Testosterone-induced effects on lipids and inflammation

Chronic pain has to be considered in all respects a debilitating disease and 10-20% of the world's adult population is affected by this disease. In the most general terms, pain is symptomatic of some form of dysfunction and (often) the resulting inflammatory processes in the body. In the study of pain, great attention has been paid to the possible involvement of gonadal hormones, especially in recent years. In particular, testosterone, the main androgen, is thought to play a beneficial, protective role in the body. Other important elements to be related to pain, inflammation, and hormones are lipids, heterogenic molecules whose altered metabolism is often accompanied by the release of interleukins, and lipid-derived proinflammatory mediators. Here we report data on interactions often not considered in chronic pain mechanisms

Metachronous primary uterine cancer surgically resected during crizotinib treatment in a ALK-rearranged advanced lung adenocarcinoma

Rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene are present in 3% to 7% of nonsmall-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Patients harboring ALK rearrangements show very favourable outcomes if treated with targeted agents, among which crizotinib is the first and best studied. Crizotinib, an oral smallmolecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of ALK, MET, and ROS1 kinases, is a very active and well tolerated drug. Nevertheless, the optimal therapy management with this new drug is still partially unknown, especially with regard to the safety of combined treatments. Recently, the integration of locoregional treatments has been proposed as a feasible multimodality strategy in selected patients with good clinical conditions and slowgrowing or oligoprogressive disease. In this report, a case of advanced lung adenocarcinoma, progressed after first line chemotherapy and re-biopsied detecting ALK rearrangement, is described. During crizotinib treatment the primary lung tumor showed an excellent regression; meanwhile a major surgery for a metachronous uterine cancer was safely and successfully carried out

Efectos del consumo de yerba mate sobre la mucosa gástrica

Existe la creencia popular que el consumo habitual de yerba mate (YM) provoca acidez o gastritis. De hecho, en internet aparece gran cantidad de información sobre ello y múltiples recomendaciones médicas. Sin embargo, la evidencia científica al respecto es pobre

Interplay between n-3 and n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and the endocannabinoid system in brain protection and repair.

The brain is enriched in arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) of the n-6 and n-3 series, respectively. Both are essential for optimal brain development and function. Dietary enrichment with DHA and other long-chain n-3 PUFA, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have shown beneficial effects on learning and memory, neuroinflammatory processes and synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis. ARA, DHA and EPA are precursors to a diverse repertoire of bioactive lipid mediators, including endocannabinoids. The endocannabinoid system comprises cannabinoid receptors, their endogenous ligands, the endocannabinoids, and their biosynthetic and degradation enzymes. Anandamide (AEA) and 2-archidonoylglycerol (2-AG) are the most widely studied endocannabinoids, and are both derived from phospholipid-bound ARA. The endocannabinoid system also has well established roles in neuroinflammation, synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis, suggesting an overlap in the neuroprotective effects observed with these different classes of lipids. Indeed, growing evidence suggests a complex interplay between n-3 and n-6 LCPUFA and the endocannabinoid system. For example, long-term DHA and EPA supplementation reduces AEA and 2-AG levels, with reciprocal increases in levels of the analogous endocannabinoid-like DHA and EPA-derived molecules. This review summarises current evidence of this interplay and discusses the therapeutic potential for brain protection and repair

BRCA1 expression and molecular alterations in familial breast cancer

The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of immunohistochemical MS110 expression in a series of familial and sporadic breast cancer patients. An immunohistochemical study was performed on TMA samples from 93 sporadic and 94 familial breast cancer patients with (7/94) and without BRCA1 germline mutations. BRCA1 protein expression level was evaluated using the monoclonal MS110 antibody. Immunohistochemistry, performed on TMA samples, showed positive nuclear staining for BRCA1 in 34 sporadic and 37 familial breast tumours, respectively. All the tumours from patients carrying BRCA1 mutations showed complete loss of both BRCA1 and ERa expression, regardless of the type of mutation. The percentage of MS110 positive cases was significantly lower in mutated versus wild type BRCA1 familial cases (p=0.02) while the percentage of patients with higher ERa expression was significantly lower in BRCA1- mutated versus BRCA1-wild type familial patients (p=0.05). Interestingly, the presence of the E1038G polymorphism in BRCA1 exon 11 was significantly associated with protein expression (p=0.029). The frequency of MS110 negative cases also detected in BRCA1-wild type tumours, points to the inability of the BRCA1 IHC expression in discriminating between familial and sporadic breast cancer

Benefit from anthracyclines in relation to biological profiles in early breast cancer

