Pathological response grade of colorectal liver metastases treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: The complete resection of liver metastases from colorectal cancer is the major determinant of longterm survival. The effectiveness of current chemotherapy regimens has made treatment algorithms more flexible and resulted in many different options. Recently, the pathological response to chemotherapy has emerged as another important prognostic marker.

Spontaneous resolution of a giant pulmonary bulla in an older woman: role of functional assessment.

Pulmonary bullae usually occur as isolated abnormalities in otherwise normal lung tissue or, more frequently, in the presence of emphysema. Pulmonary bullae tend to progressively increase in their size, and spontaneous regressions have very rarely been reported. In this paper, we report the case of an older woman experiencing the spontaneous resolution of a giant pulmonary bulla.

Vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosfamide, actinomycin D, ifosfamide, and etoposide in adult and pediatric patients with nonmetastatic Ewing sarcoma. Final results of a monoinstitutional study.

Aims And Background: To investigate a six-drug combination in patients with nonmetastatic Ewing sarcoma, focusing on chemotherapy-induced necrosis and chemotherapy toxicity in adult and pediatric patients.

Methods And Study Design: Alternating cycles of vincristine (1.5 mg/m2), doxorubicin (80 mg/m2) and cyclophosfamide (1200 mg/m2) (weeks 0, 6, 13, 22 and 31), ifosfamide (9 g/m2), vincristine (1.

A kidney tumor in an adolescent with severe hypertension and hypokalemia: an uncommon case--case report and review of the literature on reninoma.

This report presents a case of a 16-year-old hypertensive boy who presented to our clinic. Laboratory findings showed severe hypokalemia and markedly increased plasma renin activity. Abdominal ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a well-circumscribed, solid, hypoenhancing cortical lesion (2 cm) in the lower pole of the left kidney.

Signaling pathways involved in LPS induced TNFalpha production in human adipocytes.

Background: The development of obesity has been linked to an inflammatory process, and the role of adipose tissue in the secretion of pro-inflammatory molecules such as IL-6 or TNFalpha has now been largely confirmed. Although TNFalpha secretion by adipose cells is probably induced, most notably by TLR ligands, the activation and secretion pathways of this cytokine are not yet entirely understood. Moreover, given that macrophagic infiltration is a characteristic of obesity, it is difficult to clearly establish the level of involvement of the different cellular types present within the adipose tissue during inflammation.

ACE-inhibition and physical function: results from the Trial of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibition and Novel Cardiovascular Risk Factors (TRAIN) study.

Objectives: Aim of the present study was to evaluate whether an ACE inhibitor intervention is able to significantly improve physical performance and muscle strength in a sample of older persons.

Design: Double-blind, cross-over, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: The Trial of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibition and Novel Cardiovascular Risk Factors (TRAIN) study.

Fluvastatin as an adjuvant to pegylated interferon and ribavirin in HIV/hepatitis C virus genotype 1 co-infected patients: an open-label randomized controlled study.

Objectives: Recent reports demonstrated in vitro the efficacy of fluvastatin in inhibiting hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication and a synergistic effect in association with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). In vivo the inhibition of HCV replication by statins has not been demonstrated. We evaluated in this open-label, randomized controlled study the efficacy of fluvastatin as adjuvant to pegylated-(PEG)-IFN and ribavirin in HIV/HCV genotype 1 co-infected patients.

Assessment and treatment of elderly patients with cancer.

In the US, the total projected cancer incidence will increase by 45% yearly from 2010 to 2030. The majority of these neoplasms will affect the elderly. The National Institute on Aging has characterised the aging of our society as a "silver tsunami".

Improvement of stance control and muscle performance induced by focal muscle vibration in young-elderly women: a randomized controlled trial.

Unlabelled: Filippi GM, Brunetti O, Botti FM, Panichi R, Roscini M, Camerota F, Cesari M, Pettorossi VE. Improvement of stance control and muscle performance induced by focal muscle vibration in young-elderly women: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the effect of a particular protocol of mechanical vibration, applied focally and repeatedly (repeated muscle vibration [rMV]) on the quadriceps muscles, on stance and lower-extremity muscle power of young-elderly women.

