Transoral ultrasonography in the diagnosis and treatment of peritonsillar abscess.

Purpose: To evaluate the contribution of transoral ultrasonography (TUS) in the diagnosis and treatment of peritonsillar abscess.

Methods: We assessed the records of the patients who underwent TUS for suspected peritonsillar abscess.

Results: We identified a total of 26 patients with a prediagnosis of peritonsillar abscess.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy alleviates oxidative stress and tissue injury in renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy has been shown to attenuate renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats, when applied in the early reperfusion period. The aim of this study was to elucidate possible beneficial effects of HBO therapy on renal I/R injury, when applied 24 h after ischemia. Rats were randomized into three groups: (1) control group (n = 20), (2) I/R group (n = 20), and (3) I/R + HBO group (n = 20).

Acute cigarette smoke exposure impairs proteasome function in the lung.

Cigarette smoke mediates DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, and modification and misfolding of proteins, thereby inducing severe cellular damage. The ubiquitin proteasome system serves as the major disposal system for modified and misfolded proteins and is thus essential for proper cellular function. Its role in cigarette smoke-induced cell damage, however, is largely unknown.

Innovations in phenotyping of mouse models in the German Mouse Clinic.

Under the label of the German Mouse Clinic (GMC), a concept has been developed and implemented that allows the better understanding of human diseases on the pathophysiological and molecular level. This includes better understanding of the crosstalk between different organs, pleiotropy of genes, and the systemic impact of envirotypes and drugs. In the GMC, experts from various fields of mouse genetics and physiology, in close collaboration with clinicians, work side by side under one roof.

The protective effects of ozone therapy in a rat model of acetaminophen-induced liver injury.

Objectives: Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose may cause acute liver injury. Ozone therapy (OT) is shown to reduce inflammation and necrosis in several entities. Thus, we have designed this study to evaluate the efficacy of OT in a rat model of APAP-induced liver injury.

Evaluation of the oxidative effect of long-term repetitive hyperbaric oxygen exposures on different brain regions of rats.

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2)) exposure affects both oxidative and antioxidant systems. This effect is positively correlated with the exposure time and duration of the treatment. The present study aims enlightening the relation of HBO(2) with oxidative/antioxidant systems when administered in a prolonged and repetitive manner in brain tissues of rats.

Toxoplasma lymphadenitis mimicking malign axillary lymphadenopathy of a left breast mass.

Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. Immunocompetent persons with primary infection are usually asymptomatic, but latent infection can persist for the life of the host. There is a risk of reactivating infection at a later time should the individual become immunocompromised, even if infection was asymptomatic or only mildly symptomatic initially.

The chitinase-like protein YKL-40 modulates cystic fibrosis lung disease.

The chitinase-like protein YKL-40 was found to be increased in patients with severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), two disease conditions featuring neutrophilic infiltrates. Based on these studies and a previous report indicating that neutrophils secrete YKL-40, we hypothesized that YKL-40 plays a key role in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease, a prototypic neutrophilic disease. The aim of this study was (i) to analyze YKL-40 levels in human and murine CF lung disease and (ii) to investigate whether YKL-40 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) modulate CF lung disease severity.

Nerve growth factor induces type III collagen production in chronic allergic airway inflammation.

Background: Excessive extracellular matrix deposition occurs as a result of repetitive injury-repair cycles and plays a central role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as allergic asthma. The molecular mechanism leading to aberrant collagen deposition is not fully understood.

Objective: We sought to test the hypothesis that increased nerve growth factor (NGF) production contributes to collagen deposition in the airways during chronic allergic airway inflammation.

Epigenetic regulation in murine offspring as a novel mechanism for transmaternal asthma protection induced by microbes.

Background: Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease resulting from complex gene-environment interactions. Natural microbial exposure has been identified as an important environmental condition that provides asthma protection in a prenatal window of opportunity. Epigenetic regulation is an important mechanism by which environmental factors might interact with genes involved in allergy and asthma development.

Lung endothelial monocyte-activating protein 2 is a mediator of cigarette smoke-induced emphysema in mice.

Pulmonary emphysema is a disease characterized by alveolar cellular loss and inflammation. Recently, excessive apoptosis of structural alveolar cells has emerged as a major mechanism in the development of emphysema. Here, we investigated the proapoptotic and monocyte chemoattractant cytokine endothelial monocyte-activating protein 2 (EMAPII).

Alveolar hydatid cyst mimicking cerebellar metastatic tumor.

Background: Echinococcus multilocularis is a rare infestation in the world with a particularly increased incidence mainly in South America, Central Europe and Asia. Progression of alveolar Echinococcosis is more aggressive that can metastasize to lungs, brain and bones however brain involvement is usually rare with an incidence about 1%.

Case Description: We report a 23-year-old man with a cerebellar Echinococcosis multilocularis mimicking a metastatic cerebellar tumor.

Evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms in children exposed to sexual abuse.

Purpose: To evaluate the lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in children that are exposed to sexual abuse.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-two patients, including 8 male and 44 female children/adolescents presented with sexual abuse to the outpatient clinics were evaluated retrospectively (group 1). In group 1, the subjects were categorized into sexual touch (n = 35) and sexual penetration (n = 17).

Brain injury due to air gun shot: report of three adult cases.

Air guns (AGs) are arms that use air or another compressed gas to propel a projectile. Generally, brain injury may occur in children due to their incomplete skull development; however, the less-resistant and thin region of the skull in adults may also be penetrated by an AG shot. In this paper, we present three adult cases treated in our clinic for brain injury caused by an AG.

Activation of the WNT/β-catenin pathway attenuates experimental emphysema.

Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a devastating disease, for which no causal therapy is available.

Objectives: To characterize WNT/β-catenin signaling in COPD in humans and elucidate its potential role as a preventive and therapeutic target in experimental emphysema in mice.

Methods: The expression, localization, and activity of WNT/β-catenin signaling was assessed in 12 COPD and 12 transplant donor samples using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting.

Comparison of GlideScope video laryngoscope and intubating laryngeal mask airway with direct laryngoscopy for endotracheal intubation.

The aim of this study was to determine whether GlideScope video laryngoscope (GVL) and intubating laryngeal mask airway (i-LMA) improve the intubation success rate and could be easily learned and performed by paramedic students when compared with the direct laryngoscopic (DL) method. The study was designed as a prospective randomized crossover trial that included 121 paramedic students. All participants were asked to intubate each Ambu Airway Management Trainer manikins after the lecture and demonstration.

CXCR2 mediates NADPH oxidase-independent neutrophil extracellular trap formation in cystic fibrosis airway inflammation.

Upon activation, neutrophils release DNA fibers decorated with antimicrobial proteins, forming neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Although NETs are bactericidal and contribute to innate host defense, excessive NET formation has been linked to the pathogenesis of autoinflammatory diseases. However, the mechanisms regulating NET formation, particularly during chronic inflammation, are poorly understood.

Differences in ischemia-modified albumin levels between end stage renal disease patients and the normal population.

Introduction: Conventional biomarkers suffer from the drawback of being elevated in chronic renal failure even in the absence of myocardial ischemia. Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is a new biomarker proposed for the diagnosis of myocardial ischemia. This study was performed with the primary aim of determining IMA levels in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD).