Sudden onset acute liver failure in a patient with clinically occult small cell lung carcinoma: autopsy report and review of the medical literature

Liver metastases are commonly found in advanced cancer patients; however, acute liver failure secondary to diffuse liver infiltration is rare. Small cell lung carcinoma accounts for 15% of lung carcinomas. We describe the ninth case of small cell lung carcinoma massively metastatic to the liver, reported in the scientific literature, with sudden clinical onset and death after a few days. An autopsy was performed to understand the cause of death

Huge Candida albicans normal native tricuspid valve endocarditis

Fungal endocarditis has become an important infection associated with medical progress and the modern lifestyle. In particular, Candida spp. is a rare but important cause of infective endocarditis. We report the case of a 28-year-old woman—quadriplegic and bedridden from birth—who died after repeated episodes of pneumonia treated with different regimens of intravenous antibiotics. A medico legal autopsy was performed, which diagnosed severe Candida native valve infective endocarditis (CIE). This case report illustrates the prolonged use of antibiotic treatment as a possible risk factor for the development of CIE. We also considered how the bedridden condition and the presence of a central venous catheter may be additional risk factors for the development of this entity. Finally, we examined the absence of peripheral embolization in the setting of endocarditis of the right side of the heart

Periprostatic Perineurioma, Description of a Case With Unusual Localization

Perineurioma is a rare entity, it is a benign peripheral nerve sheath tumor entirely composed of perineurial cells. A 62-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital, suffering from scrotal and pelvic pain combined with a severe and continuous pain in his right thigh. A transrectal ultrasound revealed a periprostatic oval lesion of about 5 cm in maximum diameter. A sovrapubic laparotomy was performed with a complete tumor excision. The morphological and immunohistochemical data were most consistent with the diagnosis of perineurioma

A thermophilic C-phycocyanin with unprecedented biophysical and biochemical properties

C-phycoyanins are abundant light-harvesting pigments which have an important role in the energy transfer cascade of photosystems in prokaryotic cyanobacteria and eukaryotic red algae. These proteins have important biotechnological applications, since they can be used in food, cosmetics, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical industries and in biomedical research. Here, C-phycocyanin from the extremophilic red alga Galdieria phlegrea (GpPC) has been purified and characterized from a biophysical point of view by SDS-PAGE, mass spectrometry, UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence. Stability against pH variations, addition of the oxidizing agent hydrogen peroxide and the effects of temperature have been also investigated, together with its in cell antioxidant potential and antitumor activity. GpPC is stable under different pHs and unfolds at a temperature higher than 80 °C within the pH range 5.0–7.0. Its fluorescence spectra present a maximum at 650 nm, when excited at 589 nm. The protein exerts interesting in cell antioxidant properties even after high temperature treatments, like the pasteurization process, and is cytotoxic for A431 and SVT2 cancer cells, whereas it is not toxic for non-malignant cells. Our results assist in the development of C-phycocyanin as a multitasking protein, to be used in the food industry, as antioxidant and anticancer agent.</p

Effect of bovine lactoferrin on recurrent urinary tract infections. In vitro and in vivo evidences

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains are the primary cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs). UPEC strains are able to invade, multiply and persisting in host cells. Therefore, UPEC strains are associated to recurrent UTIs requiring long-term antibiotic therapy. However, this therapy is suboptimal due to the increase of multidrug-resistant UPEC. The use of non-antibiotic treatments for managing UTIs is required. Among these, bovine lactoferrin (bLf), a multifunctional cationic glycoprotein, could be a promising tool because inhibits the entry into the host cells of several intracellular bacteria. Here, we demonstrate that 100&nbsp;μg/ml bLf hinders the invasion of 2.0 ± 0.5 × 104&nbsp;CFU/ml E. coli CFT073, prototype of UPEC, infecting 2.0 ± 0.5 × 105 cells/ml urinary bladder T24 epithelial cells. The highest protection (100%) is due to the bLf binding with host surface components even if an additional binding to bacterial surface components cannot be excluded. Of note, in the absence of bLf, UPEC survives and multiplies, while bLf significantly decreases bacterial intracellular survival. After these encouraging results, an observational survey on thirty-three patients affected by recurrent cystitis was performed. The treatment consisted in the oral administration of bLf alone or in combination with antibiotics and/or probiotics. After the observation period, a marked reduction of cystitis episodes was observed (p &lt; 0.001) in all patients compared to the episodes occurred during the 6&nbsp;months preceding the bLf-treatment. Twenty-nine patients did not report cystitis episodes (87.9%) whereas the remaining four (12.1%) experienced only one episode, indicating that bLf could be a worthwhile and safe treatment in counteracting recurrent cystitis

Azacitidine for the treatment of lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes: A retrospective study of 74 patients enrolled in an Italian named patient program

BACKGROUND: Azacitidine induces responses and prolongs overall survival compared with conventional care regimens in patients who have high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, limited data are available concerning the efficacy and safety of azacitidine in patients who have lower risk MDS. METHODS: The authors retrospectively evaluated 74 patients with International Prognostic Scoring System low-risk or intermediate 1-risk MDS, who received azacitidine on a national named patient program. At baseline, 84% of patients were transfusion-dependent, 57% had received erythropoietin, and 51% were aged >70 years. Azacitidine was administered subcutaneously for 5 days (n = 29 patients), 7 days (n = 43 patients), or 10 days (n = 2 patients) every month at a dose of 75 mg/m2 daily (n = 45 patients) or at a fixed dose of 100 mg daily (n = 29 patients) and for a median of 7 cycles (range, 1-30 cycles). RESULTS: According to the 2006 International Working Group criteria, overall response rate (ORR) was 45.9%, including complete responses (10.8%), partial responses (9.5%), hematologic improvements (20.3%), and bone marrow complete responses (5.4%). The ORR was 51.6% in 64 patients who completed ≥4 cycles of treatment. The median duration of response was 6 months (range, 1-30 months). After a median follow-up of 15 months, 71% of patients remained alive. A survival benefit was observed in responders versus nonresponders (94% vs 54% of patients projected to be alive at 2.5 years, respectively; P < .0014). The most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were myelosuppression (21.6%) and infection (6.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicated that azacitidine may be a feasible and effective treatment for patients with lower risk MDS. © 2010 American Cancer Society