Placental Chorangiocarcinoma a Specific Histological Pattern of Uncertain Incidence and Clinical Impact: Systematic Review of the Literature

Chorangiocarcinoma is a very rare and misdiagnosed placental neoplasm. The unique morphologic features of the lesion distinguish it from other trophoblastic tumors and vascular abnormalities. We present a systematic review of the literature to provide clarity on chorangiocarcinoma entity and biology. A literature search was carried out in December 2022 using the keywords "Placental chorangiocarcinoma", "Chorangioma", "Placenta", and "Throphoblast proliferation". Articles published from 1988 to 2022 were obtained from Scopus, Google Scholar, and PUBMED. In our review, we examined maternal age, gestational age at the time of delivery, parity, type of pregnancy, placental weight, ultrasound features of the placenta, macroscopic examination and tumor size, microscopic examination, immunostaining, maternal beta-human chorionic gonadotropin, fetal and maternal outcome. Eight manuscripts were detected. They are all case reports. The macroscopic characteristics of the lesions were represented by the presence of a grey-yellow-white color well-demarcated round nodule. Microscopically, all the authors described typical aspects of malignancy as a high rate of mitosis, nuclear atypia and necrotic areas. In some cases, the presence of AE1/AE3 cytoplasmic positivity, p63 nuclear staining, and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (BHCG) were reported. A good fetal outcome was reported in all cases of newborns with normal birth weight, except one with fetal growth restriction. Maternal outcome was good in all cases except one with maternal lung metastasis three months after delivery. The clinical course has probably underestimated the real incidence of the pathology. Only greater knowledge of its histology and its clinical course will allow us to evaluate the real prevalence of the disease

Spectroscopic study of the HgMn star HD 49606: the quest for binarity, abundance stratifications and magnetic field

In this paper, we present a multi-instrument analysis of the mercury-manganese star HD 49606. New spectroscopic observations have been obtained by us with Catania Astrophysical Observatory Spectropolarimeter (CAOS@OAC) and High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher-North@Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (HARPS-N@TNG). Combining these observations with archive data coming from other instruments, we performed a comprehensive analysis of this star. We highlight the motion around the centre of mass of a binary system of SB1 type, and we calculate the fundamental parameters characterizing its orbit. We also speculate on the nature of the unseen component. From the fit of H β and H γ, we determined the effective temperature and gravity, while from a number of metal lines, we derive the rotational and microturbulent velocities. Regarding chemical composition, we found underabundances of helium, oxygen, magnesium, sulfur and nickel, solar composition for carbon and overabundances for all the other elements. In particular, mercury abundance is derived taking into account an isotopic mixture different from the terrestrial one. As to magnesium, silicon and phosphorus, we found a non-constant abundance with the optical depth, a result currently considered an evidence of stratification. Spectropolarimetric observations have been performed in the attempt to highlight the presence of a magnetic field, but no detection has been found

A METHOD TO CALIBRATE THE HIGH-RESOLUTION CATANIA ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY SPECTROPOLARIMETER

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Influence of solid lipid microparticle carriers on skin penetration of the sunscreen agent, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor

The objective of the study was to prepare lipid microparticles loaded with the sunscreen agent, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, to achieve decreased skin penetration of this UV filter. The microparticles were produced by the melt dispersion technique using tristearin as lipidic material and hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine as the surfactant. The obtained particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Rlease of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor from the particles was found to be slower than its dissolution rate. The influence of the lipid particles on percutaneous penetration was evaluated after ther introduction in a model topical formulation (emulsion). In-vitro measurements indicated that the release and diffusion of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor was decreased by 66.7-77.3% with the particle formulation. In-vivo human skin penetration was investigated by tape-stripping. The amount of sunscreen penetrating into the stratum corneum was greater for the emulsion containing the non-encapsulated 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (36.55% of the applied dose) compared with the formulation with the sunscreen-loaded microparticles (24.57% of the applied dose)

PREPARATION OF SOLVENT-FREE LIPID MICROPARTICLES AS SUSTAINED RELEASE SYSTEM FOR INHALATION

A solid-lipid microparticle system containing budesonide was prepared. The solid-lipid system was studied in terms of morphology, particle-size distribution, crystallinity, thermal properties, aerosol performance and dissolution/diffusion release. In addition, the microparticle system was compared to conventional spray-dried crystalline and amorphous budesonide samples. The particle size distributions of the crystalline, amorphous and solid-lipid microparticles, measured by laser diffraction, were similar; however, the microparticle morphology was more irregular than the spray dried drug samples. The thermal response of the solid-lipid microparticles suggested polymorphic transition and melting of the lipid, glycerol behenate (at ~48°C and ~72°C). No budesonide melting or crystallisation peaks were observed (as was seen in the drug only samples) suggesting that the budesonide was integrated into the matrix. X-ray powder diffraction patterns of the crystalline and amorphous budesonide were consistent with previous studies while the solid-lipid microparticles showed two peaks, at approximately 21.3 and 23.5 2θ suggesting the metastable sub-α and primarily β’ form. Analysis of the in vitro diffusion/dissolution of the formulations was studied using a flow through model and the curves analysed using difference/similarity factors and fitted using the Higuchi model. Regression analysis of this data set indicated differences in the t0.5, where values of 49.7, 35.3 and 136.9 mins were observed for crystalline, amorphous and the solid-lipid microparticles, respectively. The aerosol performance (<5μm), measured by multistage-liquid-impinger, was 29.5% and 27.3%, 21.1% ± 0.6% for the crystalline, amorphous and the solid-lipid microparticles, respectively. This study has shown solid-lipid microparticles may provide a useful approach to controlled release respiratory therapy

