Tumor size, node status, grading, HER2 and estrogen receptor status still retain a strong value in patients with operable breast cancer diagnosed in recent years.

Breast cancer prognosis has improved greatly in recent years. Consequently, a thorough search for sensitive prognostic factors, able to help clinicians offer appropriate therapy, has become a priority in this area. In this study, we considered all new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the Province of Modena, Italy, between 1997 and 2007, registered by the Modena Cancer Registry. The principal endpoint of this study was relapse-free survival (RFS). A set of 11 clinic and pathological parameters was investigated. After a median follow-up of 73 months, 494 relapses were recorded. Tumor size, node status, grading, HER2 and estrogen receptor status were retained as independent factors in a multivariate analysis. Using these variables, a prognostic model was devised to identify three groups at different risk. In the training sample, the 5-year RFS rates resulted 96.0%, 82.9% and 63.7% in patients at low, intermediate and high risk, respectively (p < 0.0001). In the validation sample, the 5-year RFS was 96.2%, 85.4% and 66.9%, respectively. To conclude our study demonstrates that a very simple prognostic index based on easily available clinical data may represent a useful tool for the identification of patients at different risk of relapse and may be a notable device to predict who truly benefits from medical treatment

Efficiency of eight modified materials for As(V) removal from synthetic and real mine effluents

Arsenic (As) contamination is a major problem especially for active gold mine operations. In the present study, eight low-cost materials including biochar (B), Fe-loaded biochar (BF), activated biochar (BC), Fe-loaded activated biochar (BCF and BFC), thermally modified dolomite (MD), wood ash (WA), and modified wood ash (MWA) were comparatively used for the efficiency in As(V) removal from synthetic and real mine effluents, through batch and column testing. Batch adsorption tests were conducted in beakers with a ratio adsorbent material and As(V) synthetic and real solutions of 0.1 g: 10 mL at concentrations of 850 and 300 µg/L As, respectively. Column adsorption tests were performed in 3 reactors with As(V) concentration of up to 900 µg/L in contaminated neutral drainage (CND) collected from a local gold mine. Results from batch testing with synthetic effluents showed the best performance for As(V) removal in the following order: MD > WA > BCF > BF > BFC > MWA > BC > B. Consistent findings were obtained in batch and column testing with the real mine effluent. Although iron grafted biochars are good adsorbents, their performance for As(V) removal was limited probably because of the very low As concentration in this study. In the same time, MD was found to be the most efficient material for As(V) removal but the final pH must be monitored and eventually adjusted. As(V) was completely removed by MD in batch testing (99.9%) and column testing (99.6%) after>112 days to bellow the authorized monthly mean allowed by Canadian discharge criteria. Thus, MD seems to be the most efficient material among the tested ones for the removal of As(V) in batch and column testing from synthetic and mine effluents

Analgesic anti-inflammatory action of pfaffia paniculata (Martius) Kuntze

The alcoholic extract of pfaffia paniculata dried roots was studied for analgesic antiinflammatory activity in the rat paw oedema test, writhing test, hot plate test and increased vascular permeability. Pfaffia paniculata inhibited the carrageenin-induced rat paw oedema and increased vascular permeability and showed analgesic activity on inflammatory pain but not on noniinflammatory pain. Moreover the extract was devoid of local irritant action

Paradoxical effect of neuroleptic drugs on prolactin secretion by rat pituitary cell cultures

Several antipsychotic drugs reverse the dopamine-induced inhibition of prolactin release by rat pituitary cell cultures. Paradoxically, at high doses and without dopamine, antipsychotic drugs can also inhibit prolactin secretion. The mechanism underlying this phenomenon is unclear. Some evidence suggests that these drugs have an agonistic action. We sought to verify whether clozapine and fluphenazine, at doses higher than those reversing dopamine-induced inhibition of prolactin secretion in vitro, show this paradoxical effect and eventually a partial agonistic action. Both antipsychotics inhibited prolactin secretion, clozapine at doses starting from 10(-6) M and fluphenazine from 10(-7) M. Haloperidol reversed clozapine-induced prolactin inhibition but left fluphenazine-induced inhibition unchanged. These in vitro findings suggest that clozapine has a partial agonistic action on dopaminergic receptors but fluphenazine does not

[The biological and electrophysiological parameters in the rat chronically treated with Lobelia inflata L].

