Translational pancreatic cancer research: A comparative study on patient-derived xenograft models.

Aim: To assess the viability of orthotopic and heterotopic patient-derived pancreatic cancer xenografts implanted into nude mice.

Methods: This study presents a prospective experimental analytical follow-up of the development of tumours in mice upon implantation of human pancreatic adenocarcinoma samples. Specimens were obtained surgically from patients with a pathological diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The use of TachoSil as sealant in an experimental model of colonic perforation.

Background: The suture dehiscence has traditionally represented a major surgical problem that has not fully resolved. Surgeons should perform sutures in nonoptimal conditions using different methods of sealing and/or reinforcement of suture. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of TachoSil in an experimental model of colon perforations in a simulated precarious situation.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha and nitric oxide mediate apoptosis by D-galactosamine in a primary culture of rat hepatocytes: exacerbation of cell death by cocultured Kupffer cells.

Background: Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) reduces cell death in experimental and clinical liver dysfunction.

Objectives: Whether PGE1 protects against D-galactosamine (D-GalN)-associated hepatocyte cell death by the regulation of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and/or nitric oxide (NO) in hepatocytes or cocultured Kupffer cells was examined.

Methods: Anti-TNF-alpha antibodies were used to evaluate the role of TNF-alpha during D-GalN cytotoxicity and its protection by PGE1 in cocultured hepatocytes and Kupffer cells.