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Aim of the Study: Inflammasome, a large complex of NOD-like receptors (NLRs), drives tumor growth and progression. The present study aimed at exploring the alteration in expression of urinary inflammasome-related microRNAs (miRNAs) in bladder cancer (BC). Our previous report demonstrated the up-regulation of NLRs genes ( NLRP3 , NLRP4 , NLRP9 and NAIP ) in urine sediments of patients harboring BC. The expression levels of miRNAs targeting these NLRs (miR-146a-5p, miR-106a-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-223-3p, miR-141-3p, miR-19a-3p, miR-145-5p, miR-185-5p) were assayed in the same patient cohort., Materials and Methods: Forty-six subjects affected by BC, 28 healthy controls (CTR0) and 31 subjects with histologically confirmed bladder inflammation (CTR1) were recruited. Total RNA was extracted from urine sediment and resulting cDNA was used for amplification by real-time polymerase chain reaction. MiRNA expression levels were evaluated and compared among selected groups. Patients were further stratified according to tumor stage, grade and risk of recurrence and progression. Moreover, non-muscle invasive low-grade and high-grade (HG) BC patients were compared., Results: MiR 141-3p and miR-19a-3p expression decreased in CTR1 with respect to both BC and CTR0. In contrast, miR-146a-5p was up-regulated in BC compared with CTR0. MiR106a-5p, miR17-5p and miR19a-5p were significantly up-regulated in HG, high-risk (HR) and non-muscle invasive HG BC patients, while miR-185-5p was significantly higher in muscle invasive tumors, according to T stage stratification., Conclusion: The increased expression of miRNAs targeting NLRs in HG and HR BC patients is in accordance with the decrease in NLR mRNAs observed in our previous report. These data corroborate the direct role of NLR genes and respective regulatory miRNAs in BC making these inflammasome-related molecules a reliable non-invasive tool for BC diagnosis., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Introduction: Diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) is based on prostate biopsy that is performed when prostate specific antigen (PSA) is persistently altered over time and/or abnormal digital rectal examination is found. Serum PSA levels increase in both PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia, leading to an increased number of unnecessary biopsies. There is an urgent need to unravel PCa-specific molecular signatures., Patients and Methods: This study aimed at characterizing a panel of circulating micro RNAs (miRNAs) that could distinguish PCa from benign prostatic hyperplasia in a population of age-matched patients with increased PSA levels. Both miRNAs targeting genes involved in PCa onset and miRNAs whose role in PCa has been highlighted in other studies were included. For this purpose, let-7c, let-7e, let-7i, miR-26a-5p, miR-26b-5p, miR-24-3p, miR-23b-3p, miR-27-b-3p, miR-106a-5p, miR-20b-5p, miR-18b-5p, miR-19b-2-5p, miR-363-3p, miR-497, miR-195, miR-25-3p, miR-30c-5p, miR-622, miR-874-3p, miR-346 and miR-940 were assayed through real-time PCR in 64 patients with PCa and compared with 60 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. The ability of miRNAs to predict the stage of disease was also analyzed., Results: Let-7c, let-7e, let-7i, miR-26a-5p, miR-26b-5p, miR-18b-5p and miR-25-3p were able to discriminate patients with PCa from those harboring benign prostatic hyperplasia, both presenting altered PSA levels (>3 ng/mL). MiR-25-3p and miR-18b-5p showed the highest sensitivity and specificity to predict PCa, respectively. The combination of these two miRNAs improved the overall sensitivity. A correlation between pathological Gleason score and miRNA expression levels was reported; miR-363-3p, miR-26a-5p, miR-26b-5p, miR-106a-5p, miR-18b-5p, miR-25-3p and let-7i decreased in expression concomitantly with an increase in malignancy., Conclusion: This study confirms serum miRNAs to be reliable candidates for the development of minimally invasive biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of PCa, particularly in those cases where PSA acts as a flawed marker., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Pneumoscrotum is the term used to describe the presence of air within the scrotum and includes scrotal emphysema as well as pneumatocele. The etiology varies; in some cases, pneumoscrotum may be due to life-threatening disease like pneumothorax or Fournier gangrene. Despite this, pneumoscrotum is a rarely debated issue. We present two different cases of pneumoscrotum and a review of the literature. The first case report is about a 29 year old male patient affected by Duchenne syndrome who showed pneumoscrotum after cardiopulmonary resuscitation that was performed for asphyxic crisis and cardiovascular arrest. We carried out local puncture with an 18-gauge needle, and the pneumoscrotum was successfully solved. The second case report is about a 56 year old male with pneumoscrotum due to Fournier gangrene who underwent radical exeresis of all necrotic tissues and drainage. This is why most of the scrotal skin and all of the penis skin were removed; as a result, the testicles, epididymis, and cavernosa corpora were externalized. On postoperative day one, the patient was feverless and underwent hyperbaric chamber therapy. No postoperative complications occurred. Accurate evaluation of the pneumoscrotum is always needed. Despite the benign course of most of the clinically evident pneumoscrotum cases, this condition should never be underestimated.