A 26-Year-Old Male with Mesothelioma Due to Asbestos Exposure

Mesothelioma is a malignancy with poor prognosis, with an average 5-year survival rate being less than 9%. This type of cancer is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos. A long exposure can cause mesothelioma and so can short ones, as each exposure is cumulative. We report a case of a 26-year-old male who was exposed to asbestos during his primary school years from the age of 6 to 12. Although the tumor mainly affects older men who in their youth were occupationally exposed to asbestos, malignant mesothelioma can also occur in young adults. A medical history was carefully taken and asbestos exposure was immediately mentioned by the patient. We conducted biopsy on the right supraclavicular lymph node. The patient was not a candidate for surgery, and chemotherapy treatment was initiated. While patient's chemotherapy is still ongoing, no other similar cases of students or teachers have been traced up to date from his school. The school building was demolished in January 2009

Evidence of Increased Muscle Atrophy and Impaired Quality of Life Parameters in Patients with Uremic Restless Legs Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Restless Legs Syndrome is a very common disorder in hemodialysis patients. Restless Legs Syndrome negatively affects quality of life; however it is not clear whether this is due to mental or physical parameters and whether an association exists between the syndrome and parameters affecting survival. METHOD#ENTITYSTARTX003BF;LOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using the Restless Legs Syndrome criteria and the presence of Periodic Limb Movements in Sleep (PLMS/h >15), 70 clinically stable hemodialysis patients were assessed and divided into the RLS (n = 30) and non-RLS (n = 40) groups. Physical performance was evaluated by a battery of tests: body composition by dual energy X ray absorptiometry, muscle size and composition by computer tomography, while depression symptoms, perception of sleep quality and quality of life were assessed through validated questionnaires. In this cross sectional analysis, the RLS group showed evidence of thigh muscle atrophy compared to the non-RLS group. Sleep quality and depression score were found to be significantly impaired in the RLS group. The mental component of the quality of life questionnaire appeared significantly diminished in the RLS group, reducing thus the overall quality of life score. In contrast, there were no significant differences between groups in any of the physical performance tests, body and muscle composition. CONCLUSIONS: The low level of quality of life reported by the HD patients with Restless Legs Syndrome seems to be due mainly to mental health and sleep related aspects. Increased evidence of muscle atrophy is also observed in the RLS group and possibly can be attributed to the lack of restorative sleep

Effect of exercise training and dopamine agonists in patients with uremic restless legs syndrome: A six-month randomized, partially double-blind, placebo-controlled comparative study

© 2013 The Authors. Published by BMC. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2369-14-194Background: Restless Legs Syndrome is very common in hemodialysis patients however there are no comparative studies assessing the effectiveness of a non-pharmacological treatment to a classical treatment on parameters related to syndromes' severity and quality of life. Methods. In this randomized, partially double blind, placebo controlled trial, thirty two hemodialysis patients with restless legs syndrome were randomly assigned into three groups: 1) the exercise training group (N = 16), 2) the dopamine agonists group (ropinirole 0.25 mg/d) (N = 8) and 3) the placebo group (N = 8). The intervention programs lasted 6 months. Restless Legs Syndrome severity was assessed using the international severity scale, physical performance by a battery of tests, muscle size and composition by computed tomography, body composition by Dual Energy X Ray Absorptiometry, while depression score, sleep quality, daily sleepiness and quality of life were assessed through questionnaires. Results: Exercise training and dopamine agonists were effective in reducing syndrome's symptoms by 46% (P = 0.009) and 54% (P = 0.001) respectively. Within group changes revealed that both approaches significantly improved quality of life (P 0.05) in various tests. Between group changes detect significant improvements with both exercise and dopamine agonists in depression score (P = 0.003), while only the dopamine agonist treatment was able to significantly improve sleep quality, compared to exercise and placebo (P = 0.016). Conclusions: A 6-month exercise training regime was as effective as a 6-month low dosage dopamine agonist treatment in reducing restless legs syndrome symptoms and improving depression score in uremic patients. Further research is needed in order to show whether a combination treatment could be more beneficial for the amelioration of RLS. Trial registration. NCT00942253. © 2013 Giannaki et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.This study was supported by the National and Community Funds of the Greek Ministry of Development-General Secretariat of Research and Technology and by the European Social Fund.Published versio

Serum VEGF levels are related to the presence of pulmonary arterial hypertension in systemic sclerosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The association between systemic sclerosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is well recognized. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been reported to play an important role in pulmonary hypertension. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between systolic pulmonary artery pressure, clinical and functional manifestations of the disease and serum VEGF levels in systemic sclerosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Serum VEGF levels were measured in 40 patients with systemic sclerosis and 13 control subjects. All patients underwent clinical examination, pulmonary function tests and echocardiography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Serum VEGF levels were higher in systemic sclerosis patients with sPAP ≥ 35 mmHg than in those with sPAP < 35 mmHg (352 (266, 462 pg/ml)) vs (240 (201, 275 pg/ml)) (p < 0.01), while they did not differ between systemic sclerosis patients with sPAP < 35 mmHg and controls. Serum VEGF levels correlated to systolic pulmonary artery pressure, to diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide and to MRC dyspnea score. In multiple linear regression analysis, serum VEGF levels, MRC dyspnea score, and D_LCOwere independent predictors of systolic pulmonary artery pressure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Serum VEGF levels are increased in systemic sclerosis patients with sPAP ≥ 35 mmHg. The correlation between VEGF levels and systolic pulmonary artery pressure may suggest a possible role of VEGF in the pathogenesis of PAH in systemic sclerosis.</p

