Clostridium septicum can cause distant myonecrosis in patients with ovarian cancer.

A case report of lethal distant myonecrosis with gas gangrene is presented. Blood cultures and tissue biopsies revealed Clostridium septicum. The 55-year-old female patient presented with recurrent ovarian cancer of transitional cell type, initially diagnosed as FIGO IIb in January 2011, with hepatic metastasis and invasion of the ceacal wall.

ALDH-2 deficiency increases cardiovascular oxidative stress--evidence for indirect antioxidative properties.

Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2) reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation related to toxic aldehydes; additionally, it provides a bioactivating pathway for nitroglycerin. Since acetaldehyde, nitroglycerin, and doxorubicin treatment provoke mitochondrial oxidative stress, we used ALDH-2(-/-) mice and purified recombinant human ALDH-2 to test the hypothesis that ALDH-2 has an indirect antioxidant function in mitochondria. Antioxidant capacity of purified ALDH-2 was comparable to equimolar doses of glutathione, cysteine, and dithiothreitol; mitochondrial oxidative stress was comparable in C57Bl6 and ALDH-2(-/-) mice after acute challenges with nitroglycerin or doxorubicin, whereas chronic acetaldehyde, nitroglycerin, and doxorubicin treatment dose-dependently increased mitochondrial ROS formation and impaired endothelial function to a greater extent in ALDH-2(-/-) mice.