Mercury and methylmercury concentrations in Mediterranean seafood and surface sediments, intake evaluation and risk for consumers

Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations were measured in sediments and marine organisms from the Taranto Gulf to understand their distribution and partitioning. Sediment concentrations ranged from 0.036 to 7.730 mg/kg (mean: 2.777 mg/kg d.w.) and from 1 to 40 μg/kg (mean: 11 μg/kg d.w.) for total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (Me-Hg), respectively. In mollusks THg ranged from n.d. to 1870 μg/kg d.w. while in fish from 324 to 1740 μg/kg d.w. Me-Hg concentrations in fish ranged from 190 to 1040 μg/kg d.w. and from n.d. to 1321 μg/kg d.w. in mollusks. THg exceeded the maximum level fixed by the European Commission (0.5 mg/kg w.w.) only in gastropod Hexaplex t. The calculated weekly intake was in many cases over the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake established by EFSA for all edible species. These results seem to indicate that dietary consumption of this seafood implicates an appreciable risk for human health.     

Impaired T- and B-cell development in Tcl1-deficient mice

TCL1, the overexpression of which may result in T-cell leukemia, is normally expressed in early embryonic tissues, the ovary, and lymphoid lineage cells. Our analysis of mouse B-lineage cells indicates that Tcl1 expression is initiated in pro-B cells and persists in splenic marginal zone and follicular B cells. T-lineage Tcl1 expression begins in thymocyte progenitors, continues in CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocytes, and is extinguished in mature T cells. In Tcl1-deficient mice, we found B lymphopoiesis to be compromised at the pre-B cell stage and T-cell lymphopoiesis to be impaired at the CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocyte stage. A corresponding increase was observed in thymocyte susceptibility to anti-CD3epsilon-induced apoptosis. Reduced numbers of splenic follicular and germinal center B cells were accompanied by impaired production of immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and IgG2b antibodies in response to a T-dependent antigen. The marginal zone B cells and T-cell-independent antibody responses were also diminished in Tcl1(-/-) mice. This analysis indicates a significant role for Tcl1, a coactivator of Akt signaling, in normal T- and B-cell development and function.     

Short-term effects of atenolol and nifedipine on atrial natriuretic peptide, plasma renin activity, and plasma aldosterone in patients with essential hypertension.

The short-term effects of atenolol and nifedipine on plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), plasma renin activity (PRA), and plasma aldosterone (PA) were studied in two groups of patients with uncomplicated essential hypertension. Urinary catecholamines, and sodium and potassium excretion were also studied. A group of 20 patients with hypertension, after a wash-out period of at least 10 days, was randomly subdivided into two protocol therapy subgroups. One group (six men and four women) received atenolol (100 mg/d), and the other group (six men and four women) received nifedipine (30 mg/d). Circulating plasma levels of ANP, PRA, and PA were determined by radioimmunoassay, and other variables were determined by routine laboratory techniques before therapy and at day 3 and day 7 after the treatment began. Arterial blood pressure and heart rate were monitored during the study. Both drugs reduced arterial blood pressure (P less than .001) significantly. The atenolol therapy decreased heart rate (P less than .001), increased plasma ANP levels and urinary catecholamine excretion, and decreased PRA and circulating PA levels. Nifedipine treatment did not modify plasma ANP values, whereas it increased PRA and PA circulating levels and urinary catecholamine excretion. No differences were shown for urinary volume, urinary sodium, and potassium excretions during the two different treatments. These findings suggest that the increased plasma ANP levels could contribute to the antihypertensive effects of the beta-adrenoreceptor blockers, by a reduction in PRA and PA levels and a vasodilatative effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Comparison of ultrasonic scanning and scintiscanning in the evaluation of thyroid hemiagenesis

Seven female subjects in whom thyroid hemiagenesis was suspected on the basis of clinical findings and scintiscanning before and after TSH administration were studied with ultrasound. Ultrasonic scanning confirmed true hemiagenesis in only three cases. In the other four it revealed a nonfunctional hypoplastic lobe contralateral to the assumed single lobe.     

