Diagnostic implication of extracellular mucin in pancreatic/biliary brushing and stent cytology.

Background: Pancreatic and/or biliary (PB) brushing is commonly used to rule out malignant strictures. Many studies have attempted to characterize cytomorphologic characteristics of brushing and stent cytology. However, scant literature exists on the diagnostic implication (DI) of thick extracellular mucin (ECM) indicative of neoplasm in these samples.

Cerebrospinal fluid cell-free mitochondrial DNA is associated with HIV replication, iron transport, and mild HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment.

Background: Mitochondria are abundant organelles critical for energy metabolism and brain function. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), released during cellular injury and as part of the innate immune response to viral pathogens, contains CpG motifs that act as TLR-9 ligands. We investigated relationships between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cell-free mtDNA levels and HIV viral load (VL), biomarkers of inflammation and iron transport, and neurocognitive (NC) function in the CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research (CHARTER) cohort.

Cell-free mitochondrial DNA in CSF is associated with early viral rebound, inflammation, and severity of neurocognitive deficits in HIV infection.

Cell-free mitochondiral DNA (mtDNA) is an immunogenic molecule associated with many inflammatory conditions. We evaluated the relationship between cell-free mtDNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neurocognitive performance and inflammation during HIV infection. In a cross-sectional analysis, we evaluated the association of mtDNA levels with clinical assessments, inflammatory markers, and neurocognitive performance in 28 HIV-infected individuals.