Hepatocyte growth factor receptor, c-Met, in human embryo salivary glands. An immunohistochemical study.

Salivary gland morphogenesis involves complex, coordinated events that include epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. Mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met) is the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor. The latter is a hepatotropic factor originally identified in rat serum and platelets. It is essential in fetal tissue development, where it regulates complex morphogenetic processes including extracellular matrix invasion, cell migration, cell polarization and tubulogenesis. The c-Met/HGF system is believed to participate in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during development. Twelve human embryonic minor salivary glands were studied by immunohistochemistry to investigate the role of c-Met in human salivary gland development. Strong c-Met immunopositivity in the glands demonstrated that the molecule is involved in their development and suggested a role for the c-Met/HGF system in this process.

Death in head-down position in a heavily intoxicated obese man.

Dying in a head-down position is rare, and autopsy may reveal no morphological findings which can sufficiently explain the cause of death. The authors describe a case of positional asphyxia of a 78-year-old man, found dead hanging in head-down position inside a blackberry bush. The subject was suspended by his left leg and wedged inside a thick blackberry bush, while his right leg was free and inflected. Investigation revealed that the elderly man had last been seen after lunch in the early afternoon (about 2.00 p.m.), two days before being found. The subject had no pre-existing physical or mental condition which might have explained his death. He was 164 cm tall and weighed 90 kg (BMI: 33.4). External examination of the body revealed abrasions on the head and multiple superficial scratch marks on the hands; no external signs of violence were observed. The deceased's head was cyanotic and revealed marked petechial haemorrhages of the conjunctiva. Rigor mortis was fully developed and reddish fixed livor was observed on the face, neck and upper chest. The distribution of livor was consistent with the position of the body at the scene. Autopsy revealed marked pulmonary and cerebral oedema; the liver showed fatty vacuolization with a mild increase of connective tissue and thickening of the walls of the central veins and centrilobular sinusoids. The heart was enlarged, particularly the left ventricle, with a slight, calcified, diffuse and increased thickness of the aortic and coronary arteries. The remains of meat and vegetables in the initial phase of digestion were found inside the stomach, and there was a strong smell of alcohol. The blood alcohol concentration, ascertained by GC (Gas Chromatography), was 2.10 g/l. Toxicological assays for addictive drugs (cocaine, heroin, THC) yielded negative results. There were no features suggesting that the deceased had been the victim of an assault. The authors of this case report illustrate the main pathophysiological and diagnostic features of positional asphyxia and possible relevant co-causes of death, with an emphasis on the combined role of acute alcoholic intoxication and obesity in the hastened demise of a subject in the head-down position.

Improvement of supportive nursing care in cancer patients autografted with bone marrow and mobilized peripheral blood haematopoietic progenitors.

We report that in cancer patients a dramatic reduction in infection rate, days of isolation, oral mucositis and hospitalization due to high-dose chemotherapy is achievable by autografting with haematopoietic progenitor cells (CPCs) circulating in peripheral blood following cancer therapy with high-dose cyclophosphamide (HD-CTX) and administration of recombinant haematopoietic cytokines. Thirty patients (29 lymphomas, one breast cancer) were treated with total body irradiation and high-dose melphalan followed by either: (i) bone marrow transplant (Group A); (ii) bone marrow plus HD-CTX-mobilized CPC transplant (Group B); or (iii) bone marrow plus HD-CTX- and cytokine-mobilized CPC transplant (Group C). Nursing care load was remarkably higher in Group A patients compared to Group B and C patients, thus demonstrating clinical advantages of transplantation of HD-CTX-f and cytokine-mobilized CPCs.

Ptosis of eyelids, strabismus, diastasis recti, hip defect, cryptorchidism, and developmental delay in two sibs.

We report a distinct syndrome of eyelid ptosis, convergent strabismus, abdominal muscle defect, hip dislocation, cryptorchidism and developmental delay in two brothers. Consanguinity in their parents suggests autosomal recessive inheritance.