Characterization of HCV strains in an oncohematological pediatric department reveals little horizontal transmission but multiple introductions by un-screened blood products in the past

Because several children were found infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) at a pediatric oncohematological department in Vilnius, 474 children were tested for anti-HCV. Fifty-eight percent of 96 children treated with blood and plasma products manufactured before the introduction of anti-HCV screening of blood in Lithuania in 1994 were positive for anti-HCV versus 3.4% of those treated after 1994. The possible route of transmission for 45 of these was investigated by phylogenetic analyses within the NS5B region. Children treated before 1995 were infected with a multiplicity of strains of different subtypes, predominantly 1b found in 21 cases, 3a in 5 cases, 2 in 3 cases, 1a in 1 case, and not subtypeable genotype 1 strains in 2 cases. Children who had received blood products after 1994 were infected with only two subtypes, 1b in six and 3a in seven. Genetic analysis showed multiple introductions of HCV before 1995 and that horizontal spread between patients had occurred only to a minor extent at the department. However, two transmission chains involved children treated before 1995. Another chain involved five children treated after 1994. Since the most important risk factor for acquiring hepatitis C was blood products manufactured before the introduction of donor screening for anti-HCV, the spread between children would not have been revealed without molecular tools. These and the background strains provide the first reported sequence data on Lithuanian HCV strains. In general, these were shown to form autochthonous clades, except the 3a strains that were related to strains from the former USSR.     

Blood oxygen saturation during atrio-ventricular dissociation with wide-QRS complex tachycardias

Amplitude ratios of two adjacent mixed blood oxygen saturation curve peaks in randomly selected strips of ECG were analysed in 32 patients with regular wide-QRS complex tachycardias and 60 control subjects where pacing was performed before ablation of narrow-QRS complex tachycardias. Patients with VT showed different patterns of A-to-V relationships, leading to varying ratios of SpO2 adjacent peak amplitudes, in contrast to patients with aberrant SVTs and 1:1 AV association. Application of a criterion of adjacent SpO2 peaks differing by twofold or more had a sensitivity of 90.0% and specificity of 83.3% to detect AV dissociation during VT. Fluctuations on the mixed oxygen saturation curve may be a useful non-invasive clinical parameter to detect different ventricular filling caused by atrio-ventricular dissociation during VT.     

Peripheral Blood Neutrophil Activity During Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus-Induced Late-Phase Airway Inflammation in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma

Recent investigations suggest that neutrophils may play an important role in the late-phase allergen-induced inflammation in allergic airway diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate neutrophil chemotaxis, phagocytic activity, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma challenged with inhaled Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Eighteen patients with allergic rhinitis and 14 with allergic asthma, all sensitized to D. pteronyssinus, as well as 15 healthy individuals underwent bronchial challenge with D. pteronyssinus. Peripheral blood collection and neutrophil isolation were performed 24 h before as well as 7 and 24 h after bronchial challenge. Neutrophils chemotaxis, phagocytic activity, and ROS production were analyzed by flow cytometer. Neutrophil chemotaxis and ROS production were increased, while phagocytic activity was decreased 24 h before challenge in patient groups compared with healthy individuals. After challenge, neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytic activity increased after 7 and 24 h, when ROS production, only after 24 h. Bronchial allergen challenge had no influence for neutrophils activity in healthy subjects. Activated chemotaxis, phagocytic activity, and ROS production of peripheral blood neutrophils after challenge with D. pteronyssinus reflect an enhanced systemic inflammation in allergic rhinitis and asthma patients with induced late-phase airway inflammation.     

Current treatment strategies for patients with only peritoneal cytology positive stage IV gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and surgery remains the only potentially curative treatment option for it. Although a significant proportion of GC patients are found with distant metastases already at the initial diagnosis. Peritoneal dissemination is the most common site of metastases. Positive peritoneal cytology (Cy1) is associated with poor long-term outcomes; thus, these patients are considered as stage IV even if macroscopic carcinomatosis is absent. Currently, there is no clear evidence for the most optimal treatment for this distinct subpopulation of the stage IV cohort. Available strategies vary from palliative chemotherapy to upfront gastrectomy. This comprehensive review summarized current evidence of different treatment strategies for Cy1 GC including roles of surgery, systemic and intraperitoneal chemotherapy.     

