Glycosylation of proteins in healthy and pathological human renal tissues

Cancer development is connected with improper glycosylation of proteins. There are alterations in synthesis and expression of sugar structures. These changes can be important not only at early steps of tumor development but also in next stages connected with cancer invasiveness and its ability to form metastases. Oligosaccharide structures of glycans in tumors deviate from normal cells. Particularly relatively increased degrees of branching and sialylation of N-glycans, enhanced presentation of short-chain mucin-type O-glycans with sialylation and alterations in the expression of blood group ABO and Lewis epitopes can be observed. The main aim of our study was to assess changes in glycosylation of proteins in healthy, intermediate and cancer renal tissues. The study was performed on tissues taken from 15 clinical patients. The relative amounts of sugar structures of proteins with molecular mass above 30 kDa were determined by ELISA test with biotinylated lectins highly specific to proper sugar antigens. Higher expresion of all examined structures was revealed in cancer tissues. Increased levels of sialic acid, fucose, T and Tn antigens, in comparison with healthy state, are characteristic alterations of cancers cell

Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome

Zespół przetrwałego pobudzenia seksualnego (PSAS) opisany po raz pierwszy w 2001 roku i zakwalifikowany do grupy zaburzeń pożądania jest czynnikiem zakłócającym funkcjonowanie kobiety i znacznie wpływającym na jakość jej życia. W niniejszej pracy na podstawie dostępnego piśmiennictwa omówiono stan wiedzy na temat etiologii, patofizjologii, rozpoznawania oraz obecne zalecenia dotyczące leczenia PSAS.Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome (PSAS) - described for the first time in 2001 and qualified as a desire disorder, an important factor interfering woman's functioning and significantly impairing her quality of life. In this review the authors present current state of knowledge on etiology, patophysiology, diagnosis and current therapy guidelines of PSAS

Penile fracture with associated urethral trauma — case report

Złamanie prącia jest rzadko spotykanym urazem narządów płciowych, który wymaga pilnego leczenia operacyjnego. W pracy przedstawiono analizę przypadku złamania prącia z towarzyszącym urazem cewki moczowej u 51-letniego mężczyzny. Leczenie operacyjne polegało na zszyciu pękniętej osłonki szwem ciągłym oraz zespoleniu cewki moczowej szwami pojedynczymi. Leczenie operacyjne złamania prącia daje dobre efekty czynnościowe.Penile fracture is rare genital injury that requires urgent surgical treatment. The authors described case report of penile fracture with an associated urethral trauma in 51-year old man. Surgical treatment consisted of suturing the cracked tunica albuginea using continuous suture and combining the urethra using single sutures. Surgical treatment of penile fracture gives good functional results

Chromium in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder

Introduction and objectives Many epidemiological and experimental studies report a strong role of chemical carcinogens in the etiology of bladder cancer. However, the involvement of heavy metals in tumourigenesis of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder has been poorly investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between chromium (Cr) and bladder cancer. Material and Methods Chromium concentration in two 36-sample series of bladder cancer tissue and sera from patients with this neoplasm were matched with those of a control group. The amount of trace elements in every tissue sample was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. This was correlated with tumour stage. Results While the median chromium concentration levels reached statistically higher values in the bladder cancer tissue, compared with the non-cancer tissue (99.632ng/g and 33.144ng/g, respectively; p<0.001), the median Cr levels in the sera of the patients with this carcinoma showed no statistical difference when compared to those of the control group (0.511μg/l and 0.710μg/l, respectively; p=0.408). The median levels of Cr in the bladder tissue, depending on the stage of the tumour, compared with the tissue without the neoplasm, observed the same relationship for both non-muscle invasive and muscle-invasive tumours (p<0.001 and p<0.01, respectively). Conclusions This study shows that patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder had higher tissue Cr levels than people without tumour, while no difference was found in the Cr serum levels between the two groups of patients under investigation

