Cholangiocarcinoma in Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography and Fascioliasis in Endoscopic Ultrasonography

Fascioliasis is a worldwide zoonotic infection with Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The zoonoses are particularly endemic in sheep-raising countries and are also endemic in Iran. Typical symptoms that may be associated with fascioliasis can be divided by phases of the disease, including the acute or liver phase, the chronic or biliary phase, and ectopic or pharyngeal fascioliasis. Cholestatic symptoms may be absent, and in some cases diagnosis and treatment may be preceded by a long period of abdominal pain, eosinophilia and vague gastrointestinal symptoms. We report a case with epigastric and upper quadrant abdominal pain for the last 4 years, with imaging suggesting cholangiocarcinoma. Considering a new concept of endoscopic ultrasonography, at last F. hepatica was extracted with endoscopic retrograde cholangiography

Parasite-insecticide interactions: a case study of Nosema ceranae and fipronil synergy on honeybee

In ecosystems, a variety of biological, chemical and physical stressors may act in combination to induce illness in populations of living organisms. While recent surveys reported that parasite-insecticide interactions can synergistically and negatively affect honeybee survival, the importance of sequence in exposure to stressors has hardly received any attention. In this work, Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) were sequentially or simultaneously infected by the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae and chronically exposed to a sublethal dose of the insecticide fipronil, respectively chosen as biological and chemical stressors. Interestingly, every combination tested led to a synergistic effect on honeybee survival, with the most significant impacts when stressors were applied at the emergence of honeybees. Our study presents significant outcomes on beekeeping management but also points out the potential risks incurred by any living organism frequently exposed to both pathogens and insecticides in their habitat

Comparative Analysis of Viral Gene Expression Programs during Poxvirus Infection: A Transcriptional Map of the Vaccinia and Monkeypox Genomes

Poxviruses engage in a complex and intricate dialogue with host cells as part of their strategy for replication. However, relatively little molecular detail is available with which to understand the mechanisms behind this dialogue.We designed a specialized microarray that contains probes specific to all predicted ORFs in the Monkeypox Zaire (MPXV) and Vaccinia Western Reserve (VACV) genomes, as well as >18,000 human genes, and used this tool to characterize MPXV and VACV gene expression responses in vitro during the course of primary infection of human monocytes, primary human fibroblasts and HeLa cells. The two viral transcriptomes show distinct features of temporal regulation and species-specific gene expression, and provide an early foundation for understanding global gene expression responses during poxvirus infection.The results provide a temporal map of the transcriptome of each virus during infection, enabling us to compare viral gene expression across species, and classify expression patterns of previously uncharacterized ORFs

Gene expression profiling identifies distinct molecular subgroups of leiomyosarcoma with clinical relevance

YesBackground: Soft tissue sarcomas are heterogeneous and a major complication in their management is that the existing classification scheme is not definitive and is still evolving. Leiomyosarcomas, a major histologic category of soft tissue sarcomas, are malignant tumours displaying smooth muscle differentiation. Although defined as a single group, they exhibit a wide range of clinical behaviour. We aimed to carry out molecular classification to identify new molecular subgroups with clinical relevance. Methods: We used gene expression profiling on 20 extra-uterine leiomyosarcomas and cross-study analyses for molecular classification of leiomyosarcomas. Clinical significance of the subgroupings was investigated. Results: We have identified two distinct molecular subgroups of leiomyosarcomas. One group was characterised by high expression of 26 genes that included many genes from the sub-classification gene cluster proposed by Nielsen et al. These sub-classification genes include genes that have importance structurally, as well as in cell signalling. Notably, we found a statistically significant association of the subgroupings with tumour grade. Further refinement led to a group of 15 genes that could recapitulate the tumour subgroupings in our data set and in a second independent sarcoma set. Remarkably, cross-study analyses suggested that these molecular subgroups could be found in four independent data sets, providing strong support for their existence. Conclusions: Our study strongly supported the existence of distinct leiomyosarcoma molecular subgroups, which have clinical association with tumour grade. Our findings will aid in advancing the classification of leiomyosarcomas and lead to more individualised and better management of the disease.Alexander Boag Sarcoma Fund

