Laparoscopic excision of Mullerian structures in a neonate with mixed gonadal dysgenesis: a case report

Excision of Mullerian structures in children with disorders of sexual differentiation is an operative challenge. We report our experience with laparoscopic excision of Mullerian structures in a neonate with mixed gonadal dysgenesis. The salient features of the procedure were excellent visualisation and ease of dissection.     

Overexpression of Dicer in precursor lesions of lung adenocarcinoma

Differential microRNA (miR) expression is described in non-small cell lung carcinoma. miR biogenesis requires a set of proteins collectively referred to as the miR machinery. In the proposed multistep carcinogenesis model, peripheral adenocarcinoma of the lung develops from noninvasive precursor lesions known as atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) and bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC). The gene array analysis of BAC and adenocarcinoma showed a transient up-regulation of Dicer (a key effector protein for small interfering RNA and miR function) and PACT along with down-regulation of most genes encoding miR machinery proteins. Immunohistochemically, Dicer was up-regulated in AAH and BAC and down-regulated in areas of invasion and in advanced adenocarcinoma. A fraction of adenocarcinomas lose Dicer as a result of deletions at the Dicer locus. Expanded immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis showed higher Dicer level in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung when compared with adenocarcinoma. Other proteins of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC; SND1, PACT, and FXR1) were also present at higher levels in a SCC cell line when compared with an adenocarcinoma cell line. In conclusion, the stoichiometry of miR machinery and RISC depends on histologic subtype of lung carcinoma, varies along the AAH-BAC-adenocarcinoma sequence, and might explain the observed abnormal miR profile in lung cancer. The status of the endogenous miR machinery in various histologic subtypes and stages of lung cancer may help to predict the toxicity of and susceptibility to future RNA interference-based therapy.     

H-reflex latency and sensory conduction in the assessment of neuropathy in patients of chronic obstructive lung disease.

H-reflex latency, proximal conduction velocity and distal proprioceptive conduction velocity were studied along with distal motor and sensory conduction in 38 patients of chronic obstructive lung disease grouped according to age and duration of the disease, as well as in 35 age-matched smoker controls and 14 non-smoker controls. The mean values of all the parameters studied in all the patient groups were significantly different from those of the non-smoker control group. Smoker controls also showed significant abnormality in all the parameters except motor conduction velocity. Among the patients, significant abnormality (mean +/- greater than 2 SD) was seen in 44.7% in motor conduction, 86.8% in sural nerve distal latency, 97% in Ia conduction velocity, 78.9% in H-reflex latency and 60.5% in proximal conduction velocity, as compared to the non-smoker control values. Among the old patients with more than 10 years of the disease, 62.5% had all the parameters significantly abnormal. More than one parameter was affected in 97.4% of the patients. The intra-group and inter-group differences in all the parameters studied, except motor conduction velocity, were statistically significant indicating that age, chronicity of the disease and smoking can produce nerve conduction defects independently and collectively. It is suggested that though all parameters studied are highly sensitive to neuropathies, proximal H-latency studies are best suited for grading conduction defects in patients of chronic obstructive lung disease, since in many patients sural nerve action potential (52.63%) and distal H-reflex response for Ia conduction studies (81.52%) could not be elicited.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Antiinflammatory drugs and emergency surgery for peptic ulcers in the Waikato.

OBJECTIVE: to examine the use of antiinflammatory drugs in patients undergoing emergency surgery for bleeding and perforated peptic ulcers in the Waikato. METHODS: a retrospective case control study of all patients who had emergency surgery for bleeding and perforated peptic ulcers at the Waikato Hospital from March 1987 to March 1991. RESULTS: seventy-seven patients underwent emergency surgery for complicated peptic ulcers over the study period. Forty-six (60%) of these patients were taking antiinflammatory agents at the time of admission to hospital. In an age and sex matched group of patients undergoing nonulcer emergency surgery over the same period 18 of 77 patients (23%) were using antiinflammatory drugs (p less than 0.001). There was no difference in the postoperative morbidity or mortality between the antiinflammatory drug takers and the nondrug takers following emergency ulcer surgery. CONCLUSIONS: the findings confirm the high level of use of antiinflammatory drugs by patients who require emergency surgery for life threatening complications of peptic ulcers. Patients taking aspirin, nonaspirin nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NNSAIDs) and oral steroids form a major part of the workload in the emergency surgical treatment of bleeding and perforated peptic ulcers.     

A scaleable and defined system for generating neural stem cells from human embryonic stem cells

The ability to differentiate human ESCs (hESCs) to defined lineages in a totally controlled manner is fundamental to developing cell-based therapies and studying human developmental mechanisms. We report a novel, scaleable, and widely applicable system for deriving and propagating neural stem cells from hESCs without the use of animal products, proprietary formulations, or genetic manipulation. This system provides a definitive platform for studying human neural development and has potential therapeutic implications.     

Chimeric tymovirus-like particles displaying foot-and-mouth disease virus non-structural protein epitopes and its use for detection of FMDV-NSP antibodies

Expression of Physalis mottle tymovirus (PhMV) coat protein (CP) in Escherichia coli (E. coli) was earlier shown to self-assemble into empty capsids that are nearly identical to the capsids formed in vivo. Aminoacid substitutions were made at the N-terminus of wild-type PhMV CP with single or tandem repeats of infection related B-cell epitopes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) non-structural proteins (NSPs) 3B1, 3B2, 3AB, 3D and 3ABD of lengths 48, 66, 49, 51 and 55, respectively to produce chimeras pR-Ph-3B1, pR-Ph-3B2, pR-Ph- 3AB, pR-Ph-3D and pR-Ph-3ABD. Expression of these constructs in E. coli resulted in chimeric proteins which self-assembled into chimeric tymovirus-like particles (TVLPs), Ph-3B1, Ph-3B2, Ph-3AB, Ph-3D and Ph-3ABD as determined by ultracentrifugation and electron microscopy. Ph-3B1, Ph-3B2, Ph-3AB and Ph-3ABD reacted with polyclonal anti-3AB antibodies in ELISA and electroblot immunoassay, while wild-type PhMV TVLP and Ph-3D antigens did not react. An indirect ELISA (I-ELISA) was developed using Ph-3AB to detect FMDV-NSP antibodies in sera of animals that showed clinical signs of FMD. Field serum samples from cattle, buffalos, sheep, goats and pigs were examined by using these chimeric TVLPs for the differentiation of FMDV infected animals from vaccinated animals (DIVA). The assay was demonstrated to be highly specific (100%) and reproducible with sensitivity levels (94%) comparable to the Ceditest kit (P>0.05).