma, as well as lymphovascular tumors. Since mitotic count due to decreased cellular density is unusually low in myxoid leiomyosarcoma, capsular rupture and clinical stage seem to be more reliable prognostic markers. The highly aggressive behavior of myxoid leiomyosarcoma parallels that of typical ovarian leiomyosarcoma. Two of the three patients in this series died of tumor at 13 and 24 months after diagnosis; the other patient is free of disease at 3 years after diagnosis.     

The Yin-Yang of tumor-associated macrophages in neoplastic progression and immune surveillance

Summary: An intrinsic (oncogene-driven) pathway and an extrinsic (microenvironment-driven) pathway connect inflammatory reactions and cancer. M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophages and the related myeloid-derived suppressor cells are key prototypic components of smoldering inflammation driving neoplastic progression. However, mononuclear phagocytes can exert anti-tumor activity by killing tumor cells and eliciting tissue disruptive reactions (M1), a likely scenario in the early phases of carcinogenesis of immunogenic tumors and following therapeutic intervention. Shifting the macrophage balance represents a viable therapeutic target. Herein, the 'macrophage balance' is discussed in the context of the apparent paradox of tumor promotion by innate immunity-driven inflammation and the seemingly opposed tumor surveillance by adaptive immune responses.     

Whole-arm reciprocal translocation (WART) between Robertsonian chromosomes: finding of a Robertsonian heterozygous mouse with karyotype derived through WARTs

The karyotype of a mouse trapped in a hybrid zone between a Robertsonian (Rb) population (2n=22) and a population with the standard karyotype (2n=40-all-telocentrics) shows two Rb chromosomes with new arm compositions. We suggest that whole-arm reciprocal translocations between Rb chromosomes gave rise to the new chromosome constitution and that such events can greatly help in understanding house mouse karyotype diversification and chromosomal speciation.     

Elevated plasma levels of the long pentraxin, pentraxin 3, in severe dengue virus infections

C-reactive protein is one of the most widely used indicators of the response of acute-phase proteins. The measurement of C-reactive protein in dengue, however, is clinically not useful, because of marginally elevated levels and absent association with disease severity. The prototypic long pentraxin, pentraxin 3, is an acute phase protein that is structurally related but distinct from C-reactive protein which has proven to correlate with the severity of bacterial infection in critically ill patients. The potential involvement of pentraxin 3 in dengue and its aptitude to predict more severe disease or poor clinical outcome has not been studied previously. We therefore measured pentraxin 3 plasma levels in 44 dengue virus infected patients. Pentraxin 3 levels were strikingly higher when compared to C-reactive protein levels, with highest pentraxin 3 values observed in the first 7 days after the onset of symptoms. Median pentraxin 3 levels at admission and peak levels during follow up were higher in patients suffering from dengue shock syndrome (at admission: 119.3 ng/ml [interquartile range 61.8--188.7], peak values during follow up: 147.9 ng/ml [interquartile range 85.7--204.3]) compared to levels found in patients with dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (at admission: 59.0 ng/ml [interquartile range 28.6--100.3], P=0.040; peak values during follow up: 80.8 ng/ml [interquartile range 36.1--168.1], P=0.020). Our results indicate that pentraxin 3 seems to be a marker of infection better than C-reactive protein in dengue. The role of pentraxin 3 in the pathogenesis of dengue and its potential as an early prognostic indicator of disease severity needs further assessment.     

Could mitochondrial haplogroups play a role in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?

Mitochondrial impairment has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Furthermore, mitochondrial-specific polymorphisms were previously related to other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson, Friedreich and Alzheimer disease. To investigate if specific genetic polymorphisms within the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) could act as susceptibility factors and contribute to the clinical expression of sporadic ALS (sALS), we have genotyped predefined European mtDNA haplogroups in 222 Italian patients with sALS and 151 matched controls. Individuals classified as haplogroup I demonstrated a significant decrease in risk of ALS versus individuals carrying the most common haplogroup, H (odds ratio 0.08, 95% confidence interval 0.04-0.4, p < 0.01). Further stratification of the dataset by sex, age and site of onset of disease and survival failed to reach significance for association. Our study provides evidence of the contribution of mitochondrial variation to the risk of ALS development in Caucasians. Further it may help elucidate the mechanism of the mitochondrial dysfunction detectable in ALS, and may be of relevance in development of strategies for the treatment of this disease.     

