Anthranoid self-medication causing rapid development of melanosis coli

It is widely known that long-term use of anthranoid-containing laxatives is the cause of melanosis coli. We describe a case of melanosis coli, which occurred in a 39-year-old liver transplant patient who took an over-the-counter product containing aloe, rheum and frangula. The typical brownish pigmentation of the colonic mucosa developed in a period of ten months. The anthranoid medication was stopped and follow-up colonoscopy one year later showed normal looking mucosa once more. However, in contrast to previous examinations, a sessile polypoid lesion was found in the transverse colon. Histology showed tubulovillous adenoma with extensive low-grade dysplasia. Since there have been preliminary reports suggesting a possible role of anthranoid-containing laxatives in the development of colorectal adenomas and cancer, their use should be discouraged

Collagen proportionate area correlates with histological stage and predicts clinical events in primary sclerosing cholangitis

Background & Aims: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease in need of accurate biomarkers for stratification and as surrogates for clinical endpoints in trials. Quantitative liver fibrosis assessment by collagen proportionate area (CPA) measurement has been demonstrated to correlate with clinical outcomes in chronic hepatitis C, alcohol-related and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We aimed to investigate the ability of CPA to quantify liver fibrosis and predict clinical events in PSC. Methods: Biopsies from 101 PSC patients from two European centres were retrospectively assessed by two expert pathologists in tandem, using grading (Ishak and Nakanuma) and staging (Ishak, Nakanuma, Ludwig) systems recently validated to predict clinical events in PSC. CPA was determined by image analysis of picro-Sirius red-stained sections following a standard protocol. We assessed the correlations between CPA, staging and grading and their associations with three outcomes: (1) time to PSC-related death, liver transplant or primary liver cancer; (2) liver transplant-free survival; (3) occurrence of cirrhosis-related clinical manifestations. Results: CPA correlated strongly with histological stage determined by each scoring system (P < .001) and was significantly associated with the three endpoints. Median time to endpoint-1, endpoint-2 and endpoint-3 was shorter in patients with higher CPA, on Kaplan-Meier analyses (P = .011, P = .034 and P = .001, respectively). Conclusion: Quantitative fibrosis assessment by CPA has utility in PSC. It correlates with established histological staging systems and predicts clinical events. CPA may be a useful tool for staging fibrosis and for risk stratification in PSC and should be evaluated further within prospective clinical trials

Islet cell cytoplasmic antibody reactivity in midgestational human fetal pancreas

The reactivity of islet cell cytoplasmic antibodies (ICA)-positive and ICA-negative sera of recent onset type 1 diabetic patients was studied in human fetal pancreata of 12-18 weeks' gestation and compared with the reactivity of these sera in adult human control pancreata. The aims of the study were: (1) to observe the presence of ICA staining in human fetal islet cells; (2) to compare endpoint titres (in Juvenile Diabetes Foundation units) of ICA-positive patient sera in fetal pancreata and adult human control pancreata. Ten ICA-positive sera and eight ICA-negative sera from newly diagnosed diabetic patients and four sera from healthy controls were tested on three human adult and eight human fetal pancreata. As in the adult control pancreata. ICA-positive sera reacted to insulin-, glucagon-, and somatostatin-positive cells of fetal pancreata of all gestational ages. This was observed both in single cells and in cells in islet-like cell clusters. Dilution of a reference serum gave similar results in both adult and fetal pancreata. In contrast, the ICA-positive patient sera yielded a striking heterogeneity in fetal as well as in adult pancreata. However, end-point titres between adult and fetal pancreata did not differ significantly (P>0.05). In conclusion, ICA-positive sera from recent onset diabetic patients show that the expression of molecules to which ICA react is present in all islet cells and starts before week 12 of gestation

Повернення в Ніжин (корпус документів з епістолярію І.Г. Спаського)

