Expression of Syndecan-1 in Chronic Liver Diseases: Correlation With Hepatic Fibrosis.

Background/aim: The mechanisms underlying the contribution of the heparan sulfate proteoglycan syndecan-1 to liver tissue injury and to crucial biological processes, such as fibrogenesis, remain to be elucidated. Therefore, we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of syndecan-1 in chronic liver diseases (CLDs) and its probable role in hepatic fibrosis.

Materials And Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of biopsy material obtained from 128 patients diagnosed with CLDs.

Alterations of p53 and Rb Pathways Are Associated with High Proliferation in Bladder Urothelial Carcinomas.

Background/aim: Since most cancers are associated with alterations of the p53 and Rb pathways, the expression of p53, p21, Rb, p16, p27, cyclin D1, cyclin A, cyclin B1 and Ki67 proteins were analyzed in bladder urothelial carcinomas (BUC).

Materials And Methods: One hundred twenty-two cases of BUC were studied by immunohistochemistry.

Results: The pathways p53/p21 and Rb/p16/cyclin D1 exhibited alterations in 81/115 and 63/84 cases, respectively.

Mitochondrial Membrane Dynamics and Inherited Optic Neuropathies.

Inherited optic neuropathies are a genetically diverse group of disorders mainly characterized by visual loss and optic atrophy. Since the first recognition of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, several genetic defects altering primary mitochondrial respiration have been proposed to contribute to the development of syndromic and non-syndromic optic neuropathies. Moreover, the genomics and imaging revolution in the past decade has increased diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, allowing recognition of a link between mitochondrial dynamics machinery and a broad range of inherited neurodegenerative diseases involving the optic nerve.

Immunohistochemical Study of Vasculogenic Mimicry and Angiogenesis in Melanocytic Tumors of the Eye and the Periocular Area.

Background/aim: The ability of a tumor to grow requires a sufficient blood supply. Microvascular density is considered the standard for assessing the neovasculature. Tumor cell vasculogenic mimicry refers to the formation of tumor cell-lined vessels that contribute to tumor neovascularization.

Natural Compounds and Neuroprotection: Mechanisms of Action and Novel Delivery Systems.

Neurodegeneration characterizes pathologic conditions, ranging from Alzheimer's disease to glaucoma, with devastating social and economic effects. It is a complex process implicating a series of molecular and cellular events, such as oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein misfolding, excitotoxicity and inflammation. Natural compounds, because of their broad spectrum of pharmacological and biological activities, could be possible candidates for the management of such multifactorial morbidities.

The Spectrum of Infectious Diseases in Kidney Transplantation: A Review of the Classification, Pathogens and Clinical Manifestations.

Kidney transplantation is the treatment-of-choice for a significant number of patients with end-stage renal disease. Renal transplant recipients (RTRs) benefit from a longer life expectancy, with a better quality of life. Despite, recent accomplishments in the field of kidney transplantation, both short- and long-term, surgical and medical complications still exist.

Vasculogenic mimicry: lessons from melanocytic tumors.

Tumor cell vasculogenic mimicry refers to the formation of tumor cell-lined vessels that contribute to tumor neovascularization and nutrient and oxygen supply. These tumor cells express many endothelial and stem cell markers, resulting in them having a unique phenotype. This phenomenon is observed in a variety of neoplasms, such as glioblastomas and sarcomas, as well as breast, ovarian, liver and lung carcinomas.

Relationships between body composition analysis measures in Greek women and US white women.

We investigated the regional changes in body composition relative to age, in healthy Caucasian women living in the Mediterranean area. Body composition of total and subtotal body was measured, and fat mass (FM) ratios along with FM and lean mass (LM) indices were calculated in 330 women aged 20-85 years, using DXA. Data were compared with the NHANES reference database.

[Colorectal carcinogenesis].

Colorectal adenocarcinomas were long thought to be an homogeneous entity, in which traditional adenomas of the colon were the best-recognized and most common precursor lesions. Current morphological and molecular data suggest an alternative pathway of colorectal carcinogenesis involving "serrated neoplasia". This pathway seems to be responsible for approximately 10% to 15% of sporadic colorectal adenocarcinomas.

Real-Time PCR detection and quantitation of clarithromycin-resistant strains in archival material and correlation with Sydney classification.

Background: , infects gastric mucosa causing gastritis. Treatment failure is mainly due to certain genetic changes in the peptidyltransferase loop of 23S rRNA of the microorganism. The aim of the study was to evaluate genetic changes in gastric biopsies of (+) patients that lead to clarithromycin resistance and to correlate them with histology data.

Cytogenetic analysis of a low-grade secondary peripheral chondrosarcoma arising in synovial chondromatosis.

Secondary chondrosarcoma is a malignant chondroid tumor arising in a benign precursor. Synovial chondromatosis is a benign chondroid lesion that rarely transforms to chondrosarcoma. We present the case of a 54-year-old male with the diagnosis of low-grade secondary peripheral chondrosarcoma developed in the context of synovial chondromatosis.

Prostate cancer epidemiology in a rural area of North Western Greece.

Epirus is a rural area of North-Western Greece. We reviewed data from 4 hospitals for 4.975 patients who underwent prostate biopsy in Epirus in the twelve year period from 1999 to 2010.

Altered expression of cell cycle and apoptotic proteins in human liver pathologies.

Τhe expression of cell cycle (P53, Ki-67, P21, and P27) and apoptotic proteins (BCL-2 and BAX) was investigated by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed tissues of normal and pathologic liver. An increased frequency of expression of P21 in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (p=0.003 and p=0.