Listening to patients' needs to improve their subjective quality of life

BACKGROUND: Subjective quality of life has gained a crucial role as a global measure of outcome in mental health care. This study aimed to investigate the impact of meeting needs for care, as assessed by both patients and mental health professionals, to improve the subjective quality of life in a sample of patients receiving community-based psychiatric care. METHOD: The study was conducted using a 4-year prospective longitudinal design. A cohort of patients from the South-Verona Community-based Mental Health Service (CMHS) was assessed at baseline and follow-up using, among other social and clinical measures, the Camberwell Assessment of Need (both staff and patient versions) and the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile. Predictors of changes of subjective quality of life were explored using block-stratified multiple regression procedures. RESULTS: Improvement in patients' clinical conditions as well as the reduction in patient-rated unmet needs in the social domain predicted an increase in subjective quality of life over 4 years; changes in staff-rated needs did not show any association with changes in subjective quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Meeting self-perceived social needs, beyond symptoms reduction, seems to be of particular importance for ensuring a better quality of life for people with mental disorders. If the main goal of mental health care is to improve the quality of life of users, a policy of actively addressing patient-rated needs should be implemented.     

Nitrosative stress in the bronchial mucosa of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND: Reactive nitrogen species, formed via the reaction of nitric oxide (NO) with superoxide anion and via (myelo)peroxidase-dependent oxidation of NO(2)(-), have potent proinflammatory and oxidizing actions. Reactive nitrogen species formation and nitrosative stress are potentially involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathogenesis. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression of markers of nitrosative stress, including nitrotyrosine (NT), inducible NO synthase (iNOS), endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and xanthine oxidase (XO) in bronchial biopsies and bronchoalveolar lavage from patients with mild to severe stable COPD compared with control groups (smokers with normal lung function and nonsmokers). METHODS: The expression of NT, iNOS, eNOS, MPO and XO in the bronchial mucosa and bronchoalveolar lavage of patients was measured by using immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and ELISA and correlated with the inflammatory cell profile. RESULTS: Patients with severe COPD in stable phase had higher numbers of NT(+) and MPO(+) cells in their bronchial submucosa compared with mild/moderate COPD, smokers with normal lung function, and nonsmokers (P < .01). iNOS(+) and eNOS(+) but not XO(+) cells were significantly increased in smokers with COPD or normal lung function compared with nonsmokers (P < .05 and P < .01, respectively). In patients with COPD, the number of MPO(+) cells was significantly correlated with the number of neutrophils (r = +0.61; P < .0025) in the bronchial submucosa. Furthermore, the number of NT(+) and MPO(+) cells was negatively correlated with postbronchodilator FEV(1). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that nitrosative stress, mainly mediated by MPO and neutrophilic inflammation, may contribute to the pathogenesis of severe COPD.     

Favorably tipping the balance between cytopathic and regulatory T cells to create transplantation tolerance

Therapeutic application of broadly reactive anti-T cell antibodies can lead not only to potent immunosuppression but also to profound and long-lived T cell depletion. We reasoned that a strategy that almost exclusively targets activated cytopathic donor reactive T cells and spares immunoregulatory networks might prove to be an exceptionally potent and highly selective means of producing long-term engraftment and tolerance. Herein we show that the combined administration of rapamycin and agonist IL-2- and antagonist IL-15-related cytolytic fusion proteins provides for long-term engraftment/tolerance in exceptionally stringent allotransplant models by (1) limiting the early expansion of activated T cells, (2) preserving and even exaggerating their subsequent apoptotic clearance, and (3) further amplifying the depletion of these activated T cells by antibody-dependent mechanisms, while (4) preserving CD4+CD25+ T cell-dependent immunoregulatory networks.