Therapeutic potential of a novel hybrid protein: Mitigating allergy and airway remodeling in chronic asthma models induced by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus.

Background: The house-dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus is a key trigger of allergic asthma. Therefore, it is essential to develop new vaccines that can alter inflammatory processes and airway remodeling. The goal of this study was to test the hypoallergenic and immunogenic characteristics of the hypoallergen rDer p 2231 in a murine model of chronic asthma induced by D.

Hedgehog components are overexpressed in a series of liver cancer cases.

Liver cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), are the sixth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, representing a global public health problem. This study evaluated nine patients with HCC. Six of the cases involved hepatic explants, and three involved hepatic segmentectomy for tumor resection.

An integrated analysis of the structural changes and gene expression of spleen in human visceral leishmaniasis with and without HIV coinfection.

The spleen plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of visceral leishmaniasis. In severe forms of the disease, the spleen undergoes changes that can compromise its function in surveilling blood-circulating pathogens. In this study, we present an integrated analysis of the structural and gene expression alterations in the spleens of three patients with relapsing visceral leishmaniasis, two of whom were coinfected with HIV.

The hybrid protein BTH2 suppresses allergic airway inflammation in a murine model of HDM-specific immunotherapy.

Background: Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is the only disease-modifying treatment approach to change disease-causing allergens. Hypoallergenic derivatives show promise as potential therapeutics, amongst which BTH2 was designed to induce tolerance against Blomia tropicalis allergy. Our aim was to investigate the hypoallergenicity and immunoregulatory activity of BTH2 in vitro and its therapeutic potential in a mouse model of AIT.

Obliterative portal venopathy: A neglected and probably misdiagnosed disease with peculiar etiology in South America.

Background And Aim: Obliterative portal venopathy (OPV) is one of the causes of non-cirrhotic portal hypertension. However, many aspects of OPV remain unclear, including the etiology, pathogenesis, and natural history. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical features of OPV in a series of patients in Brazil in whom OPV was diagnosed through liver biopsy.

Assessment of histological liver alterations in dogs naturally infected with Leishmania infantum.

Background: The liver plays a central role in the development of canine visceral leishmaniasis. Studies of natural infection in animals and humans indicate a direct relationship between resolution of infection and the formation and maturation of granulomas in the liver. However, in contrast to other reports in the literature, the present study found no differences in the characteristics of hepatic granulomas that could be related to resistance or susceptibility to Leishmania.

Disruption of Splenic Lymphoid Tissue and Plasmacytosis in Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis: Changes in Homing and Survival of Plasma Cells.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a disease caused by Leishmania infantum, which is transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. Dogs are the main urban reservoir of this parasite and the disease presents similar characteristics in both humans and dogs. In this paper, we investigated the potential pathways involved in plasma cell replacement of normal cell populations in the spleen, with respect to disease severity in dogs from an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in morbid obese patients: coffee consumption vs. disease severity.

Introduction: Obesity correlates with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and occurs in 90 to 100% of severely obese individuals (body mass index [BMI] > 35 kg/m2). Coffee consumption (CC) has been associated with reduced progression of fibrosis in both hepatitis C infection and NAFLD; however, this topic is still under discussion when this liver disease affects severely obese individuals.

Objective: To assess the association between CC, insulin resistance (IR) and histological NAFLD morbid obese patients.

Assessment of the circumferential margins, extraprostatic extension and Gleason score in radical prostatectomy specimens: Comparison of a partial embedding method with supplemental total inclusion of peripheral tissues.

Background: Recent data suggest that up to 21% of positive circumferential margins (PCM) and 47% of extraprostatic extension (EPE) samples may be missed when partial embedding methods are employed. Kim and colleagues (2009) suggested that total inclusion of the periphery (3mm rim) of the prostate prevented the failure to detect PCM and EPE.

Design: Radical prostatectomy specimen (n=148) slides were reviewed after adoption of a protocol that included a ∼3 mm rim of peripheral tissues.

Administration of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor accompanied with a balanced diet improves cardiac function alterations induced by high fat diet in mice.

Background/objectives: High fat diet (HFD) is a major contributor to the development of obesity and cardiovascular diseases due to the induction of cardiac structural and hemodynamic abnormalities. We used a model of diabetic cardiomyopathy in C57Bl/6 mice fed with a HFD to investigate the effects of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), a cytokine known for its beneficial effects in the heart, on cardiac anatomical and functional abnormalities associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Groups of C57Bl/6 mice were fed with standard diet (n = 8) or HFD (n = 16).

MAP Kinase Pathways: Molecular Roads to Primary Acral Lentiginous Melanoma.

The etiology and pathogenesis of lentiginous acral melanomas are poorly understood. Recent studies have postulated that DNA repair mechanisms and cell growth pathways are involved in the development of melanoma, particularly changes in the MAPK pathways (RAS, BRAF, MEK 1/2, and ERK 1/2). The aim of this study is to assess the status of the MAP kinase pathways in the pathogenesis of acral melanomas.

Penile cancer: impact of age at diagnosis on morphology and prognosis.

Purpose: In order to describe epidemiological and pathological features of penile cancer in a high-risk area of Brazil.

Methods: We reviewed the experience (378 patients from 1997 to 2007) of Hospital Aristides Maltez from Salvador, Bahia-the main institution in the state which provides oncologic treatment for penile cancer in the public health system.

Results: The present series showed a high rate (17 %) of patients less than 40 years at the time of diagnosis.

Extracellular vesicles from Leishmania-infected macrophages confer an anti-infection cytokine-production profile to naïve macrophages.

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are structures with phospholipid bilayer membranes and 100-1000 nm diameters. These vesicles are released from cells upon activation of surface receptors and/or apoptosis. The production of EVs by dendritic cells, mast cells, macrophages, and B and T lymphocytes has been extensively reported in the literature.

A case of conventional treatment failure in visceral leishmaniasis: leukocyte distribution and cytokine expression in splenic compartments.

Background: In this paper we study the distribution of leukocyte populations and of cytokine-producing cells in the spleen of a patient with visceral leishmaniasis resistant to clinical treatment. It is the first attempt to compare the distribution of leukocyte populations and cytokine-producing cells in the splenic compartments of a patient with visceral leishmaniasis with those observed in patients without the disease.

Case Presentation: A 25-year-old male, farmer, was hospitalized on several occasions with diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis and received all recommended treatments for the disease with only transient improvement followed by relapse.

A modified point count method as a practical approach to assess the tumor volume and the percent gland involvement by prostate carcinoma.

This study reports a modified point-count method for quantifying the extent of carcinoma in prostatectomy specimens (n=143), as adapted from Billis et al. (2003) [3]. The prostates were studied as follows: the basal/apical margins were sampled using the cone method.

Severe clinical presentation of visceral leishmaniasis in naturally infected dogs with disruption of the splenic white pulp.

In this work, we investigated the association between the disruption of splenic lymphoid tissue and the severity of visceral leishmaniasis in dogs. Clinical and laboratory data from 206 dogs were reviewed. Spleen sections collected during the euthanasia of these animals were analyzed, and the splenic lymphoid tissue samples were classified as well organized (spleen type 1), slightly disorganized (spleen type 2), or moderately to extensively disorganized (spleen type 3).

17-AAG kills intracellular Leishmania amazonensis while reducing inflammatory responses in infected macrophages.

Background: Leishmaniasis is a neglected endemic disease with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. Pentavalent antimonials have been the treatment of choice for the past 70 years and, due to the emergence of resistant cases, the efficacy of these drugs has come under scrutiny. Second-line drugs are less efficacious, cause a range of side effects and can be costly.

Transplantation of bone marrow cells decreases tumor necrosis factor-α production and blood-brain barrier permeability and improves survival in a mouse model of acetaminophen-induced acute liver disease.

Background Aims: Acute liver failure (ALF), although rare, remains a rapidly progressive and frequently fatal condition. Acetaminophen (APAP) poisoning induces a massive hepatic necrosis and often leads to death as a result of cerebral edema. Cell-based therapies are currently being investigated for liver injuries.

Reduction of galectin-3 expression and liver fibrosis after cell therapy in a mouse model of cirrhosis.

Background Aims: Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, is caused by different mechanisms of injury, associated with persistent inflammation. Galectin-3 is an important regulator of fibrosis that links chronic inflammation to fibrogenesis. We investigated the role of bone marrow cell (BMC) transplantation in chronic inflammation and hepatic fibrosis.

Immune and inflammatory responses to Leishmania amazonensis isolated from different clinical forms of human leishmaniasis in CBA mice.

Leishmania amazonensis causes different diseases depending on the host and parasitic virulence factors. In this study, CBA mice were infected with L. amazonensis isolates from patients with localized (Ba125), diffuse cutaneous (Ba276) or visceral leishmaniasis (Ba109).

Epidemiological assessment of liver disease in northeastern Brazil by means of a standardized liver biopsy protocol.

Background/aim: The main objective of this study was to describe the profile of patients who were benefitted in a collective effort to perform liver biopsies in Bahia, Brazil.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample composed of all the patients who were submitted to liver biopsy during a collective effort carried out in Bahia between July 2007 and November 2009. At the time of the procedure, date on the age and gender of patients and the reason for performing the biopsy were recorded.

Chemokines and chemokine receptors coordinate the inflammatory immune response in human cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) includes different clinical manifestations displaying diverse intensities of dermal inflammatory infiltrate. Diffuse CL (DCL) cases are hyporesponsive, and lesions show very few lymphocytes and a predominance of macrophages. In contrast, localized CL (LCL) cases are responsive to leishmanial antigen, and lesions exhibit granulocytes and mononuclear cell infiltration in the early phases, changing to a pattern with numerous lymphocytes and macrophages later in the lesion.

Current status of stem cell therapy for liver diseases.

Liver failure is one of the main causes of death worldwide and is a growing health problem. Since the discovery of stem cell populations capable of differentiating into specialized cell types, including hepatocytes, the possibility of their utilization in the regeneration of the damaged liver has been a focus of intense investigation. A variety of cell types were tested both in vitro and in vivo, but the definition of a more suitable cell preparation for therapeutic use in each type of liver lesions is yet to be determined.

Intramitochondrial crystalline inclusions in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Unlabelled: Mitochondrial dysfunction is an important element in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Intramitochondrial crystals (IMCs) are a well-documented morphological abnormality seen on transmission electron microscopy in this disease. It has been suggested that IMCs consist of phospholipids, but their exact composition remain uncertain many years after their discovery.

Virological and histological re-evaluation of Labrea hepatitis.

Background: a peculiar form of fulminant hepatitis known as Labrea hepatitis, probably related to hepatitis B and D, has been reported in Brazilian Amazon as early as the 1930s.

Methods: we reviewed the postmortem liver biopsies of 9 patients with Labrea Hepatitis. Immunostaining for HBV and HDV antigens were performed.