Survival and DNA degradation in anhydrobiotic tardigrades.

Anhydrobiosis is a highly stable state of suspended animation in an organism due to its desiccation, which is followed by recovery after rehydration. Changes occurring during drying could damage molecules, including DNA. Using the anhydrobiotic tardigrade Paramacrobiotus richtersi as a model organism, we have evaluated the effects of environmental factors, such as temperature and air humidity level (RH), on the survival of desiccated animals and on the degradation of their DNA.

Gait speed at usual pace as a predictor of adverse outcomes in community-dwelling older people an International Academy on Nutrition and Aging (IANA) Task Force.

Introduction: The use of a simple, safe, and easy to perform assessment tool, like gait speed, to evaluate vulnerability to adverse outcomes in community-dwelling older people is appealing, but its predictive capacity is still questioned. The present manuscript summarises the conclusions of an expert panel in the domain of physical performance measures and frailty in older people, who reviewed and discussed the existing literature in a 2-day meeting held in Toulouse, France on March 12-13, 2009. The aim of the IANA Task Force was to state if, in the light of actual scientific evidence, gait speed assessed at usual pace had the capacity to identify community-dwelling older people at risk of adverse outcomes, and if gait speed could be used as a single-item tool instead of more comprehensive but more time-consuming assessment instruments.

Interaction of HDL cholesterol concentrations on the relationship between physical function and inflammation in community-dwelling older persons.

Background: the existence of a relationship among inflammation, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and physical function has been suggested.

Objective: the aim of the study is to investigate the possible interaction of HDL-C on inflammation and physical function.

Design: cross-sectional study.

Telbivudine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B: experience in HIV type-1-infected patients naive for antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Telbivudine is a potent inhibitor of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication without anti-HIV type-1 (HIV-1) activity demonstrated in vitro; however, very few clinical data on HIV-1-infected patients are available at present. Because it represents a therapeutic option in HIV-1-HBV-coinfected patients who do not require antiretroviral therapy, we strictly monitored three HIV-1-HBV-coinfected patients treated with telbivudine monotherapy for chronic hepatitis B.

Methods: We performed molecular analysis of HBV DNA and of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and protease RNA and DNA sequences in three HIV-1-HBV-coinfected patients treated with telbivudine monotherapy.

Impact of hyperglycaemia and cholesterol levels on the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.

Objectives: High serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels have been demonstrated to increase the probability of a sustained viral response (SVR) in chronic hepatitis C. Conversely, insulin resistance reduces SVR rates. We investigated the influence of baseline glucose and lipid values on the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment in HIV-1 infected subjects.

Tardigrade Resistance to Space Effects: first results of experiments on the LIFE-TARSE mission on FOTON-M3 (September 2007).

The Tardigrade Resistance to Space Effects (TARSE) project, part of the mission LIFE on FOTON-M3, analyzed the effects of the space environment on desiccated and active tardigrades. Four experiments were conducted in which the eutardigrade Macrobiotus richtersi was used as a model species. Desiccated (in leaf litter or on paper) and hydrated tardigrades (fed or starved) were flown on FOTON-M3 for 12 days in September 2007, which, for the first time, allowed for a comparison of the effects of the space environment on desiccated and on active animals.

Sarcopenia: clinical evaluation, biological markers and other evaluation tools.

Sarcopenia is characterized by a lower skeletal muscle quantity, higher fat accumulation in the muscle, lower muscle strength, and lower physical performance. The most commonly used, low cost and accessible methods to assess skeletal muscle mass include dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) and creatinine excretion are the most specific golden standards for assessing muscle mass or cross sectional muscle area.

C-reactive protein and lipid parameters in older persons aged 80 years and older.

Objectives: Aims of the study were 1) to investigate the association of C-reactive protein (CRP) with lipid (i.e. total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides) concentrations, and to evaluate their predictive value for mortality in very old subjects.

HIV-infected long-term nonprogressors display a unique correlative pattern between the interleukin-7/interleukin-7 receptor circuit and T-cell homeostasis.

