Metastatizing ovarian Carcinoma in an eurasian brown bear (Ursus Arctos Arctos): a case report.

A case of ovarian carcinoma, never previously reported in bear is described. A 37-year-old, nulliparous, female Eurasian brown bear hosted at the Falconara Parco Zoo in Italy, showed neurological clinical signs including bilateral blindness and signs of hemiparesis involving both limbs of the left side. A therapy based on fluid, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, ranitidine, ceftriaxone, propentofylline, and a vitamin B complex administration was started after the onset of sintomatology. After about a week of therapy the bear was able to stand up and walk, partially recovered the vision and ate regularly. Despite this initial improvement, three weeks after the clinical onset the bear died. At necropsy a large mass involving the left ovary and brain metastases has been found. Based on the typical histological and immunohistochemical features of neoplastic cells, this tumor was diagnosed as papillary to solid serous type ovarian carcinoma. Because of the scattered distribution pattern of neoplastic nodules, the involvement of the brain and lombo-aortic lymph node was considered to be metastatic. Only few reports of neoplasms in Ursidae can be found in scientific literature and these include lymphosarcoma, osteoma, osteosarcomas, chondrosarcoma, squamous cell, biliary, thyroid, mammary, and hepatocellular carcinomas. According to these results, the presence of tumor should be considered in bears with neurological signs

METASTASIZING OVARIAN CARCINOMA IN AN EURASIAN BROWN BEAR (Ursus arctos arctos): A CASE REPORT

Summary: A case of ovarian carcinoma, never previously reported in bear is described. A 37-year-old, nulliparous, female Eurasian brown bear hosted at the Falconara Parco Zoo in Italy, showed neurological clinical signs including bilateral blindness and signs of hemiparesis involving both limbs of the left side. A therapy based on fluid, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, ranitidine, ceftriaxone, propentofylline, and a vitamin B complex administration was started after the onset of symptoms. After about a week of therapy the bear was able to stand up and walk, partially recovered the vision and ate regularly. Despite this initial improvement, three weeks after the clinical onset the bear died. At necropsy a large tumourous mass involving the left ovary and spread of tumour metastases to the regional lymph node and brain has been found. Based on the typical histological and immunohistochemical features of neoplastic cells, this tumor was diagnosed as papillary to solid serous type ovarian carcinoma. Because of the scattered distribution pattern of neoplastic nodules, the involvement of the brain and lumbo-aortic lymph node was considered to be metastatic. Only few reports of neoplasms in Ursidae can be found in scientific literature and these include lymphosarcoma, osteoma, osteosarcomas, chondrosarcoma, squamous cell, biliary, thyroid, mammary, and hepatocellular carcinomas. According to these results, the presence of tumor should be considered in bears with neurological signs

Sickle Cell Trait and SARS-CoV-2-Induced Rhabdomyolysis: A Case Report

: BACKGROUND Rhabdomyolysis is a syndrome characterized by muscle necrosis and the subsequent release of intracellular muscle constituents into the bloodstream. Although the specific cause is frequently evident from the history or from the immediate events, such as a trauma, extraordinary physical exertion, or a recent infection, sometimes there are hidden risk factors that have to be identified. For instance, individuals with sickle cell trait (SCT) have been reported to be at increased risk for rare conditions, including rhabdomyolysis. Moreover, there have been a few case reports of SARS-CoV-2 infection-related rhabdomyolysis. CASE REPORT We present a case of a patient affected by unknown SCT and admitted with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, who suffered non-traumatic non-exertional rhabdomyolysis leading to acute kidney injury (AKI), requiring acute hemodialysis (HD). The patients underwent 13 dialysis session, of which 12 were carried out using an HFR-Supra H dialyzer. He underwent kidney biopsy, where rhabdomyolysis injury was ascertained. No viral traces were found on kidney biopsy samples. The muscle biopsy showed the presence of an "open nucleolus" in the muscle cell, which was consistent with virus-infected cells. After 40 days in the hospital, his serum creatinine was 1.62 mg/dL and CPK and Myoglobin were 188 U/L and 168 ng/mL, respectively; therefore, the patient was discharged. CONCLUSIONS SARS-CoV-2 infection resulted in severe rhabdomyolysis with AKI requiring acute HD. Since SARS-CoV-2 infection can trigger sickle-related complications like rhabdomyolysis, the presence of SCT needs to be ascertained in African patients