In this paper we have studied the rat under chronic treatment with Lobeline sulphate ip. For a three week period we have recorded, once a week, weight, rectal temperature, tail-flick, motor coordination and general activity in a one-arm radial maze and in a Boissier-Simon table. At the end of the third week surface (SEEG) and deep (DEEG) EEG were recorded both from treated and control animals. The findings are: 1) no changes was observed in weight, rectal temperature, tail-flick and motor coordination; 2) the treated rats showed an increased general activity both in a one-arm radial maze and in the Boissier-Simon table; 3) the EEG effects were analyzed and quantified, by means of Fast Fourier transform, as total power and as power in preselected bands of frequency. The lobeline sulphate seems to produce both in SEEG and hippocampus a shift toward low frequencies and in amygdala a drift toward high frequencies

ANTIINFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF PFAFFIA PANICULATA (MARTIUS) KUNTZE AND PFAFFIA STENOPHYLLA (SPRENGEL) STUCHL

Ethanolic extracts of Pfaffia paniculata and Pfaffia stenophylla have been tested for their possible anti-inflammatory activity in rats and mice. Both the extracts showed to inhibit the carrageenin-induced oedema in rats and the acetic acid-induced writhing in mice at doses devoid of behavioural effects

Effects of Panax ginseng and Ginkgo biloba on in vitro prolactin secretion

The extracts of Ginkgo biloba and Panax giniseng inhibited the prolactin release in rat cultured pituitary cells. The inhibition was antagonized by haloperidol thus suggesting that the two drugs interact with dopaminergic receptors in pituitary cells

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CALLUNA VULGARIS

Antimicrobial activity of several (aqueous, ethanolic, ethereal) extracts of Calluna vulgaris aerial parts were studied in vitro, in camparison with some of its pure compounds (arbutin, hydroquinone, ursolic acid), against clinically-isolated bacteria and yeasts. Only aqueous extract was active in that inhibited the growth of some microorganisms (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, C. albicans, C. neoformans). Among pure compounds ursolic acid markedly inhibited the growth of S. aureus

Evaluation of ocular permeation enhancers: In vitro effects on corneal transport of four beta-blockers, and in vitro/ in vivo toxic activity

The efficacy and toxicity of some ocular penetration enhancers (benzalkonium chloride, EDTA, non-ionic surfactants, surface-active heteroglycosides and bile salts) was investigated in vitro, using isolated rabbit corneas in comparison with four beta-blocking agents, chosen in order of increasing lipophilicity: atenolol (AT), timolol (TM), levobunolol (LB) and betaxolol (EX). The increased corneal hydration induced by the enhancers was taken as an index of cellular and tissue damage; the ocular irritancy of the agents was also tested in rabbits in vivo. In the absence of enhancers, the apparent corneal permeability coefficients of the reference substances was in the order AT congruent to TM < LB greater than or equal to BX. The study suggests that some agents (in particular, polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers and bile salts) are effective and safe penetration promoters for AT and TM. Their apparent safety at the tested concentrations was confirmed by their failure to increase the corneal hydration level beyond the 'normal' value, and by their lack of irritant effect in vivo, as evidenced by a Draize test

Twenty-years experience with de novo metastatic breast cancer

Although new treatments have been widely studied to improve the survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer (BC), prognosis continues to be poor with an average survival time no longer than 3 years. We carried on a population-based study with the purpose of evaluating the outcome of metastatic breast cancer in the province of Modena from 1990 to 2009. We examined the Modena Cancer Registry and evaluated the 5-year overall survival (OS) of women diagnosed with a de novo metastatic breast cancer between 1990 and 2009, defining 5 periods of 4 years each. After a median follow-up time of 29 months, the 5-year OS was 11% for years 1990-1993, 15% for years 1994-1997, 12% for years 1998-2001, 20% for years 2002-2005 and 29% for years 2006-2009 (p = 0.012). Overall, although no OS differences were noted in the first decade analyzed, a real advantage has been shown in the last two cohorts. In a multivariate analysis, the 5-year OS was significantly increased only for hormone receptor positive and HER2+ tumors, whereas chemotherapy treatments were not significant independent predictors of survival in "de novo" metastatic BC (p = 0.08). Our analysis confirms that the prognosis of de novo metastatic breast cancer has improved overtime, particularly in the last decade. Trastuzumab, LH-RH analogues and aromatase inhibitors have determined a significant clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness in metastatic breast cancer treatment