Evaluation and Treatment of Anemia in Premature Infants.

Introduction: Anemia in preterm infants is the pathophysiological process with greater and more rapid decline in hemoglobin compared to the physiological anemia in infants. There is a need for transfusions and administration of human recombinant erythropoietin.

Aim: To determine the frequency of anemia in premature infants at the Pediatric Clinic, University Clinical Center Sarajevo, as well as parameter values in the blood count of premature infants and to explore a relationship between blood transfusions with the advent of intraventricular hemorrhage (determine treatment outcome in preterm infants).

Epidemiology and etiology of obesity in children and youth of Sarajevo Canton.

The aims of the study were to estimate the prevalence of excessive weight in infants and school-age children in Sarajevo Canton, to isolate the main causative agents and to propose a strategy for its efficient prevention. The methods included anthropometry and originally designed questionnaire. Calculated body mass index was classified according to the criteria proposed by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Alpha-fetoprotein promoter-targeted sodium iodide symporter gene therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Due to limited treatment options the prognosis of patients with advanced hepatocellular cancer (HCC) has remained poor. To investigate an alternative therapeutic approach, we examined the feasibility of radioiodine therapy of HCC following human sodium iodide symporter (NIS) gene transfer using a mouse alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) promoter construct to target NIS expression to HCC cells. For this purpose, the murine Hepa 1-6 and the human HepG2 hepatoma cell lines were stably transfected with NIS cDNA under the control of the tumor-specific AFP promoter.

Dexamethasone stimulation of retinoic Acid-induced sodium iodide symporter expression and cytotoxicity of 131-I in breast cancer cells.

Context: The sodium iodide symporter (NIS) mediates the active iodide uptake in the thyroid gland as well as lactating breast tissue. Recently induction of functional NIS expression was reported in the estrogen receptor-positive human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 by all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) treatment in vitro and in vivo, which might offer the potential to treat breast cancer with radioiodine.

Objective: In the current study, we examined the effect of dexamethasone (Dex) on atRA-induced NIS expression and therapeutic efficacy of 131-I in MCF-7 cells.

A novel therapeutic strategy for medullary thyroid cancer based on radioiodine therapy following tissue-specific sodium iodide symporter gene expression.

Context: In contrast to papillary and follicular thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) remains difficult to treat due to its unresponsiveness to radioiodine therapy and its limited responsiveness to chemo- and radiotherapy.

Objective: To investigate an alternative therapeutic approach, we examined the feasibility of radioiodine therapy of MTC after human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS) gene transfer using the calcitonin promoter to target hNIS gene expression to MTC cells (TT).

Design: TT cells were stably transfected with an expression vector, in which hNIS cDNA was coupled to the calcitonin promoter.