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Maligni pleuralni mezoteliom rijetka je i agresivna primarna novotvorina mezotelnih stanica pleure. Glavni rizični čimbenik je izloženost azbestu, najčešće uz latenciju od 30–50 godina. Unatoč terapiji medijan preživljenja je od 4 do 18 mjeseci, ovisno o izvoru. Cilj istraživanja bio je odrediti karakteristike bolesnika oboljelih od malignoga pleuralnog mezotelioma te ishode njihova liječenja na KBC Zagreb u razdoblju od 1999. do 2012. godine. Ispitane su karakteristike 101 bolesnika dijagnosticiranog i liječenog na KBC Zagreb u razdoblju od rujna 1999. do rujna 2012. Analizirali smo ukupno preživljenje (OS), preživljenje bez progresije bolesti (PFS) te preživljenje ovisno o histološkom podtipu tumora, dobi, kliničkom stadiju, pleurodezi talkom i modalitetu liječenja. Koristili smo Kaplan- Meierovu metodu za izradu krivulje preživljenja. 89 bolesnika bilo je muškog, 12 ženskog spola, a medijan dobi 62 godine. Prema TNM klasifikaciji stadij IV je utvrđen kod 69, 3%, stadij III kod 26, 73%, te stadij II kod samo 3, 96% bolesnika. 73, 26% bolesnika imalo je epiteloidni, 4, 95% sarkomatoidni, 1% mješoviti te 20, 79% NOS (nespecifirani) histološki podtip bolesti. Kirurški je liječeno 14, 85% bolesnika, kemoterapijom 55, 44%, dok je radioterapija primijenjena kod 9, 9% bolesnika. Medijan OS iznosi 11 mjeseci, dok je PFS 10 mjeseci. Prema histološkom podtipu medijan OS iznosio je 11 mjeseci za epiteloidni, 12, 5 za NOS te 5, 5 za sarkomatoidni, a prema kliničkom stadiju 7 mjeseci za stadij II, 17, 5 mjeseci za stadij III te 11 mjeseci za stadij IV. Medijan OS bio je dulji u skupini bolesnika mlađoj od 65 godina (12 naspram 8, 5 mjeseci, p=0.28), skupini sa učinjenom pleurodezom (13 naspram 7, 5 mjeseci, p=0.06) te u skupini liječenoj kemoterapijom (12, 5 naspram 7, 5 mjeseci, p=0.10). Očekivano preživljenje bolesnika oboljelih od malignoga pleuralnog mezotelioma u Republici Hrvatskoj u skladu je s podatcima iz literature. Ispitane metode liječenja relativno skromno utječu na preživljenje bolesnika.

Pre-analytical factors, such as fixation time, influence morphology of diagnostic and predictive immunohistochemical staining, which are increasingly used in the evaluation of lung cancer. Our aim was to investigate if variations in fixation time influence the outcome of immunohistochemical staining in lung cancer. From lung resections, specimen with tumor size bigger than 4cm, 10 samples were obtained: 2 were put through the standard fixation protocol, 5 through the delayed, and 3 through the prolonged fixation protocol. After paraffin embedding, tissue microarrays (TMAs) were made. They were stained with 20 antibodies and scored for quality and intensity of staining. Samples with delay in fixation showed loss of TMA cores on glass slides and deterioration of tissue quality leading to reduction in the expression of CK 7, Keratin MNF116, CAM 5.2, CK 5/6, TTF-1, C-MET, Napsin A, D2-40, and PD-L1. Prolonged fixation had no influence on the performance of immunohistochemical stains. Delay of fixation negatively affects the expression of different immunohistochemical markers, influencing diagnostic (cytokeratins) and predictive (PD-L1) testing. These results emphasize the need for adequate fixation of resection specimen.

It is indisputable that nowadays one of the hardest and most important tasks in medicine and especially in medical education, is the conversion of the extensive amount of available data, into medical experience, after a proper analysis. A project under the title “ICT (Information and Communication Technology) eModules on HistoPathology: a useful online tool for students, researchers and professionals – HIPON”, co-financed by the Lifelong Learning Program of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), The Commission of the European Union, has been launched at the beginning of 2013. HIPON’s purpose is not to provide just another pathology website atlas, but to convey professional experience and thinking in pathology. HIPON has resulted in a well-structured and user-friendly, open resource, multi-language, e-learning platform which, taking advantage of modern image technology, offers medical students, researchers, and professionals a valuable teaching instrument so that they can acquire professional experience in pathology. The mid-term report of HIPON has been favorably evaluated by the EACEA experts who appreciated the potential of our teaching tool in providing the opportunity and the means to acquire medical experience. Through the use of virtual slides, educative videos and microscopic, high resolution, marked images accompanied by relevant questions and answers, HIPON project aims to make end-users able to think as experienced pathologists and become highly efficient in correlating pathologic data with other clinical-laboratory information. © 2015 Riccioni et al.