Lanthanum and Manganese Co-Doping Effects on Structural,Morphological, and Magnetic Properties of Sol-Gel Derived BiFeO3

In this work, lanthanum and manganese co-substitution effects on different properties of bismuth ferrite solid solutions Bi_1-xLa_xFe_0.85Mn_0.15O₃ (x from 0 to 1) prepared by a sol-gel synthetic approach have been investigated. It was observed that the structural, morphological, and magnetic properties of obtained specimens are influenced by the amount of introduced La³⁺ ions. Surprisingly, only the compound with a composition of BiFe_0.85Mn_0.15O₃ was not monophasic, and the presence of neighboring phases was determined from X-ray diffraction analysis and Mössbauer measurements. Structural transitions from orthorhombic to cubic and back to orthorhombic were also observed depending on the La³⁺ amount. Antiferromagnetic behaviour was observed for all of the samples, with the highest magnetisation values for Bi_0.5La_0.5Fe_0.85Mn_0.15O₃. Additionally, structural attributes and morphological features were evaluated by Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively.     

Dietary Melatonin and Glycine Decrease Tumor Growth through Antiangiogenic Activity in Experimental Colorectal Liver Metastasis

Despite multimodal treatment strategies, clinical outcomes of advanced stage colorectal cancer (CRC) patients remain poor. Neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy efficacy is limited due to chemoresistance, toxicity, and negative side effects. Since both melatonin and glycine have anti-cancer activities without relevant side effects, this study was designed to investigate their combined effects in experimental CRC liver metastases. CRC metastasis with CC531 cells were induced in male Wistar rats. Melatonin and glycine alone or their combination were supplemented for 14 days (n = 100). Blood parameters, a micro-computed tomography scan (tumor volume over time), and immunohistochemistry for Ki67 and CD31 expression in tumor tissue were compared between groups. Melatonin and glycine alone significantly reduced the tumor volume by 63.2% (p = 0.002) and 43% (p = 0.044) over time, respectively, while tumor volume increased by 8.7% in the controls. Moreover, treatment with melatonin and glycine alone reduced the tumor proliferation index. Most interestingly, the combination therapy did not have any influence on the above-mentioned tumor parameters. The leukocyte count was significantly increased with melatonin at the end of the experiment (p = 0.012) which was due to a high lymphocytes count. Tumor microvascular density was significantly reduced in all treatment groups. The results of this study suggest an inhibitory function for melatonin and glycine alone in the case of CRC liver metastasis growth by acting as natural antiangiogenic molecules, followed by angiogenesis-dependent cancer proliferation and immunomodulation.     

Chimeric Derivatives of Hepatitis B Virus Core Particles Carrying Major Epitopes of the Rubella Virus E1 Glycoprotein

Three variants of the major rubella virus (RV) E1 protein virus-neutralizing epitope from position 214 to 285 were exposed on the hepatitis B virus (HBV) C-terminally truncated core (HBcΔ) in a virus-like particle (VLP) vector and were produced in Escherichia coli. All three chimeras demonstrated VLPs in bacterial cell lysates, but only HBcΔ-E1(245-285) demonstrated the correct VLP structure after purification. The other chimeras, HBcΔ-E1(214-285) and HBcΔ-E1(214-240), appeared after purification as non-VLP aggregates of 100 to 900 nm in diameter according to dynamic light scattering data. All three variants possessed the intrinsic antigenic activity of RV E1, since they were recognized by natural human anti-RV E1 antibodies and induced an anti-RV E1 response in mice. HBcΔ-E1(214-240) and HBcΔ-E1(245-285) can be regarded as prototypes for a putative RV vaccine because they were able to induce antibodies recognizing natural RV E1 protein in RV diagnostic kits.