Subtidal macrozoobenthos communities from northern Chile during and post El Niño 1997–1998

Despite a large amount of climatic and oceanographic information dealing with the recurring climate phenomenon El Niño (EN) and its well known impact on diversity of marine benthic communities, most published data are rather descriptive and consequently our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and processes that drive community structure during EN are still very scarce. In this study, we address two questions on the effects of EN on macrozoobenthic communities: (1) how does EN affect species diversity of the communities in northern Chile? and (2) is EN a phenomenon that restarts community assembling processes by affecting species interactions in northern Chile? To answer these questions, we compared species diversity and co-occurrence patterns of soft-bottoms macrozoobenthos communities from the continental shelf off northern Chile during (March 1998) and after (September 1998) the strong EN event 1997–1998. The methods used varied from species diversity and species co-occurrence analyses to multivariate ordination methods. Our results indicate that EN positively affects diversity of macrozoobenthos communities in the study area, increasing the species richness and diversity and decreasing the species dominance. EN represents a strong disturbance that affects species interactions that rule the species assembling processes in shallow-water, sea-bottom environments

Primary Extracranial Meningiomas: An Analysis of 146 Cases

Primary extracranial meningiomas are rare neoplasms, frequently misdiagnosed, resulting in inappropriate clinical management. To date, a large clinicopathologic study has not been reported. One hundred and forty-six cases diagnosed between 1970 and 1999 were retrieved from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Histologic features were reviewed, immunohistochemistry analysis was performed (n = 85), and patient follow-up was obtained (n = 110). The patients included 74 (50.7%) females and 72 (49.3%) males. Tumors of the skin were much more common in males than females (1.7:1). There was an overall mean age at presentation of 42.4 years, with a range of 0.3–88 years. The overall mean age at presentation was significantly younger for skin primaries (36.2 years) than for ear (50.1 years) and nasal cavity (47.1 years) primaries. Symptoms were in general non-specific and reflected the anatomic site of involvement, affecting the following areas in order of frequency: scalp skin (40.4%), ear and temporal bone (26%), and sinonasal tract (24%). The tumors ranged in size from 0.5 up to 8 cm, with a mean size of 2.3 cm. Histologically, the majority of tumors were meningothelial (77.4%), followed by atypical (7.5%), psammomatous (4.1%) and anaplastic (2.7%). Psammoma bodies were present in 45 tumors (30.8%), and bone invasion in 31 (21.2%) of tumors. The vast majority were WHO Grade I tumors (87.7%), followed by Grade II (9.6%) and Grade III (2.7%) tumors. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells labeled for EMA (76%; 61/80), S-100 protein (19%; 15/78), CK 7 (22%; 12/55), and while there was ki-67 labeling in 27% (21/78), <3% of cells were positive. The differential diagnosis included a number of mesenchymal and epithelial tumors (paraganglioma, schwannoma, carcinoma, melanoma, neuroendocrine adenoma of the middle ear), depending on the anatomic site of involvement. Treatment and follow-up was available in 110 patients: Biopsy, local excision, or wide excision was employed. Follow-up time ranged from 1 month to 32 years, with an average of 14.5 years. Recurrences were noted in 26 (23.6%) patients, who were further managed by additional surgery. At last follow-up, recurrent disease was persistent in 15 patients (mean, 7.7 years): 13 patients were dead (died with disease) and two were alive; the remaining patients were disease free (alive 60, mean 19.0 years, dead 35, mean 9.6 years). There is no statistically significant difference in 5-year survival rates by site: ear and temporal bone: 83.3%; nasal cavity: 81.8%; scalp skin: 78.5%; other sites: 65.5% (P = 0.155). Meningiomas can present in a wide variety of sites, especially within the head and neck region. They behave as slow-growing neoplasms with a good prognosis, with longest survival associated with younger age, and complete resection. Awareness of this diagnosis in an unexpected location will help to avoid potential difficulties associated with the diagnosis and management of these tumors

Anti-inflammatory activity of 5-O-demethylnobiletin, a polymethoxyflavone isolated from Sideritis tragoriganum

