The importance of circulating tumor products as „liquid biopsies” in colorectal cancer

Liquid biopsies represent an array of plasma analysis tests that are studied to evaluate and identify circulating tumor products, especially circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Examining such biomarkers in the plasma of colorectal cancer patients has attracted attention due to its clinical significance in the treatment of malignant diseases. Given that tissue samples are sometimes challenging to procure or unsatisfactory for genomic profiling from patients with colorectal cancer, trustworthy biomarkers are mandatory for guiding treatment, monitoring therapeutic response, and detecting recurrence. This review considers the relevance of flowing tumor products like circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating messenger RNA (mRNA), circulating micro RNA (miRNA), circulating exosomes, and tumor educated platelets (TEPs) for patients with colorectal cancer

Clinical-evolutional particularities of the cryoglobulinemic vasculitis in the case of a patient diagnosed with hepatitis C virus in the predialitic phase

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a fundamental issue for public health, with long term evolution and the gradual appearance of several complications and associated pathologies. One of these pathologies is represented by cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, a disorder characterized by the appearance in the patient’s serum of the cryoglobulins, which typically precipitate at temperatures below normal body temperature (37°C) and dissolve again if the serum is heated. Here, we describe the case of a patient diagnosed with HCV that, during the evolution of the hepatic disease, developed a form of cryoglobulinemic vasculitis. The connection between the vasculitis and the hepatic disorder was revealed following treatment with interferon, with the temporary remission of both pathologies and subsequent relapse at the end of the 12 months of treatment, the patient becoming a non-responder. The particularity of the case is represented by both the severity of the vasculitic disease from its onset and the deterioration of renal function up to the predialitic phase, a situation not typical of the evolution of cryoglobulinemia. Taking into account the hepatic disorder, the inevitable evolution towards cirrhosis, and the risk of developing the hepatocellular carcinoma, close monitoring is necessary

The importance of circulating tumor products as „liquid biopsies” in colorectal cancer

Liquid biopsies represent an array of plasma analysis tests that are studied to evaluate and identify circulating tumor products, especially circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Examining such biomarkers in the plasma of colorectal cancer patients has attracted attention due to its clinical significance in the treatment of malignant diseases. Given that tissue samples are sometimes challenging to procure or unsatisfactory for genomic profiling from patients with colorectal cancer, trustworthy biomarkers are mandatory for guiding treatment, monitoring therapeutic response, and detecting recurrence. This review considers the relevance of flowing tumor products like circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating messenger RNA (mRNA), circulating micro RNA (miRNA), circulating exosomes, and tumor educated platelets (TEPs) for patients with colorectal cancer

Repeated PTZ Treatment at 25-Day Intervals Leads to a Highly Efficient Accumulation of Doublecortin in the Dorsal Hippocampus of Rats

BACKGROUND: Neurogenesis persists throughout life in the adult mammalian brain. Because neurogenesis can only be assessed in postmortem tissue, its functional significance remains undetermined, and identifying an in vivo correlate of neurogenesis has become an important goal. By studying pentylenetetrazole-induced brain stimulation in a rat model of kindling we accidentally discovered that 25±1 days periodic stimulation of Sprague-Dawley rats led to a highly efficient increase in seizure susceptibility. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By EEG, RT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry, we show that repeated convulsive seizures with a periodicity of 25±1 days led to an enrichment of newly generated neurons, that were BrdU-positive in the dentate gyrus at day 25±1 post-seizure. At the same time, there was a massive increase in the number of neurons expressing the migratory marker, doublecortin, at the boundary between the granule cell layer and the polymorphic layer in the dorsal hippocampus. Some of these migrating neurons were also positive for NeuN, a marker for adult neurons. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that the increased susceptibility to seizure at day 25±1 post-treatment is coincident with a critical time required for newborn neurons to differentiate and integrate into the existing hippocampal network, and outlines the importance of the dorsal hippocampus for seizure-related neurogenesis. This model can be used as an in vivo correlate of neurogenesis to study basic questions related to neurogenesis and to the neurogenic mechanisms that contribute to the development of epilepsy

Impact of Intermediate Hyperglycemia and Diabetes on Immune Dysfunction in Tuberculosis

Supplementary Data: Supplementary materials are available at Clinical Infectious Diseases online at https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/72/1/69/5857148#274319223 . Consisting of data provided by the authors to benefit the reader, the posted materials are not copyedited and are the sole responsibility of the authors, so questions or comments should be addressed to the corresponding author.Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Background: People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB) and are more likely to have poor TB-treatment outcomes, which may impact on control of TB as the prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. Blood transcriptomes are altered in patients with active TB relative to healthy individuals. The effects of diabetes and intermediate hyperglycemia (IH) on this transcriptomic signature were investigated to enhance understanding of immunological susceptibility in diabetes-TB comorbidity. Methods: Whole blood samples were collected from active TB patients with diabetes (glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] ≥6.5%) or IH (HbA1c = 5.7% to <6.5%), TB-only patients, and healthy controls in 4 countries: South Africa, Romania, Indonesia, and Peru. Differential blood gene expression was determined by RNA-seq (n = 249). Results: Diabetes increased the magnitude of gene expression change in the host transcriptome in TB, notably showing an increase in genes associated with innate inflammatory and decrease in adaptive immune responses. Strikingly, patients with IH and TB exhibited blood transcriptomes much more similar to patients with diabetes-TB than to patients with only TB. Both diabetes-TB and IH-TB patients had a decreased type I interferon response relative to TB-only patients. Conclusions: Comorbidity in individuals with both TB and diabetes is associated with altered transcriptomes, with an expected enhanced inflammation in the presence of both conditions, but also reduced type I interferon responses in comorbid patients, suggesting an unexpected uncoupling of the TB transcriptome phenotype. These immunological dysfunctions are also present in individuals with IH, showing that altered immunity to TB may also be present in this group. The TB disease outcomes in individuals with IH diagnosed with TB should be investigated further.European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 2007-2013 - Health) under grant agreement No 305279

The importance of circulating tumor products as „liquid biopsies” in colorectal cancer

Liquid biopsies represent an array of plasma analysis tests that are studied to evaluate and identify circulating tumor products, especially circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Examining such biomarkers in the plasma of colorectal cancer patients has attracted attention due to its clinical significance in the treatment of malignant diseases. Given that tissue samples are sometimes challenging to procure or unsatisfactory for genomic profiling from patients with colorectal cancer, trustworthy biomarkers are mandatory for guiding treatment, monitoring therapeutic response, and detecting recurrence. This review considers the relevance of flowing tumor products like circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating messenger RNA (mRNA), circulating micro RNA (miRNA), circulating exosomes, and tumor educated platelets (TEPs) for patients with colorectal cancer