ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-related infections with the human herpes simplex virus (HSV) strains HSV-1 and HSV-2 are particularly noteworthy. There are numerous reported examples of intrapartum transmission of herpes infection, notwithstanding the extreme rarity of intrauterine transfer from mother to fetus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies in pregnant women in the western region of Romania. METHODS: Pregnant women who presented for routine pregnancy monitoring at Romania's County Clinical Emergency Hospital in Craiova between 2013 and 2016 and 2019 and 2022 were included in the study. In order to find anti-HSV-1/2 IgG antibodies, we conducted serological testing on the patients and gathered demographic information from them. RESULTS: HSV-1 seroprevalence was shown to have declined in rural areas and increased in urban areas, with values between 2013 and 2016 being 89.30% and those between 2019 and 2022 being 84.96%, respectively. Women over 35 who were pregnant had the highest seroprevalence. The seroprevalence of HSV-2 decreased from 16.16% in 2013-2016 to 12.43% in 2019-2022, and both rural and urban areas continued to experience this declining trend. Similarly, pregnant women over 35 years old had the highest frequency of HSV-1 infections. CONCLUSIONS: Establishing educational programs and other actions to reduce the transmission rate and ultimately the prevalence of the disease can be made easier with knowledge about the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections.
ABSTRACT
Na+/K+ ATPase is a protein involved in the active transport of ions across the cellular membrane. Ouabain is a cardiotonic glycoside that, by inhibiting the Na+/K+ pump, interferes with cell processes mediated directly by the pump, but also indirectly influences other cellular processes such as cell cycle and proliferation, growth, cell differentiation, angiogenesis, migration, adhesion, and invasion. We used the SK-BR-3 breast cancer cell line, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs) in vitro to determine the effects of ouabain exposure on these cellular types. The results showed a multi-level effect of ouabain mainly on tumor cells, in a dose-dependent manner, while the TAFs and their normal counterparts were not significantly influenced. Following exposure to ouabain, the SK-BR-3 cells changed their morphologic appearance, decreased the expression of immunophenotypic markers (CD29, Her2, VEGF), the proliferation rate was significantly decreased (Ki67 index), the cells were blocked in the G0 phase of the cell cycle and suffered necrosis. These data were correlated with the variable expression of α and ß Na+/K+ pump subunits in tumor cells, resulting in decreased ability to adhere to the VCAM-1 substrate in functional flow chamber studies. Being indicative of the pro-apoptotic and inhibitory effect of ouabain on tumor invasion and metastasis, the results support the addition of ouabain to the oncological therapeutic arsenal, trailing the "repurposing drugs" approach.
ABSTRACT
Breast cancer is the most prevalent neoplasia among women, with early and accurate diagnosis critical for effective treatment. In clinical practice, however, the subjective nature of histological grading of infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma of the breast (DAC-NOS) often leads to inconsistencies among pathologists, posing a significant challenge to achieving optimal patient outcomes. Our study aimed to address this reproducibility problem by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). We trained a deep-learning model using a convolutional neural network-based algorithm (CNN-bA) on 100 whole slide images (WSIs) of DAC-NOS from the Cancer Genome Atlas Breast Invasive Carcinoma (TCGA-BRCA) dataset. Our model demonstrated high precision, sensitivity, and F1 score across different grading components in about 17.5 h with 19,000 iterations. However, the agreement between the model's grading and that of general pathologists varied, showing the highest agreement for the mitotic count score. These findings suggest that AI has the potential to enhance the accuracy and reproducibility of breast cancer grading, warranting further refinement and validation of this approach.
ABSTRACT
Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) is defined by the WHO 2022 classification as a malignant tumor derived from the renal tubular epithelium. However, the WHO 2016 classification subdivided PRCC into two types, with type 1 PRCC showing papillae covered by a single layer of neoplastic cells, and type II PRCC, which can show multiple types of histologies and is more aggressive. The WHO 2022 classification eliminated the subcategorization of PRCC. Here, we present a histopathological case study with a 4-year follow-up diagnosed in 2018 as type I PRCC (WHO 2016) with intra-pyelocalyceal growth pattern in a 59-year-old male patient with a history of Type II diabetes mellitus, left-sided renal-ureteral lithiasis, and benign hypertrophy of the prostate. Microscopically the tumor was composed of small cuboidal cells with inconspicuous nucleoli, arranged on a single layer of tubulo-papillary cores, and scant, foamy macrophages. The tumor had a non-infiltrative, expansive pyelocalyceal growth pattern. Immunohistochemically (IHC), the tumor cells were CK7-intense and diffusely positive, and stained granular for AMACR. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed for the tumor and the normal adjacent tissue for in-depth pathological characterization. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case where a PRCC displays this unique intra-pyelocalyceal growth pattern, mimicking a urothelial cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis system.
