Functional Estrogen Receptors of Red Blood Cells. Do They Influence Intracellular Signaling?

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INTESTINAL ADENOCARCINOMA AS UNEXPECTED CONTENT OF SPIGELIAN HERNIA: WHEN CT-SCAN IT'S NOT ENOUGH.

Spigelian hernias are only 1-2% of all types and are considered a very uncommon condition: it develops through a weaker area between the semilunar line and the lateral edge of rectal muscle. There is an association with female sex, obesity, prior surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, abdominal trauma or coexistence of other wall defects. The content is intraperitoneal fat or omentum, sometimes small bowel or colon. Symptoms, like abdominal pain, lateral lump and altered bowel habits are linked to the most common complication: incarceration. The CT scan can be useful in confirming the abdominal wall defect and in discriminating the content and can help in the choice of the best surgical Intestinal adenocarcinoma as unexpected content of Spigelian hernia: when CT-scan it’s not enough procedure, especially if there is an ischemia. In literature are described some case of atypical content, such

FREE HEMOGLOBIN: A DANGEROUS SIGNAL FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IN PATIENTS WITH CAROTID ATHEROSCLEROSIS?

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory multifactorial disease in which immune responses are key pathogenetic factors. T cell-mediated immunity contributes to the initiation and progression of atherosclerotic disease, but the nature of antigens responsible for immune cell activation is still not completely elucidated. Convincing evidence supports a determinant role of autoimmune responses to self-structures in shaping the progression of the disease. Autoimmune responses may be directed against altered self-structures, such as oxidized low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Oxidative stress, increasingly reported in patients with atherosclerosis, is the major event causing protein structural modification, thus inducing the appearance of neo/cryptic epitopes on the molecule. Intraplaque hemorrhage, a common event in advanced lesions, causes the deposition of large amounts of hemoglobin (Hb). The pro-oxidative intraplaque microenvironment may induce structural changes in extra-erythrocytic free Hb, thus generating novel/cryptic autoantigenic epitopes. We demonstrated that an oxidized Hb preparation enriched in hemichromes expands IFN-gamma-secreting T lymphocytes in patients with advanced carotid atherosclerosis and enhances the phenotypical and functional maturation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Overall, our findings suggest that oxidized forms of Hb could act as a dangerous signal for the immune system, thus contributing to the inflammatory process that takes place within the atherosclerotic plaque