The transmediastinal arteries of the human testis: an anatomical study

Although the arterial supply of the human testis via the testicular artery is a well-studied subject, the pattern of approach that this vessel takes when reaching the gland is, on the other hand, not as well described. Based on the observation of angiological preparations of 196 adult human testes, the authors describe the presence of transmediastinal testicular vessels in one fourth of the cases. These were of two varieties, as regards the testicular mediastinum: centrifugal and centripetal. The centrifugal vessels were briefly mentioned in the nineteenth century scientific literature, undescribed in twentieth century anatomical studies and only recently referred to in color Doppler ultrasonographic studies; the centripetal vessels are previously undescribed. The authors propose the terms transmediastinal centrifugal and centripetal arteries to designate them.     

Diaphanization and vascular study of the dog vertebra

Using a technique of diaphanization, modified from the one described by Spalteholz in 1924 and once more modified, for this study, for studying bone, the authors had to use a decalcification process. The authors studied the differences in arterial vascularization between the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and also the vascularization of each of the vertebral elements.     

Menopausal age and XRCC1 gene polymorphisms: role in breast cancer risk

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence that some DNA-repair functions are haploinsufficient adds weight to the notion that variants in DNA-repair genes constitute part of the spectrum of defects contributing to cancer risk. X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 gene (XRCC1) is involved in base excision repair (BER) pathway, acting on spontaneous and induced DNA damage. This gene encodes for a scaffolding protein that brings together different proteins involved in the repair process. Among the non-synonymous polymorphisms in XRCC1 gene, codons 194 and 399 lead to amino acid changes at evolutionary conserved regions, and seem to alter the efficiency of the protein. METHODS: A hospital based case-control study was carried out in a Caucasian Portuguese population (241 cancer patients and 457 controls matched for sex and age) in order to evaluate the potential modifying role of the XRCC1 polymorphisms on the individual susceptibility to breast cancer. RESULTS: Our data did not reveal a positive association between the polymorphisms individually and breast cancer, or with the combination of the different genotypic associations. However, after stratification to the menopausal status, it was observed that carriers of the Gln/Gln genotype of the R399Q polymorphism with a menopausal age above 55 years are at increased risk for breast cancer (OR=4.074; CI=1.562-10.626; P=0.004). Concerning the Arg194Trp polymorphism, after stratification by menopausal status, it was observed that heterozygous individuals (Arg/Trp) with a menopausal age between 45 and 54 are at increased risk for breast cancer (adjusted OR=1.964; CI=1.174-3.288; P=0.01) as well as carriers of the variant allele (Arg/Trp+Trp/Trp) (adjusted OR=1.932; CI=1.156-3.228; P=0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that menopausal age together with Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln XRCC1 gene polymorphisms might be involved in individual susceptibility to breast cancer.     

Video-assisted sympathectomy for essential hyperhidrosis: effects on cardiopulmonary function

BACKGROUND: Essential hyperhidrosis is characterized by overactivity of the sympathetic fibers passing through the upper-dorsal ganglia (second and third thoracic ganglia [D2-D3]), and the treatment of choice is video-assisted thoracoscopy sympathectomy. Alterations in cardiopulmonary function after treatment have been reported. STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cardiopulmonary function impairment after sympathectomy in patients with essential hyperhidrosis. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective controlled trial at a pulmonary function unit of a university hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty patients (2 men and 18 women) with essential hyperhidrosis. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Pulmonary function tests, including spirometry and thoracic gas volume, bronchial challenge with methacholine, and maximal exercise, were performed before and 3 months after D2-D3 sympathectomy. Video-assisted sympathectomy was performed using a one-stage bilateral procedure with electrocoagulation of D2-D3 ganglia. Pulmonary function values (spirometrics and volumes) were not statistically different in the two groups. The maximal midexpiratory flow was the only variable that showed significant changes, from 101% (SD, 26%) to 92% (SD, 27%) [p < 0.05]. Ten patients had positive bronchial challenge test results that remained positive 3 months after surgery, and 2 patients whose challenge test results were negative before surgery became positive after sympathectomy. Significant reductions in maximal heart rate (HR) and oxygen and carbon dioxide uptakes were observed during the maximal exercise test. CONCLUSIONS: Video-assisted thoracoscopy is a safe treatment, and the observed modifications in cardiopulmonary function only suggest a minimal small airway alterations in the presence of positive bronchial hyperresponsiveness and mild sympathetic blockade in HR. The clinical importance of these findings is not significant.     

Improvement of New Dianionic Ionic Liquids vs Monoanionic in Solubility of Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs

New ionic liquids (ILs) based on dianionic phosphonate anions and ammonium cations were prepared and characterized. They were used as excipients to increase the water solubility of two oral drugs, piroxicam and ibuprofen, that are slightly soluble in water. An increment in solubility of 300-fold was achieved for ibuprofen when compared with pure water, with only 0.25 mol% of IL in water. Interestingly, this was achieved with the less toxic dianionic ionic liquid [N_{4 1 2OH 2OH}]₂ [C₂H₅PO₃], which presents an IC₅₀ of 120 mM (≈0.25 mol%). On the other hand, piroxicam showed an increase of 480-fold for the same dianionic ionic liquid, with the same ionic liquid percentage. In contrast, for monoanionic ionic liquids, the effect was not so pronounced, and only a 10-fold was obtained, in the presence of 0.3 mol% of IL. The lipophilicity (logP) of drugs decreased in the presence of these ILs. Cytotoxicity profile of these ILs was determined and they did not show a significant impact towards healthy fibroblasts. The cytotoxicity of ibuprofen and piroxicam was also determined, and cellular viability almost did not change when ionic liquid was in the presence of 1 mM of oral drug.     

Epidemiological and clinical features, response to HAART, and survival in HIV-infected patients diagnosed at the age of 50 or more

Background  

Over the last years, the mean age of subjects with HIV infection and AIDS is increasing. Moreover, some epidemiological and clinical differences between younger and older HIV-infected individuals have been observed. However, since introduction of HAART therapy, there are controversial results regarding their response to HAART. The aim of the present study is to evaluate epidemiological and clinical features, response to HAART, and survival in elderly HIV-infected patients with regard to younger HIV-infected patients.     

Combined effects of glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms and thyroid cancer risk

Since exposure to ionizing radiation, a risk factor for thyroid cancer, may produce genotoxins potentially eliminated by glutathione-S-transferases, we conducted a case control study to evaluate the role of the GSTM1- and GSTT1-null genotypes and GSTP1 polymorphisms in thyroid cancer. The frequency of GSTP1 Ile/Ile, GSTM1-, and GSTT1-null genotypes was increased in cancer patients when compared with control population. Considering the genotypes over-represented in thyroid cancer patients as potential risk genotypes, we carried out an odds ratio (OR) analysis considering the presence of none, one, two, or three risk genotypes. The results obtained showed that the presence of three potentially risk alleles (GSTM1 null, GSTT1 null, and GSTP1 Ile/Ile) lead to a significant OR increase for all the cases, irrespective of the type of tumor (OR=2.91), for papillary (OR=3.64) but not for follicular tumors. The presence of GSTP1 Ile/Ile leads to a significant later age of tumor onset when compared with GSTP1 Ile/Val and Val/Val (P<0.05), suggesting a possible association between GSTP1 Ile/Ile and the age of disease manifestation. These results suggest that combined GST polymorphisms lead to a moderate increased risk for thyroid cancer, especially for the papillary type, and GSTP1 polymorphisms might modulate the age of onset of the disease.