Підготовка до друку та переднє слово Наталії ДМИТРЕНКО (Ніжин), коментарі Сергія ЗОЗУЛІ (Київ–Ніжин): Уперше вводиться до наукового обігу корпус джерел з епістолярію українського та російського радянського історика-нумізмата, музейника І.Г. Спаського. Корпус джерел який містить кореспонденцію, отриману відомим науковцем від кореспондентів-ніжинців, і де, здебільшого, відображена “ніжинська тематика” – проблеми збереження культурної спадщини Ніжина, післявоєнного розвитку міста тощо.Подготовка к печати и предисловие Наталии ДМИТРЕНКО (Нежин), комментарии Сергея ЗОЗУЛИ (Киев–Нежин): Впервые вводится в научный оборот корпус источников из эпистолярия украинского и российского советского историка-нумизмата, музейщика И.Г. Спасского. Корпус источников содержит корреспонденцию, полученную известным ученым от корреспондентов-нежинцев, и в котором преимущественно отображена “нежинская тематика” – проблемы сохранения культурного наследия Нежина, послевоенного развития города и т.п.Preparation to the print and preface of Nataliya DMYTRENKO (Nizhyn), comments of Serhiy ZOZULYA (Kyiv–Nizhyn): The corps of sources from the epistolary legacy of the Ukrainian and Russian soviet historiannumismatist and museum worker I.G. Spas’kiy is entered to the scientific appeal in the first time. This corps of sources contains correspondence got the known scientist from Nizhynians and contains mostly “Nizhyn themes” – problems of protect of Nizhyn’s cultural legacy, post-war development of this town etc

Compassion apps for better mental health: qualitative review

Background There is increasing empirical evidence for the positive mental health effects of compassion-based interventions. Although numerous smartphone apps offering compassion-based interventions (‘compassion apps’) are now available for the general public, the quality of these apps has not yet been reviewed. A qualitative review of existing compassion apps serves as a crucial first step toward testing the efficacy of these apps, by identifying good-quality compassion apps that might be worth the investment of a scientific trial. Aims The current study focuses on reviewing the quality of existing compassion apps. Method Existing compassion apps were identified through searches in the Google Play Store and App Store. The 24 included apps were reviewed on their quality by using the Mobile App Rating Scale, and on their consistency with current evidence by comparing them to existing and studied compassion-based interventions. Results Of the 24 included apps, eight were identified that met the criteria of being consistent with existing and studied compassion-based interventions, and acceptable to good overall quality. The other 16 apps failed to meet one or both of these criteria. Conclusions Good-quality compassion apps are available, but many of the available apps fail to meet certain quality criteria. In particular, many apps failed to offer sufficient relevant and correct information, or failed to offer this information in an entertaining and interesting way. It is recommended that future compassion apps are based on a clear definition of compassion, offer evidence- and theory-based exercises and implement tools for increasing engagement

High frequency of loss of heterozygosity in vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) is associated with invasive vulval squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC)

Vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) is thought to be the premalignant phase of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated vulval squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC). Various molecular events have been suggested as markers for progression from VIN to VSCC, but loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in vulval neoplasia has rarely been studied in this context. We performed LOH analysis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of polymorphic microsatellite markers at 6 chromosomal loci (17p13-p53, 9p21-p16, 3p25, 4q21, 5p14 and 11p15). The presence of HPV was assessed using consensus PCR primers and DNA sequencing. To examine any association between LOH and the presence of invasive disease, we analyzed 43 cases of lone VIN III, 42 cases of lone VSCC and 21 cases of VIN with concurrent VSCC. HPV DNA was detected in 95% of lone VIN III samples and 71% of lone VSCC samples. Fractional regional allelic loss (FRL) in VIN associated with VSCC was higher than in lone VIN (mean FRL 0.43 vs. 0.21, p < 0.005). LOH at 3p25 occurred significantly more frequently in HPV-negative VSCC than in HPV-positive VSCC (58% vs. 22%, p < 0.04). These data suggest that genetic instability in VIN, reflected by LOH, may increase the risk of invasion. In addition, molecular events differ in HPV-positive and -negative VSCC and 3p25 may be the site of a tumor suppressor gene involved in HPV-independent vulval carcinogenesis