Cancer of the colon in an egg donor: policy repercussions for donor recruitment

This paper describes the tragic case of a young woman who died of cancer of the colon after successfully donating eggs to her younger sister. Although there is no direct link between her operation and the subsequent development of bowel carcinoma, this case imparts a feeling of unease when seen in conjunction with other cases reported during the last few years. It is a reminder that little is known of the long-term consequences of some aspects of assisted conception. Women undergoing ovarian stimulation for themselves or a matched recipient have the right to be advised, in an agreed format, that there is some concern about unproven potential risks from the stimulatory drugs. The safety of egg donors must assume priority over all other considerations, including lack of donors or any moral position. The recent decision by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to withdraw any form of payment or recompense to egg donors does not seem to us to be based on a balance of scientific advances, patient needs and the ethics of gamete supply. They state that the intention to withdraw payments was implicit in the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act. However the Act was based on the Warnock report made 6 years earlier. Even in 1990 ovum donation was uncommon and fertility drugs had not yet caused any unease. The Act provided the HFEA with discretionary powers to issue directions so that the future policies would be consistent with any emerging new medical evidence. It is imperative that the HFEA provide convincing evidence on how the current policy of payment to donors harms society, donors or recipients, and how in the UK the new policy will improve medical practice in assisted conception. Successful pilot studies must precede the implementation of any new policy. Failure to do this could cause irreversible harm to the practice of assisted conception using donor gametes, which will ultimately be against the basic aims of the 1990 HFE Act.      

Investigation of three new mouse mammary tumor cell lines as models for transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and Neu pathway signaling studies: identification of a novel model for TGF-β-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

Introduction  

This report describes the isolation and characterization of three new murine mammary epithelial cell lines derived from mammary tumors from MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus)/activated Neu + TβRII-AS (transforming growth factor [TGF]-β type II receptor antisense RNA) bigenic mice (BRI-JM01 and BRI-JM05 cell lines) and MMTV/activated Neu transgenic mice (BRI-JM04 cell line).     

Comparison of flexible ureterorenoscopy and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy in treatment of lower calyceal stones smaller than 2 cm

To compare the outcomes of flexible ureterorenoscopy (F-URS) and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PNL) in the treatment of lower calyceal stones smaller than 2?cm. Patients who underwent F-URS and mini-PNL for the treatment of lower calyceal stones smaller than 2?cm between March 2009 and December 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. Ninety-four patients were divided into two groups by treatment modality: F-URS (Group 1: 63 patients) and mini-PNL (Group 2: 31 patients). All patients were preoperatively diagnosed with intravenous pyelography or computed tomography. Success rates for F-URS and mini-PNL at postoperative first month were 85.7% and 90.3%, respectively. Operation time, fluoroscopy time, and hospitalization time for F-URS and mini-PNL patients were 44.40?min, 2.9?min, 22.4?h, and 91.9?min, 6.4?min, and 63.8?h, respectively. All three parameters were significantly shorter among the F-URS group (p?0.001). Postoperative hemoglobin drop was significantly lower in F-URS group compared to?mini-PNL group (0.39?mg/dL vs. 1.15?mg/dL, p?=?0.001). A comparison of complications according to the Clavien classification demonstrated significant differences between the groups (p?=?0.001). More patients in the F-URS groups require antibiotics due to urinary tract infection, and more patients in the?mini-PNL group required ureteral double J catheter insertion under general anesthesia. Although both F-URS and?mini-PNL have similar success rates for the treatment of lower calyceal stones, F-URS appears to be more favorable due to shorter fluoroscopy and hospitalization times; and lower hemoglobin drops. Multicenter and studies using higher patient volumes are needed to confirm these findings.     

Age-related changes in catalase, glutathione reductase activities, the amount of glutathione in total body of oregon and vestigial Drosophila melanogaster

Natural antioxidants, free radical scavengers as catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione are considered for aging mechanism. The objective of our study was to investigate the differences in the life span of male Oregon (w.t.) and vestigial Drosophila melanogaster, the possible role of free radical scavengers such as catalase, glutathione reductase and reduced-oxidized glutathione levels in the aging process by studying the pattern of age-related changes. The life span of male Oregon D. melanogaster is longer than that of the vestigial D. melanogaster. The beginning of the dying phase of Oregon was around 40 days, while the vestigial's around 20 days. The maximum life span was 85 days in Oregon population and 56 days in vestigial population. Age-related changes of catalase activities were similar in male Oregon and vestigial and showed a decreasing curve during aging. Glutathione reductase activity of Oregon increased slightly between 10 and 40 days, decreased sharply therafter. Glutathione reductase activity of vestigial followed a pot-shaped trend with 60% decrease during the first 40 days and followed by a sharp increase during the late part of life. The amounts of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) increased slightly up to 40 days of age and followed a sharp decline thereafter in male Oregon D. melanogaster. In male vestigial D. melanogaster, the concentrations of GSH and GSSG remained quite stable for the nogaster, the concentrations of GSH and GSSG remained quite stable for the first 10 days, followed by a sharp decline around 20th day and increased thereafter.     

"Early-peak" carbon monoxide production in certain erythropoietic disorders

The "early-labeled" peak (ELP) of 14CO excretion following injection of glycine-2-14C was used to study erythropoiesis in a patient with sideroblastic anemia and in four subjects with myeloproliferative disorders. The ELP was greatly enlarged in all patients, as compared with a normal volunteer. The contour of the peaks from the hematologically abnormal subjects suggested the presence of increased erythroid heme degradation. In the patient with sideroblastic anemia, all hours of the early peak were significantly reduced after transfusion. This was interpreted to mean that even the earliest or "nonerythroid" phase of the peak is influenced by erythropoietic activity, at least under conditions of erythropoietic stress.     

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in chronic viral hepatitis and its relation with histological severity of disease

summary . The role of nitric oxide in the pathogenesis of chronic viral hepatitis is not known. Elevated nitric oxide production is assumed to be responsible for the pathological changes in many inflammatory conditions, mainly via peroxynitrite, a potential oxidant that is produced by the reduction of superoxide anion with nitric oxide. The intensity and the distribution of the immunohistochemical staining of intrahepatic inducible nitric oxide synthase were studied in the biopsy specimens obtained from 63 patients with viral hepatitis and 13 patients with elevated transaminase levels of various aetiologies. Hepatic inducible nitric oxide synthase staining was significantly more intense in the viral hepatitis group ( P  = 0.000). Inducible nitric oxide synthase staining levels correlated well with the severity of the viral hepatitis using the Knodell's liver histological activity index ( r  = 0.393, P  = 0.002) Among the viral hepatitis group, the pathological distribution of the inducible nitric oxide synthase staining favoured the periportal hepatocytes (zone 1) whereas less staining was observed in parenchymal hepatocytes zone of 2 and 3 and bile duct epithelium. As nitric oxide mediated nitration of hepatocellular proteins is elevated in inflamed hepatic tissues and is correlated with the severity of the disease, we suggest that inducible nitric oxide synthase can possibly have a critical role in the pathogenesis of chronic viral hepatitis.