There are no validated predictors of benefit from anthracyclines. We compared cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil (CMF), and epirubicin in different sequences with CMF alone in a phase III trial on operable breast cancers. Outcomes were analyzed in relation to tumor biological profiles to identify potential predictors of the efficacy of different treatments/drug combinations. Patients with N- or 1-3N+ tumors, were randomized to receive (a) epirubicin (4 cycles) followed by CMF (4 cycles); (b) CMF (4 cycles) followed by epirubicin (4 cycles), or (c) CMF (6 cycles) alone. Immunohistochemical assessments of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptors, HER2 and Ki67 were available for 705 patients (arm A/B/C: 276/269/160). Prognostic and predictive relevance was analyzed by log-rank tests and Cox models. Ki67 > 20 % and absent/low expression of ER and PgR were associated with worsen disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS). In patients with triple negative tumors (ER-, PgR-, HER2-), epirubicin-containing regimens yielded better DFS (HR 0.33, 95 % CI 0.17-0.62, P = 0.0007) and OS (HR 0.24, 95 % CI 0.10-0.57, P = 0.001) compared with CMF alone, whereas no differences were found in patients with HER2-positive (HER2+, ER-, PgR-) subtype. Treatment by subtype interaction (HER2-positive vs. others) was significant for DFS (chi (2) = 6.72, P = 0.009). In triple unfavorable (ER-, PgR-, Ki67 > 20 %) tumors, the use of epirubicin yielded better DFS (HR 0.45,95 % CI 0.26-0.78, P = 0.005) and OS (HR 0.30, 95 % CI 0.15-0.63, P = 0.001). Epirubicin-containing regimens seem to be superior to CMF alone in patients with highly proliferating, triple negative or triple unfavorable tumors

Avaliação da composição corporal em adolescentes obesos: o uso de dois diferentes métodos Evaluación de la composición corporal en adolescentes obesos: uso de dos metodos diferentes Body composition evaluation in obese adolescents: the use of two different methods

A pletismografia é um método rápido e fácil para determinação da composição corporal que utiliza a relação inversa entre pressão e volume. O objetivo do presente estudo foi o de comparar os valores obtidos com o método pletismografia com os valores observados com o DEXA em uma população de adolescentes obesos. Participaram da amostra 88 adolescentes pós-púberes de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 15 e 19 anos (17,01 &plusmn; 1,6) ingressantes de um programa de atividade física multidisciplinar. Os voluntários foram submetidos a uma avaliação da composição corporal em dias distintos dentro da mesma semana, pelo método de pletismografia e outra avaliação pelo método DEXA. Quando os métodos foram comparados, não se observaram diferenças significativas entre eles; além disso, foram observadas correlações significativas entre os parâmetros comuns dos dois métodos (massa magra, massa gorda (kg) e massa gorda (%), r = 0,88 p < 0,05; r = 0,92 p < 0,05; r = 0,75 p < 0,05, respectivamente). Nossos dados sugerem que, para esta população específica, a pletismografia pode ser utilizada como um método de avaliação da composição corporal.<br>La pletismografía es un método rápido y fácil para la determinación de la composición corporal que utiliza la relación inversa entre la presión y el volumen. El objetivo del presente estudio fué el de comparar los valores obtenidos con el metodo pletismografia con los valores observados con el DEXA en una población de adolescentes obesos. Participaron de la muestra 80 adolescentes post púberes de ambos sexos, con edades entre los 15 y los 19 años (17,01&plusmn;1,6) iniciantes en un programa de actividad física multidisciplinar. Los voluntarios fueron sometidos a una evaluación de la composición corporal en días distintos dentro de la misma semana, por el método de pletismografia y otra evaluación por el método DEXA. Cuando se compararon los métodos, no fueron observadas diferencias significativas entre ellos, además de ello, fueron observadas correlaciones entre los parámetros comunes a los dos métodos (masa magra, masa grasa (kg) y masa gorda (%), r = 0,88 p < 0,05; r = 0,92 p < 0,05; r = 0,75 p < 0,05, respectivamente). Nuestros datos sugieren que para esta población específica, la pletismografia puede ser utilizada como un método de evaluación de la composición corporal.<br>Plethysmography is an easy and quickly method for the determination of the body composition that uses the inverse relation between pressure and volume. The objective of the present study was to compare the values obtained by plethysmography and DEXA in an obese adolescents population. The sample was composed of 88 adolescents of both genders, aged between 15 and 19 years (17.01 &plusmn; 1.6 years) engaged in a multidisciplinary physical activity program. The volunteers were submitted to a body composition evaluation in distinct days in the same week, through plethysmography and DEXA. When the different methods were compared, no significant correlation between parameters common to both methods (fat free mass, fat mass (kg) and fat mass (%), r = 0.88 p < 0.05; r = 0.92 p < 0.05; r = 0.75 p < 0.05, respectively) was observed. Our data suggest that for this specific population, plethysmography may be used as an important method of body composition evaluation