Development and Evaluation of a Sensitive PCR-ELISA System for Detection of Schistosoma Infection in Feces

Schistosomiasis is a neglected disease caused by worms of the genus Schistosoma. The transmission cycle requires contamination of bodies of water by parasite eggs present in excreta, specific snails as intermediate hosts and human contact with water. Fortunately, relatively safe and easily administrable drugs are available and, as the outcome of repeated treatment, a reduction of severe clinical forms and a decrease in the number of infected persons has been reported in endemic areas. The routine method for diagnosis is the microscopic examination but it fails when there are few eggs in the feces, as usually occurs in treated but noncured persons or in areas with low levels of transmission. This study reports the development of the PCR-ELISA system for the detection of Schistosoma DNA in human feces as an alternative approach to diagnose light infections. The system permits the enzymatic amplification of a specific region of the DNA from minute amounts of parasite material. Using the proposed PCR-ELISA approach for the diagnosis of a population in an endemic area in Brazil, 30% were found to be infected, as compared with the 18% found by microscopic fecal examination. Although the technique requires a complex laboratory infrastructure and specific funding it may be used by control programs targeting the elimination of schistosomiasis

Aspects of molecular phenotype and its correlations with breast cancer behaviour and taxonomy

The assessment of breast cancer morphology remains an important element in the evaluation of prognosis and therapeutic planning for this disease. The tumour morphology reflects the molecular profile that produced it and consequently each can be predictive of the other

Vascular dementia: current concepts and nomenclature harmonization

Several types of cerebrovascular lesions are associated with cognitive decline, but the role of each type in dementia manifestation has yet to be determined. One of the greatest barriers of conducting clinicopathological studies in vascular dementia concerns the overlapping of nomenclature for these lesions. The aim of the present review was to discuss current nomenclature for cerebrovascular lesions and suggest modifications to allow better diagnostic reproducibility in this field

Active TGF-β signaling and decreased expression of PTEN separates angiosarcoma of bone from its soft tissue counterpart

Angiosarcomas constitute a heterogeneous group of highly malignant vascular tumors. Angiosarcoma of bone is rare and poorly characterized. For angiosarcoma of soft tissue, some pathways seem to be involved in tumor development. Our aim was to evaluate the role of these pathways in angiosarcoma of bone. We collected 37 primary angiosarcomas of bone and used 20 angiosarcomas of soft tissue for comparison. Immunohistochemistry was performed on constructed tissue microarrays to evaluate expression of CDKN2A, TP53, PTEN, BCL2, CDK4, MDM2, cyclin D1, β-catenin, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), CD105, phospho-Smad1, phospho-Smad2, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1), VEGF, CD117 and glucose transporter--1. PIK3CA was screened for hotspot mutations in 19 angiosarcomas. In nearly 55% of the angiosarcoma of bone, the retinoblastoma (Rb) pathway was affected. Loss of CDKN2A expression was associated with a significantly worse prognosis. No overexpression of TP53 or MDM2 was found, suggesting that the TP53 pathway is not important in angiosarcoma of bone. Angiosarcoma of bone showed highly active TGF-β signaling with immunoreactivity for phospho-Smad2 and PAI-1. Although the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway seems to be active in both tumor groups, different mechanisms were involved: 41% of angiosarcoma of bone showed a decrease in expression of PTEN, whereas in angiosarcoma of soft tissue overexpression of KIT was found (90%). PIK3CA hotspot mutations were absent. In conclusion, the Rb pathway is involved in tumorigenesis of angiosarcoma of bone. The PI3K/Akt pathway is activated in both angiosarcoma of bone and soft tissue, however, with a different cause; PTEN expression is decreased in angiosarcoma of bone, whereas angiosarcomas of soft tissue show overexpression of KIT. Our findings support that angiosarcomas are a heterogeneous group of vascular malignancies. Both angiosarcoma of bone and soft tissue may benefit from therapeutic strategies targeting the PI3K/Akt pathway. However, interference with TGF-β signaling may be specifically relevant in angiosarcoma of bone.Modern Pathology advance online publication, 19 April 2013; doi:10.1038/modpathol.2013.56