The Global Burden of Alveolar Echinococcosis

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), caused by the larval stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, is amongst the world's most dangerous zoonoses. Transmission to humans is by consumption of parasite eggs which are excreted in the faeces of the definitive hosts: foxes and, increasingly, dogs. Transmission can be through contact with the definitive host or indirectly through contamination of food or possibly water with parasite eggs. We made an intensive search of English, Russian, Chinese and other language databases. We targeted data which could give country specific incidence or prevalence of disease and searched for data from every country we believed to be endemic for AE. We also used data from other sources (often unpublished). From this information we were able to make an estimate of the annual global incidence of disease and disease burden using standard techniques for calculation of DALYs. Our studies suggest that AE results in a median of 18,235 cases globally with a burden of 666,433 DALYs per annum. This is the first estimate of the global burden of AE both in terms of global incidence and DALYs and demonstrates the burden of AE is comparable to several diseases in the neglected tropical disease cluster

Effect of Tobacco Smoking on The Clinical, Histopathological, and Serological Manifestations of Sjögren’s Syndrome

The authors wish to thank Dr. A. Darise Farris for her critical review of the cellular immune response discussion.Objectives To assess the association of smoking habits with the clinical, serological, and histopathological manifestations of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and non-Sjögren’s sicca (non-SS sicca). Methods Cross-sectional case-control study of 1288 patients with sicca symptoms (587 SS and 701 non-SS sicca) evaluated in a multi-disciplinary research clinic. Smoking patterns were obtained from questionnaire data and disease-related clinical and laboratory data were compared between current, past, ever, and never smokers. Results Current smoking rates were 4.6% for SS patients compared to 14.1% in non-SS sicca (p = 5.17x10E-09), 18% in a local lupus cohort (p = 1.13x10E-14) and 16.8% in the community (p = 4.12x10E-15). Current smoking was protective against SS classification (OR 0.35, 95%CI 0.22–0.56, FDR q = 1.9E10-05), focal lymphocytic sialadenitis (OR 0.26, 95%CI 0.15–0.44, FDR q = 1.52x10E-06), focus score ≥1 (OR 0.22, 95%CI 0.13–0.39, FDR q = 1.43x10E-07), and anti-Ro/SSA(+) (OR 0.36, 95%CI 0.2–0.64, FDR q = 0.0009); ever smoking was protective against the same features and against anti-La/SSB(+) (OR 0.52, 95%CI 0.39–0.70, FDR q = 5.82x10E-05). Duration of smoking was inversely correlated with SS even after controlling for socioeconomic status, BMI, alcohol and caffeine consumption. Conclusions Current tobacco smoking is negatively and independently associated with SS, protecting against disease-associated humoral and cellular autoimmunity. The overall smoking rate amongst SS patients is significantly lower than in matched populations and the effects of smoking are proportional to exposure duration. In spite of the protective effects of tobacco on SS manifestations, it is associated with other serious comorbidities such as lung disease, cardiovascular risk and malignancy, and should thus be strongly discouraged in patients with sicca.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee

REGULATION OF M2-TYPE PYRUVATE-KINASE FROM HUMAN MENINGIOMA BY ALLOSTERIC EFFECTORS FRUCTOSE 1,6 DIPHOSPHATE AND L-ALANINE

In the present study the mechanism of action of M2-type pyruvate kinase from human meningioma in the simultaneous presence of fructose 1,6 diphosphate and L-alanine was investigated. Purified pyruvate kinase from human meningioma was allosterically inhibited by L-alanine with respect to substrates phosphoenolpyruvate and ADP. The inhibitory effects of L-alanine was partially removed by fructose 1,6 diphosphate. The purified enzyme was slightly susceptible to ATP inhibition

PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN MENINGIOMA M2-TYPE PYRUVATE-KINASE

The M2-type pyruvate kinase was purified from human meningioma by ammonium sulfate precipitation, followed by ion exchange and affinity chromatography. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 33.4 U/mg with a yield of 6.5%

Silent pituitary macroadenoma co-secreting growth hormone and thyroid stimulating hormone

PubMedID: 15851094Silent pituitary adenomas are a group of tumors showing heterogenous morphological features with no hormonal function observed clinically. To date no explanation has been provided as to why these tumors remain "silent". We report a case of a silent macroadenoma with both growth hormone (GH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) staining and secretion but with no clinical manifestations, in particular, the absence of features of acromegaly or hyperthyroidism. The relevant literature is reviewed. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Lumbar meningeal hamartoma and epidermoid cyst associated with spinal dysraphism in an elderly patient

PubMedID: 15372311Meningeal hamartoma associated with spinal dysraphism in an elderly patient is an extremely rare clinical presentation. A 62-year-old woman who progressively developed gait disturbance and urinary retention was admitted to our hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a large cystic mass associated with a dermal sinus at the L4-L5 level. MRI was useful in the diagnosis and determination of this lesion. However, preoperative differential diagnosis of the tumor was not possible based on neuroimaging evidence. The diagnosis of meningeal hamartoma was based on the histological and immunohistological findings of the specimen obtained from the tumor. Meningeal hamartoma associated with spinal dysraphism should be kept in mind, even in adult cases. In this article, we also discuss the radiological and pathological appearance of this rare clinical entity. © Springer-Verlag 2004

Spinal cystic echinococcosis - a systematic analysis and review of the literature : part 1. Epidemiology and anatomy

Bone involvement in human cystic echinococcosis (CE) is rare, but affects the spine in approximately 50% of cases. Despite significant advances in diagnostic imaging techniques as well as surgical and medical treatment of spinal CE, our basic understanding of the parasite's predilection for the spine remains incomplete. To fill this gap, we systematically reviewed the published literature of the last five decades to summarize and analyze the currently existing data on epidemiological and anatomical aspects of spinal CE