Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis. Detailed immunophenotyping confirms macrophage origin

A case study of multicentric reticulohistiocytosis is presented with extensive immunohistochemical studies of the infiltrate in both paraffin and cryostat sections. These studies showed that the cells are of monocyte/macrophage origin. B- and T-cell gene rearrangement analysis of multicentric reticulohistiocytosis was also performed and showed a germline configuration.     

Benign polyps with prostatic-type epithelium of the urethra and the urinary bladder

The clinico-pathological features of nine urethral and urinary bladder polyps with prostate-type epithelium are described. The average age of the patients was 46 years. Three patients previously had cystoscopy and the lesion was not noticed on the initial examination. The commonest presentation in this series was haematuria, dysuria and frequency of micturition. One patient presented with postmicturition dribble and another with haemospermia. The polyps contained acini and papillae lined by prostate-type epithelium which was confirmed by immunohistochemical tests for prostate specific antigen and prostate acid phosphatase. In this series no age versus location relationship could be established. Symptoms resolved following resection or initial biopsy followed by fulguration. Recurrence is extremely rare.     

Autologous Blood Stem Cell Transplantation in Hematological Malignancies

Autologous blood stem cell transplants (ABSCT) are increasingly used for the treatment of haematological malignancies. The use of hemopoietic growth factors, in conjunction with stem cell mobilization by chemotherapeutic agents, has permitted successful harvests requir ing only a few leukaphereses; cells mobilized in this manner contain a relatively large number of committed precursors of all lineages, as well as early progenitor cells capable of main taining long-term haemopoiesis. Haematological recovery after ABSCT is rapid, thereby sig nificantly shortening the period of post-chemotherapy neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Furthermore, blood-derived grafts may contain fewer malignant cells than the bone marrow cells. The preliminary results have been so encouraging that it is envisaged that in myeloma, Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, ABSCT may eventually replace autologous marrow transplantation.     

Basic isoferritin and hypercalcaemia in renal cell carcinoma

A 63-year-old man with iron loss anaemia and hypercalcaemia was found to have a renal cell carcinoma. Despite the iron-deficient blood and bone marrow picture, the serum ferritin concentration was markedly raised. This was mainly due to a “basic isoferritin”. The serum parathormone concentration was normal. The serum ferritin and calcium concentrations returned to normal after the tumour was removed. We propose that the renal cell carcinoma cells in this patient secreted the basic isoferritin as well as humoral factor(s) responsible for hypercalcaemia.     

Vitamin E inhibition of lipid peroxidation and ethanol-mediated promotion of esophageal tumorigenesis.

Promotion of chemically induced esophageal cancer by ethanol may include the generation of highly reactive free radicals and thus may be preventable by the antioxidant vitamin E. In the present study, female C57BL/6 mice received N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBzA, 0.2 mg/kg ig) three times a week for three weeks. After this esophageal carcinogenic treatment, mice were fed a nutritionally adequate liquid diet with 30% of the calories supplied by ethanol or an isocaloric carbohydrate with or without supplemental alpha-tocopherol (142 mg/kg diet). As a marker of in vivo lipid peroxidation, exhaled ethane was collected and measured 24 hours "before" the mice were killed after 20 weeks of dietary treatment. Hepatic malondialdehyde, lipid fluorescence, and conjugated dienes were determined as markers of products of lipid peroxidation and serum aminotransferases as indexes of liver toxicity. Hepatic liver concentrations of vitamins A and E and the size and frequency of esophageal tumors were also assessed. Ethanol consumption after NMBzA administration significantly increased (p less than 0.05) the size and frequency of esophageal tumors. These ethanol-promoted effects were accompanied by increases in indexes of in vivo and accumulated products of lipid peroxidation. Similarly treated animals that received supplemental dietary vitamin E showed significant reductions (p less than 0.05) in mean tumor size and frequency of tumors as well as a decrease in the indexes of hepatic lipid peroxidation. The results suggest that promotion of NMBzA-induced esophageal tumors by ethanol may in part result from increased lipid peroxidation and that vitamin E reduces carcinogenicity of NMBzA or ethanol promoter effects by inhibiting lipid peroxidation.     

On the Way to Large-Scale and High-Resolution Brain-Chip Interfacing

Brain-chip-interfaces (BCHIs) are hybrid entities where chips and nerve cells establish a close physical interaction allowing the transfer of information in one or both directions. Typical examples are represented by multi-site-recording chips interfaced to cultured neurons, cultured/acute brain slices, or implanted ??in vivo??. This paper provides an overview on recent achievements in our laboratory in the field of BCHIs leading to enhancement of signals transmission from nerve cells to chip or from chip to nerve cells with an emphasis on in vivo interfacing, either in terms of signal-to-noise ratio or of spatiotemporal resolution. Oxide-insulated chips featuring large-scale and high-resolution arrays of stimulation and recording elements are presented as a promising technology for high spatiotemporal resolution interfacing, as recently demonstrated by recordings obtained from hippocampal slices and brain cortex in implanted animals. Finally, we report on an automated tool for processing and analysis of acquired signals by BCHIs.     

IL28B: Implications for Therapy

Within the last 2 years, a number of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin 28B (IL28B) gene region, encoding interferon-λ3, are predictive of hepatitis C clearance in patients receiving interferon-α and ribavirin-based treatment regimens. In addition, the same SNPs are strongly linked with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus in treatment-na?ve patients. The causal variant responsible for these findings has not been identified. Nevertheless, the discovery of a correlation between the IL28B genotype status and treatment outcome has impacted all aspects of clinical decision making in patients with hepatitis C, and has opened up the very real possibility of individualized treatment regimens based on variations at the IL28B gene locus.