Laparoscopic Excision of Endometriosis May Require Unilateral Parametrectomy

Nerve-sparing complete excision of endometriosis may not be possible. In these patients, unilateral parametrectomy may be a reasonable alternative management strategy

Magic-factor 1, a partial agonist of Met, induces muscle hypertrophy by protecting myogenic progenitors from apoptosis.

Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) is a pleiotropic cytokine of mesenchymal origin that mediates a characteristic array of biological activities including cell proliferation, survival, motility and morphogenesis. Its high affinity receptor, the tyrosine kinase Met, is expressed by a wide range of tissues and can be activated by either paracrine or autocrine stimulation. Adult myogenic precursor cells, the so called satellite cells, express both HGF and Met. Following muscle injury, autocrine HGF-Met stimulation plays a key role in promoting activation and early division of satellite cells, but is shut off in a second phase to allow myogenic differentiation. In culture, HGF stimulation promotes proliferation of muscle precursors thereby inhibiting their differentiation

Is early stage endometrial cancer safely treated by laparoscopy? Complications of a multicenter study and review of recent literature

BACKGROUND: To compare the complications after total laparoscopic hysterectomy (LPS) and abdominal hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy (LPT) for early stage endometrial cancer in a series of 226 women and to assess the disease-free survival and the recurrence rate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred and twenty six patients with clinical stage I endometrial cancer were enrolled in a multicenter study and underwent surgical staging consisting of inspecting the intraperitoneal cavity, peritoneal washing, total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and in all cases we performed systematic bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy by LPS or LPT approach. RESULTS: One patient of the LPS group had an uretero-vaginal fistula and another patient had an ureteral stricture temporarily treated with a stent. One patient of the LPS group had a bowel perforation due to dense adhesions with the peritoneum under the umbilicus, resolved with a bowel resection and an end-to-end anastomosis. In three patients of the LPS group we observed a vaginal cuff dehiscence and in one case a pelvic lymphocyst was reported. CONCLUSIONS: The low intraoperative and postoperative complications rate, observed in the LPS group, highlights the feasibility, safety and efficacy of this surgical approach. The operating time was longer in the LPS group but the recurrence rate and the complication rate appear similar and not more than what is traditionally expected with the LPT approach, although further studies and cost-benefit analyses are required to determine whether the use of LPS improves the outcome over standard LPT and whether the advantages of this technique could be extended to a larger proportion of patients

Feedforward neural regulation of circulation in conscious rats

t has been reported that the occurrence of sequences of consecutive beats characterized by SAP and PI changing in the opposite direction (nonbaroreflex sequences) might represent the expression of neural cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms operating with feedforward characteristics. However, these results have been obtained in anesthetized animal models. Due to the widely reported influence of anesthetic agents on the autonomic nervous system the aim of the present study was to test the physiological meaning of nonbaroreflex sequences in conscious, unrestricted and freely moving rats. We studied conscious rats before and ; 3) parasympathetic blockade. Our results confirm and reinforce the physiological role of the “nonbaroreflex” sequences as expression of an integrated, neurallymediated, feedforward type of short-term cardiovascular regulation able to interact dynamically with the feedback mechanisms of baroreflex origin in the control of heart period

Role of atrial natriuretic peptide in the suppression of lysophosphatydic acid-induced rat aortic smooth muscle (RASM) cell growth

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a lipid mediator with multiple biological functions. In the present study we investigated the possible role of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a hormone affecting cardiovascular homeostasis and inducing antimitogenic effects in different cell types, on LPA-induced cell growth and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in rat aortic smooth muscle (RASM) cells. Both LPA effects on cell growth and levels of ROS were totally abrogated by physiological concentrations of ANP, without modifying the overexpression of LPA-receptors. These effects were also affected by cell pretreatment with wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). Moreover, the LPA-induced activation of Akt, a downstream target of PI3K, was completely inhibited by physiological concentrations of ANP, which were also able to inhibit p42/p44 phosphorylation. Taken together, our data suggest that PI3K may represent an important step in the LPA signal transduction pathway responsible for ROS generation and DNA synthesis in RASM cells. At same time, the enzyme could also represent an essential target for the antiproliferative effects of ANP.status: publishe