The History of the Greek Refugee Hospital of the Interwar Period in a General Hospital of Nikaia "Agios Panteleimon".

The Asia Minor Catastrophe caused the uprooting of thousands of Greeks from Asia Minor and their arrival in Greece. Especially in the areas around Piraeus, there was a large settlement of refugee populations. During that period, a small hospital was created, the "American Women's Hospital," by an initiative of the "American Women's Union," with the aim of treating and caring for suffering refugees. Within a decade, the hospital expanded and became a general hospital. In 1934, after the departure of the "American Women's Service" from Greece, it was renamed "Refugee Hospital of Nea Kokkinia," and then a year later (1935), it was renamed again to "Protypo Laiko Iatreio" (Model Public Clinic). In 1939, the construction of a larger hospital in Nea Kokkinia began. During World War II, the hospital managed to respond to the difficult conditions of the period and was renamed "General Hospital of Piraeus, Saporta Warehouse Building." After the war, in 1953, it was renamed to General Hospital of Piraeus "Queen Frederika." In 1986, it was renamed to Regional General Hospital of Nikaia "Damon Vassileiou" in honor of the Professor of Medicine of the University of Athens Damon Vassileiou who was one of the greatest Greek doctors. In 2001, it was renamed again to its current name General Hospital of Nikaia "Agios Panteleimon," becoming one of the largest hospitals in the Balkans.

In Vitro and In Vivo Effects of Docetaxel and Dasatinib in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Research Study.

Introduction Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises a heterogeneous group of tumors with a single trait in common: an evident aggressive nature with higher rates of relapse and lower overall survival in the metastatic context when compared to other subtypes of breast cancer. To date, not a single targeted therapy has been approved for the treatment of TNBC, and cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the standard treatment. In the present experimental study, we examine the effects of the chemotherapeutic docetaxel and the bcr/abl kinase inhibitor dasatinib on TNBC cell lines (in vitro) and on TNBC tumor xenograft mouse models (in vivo). Materials and methods TNBC cell lines were cultivated and treated with various concentrations of docetaxel and dasatinib (5 nM to 100 nM). Cell death and apoptosis were studied by flow cytometry. TNBC cell lines were then injected in BALB/c athymic nude mice to express the tumor in vivo. Four groups of mice were created (group A: control; group B: DOC; group C: DAS; group D: DOC + DAS) and treated, respectively, with the drugs and their combination. Tumors were obtained, maintained in a 10% formaldehyde solution, embedded in paraffin, and sent for further histological evaluation (hematoxylin-eosin staining and immune-histochemical analysis) to assess the tumor growth inhibition. Results The cytotoxic effects of docetaxel seem statistically important, with little effect on apoptosis. The effect of dasatinib in vitro and vivo is statistically important, in terms of apoptosis and tumor reduction, with little adverse effects. Conclusions TNBC is a difficult-to-treat oncologic condition, even in an experimental setting. Promising results concerning the addition of targeted therapies (dasatinib) to the conventional cytotoxic ones (docetaxel) have been shown, awaiting further evaluation.

Is continuing medical education sufficient? Assessing the clinical nutrition knowledge of medical doctors.

OBJECTIVES: Provision of nutritional support (NS) can improve disease outcome and shorten hospital length of stay. NS, often prescribed by medical doctors, requires adequate clinical nutrition (CN) expertise. The aim of this study was to investigate self-perceived and actual CN knowledge among medical doctors in Greece. METHODS: Internal medicine physicians and surgical specialties (residents and specialized) were asked to self-evaluate their CN expertise, via a seven-item questionnaire and to complete a 20-question multiple-choice test on CN topics, with the aim of evaluating their actual CN knowledge. Participants were discouraged from accessing literature/information during the completion of either questionnaire. RESULTS: Of 182 invited medical doctors, 115 (50.4% surgical specialties) participated in the study (63.2% response rate). The majority of participants (65.2%) demonstrated inadequate CN knowledge, with 30.4% of those scoring low having a high self-perception of their CN expertise. Comparison of perceived and actual CN knowledge revealed that only 56.5% of the participants estimated their knowledge correctly. Those who had participated in CN continuous medical education courses demonstrated increased related expertise (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Medical doctors in Greece demonstrate low knowledge of fundamental CN principles, jeopardizing the provision of high-quality and efficient NS. Most importantly, the majority of participants overestimated their CN knowledge and prescribe artificial nutrition or participate in related decision making. Physicians' CN knowledge should be enhanced accordingly, either by attending CN modules during their studies, by participating in basic and advanced courses or CN-specific continuous medical education, or both.

Sitagliptin reduces urinary microalbumin in experimental model of diabetic nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE: The term Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) refers to any disease of the kidney that is a result of long-term hyperglycemia caused either by diabetes mellitus type 1 (DT1) or type 2 (DT2). When DKD coexists with macro albuminuria or proteinuria the condition is called diabetic nephropathy. DKD is the primary cause of renal failure since it is responsible for the 44% of new cases presented in the U.S.A. in 2008. Sitagliptin is an inhibitor of the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase and is used as a treatment for diabetes since 2006. Through the inhibition of the enzyme's action sitagliptin prevents the degradation of GLP-1 which is an endogenous peptide with significant hypoglycemic actions, particularly postprandial. The proven hypoglycemic actions of sitagliptin led the researchers to further study the possible effects sitagliptin may have on the complications of diabetes mellitus such as diabetic nephropathy. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of sitagliptin on diabetic nephropathy using biochemical parameters for assessment. METHODS: 27db/db mice were used in total. They were about 4 weeks old. The mice were randomly divided into 3 groups each one consisting of 9 mice, the first 2 groups received sitagliptin treatment over a period of 32 weeks while the third did not receive any treatment. In the first group the mice received 200mg sitagliptin per Kg of body weight and in the second 10mg per Kg. At the end of the 32 weeks period the serum glucose, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, LDL, HDL, hsCRP and triglycerides as well as the urinary creatinine and microalbumin were measured in all 3 groups. RESULTS: The first group (received 200mg/kg) in comparison to the third group (control group) exhibited a reduction in the biochemical parameters measured: glucose -12.35% (P=0.16), urea -17.18% (P=0.61), creatinine -0.81% (P=0.95 ), cholesterol -19.28% (P=0,09), HDL -12,25% (P=0.26), LDL -31.2% (P=0.25), triglycerides -13,9% (P=0.37), hsCRP -49.8% (P=0.06), microalbumin -37.8% (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: The administration of sitagliptin reduces in a statistically significant manner the urinary microalbumin. In addition, hsCRP was greatly reduced but the reduction did not reach the required significance level. The other biochemical data presented a reduction which could not be considered as statistically significant. However, it should be mentioned that the exact mechanisms by which sitagliptin achieves this reduction in the biochemical parameters measured, except for the glucose reduction, remain unclear. Although it is suggested that the reduction of glucotoxicity due to sitagliptin treatment is the main reason for those results, the effects of sitagliptin on inflammation, protection of the endothelium and reduction of arterial blood pressure might play a facilitating role.