Solid lipid microparticles for the stability enhancement of the polar drug N6-cyclopentyladenosine

The objective of this study was to prepare solid lipid microparticles (SLMs) loaded with the polar adenosine A1 receptor agonist N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA). The microparticles were produced by the conventional hot emulsion technique, using different lipidic carriers (tristearin, glyceryl behenate and stearic acid) and hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine as the surfactant. The controlled release of CPA was achieved only with stearic acid microparticles. This phenomenon has been attributed to direct acid-base interactions between the basic nitrogen atoms of CPA and stearic acid. These SLMs were characterized by release studies, scanning electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction analyses. The obtained particles showed proper features in terms of morphology and size distribution (3.2-10.3 microm), with a drug loading of 0.15±0.04%. The influence of the SLMs carrier system on CPA stability was investigated in vitro using human whole blood. The degradation kinetic of microparticle-entrapped CPA was significantly lower from that measured for the free CPA. The overall results indicate that it was possible to achieve the encapsulation and controlled release of a polar drug, such as CPA, within a lipid matrix without resorting to the complex methods generally used for the preparation of these systems

Solid Lipid Budesonide Microparticles for Controlled Release Inhalation Therapy

A solid lipid microparticle system containing budesonide was prepared by oil in water emulsification followed by spray drying. The solid lipid system was studied in terms of morphology, particle size distribution, crystallinity, thermal properties, aerosol performance, and dissolution/diffusion release. The microparticle system was also compared to conventional spray-dried crystalline and amorphous budesonide samples. The particle size distributions of the crystalline, amorphous, and solid lipid microparticles, measured by laser diffraction, were similar; however, the microparticle morphology was more irregular than the spray-dried drug samples. The thermal response of the solid lipid microparticles suggested polymorphic transition and melting of the lipid, glycerol behenate (at ~48°C and ~72°C). No budesonide melting or crystallisation peaks were observed, suggesting that the budesonide was integrated into the matrix. X-ray powder diffraction patterns of the crystalline and amorphous budesonide were consistent with previous studies while the solid lipid microparticles showed two peaks, at approximately 21.3 and 23.5 2θ suggesting the metastable sub-α and primarily β′ form. Analysis of the in vitro diffusion/dissolution of the formulations was studied using a flow through model and curves analysed using difference/similarity factors and fitted using the Higuchi model. Regression analysis of this data set indicated differences in the t0.5, where values of 49.7, 35.3, and 136.9 min were observed for crystalline, amorphous, and the solid lipid microparticles, respectively. The aerosol performance (<5 μm), measured by multistage liquid impinger, was 29.5%, 27.3%, and 21.1 ± 0.6% for the crystalline, amorphous, and the solid lipid microparticles, respectively. This study has shown that solid lipid microparticles may provide a useful approach to controlled release respiratory therapy

Solid Lipid Microparticles for the Stability Enhancement of a Dopamine Prodrug.

The oral or peripheral administration of dopamine for treatment of Parkinson’s disease is hampered by its extensive metabolism and inability to cross the blood brain barrier. Consequently, the enhancement of dopamine stability in physiologic environments and its brain targeting appear useful in formulation development. We propose the preparation and characterization of solid lipid microparticles based on tristearin as a sustained delivery system for dopamine. The microparticles were produced by conventional hot emulsion techniques. The synthesis of a new valeroyl ester of dopamine (3,4-O-divaleroyl-dopamine, DVD) was necessary to obtain its encapsulation in the microparticles. DVD appeared totally hydrolyzed to dopamine in human plasma within 40 seconds. The amount of encapsulated DVD in microparticles was 2.67+/-1.2%. The mean diameter of particles was 14.2+/-4.8 µm. The DVD release from microparticles was characterized by an initial burst of 20% of incorporated prodrug and a continuous slow release thereafter. The microparticles were able to stabilize DVD in its solid form. In human plasma, DVD encapsulated in microparticles hydrolyzed with a markedly reduced rate in comparison with free prodrug: after 15 minutes, 35.8% of DVD was still detectable. The DVD loaded microparticles could represent a potential system for dopamine uptake in the brain, following nasal administration