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This article, published in the journal Endoscopy, discusses the use of radiofrequency as an alternative treatment for actinic proctitis, a condition characterized by recurrent bleeding and anemia. The authors retrospectively studied four cases of actinic proctitis treated with radiofrequency therapy using a focal catheter. They found that after the treatment, three of the patients showed an increase in hemoglobin levels and reported no bleeding or fewer bleeding episodes. The authors suggest that radiofrequency could be a viable option for managing actinic proctitis, as it allows for extensive thermal ablation of the mucosa while controlling deep injury and reducing complications. [Extracted from the article]

Vanadium (V) has increased in the air as a component of suspended particles originated from fuel combustion. In this report, a model of inhaled V in mice was implemented to identify the effect that V has in the corpus striatum and substantia nigra, structures with high concentrations of dopamine and scarce antioxidants burden. Mice inhaled 0.02 M V2O5 1 h twice a week and were sacrificed at points from 1 to 8 weeks after inhalation, perfused, and processed for Golgi method and for tyroxine hidroxylase (TH) inmunocytochemistry. Cytological analysis consisted in counting the number of dendritic spines in 20 medium-size spiny neurons and the number of TH immunoreactive neurons in the substatia nigra pars compacta. Dendritic spine density decreased drastically after V exposure; the same was observed with the TH-positive neurons, which decreased in a time-dependent mode. No previous morphological studies about V and nervous system have been reported. The decrease in spine density and in TH-positive neurons might have functional repercussions that should be studied because the trend of this element in the atmosphere is to increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]