We focused on over-dose insulin (250 IU/kg i.p.) induced gastric ulcers and then on other disturbances that were concomitantly induced in rats, seizures (eventually fatal), severely damaged neurons in cerebral cortex and hippocampus, hepatomegaly, fatty liver, increased AST, ALT and amylase serum values, breakdown of liver glycogen with profound hypoglycemia and calcification development. Calcium deposits were present in the blood vessel walls, hepatocytes surrounding blood vessels and sometimes even in parenchyma of the liver mainly as linear and only occasionally as granular accumulation. As an antidote after insulin, we applied the stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 (10 microg/kg) given (i) intraperitoneally or (ii) intragastrically immediately after insulin. Controls received simultaneously an equivolume of saline (5 ml/kg). Those rats that survived till the 180 minutes after over-dose application were further assessed. Interestingly, pentadecapeptide BPC 157, as an antiulcer peptide, may besides stomach ulcer consistently counteract all insulin disturbances and fatal outcome. BPC 157 rats showed no fatal outcome, they were mostly without hypoglycemic seizures with apparently higher blood glucose levels (glycogen was still present in hepatocytes), less liver pathology (i.e., normal liver weight, less fatty liver), decreased ALT, AST and amylase serum values, markedly less damaged neurons in brain and they only occasionally had small gastric lesions. BPC 157 rats exhibited mostly only dot-like calcium presentation. In conclusion, the success of BPC 157 therapy may indicate a likely role of BPC 157 in insulin controlling and BPC 157 may influence one or more causative process(es) after excessive insulin application.

Angiogenesis is a natural and complex process controlled by angiogenic and angiostatic molecules, with a central role in healing process. One of the most important modulating factors in angiogenesis is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 promotes healing demonstrating particular angiogenic/angiomodulatory potential. We correlated the angiogenic effect of BPC 157 with VEGF expression using in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (crushed muscle and transected muscle and tendon) models. Results revealed that there is no direct angiogenic effect of BPC 157 on cell cultures. On the other hand, immunohistochemical analysis of muscle and tendon healing using VEGF, CD34 and FVIII antibodies showed adequately modulated angiogenesis in BPC 157 treated animals, resulting in a more adequate healing. Therefore the angiogenic potential of BPC 157 seems to be closely related to the healing process in vivo with BPC 157 stimulating angiogenesis by up-regulating VEGF expression.

The stable gastric pentadecapeptid BPC 157 (GEPPGKPADDAGLV, M.W. 1419) is a small anti- ulcer peptide efficient in inflammatory bowed disease trials (PL 14736) and various wound tretment, no toxiicity reported. Interestingly, it may have therapeutic effect on acute panckeatitis and act protzectively on endothelium, affects many central disturbances and the NO -system. act as free radical scavenger and exibitneuroprotective properties. So far, BPC 157 effect on insulin administration was not investigated. Material and Methods: Wistar Albino rats werw injected with various insulin preparations (Mixtard, Insaultard, Actrapid, Humulin, insulin (human), Novo Nordisk given intraperitonealy (250 UI/kg). Medication given intraperitoneally at 10 min before insulin administration included saline 5.0 ml/kg (control) or pentadecapeptice BPC 157 (10.micogram, 10.0 nanogram). At the time when the control rats exibited prominent insulin convulsion (i.e., after insulin application at 3h (Mixtard) or after 7h (Insultard, Actrapid, Humulin)., all rats werw sacrificed, and the stomach lesions (sum of largest) lesion diameter (mm) and blood glucose level (mmol/L) were estomated. Results: All of the rats thar recived insulin exibited post-insulin convulsions (starting at 90 min without lesions, and hemorrhagic lesion, otherwise very prominent, werw lacking. Serum glucose level regularly remained within normal range. Also, the post-insulin convulsion werw completely eliminated or markedly attenuated. Conclusion: We showed a so far not recognized ability of BPC 157 ti couteract severe tocix effect of insulin over-dose application.