Accuracy of MSCT Coronary Angiography with 64 Row CT Scanner—Facing the Facts

Improvements in multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography of the coronary vessels have enabled the minimally invasive detection of coronary artery stenoses, while quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) is the accepted reference standard for evaluation thereof. Sixteen-slice MSCT showed promising diagnostic accuracy in detecting coronary artery stenoses haemodynamically and the subsequent introduction of 64-slice scanners promised excellent and fast results for coronary artery studies. This prompted us to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and the negative und positive predictive value of 64-slice MSCT in the detection of haemodynamically significant coronary artery stenoses

Gonococcal osteomyelitis in a pediatric patient with disseminated gonococcal infection: Implications for antimicrobial management

© 2020 The Authors We report a case of a female teenager with gonococcal septic arthritis of the right shoulder that also caused osteomyelitis of the humeral head. Infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a frequently diagnosed sexually transmitted infection in the sexually active teenage population and disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) is the most common systemic manifestation of acute gonorrhea. DGI commonly involves acute arthritis, tenosynovitis and dermatitis with less common complications of endocarditis, hepatitis and meningitis. In contrast, osteomyelitis has only rarely been reported as a result of gonococcal infection. Clinicians need to be aware of this unusual manifestation of DGI as a prolonged duration of antimicrobial treatment may be needed to assure complete resolution of this infection

Calibration of thickness-dependent k-factors for germanium X-ray lines to improve energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of SiGe layers in analytical transmission electron microscopy

We show that the accuracy of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy can be improved by analysing and comparing multiple lines from the same element. For each line, an effective k-factor can be defined that varies as a function of the intensity ratio of multiple lines (e.g. K/L) from the same element. This basically performs an internal self-consistency check in the quantification using differently absorbed X-ray lines, which is in principle equivalent to an absorption correction as a function of specimen thickness but has the practical advantage that the specimen thickness itself does not actually need to be measured

Reductions in serum IGF-1 during aging impair health span

In lower or simple species, such as worms and flies, disruption of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and the insulin signaling pathways has been shown to increase lifespan. In rodents, however, growth hormone (GH) regulates IGF-1 levels in serum and tissues and can modulate lifespan via/or independent of IGF- 1. Rodent models, where the GH/IGF-1 axis was ablated congenitally, show increased lifespan. However, in contrast to rodents where serum IGF-1 levels are high throughout life, in humans, serum IGF-1 peaks during puberty and declines thereafter during aging. Thus, animal models with congenital disruption of the GH/ IGF-1 axis are unable to clearly distinguish between developmental and age-related effects of GH/IGF-1 on health. To overcome this caveat, we developed an inducible liver IGF-1- deficient (iLID) mouse that allows temporal control of serum IGF- 1. Deletion of liver Igf -1 gene at one year of age reduced serum IGF-1 by 70% and dramatically impaired health span of the iLID mice. Reductions in serum IGF-1 were coupled with increased GH levels and increased basal STAT5B phosphorylation in livers of iLID mice. These changes were associated with increased liver weight, increased liver inflammation, increased oxidative stress in liver and muscle, and increased incidence of hepatic tumors. Lastly, despite elevations in serum GH, low levels of serum IGF-1 from 1 year of age compromised skeletal integrity and accelerated bone loss. We conclude that an intact GH/IGF-1 axis is essential to maintain health span and that elevated GH, even late in life, associates with increased pathology

Idiopathic sclerosing mesenteritis in paediatrics: Report of a successfully treated case and a review of literature

A 6 year old female with symptoms of small bowel obstruction underwent an exploratory laparotomy which revealed widespread evidence of inflammatory fibrotic adhesions involving the jejunal mesentery. In view of persistent growth failure, chronic anaemia, elevated acute phase reactants and imaging evidence of a diffuse progressive inflammatory process, the child was treated with corticosteroids and methotrexate with complete response. The literature on juvenile idiopathic sclerosing mesenteritis has been reviewed

Transient peak-strain matching partially recovers the age-impaired mechanoadaptive cortical bone response

Mechanoadaptation maintains bone mass and architecture; its failure underlies age-related decline in bone strength. It is unclear whether this is due to failure of osteocytes to sense strain, osteoblasts to form bone or insufficient mechanical stimulus. Mechanoadaptation can be restored to aged bone by surgical neurectomy, suggesting that changes in loading history can rescue mechanoadaptation. We use non-biased, whole-bone tibial analyses, along with characterisation of surface strains and ensuing mechanoadaptive responses in mice at a range of ages, to explore whether sufficient load magnitude can activate mechanoadaptation in aged bone. We find that younger mice adapt when imposed strains are lower than in mature and aged bone. Intriguingly, imposition of short-term, high magnitude loading effectively primes cortical but not trabecular bone of aged mice to respond. This response was regionally-matched to highest strains measured by digital image correlation and to osteocytic mechanoactivation. These data indicate that aged bone’s loading response can be partially recovered, non-invasively by transient, focal high strain regions. Our results indicate that old murine bone does respond to load when the loading is of sufficient magnitude, and bones’ age-related adaptation failure may be due to insufficient mechanical stimulus to trigger mechanoadaptation