Bcl-2 expression correlates with lymphovascular invasion and long-term prognosis in breast cancer

Summary Alterations in the mechanisms of apoptosis are responsible not only for the progression of breast cancer, but for different responses to treatment as well. Among the genes regulators of apoptosis, the tumor suppressor gene p53 and the bcl-2 gene have raised interest for their possible role as predictors of response to therapy and markers of prognosis. The purpose of our study was to prospectively analyze the prognostic value of the expression of p53 and bcl-2 genes in a series of 235 consecutive patients operated on for breast cancer at the Department of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology of the University of Siena, Italy.p53 and bcl-2 expression were evaluated by immunohistochemistry, their association with conventional clinicopathological factors was analyzed by univariate analysis and their prognostic impact was evaluated by multivariate analysis.p53 and bcl-2 were detected respectively in 15.7 and 75.7% of cases, and resulted significantly related to presence of estrogen receptors for p53 over-expression and presence of peritumor lymphovascular invasion (LVI) for bcl-2 expression.With a median follow-up of 79 months, an independent negative prognostic impact on disease free and overall survival was observed for presence of LVI, absence of bcl-2 expression and number of involved axillary lymphnodes. The expression of bcl-2 improved the prognosis of LVI positive tumors up to values similar to LVI negative cases, while its absence associated to presence of LVI resulted in a poor outcome with only 28% of patients alive at 8 years.These data may indicate that expression of bcl-2 is a marker of breast cancers with reduced capability of distant colonization, even in presence of LVI, and may be particularly useful in the clinical setting, allowing to identify a subset of patients with an high risk of relapse.     

“Bartter-like” phenotype in Kearns–Sayre syndrome

Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS) is a mitochondrial disease caused by large deletions in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In most patients the disease is characterized by mtDNA heteroplasmy, where a mixture of wild-type and mutated mtDNA co-exist within cells in variable proportion, modulating the severity of the phenotype in different tissues. We report on the case of a 14-year-old child with classical symptoms of KSS and a renal phenotype characterized by hypokalaemic alkalosis, hypomagnesaemia, hyperreninaemia, hyperaldosteronism and nephrocalcinosis, resembling Bartter syndrome. Analysis of mtDNA demonstrated an 8,661 bp deletion involving eight mitochondrial genes. Uneven degrees of mtDNA heteroplasmy were demonstrated in several tissues, ranging from 24% to 60% of deleted/total mtDNA. Variable degrees of expression of mitochondrial enzymes were also found in biopsy specimens of renal and skeletal muscle by histocytochemistry. In particular, preserved cytochrome c oxidase was observed in tubular structures within medullary rays. It is proposed that a "Bartter-like" phenotype can arise in some patients with KSS as a result of heteroplasmy. In these cases aldosterone-responsive tubular structures have been spared during renal embryogenesis, allowing for the development of hypokalaemic alkalosis in response to salt and water losses from the more damaged tubular segments.     

Does Resection Line Involvement Affect Prognosis in Early Gastric Cancer Patients? An Italian Multicentric Study

Background Resection line involvement has been indicated as an important prognostic factor for gastric cancer. Its late detection renders the choice of treatment difficult for surgeons. Materials and Methods We describe the multicenter experience of a group of 11 patients with early gastric carcinoma (EGC) and positive resection confirmed at histological examination who did not undergo surgical retreatment for reasons of associated disease, surgical considerations on duodenal stump, or patient refusal. Results The gastric margin was involved in 4 patients, and 7 patients had duodenal resection line involvement. No surgical complications or postoperative deaths were observed. Five and 8-year survival was 100% and 86%, respectively. The only patient who relapsed did not have lymph node involvement and died from liver metastases, without local recurrence. Conclusions It is sometimes difficult to accurately define the resection line in gastric cancer surgery, especially in the early stages of disease, but because of the strongly negative prognostic value of an infiltrated margin, frozen sections are recommended if neoplastic invasion is suspected and a new resection is always recommended if possible. Nevertheless, the good prognosis of resected EGC patients with resection line involvement must be considered before submitting patients with associated diseases to radical surgical retreatment.     

Tumor site and perigastric nodal status are the most important predictors of para-aortic nodal involvement in advanced gastric cancer

Background  

This study was designed to identify pathological predictors of para-aortic nodal invasion in advanced gastric cancer.