Animal facility videoendoscopic intubation station: tips and tricks from mice to rabbits

Endotracheal intubation of laboratory animals is a common procedure shared by several research fields for different purposes, such as mechanical ventilation of anaesthetized animals, instillation of cytotoxic nanoparticles, infectious agents or tumour cells for induction of disease models, and even for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. These different research purposes, achieved in different animal models, require technical expertise and equipment that suits every research need from animal facilities. In this short report we propose a videoendoscopic intubation station that could be shared among the most common laboratory animals, namely the mouse, rat, guinea pig and rabbit, from neonates to adult animals. This report aims to contribute to the reduction of animals excluded from experiments due to false paths during direct and blind intubations and to the refinement of procedures by replacing surgical approaches such as tracheotomy.Project ON.2 SR&TD Integrated Program (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000017), co- funded by the North Portugal Regional Operational Program (ON.2-O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was also supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors – COMPETE and National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology under the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038. A Miranda was supported by an FCT grant (SFRH/BD/52059/2012)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hemangioendotelioma epitelióide da pleura – Uma apresentação rara a propósito de um caso clínico

AbstractEpithelioid Hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a vascular tumour with rare pleural presentation. As there are a small number of cases described in the literature the authors present the case of a 65-year-old woman, who was admitted to the Emergency Department for a right-sided chest pain, which progressed over 7 months, after a thoracic trauma. The chest X-ray showed signs of a moderate right-sided pleural effusion. A pleural-pulmonary biopsy carried out by toracotomy established the histological diagnosis of EHE of the pleura.Due to the locally advanced stage of the tumour, chemotherapy with carboplatin and etoposide was prescribed and the patient died 6 months later.This case confirms that pleural EHE has an aggressivebehaviour, similar to an angiossarcoma, with a median survival of only a few months after diagnosis.Rev Port Pneumol 2010; XVI (3): 477-48

Ultrasound-guided dissection and ligation of the internal inguinal ring for hernia repair in pediatrics: an experimental animal study

Purpose: We aimed to test the feasibility and reliability of ultrasound-guided percutaneous internal inguinal ring suture in rabbits, as a model for inguinal hernia repair in pediatric population. Methods: Twenty-eight rabbits were divided in 2 groups: group I (female morphology) - persistence of the peritoneal-vaginal duct with gonads placed in intraperitoneal position; group II (male morphology) - persistence of the peritoneal-vaginal duct with gonads kept intact inside the duct. Under exclusive ultrasound-guided image we tried to perform a complete pre-peritoneal ligation of the peritoneal-vaginal duct at the level of the internal inguinal ring using a 20G peripheral IV catheter and 2-0 non-absorbable suture. Afterwards, an exploratory laparoscopy was performed to evaluate the ligation. Results: Ultrasound allowed characterization of inguinal-crural structures. Group I - complete and reliable suture 66.7%, incomplete but reliable suture 16.7%, inappropriate ligation 16.7%; group II - complete but unreliable suture 76.9%, incomplete and unreliable suture 11.5%, inappropriate suture 11.5%. No acute complications were logged. Conclusions: Percutaneous dissection and ligation of internal inguinal ring through exclusive ultrasound guidance was feasible and likely reliable, namely for female inguinal hernia repair.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), co-funded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2—O Novo 267 Norte); from the Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN) through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) and from the Projeto Estratégico – LA 26 – 2013–2014 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Life Cycle Inventory for artisanal production of Macauba liquor in the territory of Serro / Minas Gerais

A Macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) é uma palmeira perene, com ampla produtividade. Presente em diferentes ecossistemas brasileiros, é encontrada na Região do Serro, Minas Gerais, como uma árvore nativa. Diante das diversas possibilidades de aproveitamento do fruto, o objetivo deste artigo é analisar os impactos ambientais advindos da produção do licor de macaúba, no território do Serro-MG, por meio da metodologia de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida. O inventário realizado identificou um ciclo de vida que inclui 12 processos, desde o crescimento da fruta, até o consumo do licor. Por se tratar de uma bebida, cujo final do ciclo de vida gera resíduos passíveis de reuso e reciclagem, o principal impacto identificado refere-se às emissões de CO2 , advindas dos transportes necessários nos processos. Ainda assim, deve ser considerado o sequestro de carbono, realizado pelas próprias palmeiras de macaúba, durante seu crescimento.Macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) is a perennial palm tree, which has ample productivity. Present in different Brazilian ecosystems, it is found in the Serro Region, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as a native tree. Given the various possibilities of using the fruit, the objective of this paper is to analyse the environmental impacts arising from the production of macauba liquor, in the Serro-MG territory, through the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The inventory carried out identified a life cycle that includes 12 processes, from the growth of the fruit to the consumption of the liquor. As it is a drink, the end of the life cycle of which generates waste that can be reused and recycled, the main impact identified refers to CO2 emissions, resulting from the necessary transport in the processes. Even so, carbon sequestration, carried out by the macauba palms themselves, during their growth must be considered

Germline genetic variants of the renin-angiotensin system, hypoxia and angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer progression : discovery and validation studies

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Introduction: The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is involved in cell proliferation, immunoinflammatory response, hypoxia and angiogenesis, which are critical biological processes in lung cancer. Our aim was to study the association of putatively functional genetic polymorphisms in genes coding for proteins involved in RAS, hypoxia and angiogenesis with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis. Methods: Genotyping of 52 germline variants from genes of the RAS and hypoxic/angiogenic factors/receptors was performed using MassARRAY iPLEX Gold in a retrospective cohort (n = 167) of advanced NSCLC patients. Validation of the resulting genetic markers was conducted in an independent group (n = 190), matched by clinicopathological characteristics. Results: Multivariate analysis on the discovery set revealed that MME rs701109 C carriers were protected from disease progression in comparison with homozygous T (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.2–0.8, p = 0.010). Homozygous A and T genotypes for KDR rs1870377 were at increased risk for disease progression and death compared to heterozygous (HR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.2–2.5, p = 0.005 and HR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.2–3.4, p = 0.006, respectively). Carriers of homozygous genotypes for ACE2 rs908004 presented increased risk for disease progression, only in the subgroup of patients without tumour actionable driver mutations (HR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.3–6.3, p = 0.010). Importantly, the association of homozygous genotypes in MME rs701109 with risk for disease progression was confirmed after multivariate analysis in the validation set. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that MME polymorphism, which encodes neprilysin, may modulate progression-free survival in advanced NSCLC. Present genetic variation findings will foster basic, translational, and clinical research on their role in NSCLC.M.J.C. was supported by the Associação de Estudos Respiratórios and the Portuguese Pulmonology Society.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neurodevelopment impact of CO2-pneumoperitoneum in neonates: experimental study in a rat model

Laparoscopy is becoming more common in neonates. However, concerns remain about the impact of the carbon-dioxide (CO2)-insufflation over the neonatal brain. We aim to evaluate the peripheral (serum) and central (cerebrospinal fluid [CSF]) cytokine response after neonatal CO2-pneumoperitoneum and its impact over neurodevelopmental milestones acquisition and long-term behavioral outcomes.FEDER, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038; and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). A Miranda and S. Roque were supported by FCT grants (SFRH/BD/52059/2012) and (SFRH/BPD/72710/2010), respectively. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank Karl Storz GmbH for equipment and technical supportinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hemangioendotelioma epitelióide da pleura - Uma apresentação rara a propósito de um caso clínico Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the pleura - A rare presentation of a clinical case

