Shoulder joint tuberculosis.

Background: Despite the fact that joint tuberculosis is one of the most common forms of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, it is a disease entity that is very rare in Poland (less than 100 cases a year in the last 10 years). The symptoms are non-specific, and thus the disease is rarely taken into account in preliminary differential diagnosis.

Case Report: A 68-year-old female patient was admitted to the Internal Diseases Clinic due to oedema and pain of the right shoulder joint.

[Role of simple noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis in qualification to treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C].

Assessment of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is essential for determination of prognosis, monitoring of the disease and guiding therapeutic decisions. Current gold standard for diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis is liver biopsy. Since it has several limitations and risks there is ongoing development of alternative means to assess fibrosis.

Proteasome inhibition potentiates antitumor effects of photodynamic therapy in mice through induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an approved therapeutic procedure that exerts cytotoxic activity toward tumor cells by inducing production of reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen. PDT leads to oxidative damage of cellular macromolecules, including proteins that undergo multiple modifications such as fragmentation, cross-linking, and carbonylation that result in protein unfolding and aggregation. Because the major mechanism for elimination of carbonylated proteins is their degradation by proteasomes, we hypothesized that a combination of PDT with proteasome inhibitors might lead to accumulation of carbonylated proteins in endoplasmic reticulum (ER), aggravated ER stress, and potentiated cytotoxicity toward tumor cells.

Potentiated antitumor effects of the combination treatment with statins and pamidronate in vitro and in vivo.

The aim of the present study was to examine the potential antitumor activity of lovastatin and other statins together with pamidronate, a second generation bisphosphonate (BP), against tumor cell lines. Cytostatic/cytotoxic effects were measured using crystal violet assay. Regulation of the cell cycle and induction of apoptosis were evaluated using flow cytometry and Western blotting, migration of tumor cells was measured in a scratch wound assay and their invasiveness was measured with a Matrigel-invasion assay.

The frequency of coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

The authors studied the frequency of coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infarction (MI) in 500 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (116 men and 384 women). Almost 75% RA patients received 15.0-50.

Hydroxyproline levels and collagenolytic activity in synovial fluids of patients with rheumatic diseases.

Free, total, and peptide hydroxyproline levels were determined in synovial fluid obtained from the knee joints of 60 patients with theumatoid arthritis (RA), and 26 patients with degenerative joint disease. In addition, in 160 synovial fluid samples obtained from 121 patients including 50 with degenerative joint disease, 60 with RA, 3 with Reiter's syndrome, 3 with hydarthrosis intermittens and 5 with ankylosing spondylitis, the collagenolytic activity was determined. The mean values of free and peptide hydroxyproline in the inflammatory and degenerative fluids were the same, but slight differences were found in the mean values of total hydroxyproline.