A modified point count method as a practical approach to assess the tumor volume and the percent gland involvement by prostate carcinoma.

This study reports a modified point-count method for quantifying the extent of carcinoma in prostatectomy specimens (n=143), as adapted from Billis et al. (2003) [3]. The prostates were studied as follows: the basal/apical margins were sampled using the cone method.

Immunomodulatory treatment with thalidomide in experimental leptospirosis in Golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

Background: The benefit of antibiotics in leptospirosis is limited when treatment is started four days after symptoms appear, and new adjuvant therapeutic options are urgently needed.

Methods: Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were infected by Leptospira interrogans strain L1-130, and groups were assigned based on no treatment (NONE), thalidomide only (TAL), ampicillin only (AMP) or both (AMP-TAL). Treatment was started two days after the onset of symptoms (experiment 1) and immediately after detection of the first death (experiment 2).

Ionic imbalance and lack of effect of adjuvant treatment with methylene blue in the hamster model of leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis in humans usually involves hypokalaemia and hypomagnesaemia and the putative mechanism underlying such ionic imbalances may be related to nitric oxide (NO) production. We previously demonstrated the correlation between serum levels of NO and the severity of renal disease in patients with severe leptospirosis. Methylene blue inhibits soluble guanylyl cyclase (downstream of the action of any NO synthase isoforms) and was recently reported to have beneficial effects on clinical and experimental sepsis.