Sun exposure in pigs increases the vitamin D nutritional quality of pork.

There is a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency worldwide likely because of both limited sun-exposure and inadequate dietary intake. Meat, including pork, is not typically considered a dietary source of vitamin D, possibly because of management practices that raise pigs in confinement. This experiment determined the vitamin D content of loin and subcutaneous adipose tissue in sun-exposed finisher pigs.

Sunlight exposure increases vitamin D sufficiency in growing pigs fed a diet formulated to exceed requirements.

Traditional confinement practices limit exposure to sunlight and vitamin D synthesis, and vitamin insufficiency occurs even with dietary supplementation. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of limited sun exposure on serum concentration of vitamin D and the expression of vitamin D synthesizing enzymes in the liver and kidney of pigs on a vitamin D sufficient diet. White-pigmented grower pigs (29.

αv-Integrin isoform expression in primary human tumors and brain metastases.

Unlabelled: To determine whether metastasis to brain is associated with altered expression patterns of integrins, we investigated the expression of αvβ3, αvβ5, αvβ6 and αvβ8 integrins in primary malignancies and metastases to brain of breast, lung and renal carcinomas and in malignant melanoma. Inhibitors of αv integrins are currently in clinical trials for glioblastoma. The role of integrins in the process of brain metastasis from other human tumors is unknown.

Rorγt+ innate lymphocytes and γδ T cells initiate psoriasiform plaque formation in mice.

Psoriasis is a common, relapsing inflammatory skin disease characterized by erythematous scaly plaques. Histological manifestations of psoriasis include keratinocyte dysregulation and hyperproliferation, elongated rete ridges, and inflammatory infiltrates consisting of T cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and neutrophils. Despite the availability of new effective drugs to treat psoriasis, the underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis are still poorly understood.

Primary oligodendrocyte death does not elicit anti-CNS immunity.

Anti-myelin immunity is commonly thought to drive multiple sclerosis, yet the initial trigger of this autoreactivity remains elusive. One of the proposed factors for initiating this disease is the primary death of oligodendrocytes. To specifically test such oligodendrocyte death as a trigger for anti-CNS immunity, we inducibly killed oligodendrocytes in an in vivo mouse model.

Vascular CXCR4 expression - a novel antiangiogenic target in gastric cancer?

Background: G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are prime candidates for novel cancer prevention and treatment strategies. We searched for differentially expressed GPCRs in node positive gastric carcinomas.

Methodology/principal Findings: Differential expression of GPCRs in three node positive vs.

Mining tissue microarray data to uncover combinations of biomarker expression patterns that improve intermediate staging and grading of clear cell renal cell cancer.

Purpose: Tumor stage and nuclear grade are the most important prognostic parameters of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). The progression risk of ccRCC remains difficult to predict particularly for tumors with organ-confined stage and intermediate differentiation grade. Elucidating molecular pathways deregulated in ccRCC may point to novel prognostic parameters that facilitate planning of therapeutic approaches.

The role of vascular CXCR4 expression in colorectal carcinoma.

Aims: The chemokine receptor CXCR4 plays a prominent role in the biology of many different tumours, promoting angiogenesis and metastasis. The impact of CXCR4 expression on tumour biology has been described in various gastrointestinal malignancies, but data on its in situ expression and clinicopathological correlations are sparse. Using a novel specific rabbit anti-CXCR4 antibody, the aim was to assess CXCR4 expression immunohistochemically on tissue microarrays generated from 402 colorectal cancers (CRCs) and compare it with CXCL12 expression and various clinicopathological parameters.

Homogeneous MGMT immunoreactivity correlates with an unmethylated MGMT promoter status in brain metastases of various solid tumors.

The O(6)-methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status is a predictive parameter for the response of malignant gliomas to alkylating agents such as temozolomide. First clinical reports on treating brain metastases with temozolomide describe varying effects. This may be due to the fact that MGMT promoter methylation of brain metastases has not yet been explored in depth.

Renal cell carcinoma marker reliably discriminates central nervous system haemangioblastoma from brain metastases of renal cell carcinoma.

Aims: The distinction between central nervous system (CNS) metastases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and CNS haemangioblastoma still poses a challenge to the pathologist. Since both entities occur in von Hippel-Lindau disease, this aggravates the issue. The antibody renal cell carcinoma marker (RCC-ma) has been suggested to identify primary RCCs specifically, but its value for diagnosing metastases of RCC is controversial.

Wnt signalling inhibits neural differentiation of embryonic stem cells by controlling bone morphogenetic protein expression.

Wnt signalling plays an important role in both embryonic development and in tumourigenesis. Activation of the signalling cascade by wnt, but also mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein and of the phosphorylation domain of beta-catenin, result in accumulation of active beta-catenin in the nucleus, where it binds to TCF/LEF transcription factors. We studied the effect of wnt signalling in embryonic stem cells by either inactivating APC or by introducing a dominant active form of beta-catenin.

Characteristics associated with inappropriate hospital use in elderly patients admitted to a general internal medicine service.

Our objective was to identify patient characteristics associated with inappropriate hospital days in a cohort of elderly medical inpatients. This prospective cohort study included a total of 196 patients aged 75 years and older, who were consecutively admitted over eight months to the internal medicine service of a regional, non-academic public hospital located in a rural area of Western Switzerland. Patients with severe cognitive impairment, terminal disease, or previously living in a nursing home were excluded.