A rare case of solitary plasmacytoma mimicking submucosal lesion of ascending colon: a case report and literature review.

Solitary primary extraosseous plasmacytoma is a rare disease in the gastrointestinal tract, recently classified as an "exceptional" tumor of the colon site. The real incidence (one case/population/year) is unknown but reasonably less than 1/10,000,000 cases/year with very few descriptions in the literature. The rare cases described in the literature are often diagnosed after surgery for perforation and with predominant localization of the left colon.

Is polypharmacy an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes after an emergency department visit?

This study aimed at verifying the role of polypharmacy as an independent risk factor for adverse health outcomes in older emergency department (ED) patients. This was a large (n = 2057) sample of older ED patients (≥65 years) participating in an observational cohort study. Polypharmacy and excessive polypharmacy were defined as having 6-9 drug prescriptions and 10 or more drug prescriptions in the last 3 months, respectively.

Underprescription of beneficial medicines in older people: causes, consequences and prevention.

Underprescription of potentially useful drugs is widespread among older people and may herald several adverse outcomes. We aimed to review the evidence pertaining to the epidemiology, causes and consequences of underprescribing, as well as recent advances in the development of interventions able to reduce underprescribing and improve outcomes in older people. Underprescribing is highly prevalent across different settings, including in the community, hospitals and nursing homes.

Adverse drug events as a cause of hospitalization in older adults.

Older adults are about four to seven times more likely than younger persons to experience adverse drug events (ADEs) that cause hospitalization, especially if they are women and take multiple medications. The prevalence of drug-related hospitalizations has been reported to be as high as 31%, with large heterogeneity between different studies, depending on study setting (all hospital admissions or only acute hospital admissions), study population (entire hospital, specific wards, selected population and/or age groups), type of drug-related problem measured (adverse drug reaction or ADE), method of data collection (chart review, spontaneous reporting or database research) and method and definition used to detect ADEs. The higher risk of drug-related hospitalizations in older adults is mainly caused by age-related pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes, a higher number of chronic conditions and polypharmacy, which is often associated with the use of potentially inappropriate drugs.

Association between glomerular filtration rate and adverse drug reactions in elderly hospitalized patients: the role of the estimating equation.

Background: Reduced renal function increases the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to hydrosoluble drugs (hADRs). However, the ability of different equations to calculate estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or estimated creatinine clearance (eCCr) and thereby predict the risk of developing hADRs has not previously been compared.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate which of three different equations for estimating renal function (Cockcroft-Gault [CG], Modification of Diet in Renal Disease [MDRD] and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration [CKD-EPI]) was the most effective at predicting incident hADRs.

Agreement between equations estimating glomerular filtration rate in elderly nursing home residents and in hospitalised patients: implications for drug dosing.

Background: detecting chronic kidney disease (CKD) may have important implications for the management of older and frail people. We aimed at investigating whether clinical setting (nursing home: NH versus hospital: H) affects the agreement between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) values estimated by Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI), Cockcroft-Gault (CG) and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equations.

Design: observational study.

Identifying pathways involved in leptin-dependent aggregation of human platelets.

Objective: To investigate the role of phospholipase C (PLC), phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), calcium, and protein kinase C (PKC) in mediating leptin-enhanced aggregation of human platelets.

Design: In vitro, ex vivo study.

Setting: Outpatient's Service for Prevention and Treatment of Obesity at the University Hospital of Messina, Italy.

Relationship between plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 plasma levels and the lipoprotein(a) concentrations in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The first part of the paper deals with the relationship between two inhibiting factors of the complex enzyme cascade regulating fibrinolysis, namely plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) and lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)). Blood concentrations of Lp(a), PAI-1 antigen (PAI-1 AG) and activity (PAI-1 AT), and the main parameters of lipo- and glyco-metabolic balance were studied in 80 type II diabetic patients. Roughly hyperbolic patterns have been found between PAI-1 and Lp(a).

Age-related thymus involution: zinc reverses in vitro the thymulin secretion defect.

The inevitability of thymic involution in aging has been opened to question by two recent findings. First, it has been demonstrated that the synthesis and/or secretion of one thymic factor, zinc-thymulin (Zn-FTS), is still present, although reduced, in humans over 90 yr of age and in mice over 24 months of age. The major defect resides in the zinc saturation of thymulin, rather than in the synthesis and secretion rate of the polypeptide by the thymus.

Dose-dependent opposite effect of zinc on apoptosis in mouse thymocytes.

Zinc is a crucial nutritional component required for the normal development and maintenance of immune functions. It has been reported that zinc is a potent inhibitor of DNA fragmentation, the specific marker of apoptosis. The effect of zinc on apoptotic cell death has been previously studied in a narrow range of high zinc concentrations, and the role of physiological zinc doses has not yet been elucidated.

Cultural transitions and epidemiology.

The analysis of cultural patterns, as an observational and qualitative tool in epidemiological research, is advanced. This approach to epidemiology, biomedicine, human and cultural ecology, focuses on the following theoretical points of view: (i) the intrinsic non-linearity of natural dynamics, (ii) the role of fluctuations in the evolution of self-organized systems, (iii) the reformulation of the homeostasis concept, through the hypothesis of the co-existence of different levels of boundaries of stability (the non-linear processes of adaptation) and the dynamics of transitions (the physiological jumps) between them, (iv) the image of the psychobiological status in peripheral cells (i.e.

Improvement in the proliferative capacity and natural killer cell activity of murine spleen lymphocytes by thyrotropin.

In the present study we investigated the effect of thyrotropin (TSH) on both the proliferative capacity and the natural killer (NK) cell activity of murine spleen lymphocytes. It was found that TSH at various concentrations significantly increased the proliferative response of mouse lymphocytes to both concanavalin A (Con A) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA). This increase was particularly evident when suboptimal concentrations of mitogens were used (40-50% increase).