Hyper-Interleukin-6 Protects Against Renal Ischemic-Reperfusion Injury-A Mouse Model.

Most of the ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR-I) occurs during reperfusion and is mediated by the immune system. In this study we determined whether immunomodulation with hyper-Interleukin-6 (a recombinant designer cytokine composed of interleukin-6 linked to its soluble receptor) is protective against IR-I in mice kidneys. Hyper-Interleukin-6 (HIL-6) was administered by plasmid DNA transfection to 10 male mice.

'Very-low-risk' bladder tumours - a new entity?

Objective: To evaluate the homogeneity of the 'low-risk' bladder cancer group in an attempt to optimise follow-up protocols.

Patients And Methods: Between June 1998 and December 2008, 211 patients (mean [sd] age of 66.7 [12.

The Response of Variant Histology Bladder Cancer to Intravesical Immunotherapy Compared to Conventional Cancer.

Background: High-grade urothelial carcinomas (UCs) often show foci of variant differentiation. There is limited information in the literature about the response of these variant urothelial tumors to immunotherapy with bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). We compared the response, to treatment with BCG, of UC containing glandular, squamous, nested, and micropapillary types of differentiation to response of conventional non-muscle invasive high-grade UC.

A liposomal steroid nano-drug for treating systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Glucocorticoids have been known for years to be the most effective therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus. Their use, however, is limited by the need for high doses due to their unfavorable pharmacokinetics and biodistribution. We have previously developed a novel liposome-based steroidal (methylprednisolone hemisuccinate (MPS)) nano-drug and demonstrated its specific accumulation in inflamed tissues, as well as its superior therapeutic efficacy over that of free glucocorticoids (non-liposomal) in the autoimmune diseases, including the adjuvant arthritis rat model and the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mouse model.

Intravesical administration of green tea extract attenuates the inflammatory response of bacterial cystitis--a rat model.

Objective: To explore the effect of intravesical instillation of green tea extract (GTE) on a rat model of bacterial cystitis.

Materials And Methods: In vitro bactericidal properties of GTE were analysed by adding GTE to a suspension of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), streaking on MacConkey agar, and incubating overnight.

Mixed high and low grade bladder tumors--are they clinically high or low grade?

Purpose: The pathological grade of bladder cancer has an immense impact on patient treatment and prognosis. While most bladder tumors show pure high or low grade patterns, some show a mixed pattern. We explored the incidence and clinical significance of this phenomenon.

Expression of the h19 oncofetal gene in premalignant lesions of cervical cancer: a potential targeting approach for development of nonsurgical treatment of high-risk lesions.

Background. Recent data suggest a role for H19 gene in promoting cancer transformation and progression. Cervical cancer, progresses from high-grade lesions (CIN3).

An ALK translocation positive carcinoma of the lung presenting as uremia due to bilateral renal obstruction.

We describe an unusual presentation of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma as malignant retroperitoneal fibrosis (MRPF). The diagnostic challenge, due to the small solitary lung mass and absence of a discrete retroperitoneal mass, was overcome by diagnostic laparoscopy. Molecular analysis of tissue acquired was positive for ALK gene rearrangement.

The natural history of secondary muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Background: The management of patients with high-grade non muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) brings diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. In the current study, we sought to study the natural history of progression to "secondary" muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC)-cancer that developed during follow up of patients presenting with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Methods: Between 1998 and 2008, 760 patients were treated for bladder cancer.

Gross hematuria in patients with prostate cancer: etiology and management.

The objective of the study is to assess the etiology and prognosis of gross hematuria (GH) in patients with carcinoma of the prostate (CAP). From 1991 to 2011, 81 men (mean age 74.3 years, SD 6.

Detection of prostate cancer by radio-frequency near-field spectroscopy in radical prostatectomy ex vivo specimens.

Background: The aim of radical prostatectomy (RP) is the complete removal of the prostate gland with negative surgical margins. The presence of cancer at the surgical margin is associated with higher probability of disease progression. Current methods of intraoperative margin assessment are inaccurate or time-consuming.

Psammomys obesus, a particularly important animal model for the study of the human diabetic nephropathy.

The Psammomys obesus lives in natural desert habitat on low energy (LE) diet, however when maintained in laboratory conditions with high energy (HE) diet it exhibits pathological metabolic changes resembling those of type 2 diabetes. We have evaluated and correlated the histopathology, metabolic and functional renal alterations occurring in the diabetic Psammomys. Renal function determined by measuring glomerular filtration rate (GFR), protein excretion, protein/creatinine ratio and morpho-immunocytochemical evaluations were performed on HE diet diabetic animals and compared to LE diet control animals.

Predicting the risk of high-grade bladder cancer using noninvasive data.