Sexual health - a real challenge for doctors

Zaburzenia seksualne, w tym zaburzenia erekcji (ED), stają się jednym z coraz istotniejszych problemów zarówno w praktyce specjalistycznej, jak i lekarza rodzinnego. Celem pracy była analiza postaw lekarzy różnych specjalizacji, wyrażonych jako częstość akceptacji lub odmowy zadania pytania na temat zaburzeń erekcji. W badaniu brali udział wybrani losowo lekarze pierwszego kontaktu, lekarze diabetolodzy i psychiatrzy oraz urolodzy i seksuolodzy jako grupa kontrolna. Wszystkich poproszono o zadanie pytania o występowanie ED 20 kolejnym mężczyznom powyżej 40. roku życia, zgłaszającym się po poradę, niezależnie od przyczyny wizyty. Łącznie 1013 lekarzy spośród 1353, którym zaproponowano udział w badaniu, albo od razu, albo po pewnym czasie rezygnowało z niego. Wypełnione ankiety zwróciło jedynie 340 lekarzy (25,12%). Odsetki odmów uczestnictwa w ankiecie były następujące: lekarze pierwszego kontaktu &#8212; 86,5%, diabetolodzy &#8212; 67,1%, psychiatrzy &#8212; 48,7%, seksuolodzy &#8212; 10,5% i urolodzy &#8212; 15,8%. Wnioski: 1. Prawie 3 na 4 lekarzy rodzinnych, diabetologów i psychiatrów pracujących w lecznictwie otwartym odmówiło wzięcia udziału w ankiecie na temat ED, deklarując tym samym niechęć do zadawania pytań związanych z problemami zdrowia seksualnego. 2. O problemy zdrowia seksualnego najczęściej nie chcieli pytać lekarze pierwszego kontaktu (86,5%), diabetolodzy (67,1%) oraz psychiatrzy (48,7%). 3. Konieczne jest uwzględnienie aspektów zdrowia seksualnego w działaniach edukacyjnych oraz stworzenie standardów postępowania zawierających przejrzyste wskazówki w postaci algorytmów postępowania w wypadku chorych z zaburzeniami funkcji seksualnych; działania te przyczynią się do przełamania niechęci lekarzy wobec problemów zdrowia seksualnego pacjenta. 4. Uzasadnione wydaje się również szersze uwzględnienie wiedzy z zakresu zdrowia seksualnego w kształceniu studentów medycyny.Erectile dysfunction (ED) and other sexual disorders are becoming more and more important for both specialists and general practitioners. The aim of this study was to assess the attitude of different specialists to asking questions about erectile dysfunction. The randomly selected primary care physicians, diabetologists, psychiatrists formed the study group. The control group consisted of urologists and sexologists. All doctors were to ask 20 consecutive men aged > 40 year old questions about ED, regardless the aim of their visit. Finally 1013 doctors out of 1353 who were asked to participate in this study withdrew at the very beginning or later. Filled in forms were returned by 340 doctors (25.12%). The percentages of withdrawal were as follows: primary care physicians - 86.5%, diabetologists - 67.1%, psychiatrists - 48.7%, sexologists - 10.5% and urologists - 15.8%. Final conclusions: 1. Almost three out of four general practitioners, diabetologists and psychiatrist working in outpatient clinics refused to participate in the study about ED, thus they showed they are unwilling to ask their patients about sexual health problems. 2. Primary care physicians were the most unwilling to ask about sexual health (86.5%), diabetologists - 67.1%, psychiatrists - 48.7%. 3. It is essential to include sexual health problems in education initiatives and to create clear guidelines for the management of patients with sexual disorders in the form of algorithms. Such undertaking can change the attitude of physicians to sexual health problems. 4. It is also reasonable to include problems of sexual health in the curriculums of medical academies

Reduced expression of E-cadherin and increased sialylation level in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Cancer cells are characterized by an aberrant increase in protein N-glycosylation and by disruption of E-cadherin-mediated adherens junctions. However, the relationship between alterations in N-glycosylation process and loss of E-cadherin adhesion in cancer remains unclear. The mechanisms of altered expression of adhesive glycoproteins in cancer cells have not been fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the expression of E-cadherin and sialyl Lewisa/x, NeuAcα2-3Gal, NeuAcα2-6Gal/GalNAc structures in the normal renal tissue and intermediate and cancerous tissues from patients with clear cell RCC. Moreover, we attempted to correlate the E-cadherin expression with some specific sugar residues of renal cancer tissue glycoproteins. The expression of E-cadherin was analysed using ELISA test and immunoblotting. Oligosaccharide structures and sialylation level were detected with ELISA test using specific biotinylated lectins or antibodies. A significant decrease of E-cadherin expression as well as a significant increase in sialylated oligosaccharides level in intermediate zone and renal cancer tissue in comparison to normal renal tissue are reported. Significant decrease in expression of cadherins and increase in sialylation of oligosaccharide structures in renal cancer tissue in comparison to normal renal tissue, and in renal cancer tissue in comparison to intermediate zone of renal tissue, are important for the future research concerning detection and quantification of cadherins and sialylated oligosaccharide structures in urine and cells of urinary sediment as possible non-invasive marker of early RCC