The Risk of Malignant Degeneration of Müllerian Derivatives in PMDS: A Review of the Literature.

Persistent Müllerian Duct Syndrome (PMDS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of sex development characterized by the presence of fallopian tubes, uterus and upper one-third of the vagina in individuals with XY genotype and normal male phenotype. The main complications of PMDS are infertility and the rare risk of malignant degeneration of both testicular and Müllerian derivatives. We report the case of a 49-year-old man who, during repair of an incisional hernia, was incidentally found to have a uterine-like structure posterior to the bladder.

Cardiovascular risk in chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and subclinical hypothyroidism patients. A cluster analysis.

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT) are linked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to look for positive markers of CHD and correlations with thyroid blood tests in patients with SCH or CAT, but no symptoms of CHD, so as to identify CHD risk conditions that otherwise would likely be missed.

Methods: We measured a series of thyroid, clinical-metabolic and cardiovascular parameters in 30 consecutive endocrinology patients enrolled in our ambulatory endocrinological referral center of "Sapienza" University of Rome.

Appendiceal abscess in a giant left-sided inguinoscrotal hernia: a rare case of Amyand hernia.

The hernia of Amyand is an inguinal hernia containing the appendix in the sac. It is a rare pathology often diagnosed only intra-operatively. We report a case even more rare of a giant left-sided inguinoscrotal Amyand hernia with appendiceal abscess without clinical findings of incarceration/strangulation, occlusion, perforation, or acute scrotum and with the presence in the sac of the caecum and other anatomical structures (last ileal loops, bladder and omentum).

Environmental, dietary, maternal, and fetal predictors of bulky DNA adducts in cord blood: a European mother-child study (NewGeneris).

Background: Bulky DNA adducts reflect genotoxic exposures, have been associated with lower birth weight, and may predict cancer risk.

Objective: We selected factors known or hypothesized to affect in utero adduct formation and repair and examined their associations with adduct levels in neonates.

Methods: Pregnant women from Greece, Spain, England, Denmark, and Norway were recruited in 2006-2010.

Micronuclei in cord blood lymphocytes and associations with biomarkers of exposure to carcinogens and hormonally active factors, gene polymorphisms, and gene expression: the NewGeneris cohort.

Background: Leukemia incidence has increased in recent decades among European children, suggesting that early-life environmental exposures play an important role in disease development.

Objectives: We investigated the hypothesis that childhood susceptibility may increase as a result of in utero exposure to carcinogens and hormonally acting factors. Using cord blood samples from the NewGeneris cohort, we examined associations between a range of biomarkers of carcinogen exposure and hormonally acting factors with micronuclei (MN) frequency as a proxy measure of cancer risk.

Bulky dna adducts in cord blood, maternal fruit-and-vegetable consumption, and birth weight in a European mother-child study (NewGeneris).

Background: Tobacco-smoke, airborne, and dietary exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been associated with reduced prenatal growth. Evidence from biomarker-based studies of low-exposed populations is limited. Bulky DNA adducts in cord blood reflect the prenatal effective dose to several genotoxic agents including PAHs.

Development and validation of a direct sandwich chemiluminescence immunoassay for measuring DNA adducts of benzo[a]pyrene and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

We have developed and validated a sandwich chemiluminescence immunoassay (SCIA) which measures polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts combining high throughput and adequate sensitivity, appropriate for evaluation of adduct levels in human population studies. Fragmented DNA is incubated with rabbit antiserum elicited against DNA modified with r7,t8-dihydroxy-t-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE) and subsequently trapped by goat anti-rabbit IgG bound to a solid surface. Anti-single-stranded (ss) DNA antibodies binds in a quantity proportional to the adduct levels and is detected by chemiluminescence.

Smoking-related O4-ethylthymidine formation in human lung tissue and comparisons with bulky DNA adducts.

Tobacco smoke contains many alkylating agents that can react with DNA to produce O(4)-ethylthymidine (O(4)-etT) and several other types of promutagenic base modifications. Our aims were (i) to confirm results of a pilot study (Godschalk, R., Nair, J.

Recovery of bulky DNA adducts by the regular and a modified 32P-postlabelling assay; influence of the DNA-isolation method.

Bulky DNA adducts are widely used as biomarkers of human exposure to complex mixtures of environmental genotoxicants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The 32P-postlabelling method is highly sensitive for the detection of bulky DNA adducts, but its relatively low throughput poses limits to its use in large-scale molecular epidemiological studies. The objectives of this study were to compare the impact of DNA-sample preparation with a commercial DNA-isolation kit or with the classical phenol-extraction procedure on the measurement of bulky DNA adducts by 32P-postlabelling, and to increase the throughput of the 32P-postlabelling method--whilst maintaining radio-safety--by reducing the radioisotope requirement per sample.

Relationship between TP53 tumour suppressor gene mutations and smoking-related bulky DNA adducts in a lung cancer study population from Hungary.

Lung cancer rate in Hungary is one of the highest in the world among men and also very high among women, for reasons not clearly understood yet. The aim of the study was to explore characteristics of DNA damage and TP53 gene mutations in lung cancer from Hungary. Tissue samples from 104 lung resections for lung cancer patients, both men and women, operated on for non-small cell lung cancer, specifically, primary squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma were studied.

Validation of biomarkers for the study of environmental carcinogens: a review.

There is a need for validation of biomarkers. Our aim is to review published work on the validation of selected biomarkers: bulky DNA adducts, N-nitroso compounds, 1-hydroxypyrene, and oxidative damage to DNA. A systematic literature search in PubMed was performed.

Correlation between biomarkers of human exposure to genotoxins with focus on carcinogen-DNA adducts.

Correlations among biomarkers, an important issue in biomarker research, provide enhanced insight and understanding of the complexity of molecular mechanisms initiated by environmental genotoxic agents in the human organism. Occupational and environmental exposures mostly represent mixtures of genotoxic agents, whereas the specificity of biomarker measurements varies widely. Here, we give an overview of the correlation studies with particular emphasis on DNA adduct biomarker analysis of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and/or tobacco smoke.

DNA adducts in tumour, normal peripheral lung and bronchus, and peripheral blood lymphocytes from smoking and non-smoking lung cancer patients: correlations between tissues and detection by 32P-postlabelling and immunoassay.

Smoking is a major risk factor for lung cancer. This comparative study of smoking-related carcinogen-DNA adducts in pulmonary tissues and peripheral blood lymphocytes aims to further explore the primary DNA damaging processes by cigarette smoke in target and surrogate tissues. Samples of tumour and normal peripheral lung tissue, normal bronchial tissue and peripheral blood lymphocytes were obtained from a total of 85 lung cancer patients who underwent lung resection.