A Bisphosphonate With a Low Hydroxyapatite Binding Affinity Prevents Bone Loss in Mice After Ovariectomy and Reverses Rapidly With Treatment Cessation

Bisphosphonates (BPs) are a mainstay of osteoporosis treatment; however, concerns about bone health based on oversuppression of remodeling remain. Long-term bone remodeling suppression adversely affects bone material properties with microdamage accumulation and reduced fracture toughness in animals and increases in matrix mineralization and atypical femur fractures in patients. Although a “drug holiday” from BPs to restore remodeling and improve bone quality seems reasonable, clinical BPs have long functional half-lives because of their high hydroxyapatite (HAP) binding affinities. This places a practical limit on the reversibility and effectiveness of a drug holiday. BPs with low HAP affinity and strong osteoclast inhibition potentially offer an alternative approach; their antiresorptive effect should reverse rapidly when dosing is discontinued. This study tested this concept using NE-58025, a BP with low HAP affinity and moderate osteoclast inhibition potential. Young adult female C57Bl/6 mice were ovariectomized (OVX) and treated with NE-58025, risedronate, or PBS vehicle for 3 months to test effectiveness in preventing long-term bone loss. Bone microarchitecture, histomorphometry, and whole-bone mechanical properties were assessed. To test reversibility, OVX mice were similarly treated for 3 months, treatment was stopped, and bone was assessed up to 3 months post-treatment. NE-58025 and RIS inhibited long-term OVX-induced bone loss, but NE-58025 antiresorptive effects were more pronounced. Withdrawing NE-58025 treatment led to the rapid onset of trabecular resorption with a 200% increase in osteoclast surface and bone loss within 1 month. Cessation of risedronate treatment did not lead to increases in resorption indices or bone loss. These results show that NE-58025 prevents OVX-induced bone loss, and its effects reverse quickly following cessation treatment in vivo. Low-HAP affinity BPs may have use as reversible, antiresorptive agents with a rapid on/off profile, which may be useful for maintaining bone health with long-term BP treatment

Specific Expression of Human Intelectin-1 in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma and Gastrointestinal Goblet Cells

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a fatal tumor. It is often hard to discriminate MPM from metastatic tumors of other types because currently, there are no reliable immunopathological markers for MPM. MPM is differentially diagnosed by some immunohistochemical tests on pathology specimens. In the present study, we investigated the expression of intelectin-1, a new mesothelioma marker, in normal tissues in the whole body and in many cancers, including MPM, by immunohistochemical analysis. We found that in normal tissues, human intelectin-1 was mainly secreted from gastrointestinal goblet cells along with mucus into the intestinal lumen, and it was also expressed, to a lesser extent, in mesothelial cells and urinary epithelial cells. Eighty-eight percent of epithelioid-type MPMs expressed intelectin-1, whereas sarcomatoid-type MPMs, biphasic MPMs, and poorly differentiated MPMs were rarely positive for intelectin-1. Intelectin-1 was not expressed in other cancers, except in mucus-producing adenocarcinoma. These results suggest that intelectin-1 is a better marker for epithelioid-type MPM than other mesothelioma markers because of its specificity and the simplicity of pathological assessment. Pleural intelectin-1 could be a useful diagnostic marker for MPM with applications in histopathological identification of MPM

Effect of tissue-harvesting site on yield of stem cells derived from adipose tissue: implications for cell-based therapies

The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of adipose tissue contains an abundant population of multipotent adipose-tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) that possess the capacity to differentiate into cells of the mesodermal lineage in vitro. For cell-based therapies, an advantageous approach would be to harvest these SVF cells and give them back to the patient within a single surgical procedure, thereby avoiding lengthy and costly in vitro culturing steps. However, this requires SVF-isolates to contain sufficient ASCs capable of differentiating into the desired cell lineage. We have investigated whether the yield and function of ASCs are affected by the anatomical sites most frequently used for harvesting adipose tissue: the abdomen and hip/thigh region. The frequency of ASCs in the SVF of adipose tissue from the abdomen and hip/thigh region was determined in limiting dilution and colony-forming unit (CFU) assays. The capacity of these ASCs to differentiate into the chondrogenic and osteogenic pathways was investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and (immuno)histochemistry. A significant difference (P = 0.0009) was seen in ASC frequency but not in the absolute number of nucleated cells between adipose tissue harvested from the abdomen (5.1 ± 1.1%, mean ± SEM) and hip/thigh region (1.2 ± 0.7%). However, within the CFUs derived from both tissues, the frequency of CFUs having osteogenic differentiation potential was the same. When cultured, homogeneous cell populations were obtained with similar growth kinetics and phenotype. No differences were detected in differentiation capacity between ASCs from both tissue-harvesting sites. We conclude that the yield of ASCs, but not the total amount of nucleated cells per volume or the ASC proliferation and differentiation capacities, are dependent on the tissue-harvesting site. The abdomen seems to be preferable to the hip/thigh region for harvesting adipose tissue, in particular when considering SVF cells for stem-cell-based therapies in one-step surgical procedures for skeletal tissue engineering