We have studied the effect of 5- O-demethylnobiletin ( 1) on both the inflammation of mouse ears induced by repeated application of 12- O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) and the acute mouse paw oedemas induced by carrageenan and phospholipase A (2) (PLA (2)), and determined its activity on 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) and elastase release/activity. Compound 1 reduced the oedema formation, cell infiltration, and tissue damage in the inflammation induced by TPA in mouse ears, along with the acute oedema induced by carrageenan in mouse paws and the acute PLA (2)-induced oedema in mouse paws. The flavone inhibited leukotriene B (4) formation in rat neutrophils and elastase release in human neutrophils, but did not reduce the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. These experimental results suggest that 1 may act through a direct inhibition of 5-LOX, without affecting the expression of COX-2

Inhibition of the pro-inflammatory mediators’ production and anti-inflammatory effect of the iridoid scrovalentinoside

We have studied scrovalentinoside, an iridoid with anti-inflammatory properties isolated from Scrophularia auriculata ssp. pseudoauriculata, as an anti-inflammatory agent in different experimental models of delayed-type hypersensitivity. We found that scrovalentinoside reduced the edema induced by oxazolone at 0.5 mg/ear and sheep red blood cells at 10 mg/kg. The observed effect occurred during the last phase or inflammatory response; during the earlier phase or induction of the delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, no significant activity was noted. Thus, scrovalentinoside reduced both the edema and cell infiltration in vivo and reduced lymphocyte proliferation in vitro, affecting the cycle principally during the first 48 h. Whereas cells stimulated with phytohemagglutinin changed from the G 0/G 1 phase to the S and G 2/M phases, when these same cells were treated with scrovalentinoside (100 μM), they remained in the G 0/G 1 phase. Finally, scrovalentinoside inhibited the production of the pro-inflammatory mediators’ TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, LTB 4, and NO, but had no effect on the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10

Comparative Metabolic Profiling Of Paediatric Ependymoma, Medulloblastoma And Pilocytic Astrocytoma.

Brain tumours are the most common solid tumours in children and a major cause of childhood mortality. The most common paediatric brain tumours include ependymomas, cerebellar astrocytomas and medulloblastomas. These brain tumours are highly heterogeneous regarding their histology, prognosis and therapeutic response. Subtle biochemical changes can be detected in intact tissues by High-Resolution Proton Magnetic Angle Spinning Spectroscopy (HR-MAS) revealing the status of tumour microheterogeneity and metabolic alterations before they are morphologically detectable. In this study, we present metabolic profiles by HR-MAS of 20 intact tissue samples from paediatric brain tumours. Tumour types include ependymoma, medulloblastoma and pilocytic astrocytoma. The metabolic characterization of paediatric brain tumour tissue by HR-MAS spectroscopy provided differential patterns for these tumours. The metabolic composition of the tumour tissue was highly consistent with previous in vivo and ex vivo studies. Some resonances detected in this work and not previously observed by in vivo spectroscopy also show potential in determining tumour type and grade (fatty acids, phenylalanine, glutamate). Overall, this work suggests that the additional information obtained by NMR metabolic profiling applied to tissue from paediatric brain tumours may be useful for assessing tumour grade and determining optimum treatment strategies.26941-

Molecular Progression in Unusual Recurrent Non-Pediatric Intracranial Clear Cell Meningioma

We report a case of a recurrent clear cell meningioma (CCM) in the frontal lobe of the brain of a 67-year-old man. The patient developed three recurrences: at 3, 10, and 12 years after his initial surgery. Histopathology observations revealed a grade 2 CCM with positivity for vimentin and epithelial membrane antigen. Expression of E-cadherin was positive only in the primary tumour and in the first available recurrence. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses demonstrated 1p and 14q deletions within the last recurrence. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification studies revealed a heterozygous partial NF2 gene deletion, which progressed to total loss in the last recurrence. The last recurrence showed homozygous deletions in CDKN2A and CDKN2B. The RASSF1 gene was hypermethylated during tumour evolution. In this report, we show the genetic alterations of a primary ccm and its recurrences to elucidate their relationships with the changes involved in the progression of this rare neoplasm