An innovative stand-alone bioreactor for the highly reproducible transfer of cyclic mechanical stretch to stem cells cultured in a 3D scaffold

Much evidence in the literature demonstrates the effect of cyclic mechanical stretch in maintaining, or addressing, a muscle phenotype. Such results were obtained using several technical approaches, useful for the experimental collection of proofs of principle but probably unsuitable for application in clinical regenerative medicine. Here we aimed to design a reliable innovative bioreactor, acting as a stand-alone cell culture incubator, easy to operate and effective in addressing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) seeded onto a 3D bioreabsorbable scaffold, towards a muscle phenotype via the transfer of a controlled and highly-reproducible cyclic deformation. Electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry and biochemical analysis of the obtained pseudotissue constructs showed that cells 'trained' over 1\u2009week: (a) displayed multilayer organization and invaded the 3D mesh of the scaffold; and (b) expressed typical markers of muscle cells. This effect was due only to physical stimulation of the cells, without the need of any other chemical or genetic manipulation. This device is thus proposed as a prototypal instrument to obtain pseudotissue constructs to test in cardiovascular regenerative medicine, using good manufacturing procedures

A Real-Life Multicenter National Study on Nintedanib in Severe Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Two therapeutic options are currently available for patients with mild-to-moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF): pirfenidone and nintedanib. To date, there is still insufficient data on the efficacy of these 2 agents in patients with more severe disease. OBJECTIVES: This national, multicenter, retrospective real-life study was intended to determine the impact of nintedanib on the treatment of patients with severe IPF. METHODS: All patients included had severe IPF and had to have at least 6 months of follow-up before and at least 6 months of follow-up after starting nintedanib. The aim of the study was to compare the decline in lung function before and after treatment. Patient survival after 6 months of therapy with nintedanib was assessed. RESULTS: Forty-one patients with a forced vital capacity (FVC) 6450% and/or a diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) 6435% predicted at the start of nintedanib treatment were enrolled. At the 6-month follow-up, the decline of DLCO (both absolute and % predicted) was significantly reduced compared to the pretreatment period (absolute DLCO at the -6-month, T0, and +6-month time points (5.48, 4.50, and 5.03 mmol/min/kPa, respectively, p = 0.03; DLCO% predicted was 32.73, 26.54, and 29.23%, respectively, p = 0.04). No significant beneficial effect was observed in the other functional parameters analyzed. The 1-year survival in this population was 79%, calculated from month 6 of therapy with nintedanib. CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide multicenter experience in patients with severe IPF shows that nintedanib slows down the rate of decline of absolute and % predicted DLCO but does not have significant impact on FVC or other lung parameters

Antibiotic Use and Risk of Multiple Sclerosis: A Nested Case-Control Study in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy

Introduction: Known risk factors for multiple sclerosis (MS) include smoking, a low vitamin D status, obesity, and EBV, while the inflammatory feature of the disease strongly suggests the presence of additional infectious agents. The association between use of antibiotics and MS risk that could shed light on these factors is still undetermined. We aimed to evaluate the association between antibiotics and MS risk, in the Emilia-Romagna region (RER), Italy. Methods: All adult patients with MS seen at any RER MS center (2015-2017) were eligible. For each of the 877 patients included, clinical information was collected and matched to 5 controls (RER residents) (n = 4,205) based on age, sex, place of residence, and index year. Information on antibiotic prescription was obtained through the linkage with the RER drug prescription database. Results: Exposure to any antibiotic 3 years prior to the index year was associated with an increased MS risk (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.29-1.79). Similar results were found for different classes. No dose-response effect was found. Discussion/conclusions: Our results suggest an association between the use of antibiotics and MS risk in RER population. However, further epidemiological studies should be done with information on early life and lifestyle factors