O hemangioendotelioma epitelióide (HEE) é um tumor de origem vascular, de grau intermédio de malignidade, cuja apresentação primária na pleura é rara. Pelo reduzido número de casos descritos na literatura, os autores apresentam o caso de uma doente de 65 anos, que recorreu ao serviço de urgência por toracalgia à direita, com sete meses de evolução, na sequência de um traumatismo torácico. Radiologicamente apresentava sinais sugestivos de derrame pleural direito de volume moderado. A biópsia pleuropulmonar, efectuada por toracotomia, permitiu estabelecer o diagnóstico histológico de HEE da pleura. Atendendo ao estádio localmente avançado do tumor, a doente iniciou quimioterapia com carboplatina e etoposido, tendo falecido 6 meses após o diagnóstico. Constata-se, com este caso, que a manifestação pleural do HEE tem um comportamento agressivo, semelhante ao do angiossarcoma, com uma sobrevida de apenas alguns meses após o diagnóstico.Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a vascular tumour with rare pleural presentation. As there are a small number of cases described in the literature the authors present the case of a 65-year old woman, who was admitted to the Emergency Department for a right-sided chest pain, which progressed over 7 months, after a thoracic trauma. The chest X-ray showed signs of a moderate right-sided pleural effusion. A pleural-pulmonary biopsy carried out by toracotomy established the histological diagnosis of EHE of the pleura. Due to the locally advanced stage of the tumour, chemotherapy with carboplatin and etoposide was prescribed and the patient died 6 months later. This case confirms that pleural EHE has an aggressive behaviour, similar to an angiossarcoma, with a median survival of only a few months after diagnosis

Neopterin in tuberculous and neoplastic pleural fluids

Neopterin is derived from guanosine-triphosphate, produced by stimulated macrophages under the influence of gamma interferon of lymphocyte origin. It has been suggested as an excellent marker for activation of the monocyte/macrophage axis in some clinical situations. We evaluated its concentration in the pleural effusions of 25 individuals (10 tuberculous and 15 neoplastic) as well as in the blood of 22 of them (8 tuberculous and 14 neoplastic), comparing these levels with those of a control group in 99 normal individuals. The concentration of neopterin was determined by radioimmunologic assay. This showed a significant increase (p less than 0.001) of neopterin levels in the tuberculous pleural fluid, compared to the neoplastic group (42 +/- 23/17 +/- 9 nmol/L). In the blood, values were nearly identical to the pleural fluid (41.3 +/- 25/15.8 +/- 6.9 nmol/L), although with significant differences between them and in relation to the control group (p less than 0.001), which had a normal serum value (5.11 +/- 1.92 nmol/L). We emphasize the influence of the neopterin levels in the pleural fluid on the diagnosis of causes of pleurisy and its importance as a marker of immunologic cellular activity

Pharmacogenetics of advanced lung cancer: Predictive value of functional genetic polymorphism AGXT Pro11Leu in clinical outcome?

Introduction AGXT gene codes for the enzyme alanine glyoxylate aminotransferase, which is involved in hepatic peroxisomal metabolism of platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents. The association of genetic variant AGXT rs34116584 on the clinical outcome and response to chemotherapy of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be established. Our aim was to evaluate the association of functional AGXT gene polymorphism in NSCLC progression, considering as primary and secondary endpoint, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), respectively. Methods Genotyping of theAGXT rs34116584 genetic polymorphism was performed by mass spectrometry on 168 DNA samples from patients with NSCLC (stages IIIA-IVB). Univariate survival analysis included the study of Kaplan-Meier curves with the Log-Rank test, while Cox regression was used as a multivariate analysis. Results Multivariate analysis showed shorter PFS for T carriers [HR = 2.0, 95% CI, 1.4−3.0, p < 0.0001] and shorter OS [HR = 1.8, 95% CI, 1.1−3.0, p = 0.017] globally, as well as in a subgroup of patients (n = 144) treated with first line platinum-based chemotherapy [HR = 2.0, 95% CI, 1.3–3.1, p = 0.001] and [HR = 1.8, 95% CI, 1.1–3.1, p = 0.026], respectively. Conclusion This polymorphism seems to have an impact on NSCLC progression, opening new perspectives for its inclusion as a pharmacogenetic predictor of response to platinum-based chemotherapy