Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy under intravenous sedation for treatment of urolithiasis.

Background: In contrast to treatment with oral or intramuscular analgesics, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (E.S.W.

Testicular inflammation as a new manifestation of IgG4-associated disease.

IgG4-related disease has properties of a systemic disorder but simultaneously is associated with a growing list of organ-specific manifestations including autoimmune pancreatitis, IgG4-associated cholangitis, IgG4-related kidney disease, and IgG4-associated prostatitis. In this study, we present, to the best of our knowledge, the first case of a patient with multiorgan IgG4-related disease who lost his testes because of IgG4-related testicular inflammation. We postulate that IgG4-related disease in the urogenital tract is not restricted to IgG4-related kidney disease and prostatitis, but that this rare disorder may also affect the testis.

Inhibition of apoptotic proteins causes multidrug resistance in renal carcinoma cells.

Renal Cell Carcinomas (RCCs) exhibit strong resistance to the most chemotherapeutic treatments probably due to the expression of various multidrug resistance (MDR) genes. Overexpression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is established as one such factor, but other mechanisms such as at-MDR, characterized by attenuated DNA-topoisomerase II (topoII) activity, may be functional as well. In addition, regulating proteins involved in apoptosis can exhibit multidrug resistant features.

Decreased levels of topoisomerase II alpha in human renal cell carcinoma lines resistant to etoposide.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) displays strong resistance against many chemotherapeutic drugs. Overexpression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) appears to be part of this resistance. The involvement of another resistance mechanism, involving the decreased activity of DNA topoisomerase II (topoII), remains uncertain.