Epigenetic modulators as therapeutic targets in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the most common non-cutaneous malignancies among men worldwide. Epigenetic aberrations, including changes in DNA methylation patterns and/or histone modifications, are key drivers of prostate carcinogenesis. These epigenetic defects might be due to deregulated function and/or expression of the epigenetic machinery, affecting the expression of several important genes. Remarkably, epigenetic modifications are reversible and numerous compounds that target the epigenetic enzymes and regulatory proteins were reported to be effective in cancer growth control. In fact, some of these drugs are already being tested in clinical trials. This review discusses the most important epigenetic alterations in prostate cancer, highlighting the role of epigenetic modulating compounds in pre-clinical and clinical trials as potential therapeutic agents for prostate cancer management.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: A diagnostic challenge

We report the case of a 7-year-old girl operated for craniopharyngioma who developed hyperkalemic cardiac arrest in the post-operative period. She was diagnosed as Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and the causative drug was carbamazepine. It was essentially a diagnosis of exclusion, and treatment was mainly supportive in form of withdrawal of the neuroleptic medication (carbamazepine) and administration of dantrolene and bromocriptine. Although, relatively uncommon, NMS can be fatal. NMS presents a clinical challenge as the patient outcome depends on its prompt recognition and treatment

Bullous variant of familial biphasic lichen amyloidosis: A unique combination of three rare presentations

A 55-year-old man presented with multiple, itchy papules and macules on the trunk and extremities. Histopathologic examination of biopsy specimens taken from three different lesions showed a subepidermal blister with amyloid deposits in the dermal papillae. No systemic disease or involvement of other organs was detected. The clinical and histological findings were compatible with a bullous variant of lichen amyloidosis (LA). Primary cutaneous localized amyloidosis usually presents with papular, macular or nodular lesions. Bullous lesions associated with LA are very rare. Furthermore, patient had seven other members in the family with similar lesions, which is also a rare occurrence. We report a case with a rare combination of biphasic, bullous variant of familial LA

Optimally biosynthesized, PEGylated gold nanoparticles functionalized with quercetin and camptothecin enhance potential anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic activities

The development of nano delivery systems is rapidly emerging area of nanotechnology applications where nanomaterials (NMs) are employed to deliver therapeutic agents to specific site in a controlled manner. To accomplish this, green synthesis of NMs is widely explored as an eco-friendly method for the development of smart drug delivery system. In the recent times, use of green synthesized NMs, especially metallic NMs have fascinated the scientific community as they are excellent carriers for drugs. This work demonstrates optimized green, biogenic synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for functionalization with quercetin (QT) and camptothecin (CPT) to enhance potential anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic activities of these drugs. Results: Gold nanoparticles were optimally synthesized in 8 min of reaction at 90 °C, pH 6, using 4 mM of HAuCl4 and 4:1 ratio of extract: HAuCl4. Among different capping agents tested, capping of AuNPs with polyethylene glycol 9000 (PG9) was found best suited prior to functionalization. PG9 capped AuNPs were optimally functionalized with QT in 1 h reaction at 70 °C, pH 7, using 1200 ppm of QT and 1:4 ratio of AuNPs-PG9:QT whereas, CPT was best functionalized at RT in 1 h, pH 12, AuNPs-PG9:CPT ratio of 1:1, and 0.5 mM of CPT. QT functionalized AuNPs showed good anti-cancer activity ( IC50 687.44 μg/mL) against MCF-7 cell line whereas test of anti-inflammatory activity also showed excellent activity ( IC50 287.177 mg/L). The CAM based assessment of anti-angiogenic activity of CPT functionalized AuNPs demonstrated the inhibition of blood vessel branching confirming the anti-angiogenic effect. Conclusions: Thus, present study demonstrates that optimally synthesized biogenic AuNPs are best suited for the functionalization with drugs such as QT and CPT. The functionalization of these drugs with biogenic AuNPs enhances the potential anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic activities of these drugs, therefore can be used in biomedical application

Endoscopic thyroidectomy: Our technique

Minimally invasive surgery is widely employed for the treatment of thyroid diseases. Several minimal access approaches to the thyroid gland have been described. The commonly performed surgeries have been endoscopic lobectomies. We have performed endoscopic total thyroidectomy by the anterior chest wall approach. In this study, we have described our technique and evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of this procedure

Primary endobronchial Hodgkin's disease

We report a case of primary pulmonary Hodgkin's disease presenting as an endobronchial mass. Tissue diagnosis was made by microscopic examination following open thoracotomy and excision biopsy of the mass. The patient responded well to the chemotherapy regimen

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium report, data summary of 50 countries for 2010-2015: Device-associated module

•We report INICC device-associated module data of 50 countries from 2010-2015.•We collected prospective data from 861,284 patients in 703 ICUs for 3,506,562 days.•DA-HAI rates and bacterial resistance were higher in the INICC ICUs than in CDC-NHSN's.•Device utilization ratio in the INICC ICUs was similar to CDC-NHSN's. Background: We report the results of International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2010-December 2015 in 703 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific. Methods: During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 861,284 patients hospitalized in INICC hospital ICUs for an aggregate of 3,506,562 days. Results: Although device use in INICC ICUs was similar to that reported from CDC-NHSN ICUs, DA-HAI rates were higher in the INICC ICUs: in the INICC medical-surgical ICUs, the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection, 4.1 per 1,000 central line-days, was nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.8 per 1,000 central line-days reported from comparable US ICUs, the overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher, 13.1 versus 0.9 per 1,000 ventilator-days, as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 5.07 versus 1.7 per 1,000 catheter-days. From blood cultures samples, frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (29.87% vs 10%) and to imipenem (44.3% vs 26.1%), and of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (73.2% vs 28.8%) and to imipenem (43.27% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC ICUs compared with CDC-NHSN ICUs. Conclusions: Although DA-HAIs in INICC ICU patients continue to be higher than the rates reported in CDC-NSHN ICUs representing the developed world, we have observed a significant trend toward the reduction of DA-HAI rates in INICC ICUs as shown in each international report. It is INICC's main goal to continue facilitating education, training, and basic and cost-effective tools and resources, such as standardized forms and an online platform, to tackle this problem effectively and systematically