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The article presents the discussion on Oral leukoplakia (OL) being the most frequent potentially malignant disorder. Topics include histopathological grading of epithelial dysplasia recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO); and representing a novel therapeutic target or biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis aiding cancer treatment.

COVID-19 has been considered a vascular disease, and inflammation, intravascular coagulation, and consequent thrombosis may be associated with endothelial dysfunction. These changes, in addition to hypoxia, may be responsible for pathological angiogenesis. This research investigated the impact of COVID-19 on vascular function by analyzing post-mortem lung samples from 24 COVID-19 patients, 10 H1N1pdm09 patients, and 11 controls. We evaluated, through the immunohistochemistry technique, the tissue immunoexpressions of biomarkers involved in endothelial dysfunction, microthrombosis, and angiogenesis (ICAM-1, ANGPT-2, and IL-6, IL-1β, vWF, PAI-1, CTNNB-1, GJA-1, VEGF, VEGFR-1, NF-kB, TNF-α and HIF-1α), along with the histopathological presence of microthrombosis, endothelial activation, and vascular layer hypertrophy. Clinical data from patients were also observed. The results showed that COVID-19 was associated with increased immunoexpression of biomarkers involved in endothelial dysfunction, microthrombosis, and angiogenesis compared to the H1N1 and CONTROL groups. Microthrombosis and vascular layer hypertrophy were found to be more prevalent in COVID-19 patients. This study concluded that immunothrombosis and angiogenesis might play a key role in COVID-19 progression and outcome, particularly in patients who die from the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new SARS-CoV-2 virus differs from the pandemic Influenza A virus H1N1 subtype (H1N1pmd09) how it induces a pro-inflammatory response in infected patients. This study aims to evaluate the involvement of SNPs and tissue expression of IL-17A and the neutrophils recruitment in post-mortem lung samples from patients who died of severe forms of COVID-19 comparing to those who died by H1N1pdm09. Twenty lung samples from patients SARS-CoV-2 infected (COVID-19 group) and 10 lung samples from adults who died from a severe respiratory H1N1pdm09 infection (H1N1 group) were tested. The tissue expression of IL-8/IL-17A was identified by immunohistochemistry, and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain slides were used for neutrophil scoring. DNA was extracted from paraffin blocks, and genotyping was done in real time-PCR for two IL17A target polymorphisms. Tissue expression increasing of IL-8/IL-17A and a higher number of neutrophils were identified in samples from the H1N1 group compared to the COVID-19 group. The distribution of genotype frequencies in the IL17A gene was not statistically significant between groups. However, the G allele (GG and GA) of rs3819025 was correlated with higher tissue expression of IL-17A in the COVID-19 group. SARS-CoV-2 virus evokes an exacerbated response of the host's immune system but differs from that observed in the H1N1pdm09 infection since the IL-8/IL-17A tissue expression, and lung neutrophilic recruitment may be decreased. In SNP rs3819025 (G/A), the G allele may be considered a risk allele in the patients who died for COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to correlate and compare the immunoexpression of sex‐determining region Y‐box 2 (SOX‐2) in oral leukoplakia (OL) lesions with that in normal buccal mucosa (control). Materials and Methods: In this observational study, OL with low‐risk (n = 34) and high‐risk (n = 33) dysplasia and control samples (n = 25) were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis for SOX‐2. In the epithelium, SOX‐2 positive and negative cells, as well as semiautomatic segmentation of the immunopositive nuclear area were counted. Statistical tests included chi‐square, one‐way analysis of variance, Tukey, and Games‐Howell. The level of significance was 5%. Results: Groups with OL lesions (low and high‐risk) showed higher mean numbers of SOX‐2 positive cells (63.47 ± 25.70 and 68.18 ± 21.17) compared to the control group (45.85 ± 27.38) (p = 0.00). Groups with OL lesions (low and high‐risk) exhibited higher mean positive nuclear area (0.24 ± 0.47 and 1.09 ± 2.06) compared to the control group (0.00 ± 0.01) (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Oral leukoplakia lesions showed a higher expression of SOX‐2, suggesting its contribution to the pathogenesis of OL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Among the several organs affected by perinatal hypoxia, the heart plays a central role, with cell death caused mainly by apoptosis. One of the biomarkers most often linked to hypoxia-derived apoptosis of cardiomyocytes in animals is Gadd45β. From the published literature, Gadd45β is proposed as a biomarker of hypoxia-induced lesion in cardiomyocytes, both in vitro , as well as in animal models. Our study suggests that this protein can be used as an early biomarker of cell damage in neonate’s cardiomyocytes (humans specimens), a process that can ultimately lead to apoptosis. The aim is to determine levels of tissue immunoexpression of the Gadd45β biomarker in myocardium samples of newborns affected by hypoxia, and to correlate these results with clinical and anatomopathologic data. Methods Myocardium samples from the left ventricle of newborns were used. The samples were collected from 78 autopsies performed in neonates of both genders, with hypoxia (Apgar score at five minutes below 6 and/or pH below 7.2 and/or autopsy with anatomopathological signs of hypoxia), who had died within the first day of life. All samples were organized in Tissue Microarray. Immunohistochemistry analysis, using anti-Gadd45β as the primary antibody, was performed on 3 multi-sample histological slides. There was no correlation between Gadd45β tissue immunoexpression and neonatal weight ( p = 0.93), gestational age ( p = 0.16), Apgar score at first minute ( p = 0.914), Apgar score at five minutes ( p = 0.988) and arterial blood pH ( p = 0.542). There was a relation between Gadd45β tissue immunoexpression and survival ( p = 0.02). The maximum peak of Gadd45β tissue immunoexpression was 8.43% HPF (high power field) and was observed around of six hours of life. Conclusion Gadd45β could be a suitable biomarker of cardiomyocytes apoptosis in newborns experiencing hypoxia in the first day of life, as its highest tissue immunoexpression around at the first six hours after birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]