Acta medica academica最新文献

Objective: This study aimed to compare cathelicidin levels in the skin of leprae patients and leprae contacts.

Patients and methods: This research is an analytic observational study with a cross-sectional approach. Fifty-four research subjects participated in this study. They consisted of leprae patients, household contacts, and healthy individuals. Cathelicidin levels were measured using the ELISA method. Data analysis was carried out with the help of SPSS software, and univariate and bivariate analysis was conducted.

Results: Cathelicidin levels in the leprae group (256.8±22.9 pg/ml) were higher than in the contact group (25.9±2.7 pg/ml). Likewise, the contact group had higher cathelicidin levels than healthy controls (1.4±0.1 pg/ml). Statistically, there were differences in cathelicidin levels between groups, P<0.050.

Conclusion: Cathelicidin levels in leprae patients were higher than those in household contacts.

Objective: An in-vitro study was performed to investigate the molecular basis of the wound healing and skin protective features of Helichrysum italicum (HI), a medicinal plant from the Mediterranean basin.

Materials and methods: A dermal fibroblast cell line culture was treated with HI hydro-alcoholic extract to detect the gene expression levels of three selected primers: FGF-2, HAS-2 and MMP-9. Cell proliferation assay was performed using a XTT reagent. RNA isolations were carried out from both the extract treated study cell group and the control cell group using a TRI reagent. GAPDH was used as the reference gene. Gene expressions were determined by real time RT-qPCR. The results were represented as 'Target/GAPDH Fold Change'. Statistical evaluation was performed by Student's t test.

Results: HI extract caused statistically significant upregulation of FGF-2 (P=0.0473) and HAS-2 (P=0.0335) gene expressions compared to the untreated control cells. The treatment ended with 1.74 and 3.10 fold changes for FGF-2 and HAS-2, respectively.

Conclusion: In general, it may be considered that HI has certain anabolic effects on the extracellular matrix of the skin because of the significant increases it causes in FGF-2 and HAS-2. Therefore, it may have a promising future in anti-aging studies and cosmetic dermatology. The results obtained in this study may also partially explain the molecular basis of the health benefits of HI on skin, including improvement in wound healing, and protection against the detrimental effects of ultraviolet exposure.

Objective: We present the case of toxic cardiomyopathy in a healthy thirty-eight-year-old female patient treated for Her2-positive early breast cancer.

Case report: During the neoadjuvant treatment, the patient received four cycles of AC regimen and four cycles of docetaxel in combination with trastuzumab biosimilar. Two days after she received the ninth dose of trastuzumab biosimilar, she reported feebleness, palpitation, and dyspnoea. A heart ultrasound was performed and was normal without changes in the ejection fraction (EF) compared to previous checks. Three days later she reports worsening of her symptoms that were highly suggestive of heart failure. A cardiologist was consulted who insisted that the patient's symptoms were the consequence of the disease progression. A CT scan showed signs of heart failure. A heart ultrasound was done and the EF dropped to 30%. Drainage of the right pleural cavity was performed and pharmacotherapy for heart failure was started. The treatment led to clinical improvement, but eighteen months later EF is still not back to normal.

Conclusion: This is a rare case of toxic cardiomyopathy in a young, previously healthy, patient who received anthracyclines followed by trastuzumab biosimilar in combination with taxanes. All the medications this patient received are potentially cardiotoxic. However, the overall presentation is not typical for any of these medications since the patient presented with symptoms and signs of heart failure with significant dilatation of the right atrium, which persists eighteen months after its onset, with only a small increase in the EF. There is also a possibility that the antineoplastic therapy the patient received only facilitated dilatative cardiomyopathy, while the main causative factor was intrinsic or extrinsic.

Objectives: Thrombosis is an increasingly recognized complication of childhood malignancy and its treatment. The incidence and etiology of pediatric cancer-related thrombosis is still not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of common prothrombotic genetic conditions in children with cancer, the frequency of thrombosis, and the role of inherited thrombophilia in the development of thrombosis in a pediatric oncology population.

Patients and methods: Forty-seven children (36 treated for hematological malignancies and 11 for solid tumors) with a median age of 8.8. years (range 0.4 - 19.3 years) were included in the study. Genetic polymorphisms of Factor V Leiden (G1691A), prothrombin G20210A, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction-based DNA analysis.

Results: Four (8.5%) patients were heterozygous for Factor V Leiden, 3 (6.4%) were heterozygous for prothrombin G20210A mutation, and 3 (6.4%) were homozygous for MTHFR C677T mutation. All patients had implanted central venous catheters. Four (8.5%) children had documented thrombosis, three of which were in the upper venous system. Two of the four patients with thrombosis had Factor V Leiden heterozygosity.

Conclusions: Thrombosis is an important complication of childhood cancer. The risk of thrombosis may be increased in patients with Factor V Leiden. In the absence of consensus guidelines, our results support the recommendation for thrombophilia screening in children with cancer.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to describe the causes involved in the pathophysiology of coccydynia, emerging from the coccyx or the anatomical tailbone region.

Case report: We present the case of a 64-year-old man with pain in the coccyx and numbness in the perianal area. After clinical examination and imaging evaluation, including plain X-rays and magnetic resonance, coccygeal disc disease was identified. Other findings, such as tumor and fracture were excluded. We decided to undertake conservative management and the pain was eventually relieved. This is the first case report of coccygodynia and perianal numbness attributed to coccygeal disc disease.

Conlcusion: Although there is no standard treatment, coexisting coccygeal disc disease should be always taken into account, with clinical and imaging examinations being considered of major importance to establish both medical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: To reveal the reliability of radiological measurements of the ethmoid arteries.

Method: Five fresh frozen cadaveric heads underwent computed tomography and endoscopic sinus surgery. The lateromedial length of the anterior ethmoidal artery (AEA) and its distance to the axilla of the middle turbinate (MTA), the sphenoethmoidal recess (SR) and the posterior ethmoidal artery were measured. The posterior ethmoidal artery (PEA) was referenced to the SR. These anatomical parameters were measured both radiologically and endoscopically, and the compatibility of the two was examined.

Results: Ten nasal cavities were dissected. We found that the distance of MTA to the AEA was 16±8 mm in dissection, 21±4 mm radiologically in the sagittal section, the distance of SR to the AEA was 14±3 mm in dissection, 19±4 mm radiologically in the sagittal section, and the distance of the AEA to the PEA was 10±3 mm in dissection, 12±3 mm radiologically in the axial section. The distance of the PEA to SR was 6±3 mm in dissection, 8±2 mm radiologically in the sagittal section.

Conclusions: The distance of the AEA to the MTA, the distance of the AEA to the PEA and the distance of the PEA to the SR were compatible with each other in the dissection and in the radiologically evaluation, whereas the distance of the AEA to the SR was not compatible.