One Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) - a new method for lymph node staging in colorectal carcinomas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Accurate histopathological evaluation of resected lymph nodes (LN) is essential for the reliable staging of colorectal carcinomas (CRC). With conventional sectioning and staining techniques usually only parts of the LN are examined which might lead to incorrect tumor staging. A molecular method called OSNA (One Step Nucleic Acid Amplification) may be suitable to determine the metastatic status of the complete LN and therefore improve staging.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>OSNA is based on a short homogenisation step and subsequent automated amplification of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) mRNA directly from the sample lysate, with result available in 30-40 minutes. In this study 184 frozen LN from 184 patients with CRC were investigated by both OSNA and histology (Haematoxylin & Eosin staining and CK19 immunohistochemistry), with half of the LN used for each method. Samples with discordant results were further analysed by RT-PCR for CK19 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The concordance rate between histology and OSNA was 95.7%. Three LN were histology+/OSNA- and 5 LN histology-/OSNA+. RT-PCR supported the OSNA result in 3 discordant cases, suggesting that metastases were exclusively located in either the tissue analysed by OSNA or the tissue used for histology. If these samples were excluded the concordance was 97.2%, the sensitivity 94.9%, and the specificity 97.9%. Three patients (3%) staged as UICC I or II by routine histopathology were upstaged as LN positive by OSNA. One of these patients developed distant metastases (DMS) during follow up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>OSNA is a new and reliable method for molecular staging of lymphatic metastases in CRC and enables the examination of whole LN. It can be applied as a rapid diagnostic tool to estimate tumour involvement in LN during the staging of CRC.</p

Influence of muscle fitness test performance on metabolic risk factors among adolescent girls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to examine the association between muscular fitness (MF), assessed by 2 components of Fitnessgram test battery, the Curl-Up and Push-Ups tests and the metabolic risk score among adolescent girls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 229 girls (aged 12-15 years old) comprised the sample of this study. Anthropometric data (height, body mass, waist circumference) were collected. Body mass index (BMI) was also calculated. Muscular strength was assessed taking into account the tests that comprised the FITNESSGRAM test battery, i.e. the curl-up and the push-up. Participants were then categorized in one of 3 categories according the number of tests in which they accomplished the scores that allow them to be classified in health or above health zone. The blood pressure [BP], fasting total cholesterol [TC], low density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDL-C], high density lipoprotein-cholesterol [HDL-C], triglycerides [TG], glucose, and a metabolic risk score (MRS) were also examined. Physical Activity Index (PAI) was obtained by questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Higher compliance with health-zone criteria (good in the 2 tests), adjusted for age and maturation, were positive and significantly (p ≤ 0.05) associated with height (r = 0.19) and PAI (r = 0.21), while a significant but negative association was found for BMI (r = -0.12); WC (r = -0.19); TC (r = -0.16); TG (r = -0.16); LDL (r = -0.16) and MRS (r = -0.16). Logistic regression showed that who were assigned to MF fittest group were less likely (OR = 0.27; p = 0.003) to be classified overweight/obese and less likely (OR = 0.26; p = 0.03) to be classified as having MRS. This last association was also found for those whom only performed 1 test under the health zone (OR = 0.23; p = 0.02).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data showed that low strength test performance was associated with increased risk for obesity and metabolic risk in adolescent girls even after adjustment for age and maturation.</p

Vigorous physical activity and vagal modulation in young adults

Background: Aerobic exercise leads to reduced sympathetic and increased cardiac vagal modulation, providing an antiarrhythmic effect. The optimal exercise intensity to promote this adaptation remains undefined. The aims of the present investigation were twofold. First, to examine differences in heart rate variability (HRV) measures in participants with different levels of objectively measured physical activity (PA). Second, to identify the characteristic of PA which most influences the cardiac autonomic nervous system (cANS) function in young adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional evaluation of 84 adults examining relationships between PA amount and intensities, measured by accelerometry, cANS function derived from HRV. Groups were created based on tertiles of PA and analysis of covariance was used to assess between-group differences in HRV. Stepwise regression analysis was used to determine the characteristic of PA, which best predicted vagal HRV indices. Results: There were significantly higher levels of vagal HRV indices in the most active group compared with the least active group. Regression analysis revealed that the number of bouts of vigorous PA undertaken was the best predictor of the vagal HRV indices assessed. Conclusion: This study suggests that vagal modulation is enhanced with high levels of PA and that it is the number of bouts of vigorous PA that is most closely associated with cANS function. © 2009 The European Society of Cardiology