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We described a minimally invasive technique for transoral removal of deep hiloparenchymal submandibular stones by Flex Robotic System; a step-by-step description of the transoral robotic approach to submandibular gland through a discrete incision of the oral floor is narrated. This approach guaranteed the preservation of the gland, minimizing complications.

Several studies have demonstrated anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic actions of cannabinoids on various tumours, together with their anti-angiogenic properties. The non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) effectively inhibits the growth of different types of tumours in vitro and in vivo and down-regulates some pro-angiogenic signals produced by glioma cells. As its anti-angiogenic properties have not been thoroughly investigated to date, and given its very favourable pharmacological and toxicological profile, here, we evaluated the ability of CBD to modulate tumour angiogenesis.Firstly, we evaluated the effect of CBD on human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) proliferation and viability - through [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay and FACS analysis - and in vitro motility - both in a classical Boyden chamber test and in a wound-healing assay. We next investigated CBD effects on different angiogenesis-related proteins released by HUVECs, using an angiogenesis array kit and an ELISA directed at MMP2. Then we evaluated its effects on in vitro angiogenesis in treated HUVECs invading a Matrigel layer and in HUVEC spheroids embedded into collagen gels, and further characterized its effects in vivo using a Matrigel sponge model of angiogenesis in C57/BL6 mice.CBD induced HUVEC cytostasis without inducing apoptosis, inhibited HUVEC migration, invasion and sprouting in vitro, and angiogenesis in vivo in Matrigel sponges. These effects were associated with the down-modulation of several angiogenesis-related molecules.This study reveals that CBD inhibits angiogenesis by multiple mechanisms. Its dual effect on both tumour and endothelial cells supports the hypothesis that CBD has potential as an effective agent in cancer therapy.

Curcumin, a phenolic compound extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, was found to attenuate NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in primary retinal cultures. This study was conducted to further characterize curcumin neuroprotective ability and analyze its effects on NMDA receptor (NMDAr). METHODS: NMDAr modifications were analyzed in primary retinal cell cultures using immunocytochemistry, whole-cell patch-clamp recording and western blot analysis. Cell death was evaluated with the TUNEL assay in primary retinal and hippocampal cultures. Optical fluorometric recordings with Fura 2-AM were used to monitor [Ca(2+)](i). RESULTS: Curcumin dose- and time-dependently protected both retinal and hippocampal neurons against NMDA-induced cell death, confirming its anti-excitotoxic property. In primary retinal cultures, in line with the observed reduction of NMDA-induced [Ca(2+)](i) rise, whole-cell patch-clamp experiments showed that a higher percentage of retinal neurons responded to NMDA with low amplitude current after curcumin treatment. In parallel, curcumin induced an increase in NMDAr subunit type 2A (NR2A) level, with kinetics closely correlated to time-course of neuroprotection and decrease in [Ca(2+)](i). The relation between neuroprotection and NR2A level increase was also in line with the observation that curcumin neuroprotection required protein synthesis. Electrophysiology confirmed an increased activity of NR2A-containing NMDAr at the plasma membrane level.

Objective: The goal of the OSCAR programme is to evaluate the performances of genotypic HIV-1 tropism testing in clinical practice using the enhanced sensitivity version of Trafile (ESTA) as reference-assay. Methods: HIV-1 coreceptor-usage was assessed using plasma samples from 406 HIV-1 infected patients by ESTA and by gp120 V3 population-sequencing followed by Geno2pheno (set at a False Positive Rate [FPR] of 10% and 5%). Results: ESTA was successful in 365 (89.9%) samples indicating R5 in 254 (69.6%), and DM/X4 in 111 (30.4% of samples (104 [28.5%] DM and 7 [1.9%] X4). Genotypic-testing successfully assessed viral tropism for all 406 samples, including the 41 with undetermined result by ESTA. Genotypic-tropism testing at a FPR of 5% and 10% was 81.1% and 78.4% concordant with ESTA, respectively. Despite a sensitivity of 48.7% and 55.9% at a FPR of 5% and 10%, respectively, a high concordance (specificity: 95.3% for FPR of 5% and 88.2% for FPR of 10%) between genotypic-tropism testing and ESTA was reached in the detection of R5-tropic viruses. Conclusion: Our results are in line with other European studies, and support the routine use of genotypic tropism testing in clinical-settings for monitoring of HIV-1 infected patients candidate to or failing CCR5-antagonists.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of angiogenesis in the progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). We correlated disease-free survival with microvessel count (MC) in the hot spot areas of 97 randomly selected caucasian males with LSCC followed for 60 to 90 months after surgery with or without radiotherapy. The results obtained indicate that: a) MC higher than 130 microvessels/mm2 is a cut-off value that distinguished patients who relapsed during the follow up period; b) multivariated analysis indicates that MC (p0.00001) is an independent predictor of disease free-survival; c) multivariated analysis selectively done on cases with relapse demonstrates that MC correlates with the presence of metastasis (or/and M) with local relapse (T). We suggest that MC is useful in the assessment of prognosis in LSCC and probably will permit selection of patients that could benefit from anti-angiogenic therapy associated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.