Acute myelogenous leukemia presenting as diabetes insipidus

Central diabetes insipidus, is a syndrome characterized by the excretion of abnormally elevated volumes of diluted urine, due to the diminution of reabsorption of water in the collecting ducts, induced by the diminution of production of antidiuretic hormone. The involvement of the central nervous system in the leukaemia is frequent, but the association leukaemia/diabetes insipidus is rare. We describe a clinical case of a 40 years old female, whose first manifestation of leukaemia was diabetes insipidus; we discuss the difficulties of diagnosis, the particularities of the case and its evolution

Aberrant p15, p16, p53, and DAPK Gene Methylation in Myelomagenesis: Clinical and Prognostic Implications

BACKGROUND: Aberrant DNA methylation is considered a crucial mechanism in the pathogenesis of monoclonal gammopathies. We aimed to investigate the contribution of hypermethylation of 4 tumor suppressor genes to the multistep process of myelomagenesis. METHODS: The methylation status of p15, p16, p53, and DAPK genes was evaluated in bone marrow samples from 94 patients at diagnosis: monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS) (n = 48), smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) (n = 8) and symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM) (n = 38), and from 8 healthy controls by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 63% of patients with MM and 39% of patients with MGUS presented at least 1 hypermethylated gene (P < .05). No aberrant methylation was detected in normal bone marrow. The frequency of methylation for individual genes in patients with MGUS, SMM, and MM was p15, 15%, 50%, 21%; p16, 15%, 13%, 32%; p53, 2%, 12,5%, 5%, and DAPK, 19%, 25%, 39%, respectively (P < .05). No correlation was found between aberrant methylation and immunophenotypic markers, cytogenetic features, progression-free survival, and overall survival in patients with MM. CONCLUSIONS: The current study supports a relevant role for p15, p16, and DAPK hypermethylation in the genesis of the plasma cell neoplasm. DAPK hypermethylation also might be an important step in the progression from MGUS to MM.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Molecular and cytogenetic characterization of expanded B-cell clones from multiclonal versus monoclonal B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders

Chronic antigen-stimulation has been recurrently involved in the earlier stages of monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders. The expansion of two or more B-cell clones has frequently been reported in individuals with these conditions; potentially, such coexisting clones have a greater probability of interaction with common immunological determinants. Here, we analyzed the B-cell receptor repertoire and molecular profile, as well as the phenotypic, cytogenetic and hematologic features, of 228 chronic lymphocytic leukemia-like and non-chronic lymphocytic leukemia-like clones comparing multiclonal (n=85 clones from 41 cases) versus monoclonal (n=143 clones) monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders. The B-cell receptor of B-cell clones from multiclonal cases showed a slightly higher degree of HCDR3 homology than B-cell clones from mono clonal cases, in association with unique hematologic (e.g. lower B-lymphocyte counts) and cytogenetic (e.g. lower frequency of cytogenetically altered clones) features usually related to earlier stages of the disease. Moreover, a subgroup of coexisting B-cell clones from individual multiclonal cases which were found to be phylogenetically related showed unique molecular and cytogenetic features: they more frequently shared IGHV3 gene usage, shorter HCDR3 sequences with a greater proportion of IGHV mutations and del(13q14.3), than other unrelated B-cell clones. These results would support the antigen-driven nature of such multiclonal B-cell expansions, with potential involvement of multiple antigens/epitopes

Gag-specific CD4+ T-cell frequency is inversely correlated with proviral load and directly correlated with immune activation in infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) but not HIV-1

Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection, unlike HIV-1 infection, is normally characterized by low rates of CD4 depletion and low-to-undetectable viremia. We found that the frequency of Gag-specific CD4(+) T cells featured positive correlations with the expression of markers of CD4 activation and a negative correlation with peripheral blood mononuclear cell-associated proviral load in infection with HIV-2, in contrast with HIV-1. Moreover, HIV-2-infected individuals exhibited a greater ability to respond to HIV-1 Gag peptides (heterologous responses). Our data suggest a potential link between HIV-2-specific CD4 responses, immune activation, and viral control, which may in turn relate to the better prognosis associated with HIV-2 infection.This work was supported by grants from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and by Programa Operacional Ciência e Inovação 2010 (POCI 2010) to A.E.S. R.B.F., C.S.C., A.S.A., and R.S.S. received scholarships from FCT cofinanced by POCI 2010 and FSE

Antonio Gramsci’s impact on critical pedagogy

This paper provides an account of Antonio Gramsci’s impact on the area of critical pedagogy. It indicates the Gramscian influence on the thinking of major exponents of the field. It foregrounds Gramsci's ideas and then indicates how they have been taken up by a selection of critical pedagogy exponents who were chosen on the strength of their identification and engagement with Gramsci's ideas, some of them even having written entire essays on Gramsci. The essay concludes with a discussion concerning an aspect of Gramsci's concerns, the question of powerful knowledge, which, in the present author's view, provides a formidable challenge to critical pedagogues.peer-reviewe

Vestígios indígenas na cartografia do sertão da América portuguesa

During the first three centuries of colonization of Portuguese America, indigenous cartography helped the outlanders to decipher the space that they conventionally named sertão (backcountry). The colonizers in the Captaincy of São Paulo (expeditions, soldiers, settlers, bureaucrats, merchants, and adventurers) mapped out the hinterland with utmost care. However, because the territory was a colony, such agents reorganized that space and classified the ethnic groups into distinct, fixed and homogenous categories. As the Portuguese Crown moved ahead with its conquest, the indigenous groups were gradually wiped out from the maps and their territories expropriated.Nos três primeiros séculos da colonização da América portuguesa, a cartografia indígena auxiliou no processo de decodificação do espaço convencionalmente chamado "sertão" pelos adventícios. Agentes de colonização da capitania de São Paulo (bandeirantes, soldados, povoadores, burocratas, comerciantes e aventureiros) mapearam cuidadosamente os territórios interiores. A situação colonial, entretanto, impôs uma nova orientação do espaço, bem como classificou os grupos étnicos em categorias distintas, fixas e homogêneas. Nesse processo de conquista da Coroa portuguesa, os grupos indígenas foram gradativamente eclipsados dos mapas, e seus territórios, expropriados