The clinical overlap between functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome based on Rome III criteria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epidemiological studies suggest considerable overlap between functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). To date, no surveys have been performed to investigate the clinical overlap between these two disorders using Rome III criteria. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for the overlap of FD and IBS based on Rome III criteria in a large clinical sample.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Consecutive patients at the general gastroenterology outpatient clinic were requested to complete a self-report questionnaire. FD and IBS were defined by Rome III criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Questionnaires were returned by 3014 patients (52.8% female, 89% response rate). FD-IBS overlap was observed in 5.0% of the patients, while 15.2% and 10.9% of the patients were classified as FD alone and IBS alone, respectively. Compared with non-IBS patients, the odds ratio of having FD among IBS patients was 2.09 (95% CI: 1.68–2.59). Patients with FD-IBS overlap had higher severity scores for the postprandial fullness symptom (2.35 ± 1.49 vs. 1.72 ± 1.59, P < 0.001) and overall FD symptom (6.65 ± 2.88 vs. 5.82 ± 2.76, P = 0.002) than those with FD alone. The only independent risk factor for FD-IBS overlap vs. FD alone was the presence of postprandial fullness symptom (OR 2.67, 95% CI: 1.34–5.31).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Clinical overlap of FD and IBS according to Rome III criteria is very common. One risk factor for FD-IBS overlap is the presence of postprandial fullness symptom. This study provides clues for future pathophysiological studies of FD and IBS.</p

Reprogrammed Transcriptome in Rhesus-Bovine Interspecies Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Embryos

Global activation of the embryonic genome (EGA), one of the most critical steps in early mammalian embryo development, is recognized as the time when interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) embryos fail to thrive.In this study, we analyzed the EGA-related transcriptome of rhesus-bovine iSCNT 8- to 16-cell embryos and dissected the reprogramming process in terms of embryonic gene activation, somatic gene silencing, and maternal RNA degradation. Compared with fibroblast donor cells, two thousand and seven genes were activated in iSCNT embryos, one quarter of them reaching expression levels comparable to those found in in vitro fertilized (IVF) rhesus embryos. This suggested that EGA in iSCNT embryos had partially recapitulated rhesus embryonic development. Eight hundred and sixty somatic genes were not silenced properly and continued to be expressed in iSCNT embryos, which indicated incomplete nuclear reprogramming. We compared maternal RNA degradation in bovine oocytes between bovine-bovine SCNT and iSCNT embryos. While maternal RNA degradation occurred in both SCNT and iSCNT embryos, we saw more limited overall degradation of maternal RNA in iSCNT embryos than in SCNT embryos. Several important maternal RNAs, like GPF9, were not properly processed in SCNT embryos.Our data suggested that iSCNT embryos are capable of triggering EGA, while a portion of somatic cell-associated genes maintain their expression. Maternal RNA degradation seems to be impaired in iSCNT embryos. Further understanding of the biological roles of these genes, networks, and pathways revealed by iSCNT may expand our knowledge about cell reprogramming, pluripotency, and differentiation

Psychosis Endophenotypes:A Gene-Set-Specific Polygenic Risk Score Analysis

Background and Hypothesis:Endophenotypes can help to bridge the gap between psychosis and its genetic predispositions, but their underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. This study aims to identify biological mechanisms that are relevant to the endophenotypes for psychosis, by partitioning polygenic risk scores into specific gene sets and testing their associations with endophenotypes.Study Design:We computed polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder restricted to brain-related gene sets retrieved from public databases and previous publications. Three hundred and seventy-eight gene-set-specific polygenic risk scores were generated for 4506 participants. Seven endophenotypes were also measured in the sample. Linear mixed-effects models were fitted to test associations between each endophenotype and each gene-set-specific polygenic risk score.Study Results:After correction for multiple testing, we found that a reduced P300 amplitude was associated with a higher schizophrenia polygenic risk score of the forebrain regionalization gene set (mean difference per SD increase in the polygenic risk score: −1.15 µV; 95% CI: −1.70 to −0.59 µV; P = 6 × 10−5). The schizophrenia polygenic risk score of forebrain regionalization also explained more variance of the P300 amplitude (R2 = 0.032) than other polygenic risk scores, including the genome-wide polygenic risk scores.Conclusions:Our finding on reduced P300 amplitudes suggests that certain genetic variants alter early brain development thereby increasing schizophrenia risk years later. Gene-set-specific polygenic risk scores are a useful tool to elucidate biological mechanisms of psychosis and endophenotypes, offering leads for experimental validation in cellular and animal models