The relationship between seminal leukocytes, oxidative status in the ejaculate, and apoptotic markers in human spermatozoa

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between seminal leukocytes, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the ejaculate, and markers of apoptosis in human spermatozoa. Semen samples were collected from 60 patients attending fertility clinics at the Reproductive Biology Unit at Tygerberg Academic Hospital and Vincent Pallotti Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. The concentration of seminal leukocytes was determined and was correlated with ROS production in the ejaculate, the percentage of superoxide (·O2 )- and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-positive spermatozoa, glutathione activation in the ejaculate, and with markers of apoptosis in spermatozoa, namely cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases (caspase)-3/7 activation, mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), and the percentage of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL)-positive sperm. Significant correlations with the concentration of seminal leukocytes were found for ROS production in the ejaculate, the percentage of ·O2 -positive spermatozoa, and caspase-3/7 activation in the ejaculate. Leukocytospermic samples showed significantly higher ROS production, percentage of ·O2 -positive sperm, GSH activation, and caspase-3/7 activation compared to non-leukocytospermic samples. The percentage of ·O2 -positive sperm was significantly correlated with sperm ΔΨm and caspase-3/7 activation in the ejaculate. Sperm ΔΨm and TUNEL-positive sperm did not correlate with seminal leukocyte concentration. Data demonstrate that high seminal leukocyte concentrations that leads to increased seminal ROS production, and is also associated with caspase activation in the male germ cell and increased mitochondrial ROS production. The latter could possibly be a result of disturbed ΔΨm. The activation of caspase-3/7 could then follow the increased intrinsic superoxide levels due to depleted intrinsic glutathione (GSH). These cellular events might not directly and immediately lead to DNA fragmentation as an endpoint of apoptosis because of topological hindrances.Web of Scienc

Keyboard Contamination in Intensive Care Unit: Is Cleaning Enough? Prospective Research of In Situ Effectiveness of a Tea Tree Oil (KTEO) Film

After the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, disinfection practices and microbial load reduction have become even more important and rigorous. To determine the contamination of keyboard surface and the relative risk to transfer healthcare-associated pathogens to susceptible patients, as it frequently happens in Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a standard keyboard (SK), a cleanable keyless keyboard (KK) with smooth surface and a standard keyboard coated with a 3M Tegaderm film added with active essential oil (tea tree oil) (KTEO) were tested. S. aureus, including MRSA strains, were detected in ICU, with values ranging from 15% to 57%. Gram negative strains belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family were also found with values ranging from 14% to 71%. Similar Gram positive and Gram negative strains were found on all surfaces, but with low percentage, and only environmental bacteria were detected using the settling plates method. The Microbial Challenge Test performed on KTEO showed high rates of decrease for all the pathogens with statistical significance both at 24 and 48h (p=0.003* and p=0.040*, respectively). Our results suggest that the use of KTEO may be a feasible strategy for reducing the transmission of pathogens in health care setting and may be complementary to surface cleaning protocols

Effects of bovine spermatozoa preparation on embryonic development in vitro

The aim of our research was to examine the ability of density gradient preparation BoviPure(® )and swim up method on bull sperm separation and in vitro embryo production (IVP) systems. Frozen/thawed semen from six Simmental bulls was pooled and treated using both methods. The sperm motility, concentration, membrane activity, membrane integrity and acrosomal status were evaluated and compared before and after sperm processing using BoviPure(® )and swim up methods. We also evaluated and compared cleavage rates, embryo yield and quality between the methods. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the sperm characteristics before and after BoviPure(®), but not after swim up method. However, there were significant differences for sperm results among those two mentioned methods. A total of 641 oocytes were matured and fertilized in vitro and cultured in SOFaaBSA. The percentage of cleavage (Day 2) and the percentage of hatched embryos (Day 9) were similar for both methods. However, embryo production rate (Day 7) was significantly higher using BoviPure(® )method (P < 0.05). Also, total cell number and embryo differential staining (inner cell mass and trophectoderm cells) of Day 7 morulas and blastocysts showed that BoviPure(® )treated sperm displayed higher quality embryos compared to swim up method (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that BoviPure(® )method has an enhanced capacity in sperm selection for in vitro embryo production when compared with swim up method. So, we concluded that BoviPure(® )could be considered as a better alternative to swim up method for separating bull spermatozoa from frozen/thawed semen for IVP of bovine embryos