Kopsuarteri trombemboolia tänapäevane radioloogiline diagnostika

Kliinilise läbivaatuse ja laboratoorse­te analüüside kõrval on piltdiagnostika suure tähtsusega kopsuarteri trombem­boolia (KATE) diagnoosimisel. Kaua aega on KATE diagnoosimise juhtivaks radioloogiliseks meetodiks olnud kop­sude ventilatsiooni/perfusiooni (V/P) stsintigraafia ja kopsuarterite angio­graafia. Koos mitmekihi-kompuuterto­mograafide laialdase levikuga on kop­suarterite kompuutertomograafi line angiograafia (KTA) muutunud tänu oma suurele tundlikkusele ja spetsiifi lisusele kuldstandardiks kopsuarteri trombem­boolia visualiseerimisel. Meetod või­maldab visualiseerida trombimasse nii kopsuarteri peaharudes kui ka kopsuar­terite subsegmentaarharudes. Artiklis on tutvustatud KATE diagnoosimise nüüdisaegseid radioloogilisi meetodeid. Eesti Arst 2008; 87(10):802−81

Molecular Signature of Asthma-Enhanced Sensitivity to CuO Nanoparticle Aerosols from 3D Cell Model

More than 5% of any population suffers from asthma, and there are indications that these individuals are more sensitive to nanoparticle aerosols than the healthy population. We used an air-liquid interface model of inhalation exposure to investigate global transcriptomic responses in reconstituted three-dimensional airway epithelia of healthy and asthmatic subjects exposed to pristine (nCuO) and carboxylated (nCuO(COOH)) copper oxide nanoparticle aerosols. A dose-dependent increase in cytotoxicity (highest in asthmatic donor cells) and pro-inflammatory signaling within 24 h confirmed the reliability and sensitivity of the system to detect acute inhalation toxicity. Gene expression changes between nanoparticle-exposed versus air-exposed cells were investigated. Hierarchical clustering based on the expression profiles of all differentially expressed genes (DEGs), cell-death-associated DEGs (567 genes), or a subset of 48 highly overlapping DEGs categorized all samples according to "exposure severity", wherein nanoparticle surface chemistry and asthma are incorporated into the dose-response axis. For example, asthmatics exposed to low and medium dose nCuO clustered with healthy donor cells exposed to medium and high dose nCuO, respectively. Of note, a set of genes with high relevance to mucociliary clearance were observed to distinctly differentiate asthmatic and healthy donor cells. These genes also responded differently to nCuO and nCuO(COOH) nanoparticles. Additionally, because response to transition-metal nanoparticles was a highly enriched Gene Ontology term (FDR 8 X 10(-13)) from the subset of 48 highly overlapping DEGs, these genes may represent biomarkers to a potentially large variety of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles.Peer reviewe

AXIN2-related oligodontia-colorectal cancer syndrome with cleft palate as a possible new feature

Background: Pathogenic variants in AXIN2 have been associated with tooth agenesis, colon polyps, and colon cancer. Given the rare nature of this phenotype, we set out to collect additional genotypic and phenotypic information. Methods: Data were collected via a structured questionnaire. Sequencing was performed in these patients mostly due to diagnostic purpose. A little more than half of the AXIN2 variant carriers were identified by NGS; other six were family members. Results: Here, we report 13 individuals with a heterozygous AXIN2 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant who have a variable expression of oligodontia-colorectal cancer syndrome (OMIM 608615) or oligodontia-cancer predisposition syndrome (ORPHA 300576). Three individuals from one family also had cleft palate, which might represent a new clinical feature of AXIN2 phenotype, also given the fact that AXIN2 polymorphisms have been found in association with oral clefting in population studies. AXIN2 has already been added to multigene cancer panel tests; further research should be conducted to determine whether it should be added to cleft lip/palate multigene panels. Conclusion: More clarity about oligodontia-colorectal cancer syndrome, about the variable expression, and associated cancer risks is needed to improve clinical management and to establish guidelines for surveillance. We collected information about the surveillance that was advised, which might support clinical management of these patients.</p

Toxicogenomic Profiling of 28 Nanomaterials in Mouse Airways

Toxicogenomics opens novel opportunities for hazard assessment by utilizing computational methods to map molecular events and biological processes. In this study, the transcriptomic and immunopathological changes associated with airway exposure to a total of 28 engineered nanomaterials (ENM) are investigated. The ENM are selected to have different core (Ag, Au, TiO2, CuO, nanodiamond, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes) and surface chemistries (COOH, NH2, or polyethylene glycosylation (PEG)). Additionally, ENM with variations in either size (Au) or shape (TiO2) are included. Mice are exposed to 10 mu g of ENM by oropharyngeal aspiration for 4 consecutive days, followed by extensive histological/cytological analyses and transcriptomic characterization of lung tissue. The results demonstrate that transcriptomic alterations are correlated with the inflammatory cell infiltrate in the lungs. Surface modification has varying effects on the airways with amination rendering the strongest inflammatory response, while PEGylation suppresses toxicity. However, toxicological responses are also dependent on ENM core chemistry. In addition to ENM-specific transcriptional changes, a subset of 50 shared differentially expressed genes is also highlighted that cluster these ENM according to their toxicity. This study provides the largest in vivo data set currently available and as such provides valuable information to be utilized in developing predictive models for ENM toxicity.Peer reviewe

Hiilinanoputkien aiheuttamien terveysvaikutusten karakterisointi systeemitoksikologian avulla

Hiilinanoputket ovat monikäyttöisiä teollisia nanomateriaaleja, jotka soveltuvat lukuisiin teollisuusaloihin. Hiilinanoputkien asbestin kaltainen muoto on kuitenkin nostanut esiin kysymyksiä niiden turvallisuudesta.1

FungalTraits:A user-friendly traits database of fungi and fungus-like stramenopiles

The cryptic lifestyle of most fungi necessitates molecular identification of the guild in environmental studies. Over the past decades, rapid development and affordability of molecular tools have tremendously improved insights of the fungal diversity in all ecosystems and habitats. Yet, in spite of the progress of molecular methods, knowledge about functional properties of the fungal taxa is vague and interpretation of environmental studies in an ecologically meaningful manner remains challenging. In order to facilitate functional assignments and ecological interpretation of environmental studies we introduce a user friendly traits and character database FungalTraits operating at genus and species hypothesis levels. Combining the information from previous efforts such as FUNGuild and Fun(Fun) together with involvement of expert knowledge, we reannotated 10,210 and 151 fungal and Stramenopila genera, respectively. This resulted in a stand-alone spreadsheet dataset covering 17 lifestyle related traits of fungal and Stramenopila genera, designed for rapid functional assignments of environmental studies. In order to assign the trait states to fungal species hypotheses, the scientific community of experts manually categorised and assigned available trait information to 697,413 fungal ITS sequences. On the basis of those sequences we were able to summarise trait and host information into 92,623 fungal species hypotheses at 1% dissimilarity threshold

Inhalation of rod-like carbon nanotubes causes unconventional allergic airway inflammation

Peer reviewe