Bilateral ovarian teratoma complicated with carcinosarcoma in a 68 year old woman: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Composing of less than 1% of all ovarian cancers, immature teratoma is a malignancy that mainly affects the young, and they present with advanced disease. The treatment of immature teratoma is conservative primary surgery usually involving unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy followed by combination chemotherapy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Here we present a case of a 68 year old woman with bilateral ovarian teratoma complicated with carcinosarcoma. The patient was diagnosed as FIGO stage IIIC. She underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval cytoreduction followed by optimal cytoreduction. The post operative management strategies and gynaecological follow up studies revealed no evidence of regional or distant metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Thus the choice of initial treatment should be decided in a selective fashion depending on various prognostic factors in order to increase the survival of the patients.</p

Modulatory and regenerative potential of transplanted bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells on rifampicin-induced kidney toxicity

Anti-tuberculosis agent rifampicin is extensively used for its effectiveness. Possible complications of tuberculosis and prolonged rifampicin treatment include kidney damage; these conditions can lead to reduced efficiency of the affected kidney and consequently to other diseases. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) can be used in conjunction with rifampicin to avert kidney damage; because of its regenerative and differentiating potentials into kidney cells. This research was designed to assess the modulatory and regenerative potentials of MSCs in averting kidney damage due to rifampicin-induced kidney toxicity in Wistar rats and their progenies. BMMSCs used in this research were characterized according to the guidelines of International Society for Cellular Therapy

A low-cost HPV immunochromatographic assay to detect high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Objective To evaluate the reproducibility and accuracy of the HPV16/18-E6 test. Methods The study population was comprised of 448 women with a previously abnormal Pap who were referred to the Barretos Cancer Hospital (Brazil) for diagnosis and treatment. Two cervical samples were collected immediately before colposcopy, one for the hr-HPV-DNA test and cytology and the other for the HPV16/18-E6 test using high-affinity monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Women with a histologic diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or 3 were considered to be positive cases. Different strategies using a combination of screening methods (HPV-DNA) and triage tests (cytology and HPV16/18-E6) were also examined and compared. Results The HPV16/18-E6 test exhibited a lower positivity rate compared with the HPV-DNA test (19.0% vs. 29.3%, p<0.001) and a moderate/high agreement (kappa = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.60-0.75). It also exhibited a significantly lower sensitivity for CIN2+ and CIN3+ detection compared to the HPV-DNA test and a significantly higher specificity. The HPV16/18-E6 test was no different from cytology in terms of sensitivity, but it exhibited a significantly higher specificity in comparison to ASCH+. A triage test after HPV-DNA detection using the HPV16/18-E6 test exhibited a significantly higher specificity compared with a triage test of ASCH+ to CIN2+ (91.8% vs. 87.4%, p = 0.04) and CIN3+ (88.6% vs. 84.0%, p = 0.05). Conclusion The HPV16/18-E6 test exhibited moderate/high agreement with the HPV-DNA test but lower sensitivity and higher specificity for the detection of CIN2+ and CIN3+. In addition, its performance was quite similar to cytology, but because of the structural design addressed for the detection of HPV16/18-E6 protein, the test can miss some CIN2/3+ lesions caused by other high-risk HPV types.Cancer Prevention Department, Center for the Researcher Support and Pathology Department of the Barretos Cancer Hospital. This study was supported by CNPq 573799/2008-3 and FAPESP 2008/57889-1info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Leptospira species and serovars identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry after database implementation

Background: Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonotic disease of worldwide distribution, endemic in Europe, has been recognized as an important emerging infectious disease, though yet it is mostly a neglected disease which imparts its greatest burden on impoverished populations from developing countries. Leptospirosis is caused by the infection with any of the more than 230 serovars of pathogenic Leptospira sp. In this study we aimed to implement the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) database currently available in our laboratory with Leptospira reference pathogenic (L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri, L. noguchii), intermediate (L. fainei) and saprophytic (L. biflexa) strains of our collection in order to evaluate its possible application to the diagnosis of leptospirosis and to the typing of strains. This was done with the goal of understanding whether this methodology could be used as a tool for the identification of Leptospira strains, not only at species level for diagnostic purposes, but also at serovar level for epidemiological purposes, overcoming the limits of serological and molecular conventional methods. Twenty Leptospira reference strains were analysed by MALDI-TOF MS. Statistical analysis of the protein spectra was performed by ClinProTools software. Results: The spectra obtained by the analysis of the reference strains tested were grouped into 6 main classes corresponding to the species analysed, highlighting species-specific protein profiles. Moreover, the statistical analysis of the spectra identified discriminatory peaks to recognize Leptospira strains also at serovar level extending previously published data. Conclusions: In conclusion, we confirmed that MALDI-TOF MS could be a powerful tool for research and diagnostic in the field of leptospirosis with broad applications ranging from the detection and identification of pathogenic leptospires for diagnostic purposes to the typing of pathogenic and non-pathogenic leptospires for epidemiological purposes in order to enrich our knowledge about the epidemiology of the infection in different areas and generate control strategies

ISOLATION, SCREENING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POTENT MARINE STREPTOMYCES SP. PM 105 AGAINST ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT PATHOGENS

 Objectives: The present study aims to screen and isolate a promising strain of actinobacteria for the development of new antibiotic to fight againstlife-threatening infectious diseases.Methods: A total of 59 marine samples were collected from various marine ecosystem of India. About 242 actinobacterial strains were isolatedby using starch casein agar medium. Preliminary screening of actinobacteria against eight antibiotic resistant pathogens was done using agar plugand cross streak method. Secondary screening was performed by well diffusion method. The potential actinobacteria were selected for bioactivemetabolites production and it was partially purified by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Further, it was morphologically and physiologically characterized.Results: In preliminary screening, 18 actinobacterial strains were selected for their antibacterial activity against eight drug resistant pathogensadopting agar plug and cross streak method. The most promising strain PM105 was selected in secondary screening by performing agar well diffusionmethod. Actinobacterial strain PM105 showed most significant activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative antibiotic resistant pathogenswith the concentration of 12.5 μg/ml. The maximum zone of inhibition was observed against three Gram-negative bacteria, such as Klebsiellapneumoniae (18.6±0.57), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.5±0.57) and Escherichia coli (18.4±0.57). Based on the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics, potential strain PM105 was tentatively identified as Streptomces sp. Active compound was separated by TLC with Rf value of 0.7, andanalyzed by HPLC, a major peak was observed at retention time of 4.779 minutes.Conclusion: The above findings revealed that antibacterial potential of actinobacteria from the marine sediment of India.Keywords: Marine sources, Actinobacteria, Antibiotic resistant pathogens, Bioactive metabolites, High-performance liquid chromatography