Sialyltransferase Mutations Alter the Expression of Calcium-Binding Interneurons in Mice Neocortex, Hippocampus and Striatum.

Gangliosides are major glycans on vertebrate nerve cells, and their metabolic disruption results in congenital disorders with marked cognitive and motor deficits. The sialyltransferase gene St3gal2 is responsible for terminal sialylation of two prominent brain gangliosides in mammals, GD1a and GT1b. In this study, we analyzed the expression of calcium-binding interneurons in primary sensory (somatic, visual, and auditory) and motor areas of the neocortex, hippocampus, and striatum of St3gal2-null mice as well as St3gal3-null and St3gal2/3-double null. Immunohistochemistry with highly specific primary antibodies for GABA, parvalbumin, calretinin, and calbindin were used for interneuron detection. St3gal2-null mice had decreased expression of all three analyzed types of calcium-binding interneurons in all analyzed regions of the neocortex. These results implicate gangliosides GD1a and GT1b in the process of interneuron migration and maturation.

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Study in the mpMRI of the Prostate-Unnecessary or Underutilised? A Narrative Review.

The aim of this review is to summarise recent scientific literature regarding the clinical use of DCE-MRI as a component of multiparametric resonance imaging of the prostate. This review presents the principles of DCE-MRI acquisition and analysis, the current role of DCE-MRI in clinical practice with special regard to its role in presently available categorisation systems, and an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of DCE-MRI described in the current literature. DCE-MRI is an important functional sequence that requires intravenous administration of a gadolinium-based contrast agent and gives information regarding the vascularity and capillary permeability of the lesion. Although numerous studies have confirmed that DCE-MRI has great potential in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer, its role is still inadequate in the PI-RADS categorisation. Moreover, there have been numerous scientific discussions about abandoning the intravenous application of gadolinium-based contrast as a routine part of MRI examination of the prostate. In this review, we summarised the recent literature on the advantages and disadvantages of DCE-MRI, focusing on an overview of currently available data on bpMRI and mpMRI, as well as on studies providing information on the potential better usability of DCE-MRI in improving the sensitivity and specificity of mpMRI examinations of the prostate.

THE ROLE OF INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGISTS IN THE TREATMENT OF COMPLICATIONS IN UROLOGIC PATIENTS.

Higher turnaround of urologic patients in the tertiary clinical center can lead to more accompanying complications, ranging from 1% to 55% for various procedures, with the incidence of vascular injuries varying from 0.43% up to 9.5%. In patients with impaired renal function, it is imperative to prevent the loss of normal kidney function and potential hemodialysis. Being minimally invasive, endovascular procedures such as renal artery embolization (RAE) can treat major and life-threatening complications, but good and prompt communication between urologists and interventional radiologist is necessary for fast and effective treatment. Absolute contraindications for RAE are the presence of acute infection and previously known anaphylactic reaction to the iodine contrast media, while previous mild or moderate allergic reactions to iodine contrast media are not contraindications for RAE. Currently used embolic agents can be divided into temporary and permanent embolization agents. While the temporary embolization agent available is a gelatin sponge that could be used as complementary material or stand-alone, for permanent embolization interventional radiologists use microparticles, microspheres, liquid embolic agents, coils, and microcoils. RAE procedures are considered to be safe with a low incidence of complications, with non-target embolization being the most serious one. Postembolization syndrome is considered to be the most common adverse effect and it involves around 90% of patients. The overall results show that RAE is a safe, minimally invasive procedure that can effectively treat significant complications caused by other urologic procedures, with the reported success rates of 87%-100%.

THULIUM:YAG LASER ENUCLEATION OF THE PROSTATE (ThuLEP) - OUR EXPERIENCE IN 246 PATIENTS.

New minimally invasive procedures to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have been developed in the last 20 years. With the introduction of laser enucleation techniques in prostate surgery, previous standard surgical procedures (open retropubic or transvesical adenectomy and transurethral resection of the prostate) have become less relevant, especially in case of very large prostates. The objective of this paper is to describe the experience and results of thulium:YAG laser application in BPH treatment in our department. In the last five years, 246 patients underwent thulium:YAG laser enucleation of the prostate (ThuLEP) due to BPH or lower urinary tract symptoms following complete urologic evaluation. The mean age of our patients was 73 (range 51-95) years and mean duration of surgery was 92 minutes. The mean weight of enucleated tissue was 73 grams. A low rate of intraoperative and early postoperative complications and short length of stay proved minimal invasiveness of this procedure, which results in significant improvements in urodynamic parameters and substantially reduces the post-void residual urine volume. The most important surgical and technical characteristics (enucleation and low-power laser application) make ThuLEP a safe and efficient surgical method not limited by the prostate volume. ThuLEP has a potential to displace the current standard surgical procedures to treat BPH.

Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Study in Multiparametric Examination of the Prostate-Can We Make Better Use of It?

We sought to investigate whether quantitative parameters from a dynamic contrast-enhanced study can be used to differentiate cancer from normal tissue and to determine a cut-off value of specific parameters that can predict malignancy more accurately, compared to the obturator internus muscle as a reference tissue. This retrospective study included 56 patients with biopsy proven prostate cancer (PCa) after multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), with a total of 70 lesions; 39 were located in the peripheral zone, and 31 in the transition zone. The quantitative parameters for all patients were calculated in the detected lesion, morphologically normal prostate tissue and the obturator internus muscle. Increase in the Ktrans value was determined in lesion-to-muscle ratio by 3.974368, which is a cut-off value to differentiate between prostate cancer and normal prostate tissue, with specificity of 72.86% and sensitivity of 91.43%. We introduced a model to detect prostate cancer that combines Ktrans lesion-to-muscle ratio value and iAUC lesion-to-muscle ratio value, which is of higher accuracy compared to individual variables. Based on this model, we identified the optimal cut-off value with 100% sensitivity and 64.28% specificity. The use of quantitative DCE pharmacokinetic parameters compared to the obturator internus muscle as reference tissue leads to higher diagnostic accuracy for prostate cancer detection.

Sexual function in hemodialysis and post-renal transplant women in a relationship: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Difficulties in sexual functioning are very frequent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Sexual dysfunction (SD) can significantly diminish the quality of life (QOL) of affected individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of SD in female patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis (CHD) and after renal transplantation (RTx) and to compare these groups with each other and with healthy control. METHODS: The survey was conducted among 123 female participants in a relationship, 28 of them undergoing CHD, 39 after RTx, and 56 healthy women without CKD. For the assessment of the sexual function and comorbidities, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire and Ifudu Comorbidity Index were used, respectively. RESULTS: Median age of all female participants was 60 (50-68). The median age of female CHD patients was 66 (61.3-72.8), RTx patients 56 (48-61), and the control group 59.5 (47.5-67.75). Among all participants, CHD female patients had the lowest scores in all sexual functioning domains. Compared to their age-adjusted control group, CHD patients had lower scores in desire, orgasm, and FSFI full score, whereas RTx patients had lower total FSFI scores and scores in all domains except for desire compared to their controls. Women with lower education, in marriage, and with more comorbidities had lower scores in sexual function domains. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that SD in female patients undergoing CHD treatment or those after RTx is substantially higher than that in healthy women. We suggest that female patient treated for CKD should have proper care regarding their sexual health, and differences in demographic and medical factors should be taken into consideration during the treatment management.

Distribution of major brain gangliosides in olfactory tract of frogs.

Gangliosides are major cell-surface determinants in the central nervous system (CNS) of vertebrates, found both in neuronal and glial cell membranes. Together with cholesterol and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) - anchored proteins, gangliosides are involved in organization of plasma membrane microdomains. Based on biochemical studies, frog brain was previously described as having low quantities of gangliosides and their distribution pattern in specific brain regions was unknown. Using highly specific monoclonal antibodies generated against four major brain gangliosides (GM1, GD1a, GD1b and GT1b), we examined the distribution of these molecules in CNS of four different species of frogs (Rana esculenta, Rana temporaria, Bufo bufo and Bufo viridis). We also studied the distribution of myelin- associated glycoprotein (MAG), an inhibitor of axonal regeneration, which is a ligand for gangliosides GD1a and GT1b. Our results show that ganglioside GDla is expressed in neurons of olfactory bulb in all studied animals. In the brain of Rana sp., GD1a is expressed in the entire olfactory pathway, from olfactory bulbs to amygdala, while in Bufo sp. GD1a is restricted to the main olfactory bulb. Furthermore, we found that most of myelinated pathways in frogs express MAG, but do not express GD1a, which could be one of the reasons for better axon regeneration of neural pathways after CNS injury in amphibians in comparison to mammals.