Abdominal aortic calcification in young adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Results from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study

Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), metabolic syndrome, and low bone mineral density (BMD) are risk factors for atherosclerotic disease and cardiovascular morbidity. We evaluated AAC in 662 adult survivors of childhood ALL (median age 31 years). AAC was present in 10% of subjects, metabolic syndrome in 36%, and low BMD in 29%. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for AAC among women with metabolic syndrome was 2.3 (95% CL = 1.0, 4.3). The adjusted OR for AAC in men with low BMD was 3.1 (95% CL = 1.3, 7.3). A substantial proportion of adult survivors of childhood ALL have AAC and/or metabolic syndrome, suggestive of early atherosclerotic disease. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2012; 59: 1307–1309. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A case of immune reconstitution syndrome complicating progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy after kidney transplant: Clinical,pathological, and radiographic features

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a life‐threatening central nervous system (CNS) disorder, most commonly described in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Limited data exist on its natural history and treatment in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. A complication of PML is the immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), which develops after T cell reconstitution and can have severe consequences when it occurs in the CNS. While well described in HIV‐infected individuals, its clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment after SOT are largely unknown. We report a case of a kidney transplant recipient who was diagnosed with PML and developed significant worsening of her symptoms upon reduction of immunosuppression. Thallium SPECT showed avid uptake suggestive of lymphoma, but the diagnosis of PML‐IRIS was ultimately established by brain biopsy. She survived with nearly complete restoration of her functional status after a prolonged steroid taper.     

The association between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma: insights from population-based data

Study Type – Prevalence (population based cohort) Level of Evidence 3b What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add? Several case‐series have hypothesized a potential association between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma. Nonetheless, this hypothesis has not been systematically explored in a population‐based setting with sufficient sample size to estimate a magnitude of association. Our analyses revealed a bidirectional relation between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma, which typically indicates that common risk factors influence both malignancies. Our findings may be useful for raising awareness among clinicians that a diagnosis of multiple myeloma may be within the spectrum of second malignancies among patients with renal cell carcinoma and that a diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma may be within the spectrum of second malignancies among patients with multiple myeloma.

OBJECTIVE

? To evaluate the hypothesis of an association between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

? Data from nine population‐based registries in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results programme were used to evaluate two separate cohorts of patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2006: patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma as a primary malignancy (n= 57 190) and patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma as a primary malignancy (n= 34 156). ? We estimated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by dividing the number of observed cases of multiple myeloma within the renal cell carcinoma cohort and the number of renal cell carcinoma cases within the multiple myeloma cohort by the number of expected cases for each malignancy in the US general population.

RESULTS

? The renal cell carcinoma cohort yielded 88 multiple myeloma cases during 293 511 person‐years of follow up. Patients with renal cell carcinoma had a higher relative risk of multiple myeloma than the general population (SIR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.21–1.85). ? The multiple myeloma cohort yielded 69 renal cell carcinoma cases during 100 804 person‐years of follow up. Patients with multiple myeloma had a higher relative risk of renal cell carcinoma than the general population (SIR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.47–2.40).

CONCLUSION

? Our analyses revealed a bidirectional association between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma, which typically indicates shared risk factors.     

Vasicine and structurally related quinazolines

Natural products are diverse sources of important chemical constituents. Most of the metabolites isolated from them are heterocycles possessing diverse pharmacological actions. Vasicine, a heterocyclic alkaloid possessing a privileged quinazoline nucleus is primarily present in the leaves o the plant Adhatoda vasica nees, family Acanthaceae. Vasicine and structurally related quinazolines have been an area of interest for the researchers all around the world. The present review provides an up to date compilation of the alkaloid vasicine, its biosynthesis, synthesis, biological attributes, design of its synthetic analogues along with structurally related quinazolines.     

Detection of bacterial growth in blood components using oxygen consumption as a surrogate marker in a tertiary oncology setup

Microbiological contamination of blood and blood products is a well-recognised transfusion risk. This study was performed in the blood bank of our oncology centre, with an objective to detect bacterial contamination in our blood products using oxygen consumption as a surrogate marker [Pall Enhanced Bacterial Detection System (eBDS)]. Results revealed that the percentages of failed units were 1.16% for random donor platelets (RDP), 0.81% for single donor platelets (SDP) and 2.94% for packed red blood cells (PRBCs), of which one RDP and one SDP grew coagulase-negative staphylococcus, while one PRBC culture grew Gram-positive bacilli.     

Modulation of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant defense systems in rat intestine by subchronic fluoride and ethanol administration

Excessive consumption of fluoride and ethanol has been identified as injurious to human health. Fluoride and ethanol co-exposures are commonly seen among the alcoholics residing in endemic fluoride areas worldwide. This study was undertaken to examine the modulation of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant defense systems in rat intestine by subchronic fluoride and ethanol administration. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: group I (control), group II (fluoride was given orally at a dose of 25 mg/kg body weight), group III (30% ethanol was given orally at a dose of 1 mL/kg body weight), and group IV (a combination of fluoride and ethanol was administered orally at the dose described for groups II and III). Lipid peroxidation was elevated (P < .05) in intestine of rats by fluoride or ethanol treatments for 20 or 40 days. However, glutathione content was reduced by fluoride (32 and 44%) and ethanol (21 and 40%) treatments after 20 and 40 days, respectively. Fluoride-exposed animals showed reduction (P < .05) in the activities of superoxide dismutase (22 and 42%), catalase (30 and 37%), glutathione peroxidase (22 and 35%), glutathione reductase (32 and 34%), and glutathione-S-transferase (24 and 30%) after 20 and 40 days. A similar decrease (P < .05) in the activities of these enzymes was also noticed in animals exposed to ethanol for 20 or 40 days. The observed changes in lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione levels, and enzyme systems were further augmented in intestine of rats exposed to fluoride and ethanol together. Intestinal histology showed large reactive lymphoid follicles along with mild excess of lymphocytes in lamina propria of villi, villous edema, focal ileitis, and necrosis of villi in animals exposed to fluoride and ethanol for 40 days. These findings suggest that fluoride and ethanol exposure induces considerable changes in lipid peroxidation, antioxidant defense, and morphology of rat intestine, which may affect its functions.     

A 9-year study of shigellosis in Northeast Malaysia: Antimicrobial susceptibility and shifting species dominance

Aims  

In Malaysia, Shigella spp. is the third most common bacterial agent responsible for childhood diarrhoea. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Shigella spp. isolated from patients admitted to the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from January 2001 to December 2009.