Aim: To examine the hypothesis that the risk of high-grade bladder cancer can be predicted using noninvasively obtained data.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the database of 431 patients that had transurethral resection of first-time bladder tumors between June 1998 and December 2009. Pre-operative parameters evaluated were: patients' age; gender; sonographic tumor diameter, number and location of tumor inside the bladder; presence of hydronephrosis, and results of urinary cytology.

Transjugular kidney biopsy: enabling safe tissue diagnosis in high risk patients.

Background: Transjugular kidney biopsy (TJKB) was first described in 1990. Indications for TJKB include uncorrectable bleeding disorders and conditions precluding the prone position.

Objectives: To describe our initial experience with TJKB.

Is radical cystectomy mandatory in every patient with variant histology of bladder cancer.

Urothelial carcinomas have an established propensity for divergent differentiation. Most of these variant tumors are muscle invasive but not all. The response of non muscle invasive variant tumors to intravesical immunotherapy with BCG is not established in the literature, and is reported here.

Raman molecular imaging: a novel spectroscopic technique for diagnosis of bladder cancer in urine specimens.

Background: Raman molecular imaging (RMI) is an optical technology that combines the molecular chemical analysis of Raman spectroscopy with high-definition digital microscopic visualization. This approach permits visualization of the physical architecture and molecular environment of cells in the urine. The Raman spectrum of a cell is a complex product of its chemical bonds.

Subepithelial growth patterns in urothelial carcinoma-frequency and prognostic significance.

Purpose: Most urothelial carcinomas are exophytic, but some tumors exhibit subepithelial components, either in the form of endophytic growth pattern (EGP) or as von Brunn's nests involvement (VBNI). The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency, inter-relations and clinical significance of these forms of subepithelial neoplasia in urothelial carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: Between June 1995 and December 2007, 760 patients (mean age of 67.

Seminal vesicle cystadenoma: a rare clinical perspective.

A 52-yr-old man presented with severe obstructive urinary symptoms. Ten years earlier, a digital rectal examination disclosed a small mass above the prostate, and a computed tomography (CT) scan showed a 3.5-cm cystic tumor of the right seminal vesicle.

Fatal nephrotic syndrome complicating allogeneic stem cell transplantation: a case report.

Disturbed kidney function is a common occurrence after bone-marrow transplantation. Sepsis, nephrotoxic medications, thrombotic microangiopathy and injury related to haemodynamic alterations are frequently accountable. Recently, attention has been given to immune-mediated glomerular damage, related to graft-versus-host disease.

Prostatic urothelial carcinoma: is transurethral prostatectomy necessary before bacillus Calmette-Guérin immunotherapy?

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of transurethral prostatectomy (TURP) followed by bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy in patients with prostatic urothelial carcinoma (PUC) and compare the results of studies using combined TURP and BCG with studies in which TURP was not performed.

Patients And Methods: Patients with bladder cancer and PUC were treated with TURP followed by six weekly intravesical instillations of BCG. Response was determined and monitored by periodic bladder and prostatic urethra biopsies and urinary cytology.

DNA-free recombinant SV40 capsids protect mice from acute renal failure by inducing stress response, survival pathway and apoptotic arrest.

Viruses induce signaling and host defense during infection. Employing these natural trigger mechanisms to combat organ or tissue failure is hampered by harmful effects of most viruses. Here we demonstrate that SV40 empty capsids (Virus Like Particles-VLPs), with no DNA, induce host Hsp/c70 and Akt-1 survival pathways, key players in cellular survival mechanisms.

The natural history of bladder carcinoma in situ after initial response to bacillus Calmette-Gúerin immunotherapy.

Objectives: To explore patterns of recurrence, muscle invasion, and disease specific mortality in patients with bladder carcinoma in situ (CIS) who responded to an induction course with intravesical bacillus Calmette-Gúerin (BCG) immunotherapy.

Methods: Between June 1985 and December 2003, 104 patients (mean age 67 years) were diagnosed with either pure (38 patients) or concomitant (66 patients) CIS. Patients who responded to one (92 patients) or two (12 patients) induction courses of intravesical BCG instillation were included in the study.

Pancreatic acinar and islet cell infection by low-dose SV40 administration.

Objectives: Viral vector uptake into the pancreas is rare. The few viral vectors reported to transduce in vivo pancreatic islets after systemic injection required additional physical measures, such as direct pancreatic injection or hepatic vessel clamping. Because pancreatic islet uptake of the human polyomavirus family member BK virus was previously reported in hamsters after systemic administration, we hypothesized that SV40, a polyomavirus member remarkably similar to BK virus, may also infect the pancreas.

IL-6/IL-6R axis plays a critical role in acute kidney injury.

The response to tissue injury involves the coordination of inflammatory and repair processes. IL-6 expression correlates with the onset and severity of acute kidney injury (AKI), but its contribution to pathogenesis remains unclear. This study established a critical role for IL-6 in both the inflammatory response and the resolution of AKI.