Synchronous presentation of GISTs and other primary neoplasms: a single center experience.

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are common mesenchymal neoplasms of the digestive tract and may occasionally arise within the abdomen without gastrointestinal tract connection. GISTs have recently attracted widespread interest because of the development of effective targeted molecular agents against it. While synchronous occurrence of a GIST with a tumor of different histogenesis was thought to be very rare, it is now apparent that they are more common than previously believed.

Osteonecrosis of the tibial plateau: magnetic resonance imaging appearances with quantitation of lesion size and evidence of a pathogenesis of meniscal injury.

Purpose: To determine the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging appearances of osteonecrosis of the tibial plateau and perform quantitative analysis of the extent of the necrotic area.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight patients (34 knees) with osteonecrosis were retrospectively evaluated using MR imaging and other modalities where available. A computerized image analysis program that allowed quantification of the lesion size was used to obtain measurements of the extent of involvement, which were then incorporated into each stage of the disease.

Serum and tissue selenium levels in gastric cancer patients and correlation with CEA.

Background: An inverse relationship between selenium (Se) intake and cancer mortality is evident in humans.

Materials And Methods: In eighty patients who had been operated on for primary gastric cancer, serum Se and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were measured preoperatively using a fluorometric and immunoradiometric assay (IRMA), respectively.

Results: The serum Se levels were 43+/-6.

Osteochondromas: review of the clinical, radiological and pathological features.

Osteochondroma is the most common benign bone tumor and usually occurs in the metaphyseal region of the long bones. This tumor takes the form of a cartilage-capped bony outgrowth on the surface of the bone. The vast majority (85%) of osteochondromas present as solitary, nonhereditary lesions.

Differential expression of dysadherin in papillary thyroid carcinoma and microcarcinoma: correlation with E-cadherin.

Dysadherin is a novel glycoprotein, with an anti-cell-cell adhesion function. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression of dysadherin in thyroid papillary microcarcinoma (PMC), to associate it with the expression of E-cadherin and to investigate whether there are differences with papillary carcinoma (PC). A statistically significant difference in dysadherin and E-cadherin expression between PC and PMC and a negative correlation between E-cadherin and dysadherin expression regardless of tumor size were noted.

Immunohistochemical expression of cell-cycle proteins in gastric precancerous lesions.

Background: The early indicator for the subject predisposed to gastric cancer is abnormal proliferation of gastric epithelial cells, such as atrophic gastritis (AG), intestinal metaplasia (IM), and dysplasia, which have been considered as precancerous lesions of gastric cancer. To determine whether p53 protein, cyclins D1, and D3, and p27(kip1) play a role in the carcinogenesis pathway of gastric cancer, we performed an immunohistochemical study of their expression in gastric precancerous lesions.

Methods: A total of 1 45 endoscopic gastric biopsy specimens of AG, IM, and gastric dysplasia were studied.

Prognostic impact of lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic invasion (CD105 expression) in small cell lung carcinoma.

Background: Lymphangiogenesis, an essential process in the metastasis of malignant tumors, has not been thoroughly studied. The possibility of using it to define subsets of patients with different prognosis in cancer could be of vital clinical importance.

Materials And Methods: Fifty patients (5 women, 45 men; mean age, 64.

Immunohistochemical expression patterns of neural and neuroendocrine markers, the neural growth factor receptors and the beta-tubulin II and IV isotypes in human thymus.

Increasing evidence suggests that neuroimmune networks play key roles in the thymic histophysiology and pathology. Prompted by this, we analyzed by immunohistochemistry the distribution of human thymic cells expressing major neural and neuroendocrine markers and neural growth factor (NGF) receptors in combination with the expression patterns of various cytokeratins. Additionally, since some beta-tubulin isotypes are preferentially expressed in neuronal cells, the immunotopographical distribution of thymic cells expressing beta-tubulin II, III and IV was analyzed.

Expression of Bax protein in gastric carcinomas. A clinicopathological and immunohistochemical study.

Background And Study Aims: Reduced Bax protein expression has been shown to be a negative prognostic factor in patients with breast, ovarian, colorectal, esophageal and pancreatic cancer. Our aim was to immunohistochemically study Bax protein expression in gastric carcinomas and correlate its expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis.

Patients And Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed, using a monoclonal antibody against bax, in paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 47 cases of gastric cancer.

Orbital metastasis from verrucous carcinoma of the oral cavity: case report and review of the literature.

A rare case of metastatic verrucous carcinoma (VC) of the oral cavity is presented. The patient was referred to the Ophthalmology Department due to diplopia. The patient reported history of diagnosis of verrucous squamous carcinoma in the oral cavity occuring 6 years earlier that although excised presented several recurrences.

Immunohistochemical prognostic markers in bladder cancer.

The management of superficial bladder cancer is characterized by early recognition of recurrence and the prevention of progression. Biological markers must provide additional information to that provided by multiplicity, size and grade. So, the identification of new prognostic biomarkers for bladder cancer could be used to divide patients into risk groups determining treatment and follow-up schemes.

Serum levels, and bone marrow immunohistochemical expression of, vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with chronic myeloproliferative diseases.

Current data suggest that angiogenesis plays a significant role in the pathogenesis and progression of chronic myeloproliferative diseases (cMPDs). In the present study, we evaluated serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in 83 patients with cMPDs [myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM, n = 25), essential thrombocythaemia (ET, n = 40), polycythaemia vera (PV, n = 8) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML, n = 10)] and in 27 healthy individuals. Serum VEGF levels were significantly increased in patients with cMPDs compared to healthy individuals (all p values were < or = 0.