Search results for " PTE"
showing 10 items of 40 documents
Sirolimus treatment of severe PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome: case report and in vitro studies
2013
Background: Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS) is caused by germ line mutations in the PTEN gene. Symptoms include cancer pre- disposition, immune deviations, and lipomas/lipomatosis. No causal standard therapy is available. We describe a therapeutic attempt with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor sirolimus for a PHTS patient suffering from thymus hyperplasia and lipomatosis. We furthermore assessed the in vitro effects of sirolimus and other inhibitors on lipoma cells of the patient. Methods: The patient underwent clinical and blood examinations and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging to assess tumor sizes. Lipoma cells of the patient we…
Deep dry needling of trigger points located in the lateral pterygoid muscle: efficacy and safety of treatment for management of myofascial pain and t…
2014
Background To determine whether deep dry needling (DDN) of trigger points (TPs) in the lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) would significantly reduce pain and improve function, compared with methocarbamol/paracetamol medication. Material and Methods Forty-eight patients with chronic myofascial pain located in the LPM were selected and randomly assigned to one of two groups (DDN test group, n=24; drug-treated control group, n=24). The test group received three applications of needling of the LPM once per week for three weeks, while control group patients were given two tablets of a methocarbamol/paracetamol combination every six hours for three weeks. Assessments were carried out pretreatment, 2 …
Bone morphogenetic protein 4 induces differentiation of colorectal cancer stem cells and increases their response to chemotherapy in mice.
2010
BACKGROUND & AIMS: The limited clinical response observed in many patients with colorectal cancer may be related to the presence of chemoresistant colorectal can- cer stem cells (CRC-SCs). Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) promotes the differentiation of normal colonic stem cells. We investigated whether BMP4 might be used to induce differentiation of CRC-SCs and for therapeutic purposes. METHODS: CRC-SCs were isolated from 25 tumor samples based on expression of CD133 or using a selection culture medium. BMP4 expression and activity on CRC-SCs were evaluated in vitro; progeny of the stem cells were evaluated by immunofluorescence, immuno- blot, and flow cytometry analyses. The potential …
Asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis comorbidity: United airway disease or inherited target organs?
2009
Garcia-Marcos L, Ruiz TR, Garcia-Hernandez G, Suarez-Varela MM, Valverde-Molina J, Sanchez-Solis M. Asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis comorbidity: United airway disease or inherited target organs? Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2010: 21: e142–e148. © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Munksgaard The idea of a united airway disease for asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis is supported by clinical and epidemiological data. However, many asthmatics do not have rhinoconjunctivitis and vice versa. The aim of this study was to investigate if the family history of a specific organ involvement is associated with the implication of the same organ in the allergic child. According to the organ invo…
Mediterranean island biogeography: Analysis of fern species distribution in the system of islets around Sicily
2011
The aim of this article was to test the way in which geographical factors influence island floras in the Mediterranean basin, using ferns as target organisms, and the islands surrounding Sicily as location. A matrix with presence/absence data concerning fern taxa in the 16 islands studied was compiled. Cluster analysis, principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA), principal components analysis (PCA) and a Bayesian analysis were performed. For each island, the total number of fern taxa was regressed against three factors: island area, island elevation and isolation. All the analyses pointed to affinities between islands according to their different geological composition, independently from their…
PTEN hamartoma tumor syndromes in childhood: description of two cases and a proposal for follow-up protocol
2013
PTEN hamartoma tumor syndromes (PHTS) are a spectrum of hamartomatous overgrowth syndromes associated with germ-line mutations in the tumor suppressor PTEN gene located on 10q23.3. It is widely accepted that two of these disorders, Cowden syndrome and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome, are allelic conditions. Because PTEN mutations are not identifiable in every case of the PHTS phenotype, the inability to detect a mutation within the PTEN gene does not invalidate the clinical diagnosis of Cowden syndrome, or Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome, in patients who meet diagnostic criteria for these disorders. PTEN mutations are associated with an increased risk for developing breast, thyroid, end…
Targeting the Cancer Initiating Cell: The Ultimate Target for Cancer Therapy
2012
An area of therapeutic interest in cancer biology and treatment is targeting the cancer stem cell, more appropriately referred to as the cancer initiating cell (CIC). CICs comprise a subset of hierarchically organized, rare cancer cells with the ability to initiate cancer in xenografts in genetically modified murine models. CICs are thought to be responsible for tumor onset, self-renewal/maintenance, mutation accumulation and metastasis. CICs may lay dormant after various cancer therapies which eliminate the more rapidly proliferating bulk cancer (BC) mass. However, CICs may remerge after therapy is discontinued as they may represent cells which were either intrinsically resistant to the or…
The contamination legacy of a decommissioned iron smelter in the Italian Alps
2018
The economically important activity of metal processing can tend to contribute to the degradation of the environment. Smelting is an important source of contaminants, dispersing large quantities of potentially toxic elements (PTE) and coproducts into the environment. Soils in the vicinity of smelters frequently contain high concentrations of PTE. In terms of the quantities processed, the major PTE are iron (Fe), aluminium (Al), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn); of these Cu, Pb and Zn are, potentially, highly hazardous elements. The general problem addressed by this study is to determine if the PTE concentration in the soils of an area downwind from a decommissioned iron…
On the presence, distribution and conservation status of Lycopodium lagopus (Lycopodiaceae) in Italy
2014
During our work on the Lycopodiaceae account for the upcoming Flora Critica d’Italia (1, 2), we assessed and accepted the presence in Italy of Lycopodium lagopus (Laest. ex Hartm.) Zinserl. ex Kuzen. = L. clavatum subsp. monostachyon (Grev. & Hook.) Selander (2). Already reported by Fiori (3) as L. clavatum f. monostachyum Desv., its presence in Italy was more recently confirmed by Tribsch & Schönswetter (4) and accepted in some subsequent regional works (e.g. 5, 6), but the taxon is not recognized as distinct in the last national checklist of vascular plants (7). Lycopodium lagopus has an arctic-alpine distribution in America and Eurasia (8, 9). Initially described as a variety of L. clava…