Background: We hypothesized that there may be a correlation between the interleukin-7 (IL-7)/IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) regulatory system and parameters of T-cell homeostasis in HIV-infected long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs) as compared with patients with disease progression.

Methods: The possibility of a correlation between T-cell homeostatic parameters and IL-7/IL-7R was investigated in 22 LTNPs (CD4 count > or =500 cells/microL for >10 years) vs. HIV-positive patients at different disease stages [12 early: CD4 count > or =400 cells/microL ; 15 late (AIDS-presenters): CD4 count < or =150 cells/microL ].

Sex- and age-related chemotherapy toxicity in patients with non-metastatic osteosarcoma.

The influence of age and sex on chemotherapy-related toxicity was evaluated in children and adults with non metastatic osteosarcoma. treatment consisted of methotrexate (MTX, 12 g/m(2)), cisplatin (CDP 120 mg/m(2)) and doxorubicin (ADM 75-90 mg/m(2)) and high-dose ifosfamide (HDIFO). toxicity data from 1,051 courses (295 with MTX, 756 based on doxorubicin, cisplatin and high-dose ifosfamide) were analyzed.

DNA barcoding in Tardigrada: the first case study on Macrobiotus macrocalix Bertolani & Rebecchi 1993 (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotidae).

Morphological and molecular studies on a tardigrade species have been carried out to verify the possibility of using a DNA barcoding approach for species identification in this phylum. Macrobiotus macrocalix Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1993 was chosen as the test species since it belongs to a group of species in which the taxonomy is quite problematic. Animals and eggs belonging to three Italian and one Swedish populations have been investigated.

Does fluvastatin favour HCV replication in vivo? A pilot study on HIV-HCV coinfected patients.

Fluvastatin showed anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) activity in vitro, through the inhibition of geranylgeranylation of cellular proteins, and a synergistic effect with interferon (IFN)-alpha. Nevertheless statins up-regulate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, required for HCV cell entry, and the closely related scavenger receptors SRBI and CD36; moreover they reduce class II major histocompatibility complex expression on antigen presenting cell, modulating T-cell activation. In vivo LDL levels have been identified as prognostic indicator of sustained viral response to IFN in patients with HCV infection, suggesting that lipid-lowering agents might conversely favour HCV entry into the hepatocytes and translate into higher viral replication.

Added value of physical performance measures in predicting adverse health-related events: results from the Health, Aging And Body Composition Study.

Objectives: To determine how three different physical performance measures (PPMs) combine for added utility in predicting adverse health events in elders.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

A case of Cowden's syndrome presenting with gastric carcinomas and gastrointestinal polyposis.

Background: A 73-year-old white man was referred to a cancer genetics clinic for evaluation of a approximately 20-year history of mixed upper and lower gastrointestinal polyposis, including hyperplastic, inflammatory and adenomatous polyps, colonic ganglioneuromas, and associated diffuse, esophageal glycogenic acanthosis. Two synchronous gastric carcinomas had been identified before referral and the patient had undergone a total gastrectomy, omentectomy and cholecystectomy. Multiple hyperplastic polyps and small, sessile polyps were also observed in the gastrectomy specimen.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and novel cardiovascular risk biomarkers: results from the Trial of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition and Novel Cardiovascular Risk Factors (TRAIN) study.

Background: Beneficial effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors seem to be mediated by mechanisms that are partly independent of blood pressure lowering. The present study evaluates effects of an ACE inhibitor (ie, fosinopril) intervention on novel cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: Data are from the Trial of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition and Novel Cardiovascular Risk Factors (TRAIN) study, a double-blind, crossover, randomized, placebo-controlled trial enrolling subjects > or =55 years old with high cardiovascular disease risk profile.

Skeletal muscle and mortality results from the InCHIANTI Study.

Background: Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, may not be an isolated process but is associated with an increase in fat mass. The aim of this study was to estimate the mortality risk of sarcopenia in the presence or absence of obesity.

Methods: Data are from 934 participants aged 65 years or older, enrolled in the "Invecchiare in Chianti" study, and followed for 6 years.