Is chimerism associated with cancer across the tree of life?

Chimerism is a widespread phenomenon across the tree of life. It is defined as a multicellular organism composed of cells from other genetically distinct entities. This ability to 'tolerate' non-self cells may be linked to susceptibility to diseases like cancer. Here we test whether chimerism is associated with cancers across obligately multicellular organisms in the tree of life. We classified 12 obligately multicellular taxa from lowest to highest chimerism levels based on the existing literature on the presence of chimerism in these species. We then tested for associations of chimerism with tumour invasiveness, neoplasia (benign or malignant) prevalence and malignancy prevalence in 11 terrestrial mammalian species. We found that taxa with higher levels of chimerism have higher tumour invasiveness, though there was no association between malignancy or neoplasia and chimerism among mammals. This suggests that there may be an important biological relationship between chimerism and susceptibility to tissue invasion by cancerous cells. Studying chimerism might help us identify mechanisms underlying invasive cancers and also could provide insights into the detection and management of emerging transmissible cancers.

Early-onset neonatal seizures: lidocaine toxicity as a rare differential diagnosis to hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.

A term newborn girl presented with apnoea and seizures at approximately 20 min of life following an uneventful vaginal delivery. She required admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit following intubation and was commenced on conventional ventilation. Her mother had received a local lidocaine injection for an episiotomy prior to delivery. Initial investigations confirmed electrographic seizures for which she received an anticonvulsant with successful termination of seizure activity. Investigations for hypoxic injury, intracranial trauma, structural brain abnormalities, metabolic disorders and infection were unremarkable. Her blood lidocaine level was subsequently found to be elevated, confirming lidocaine toxicity as the cause of presentation. She demonstrated clinical improvement with no evidence of complications at time of discharge or on early follow-up.

Improvement in albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

PURPOSE: To determine the effects of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) on albuminuria in patients with obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and established diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of clinical records from a tertiary diabetes service identified obese patients with T2DM who had micro- or macroalbuminuria prior to LAGB surgery. Clinical data from follow-up appointments including albuminuria were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 23 T2DM patients were included in the final study. Of 7 patients with macroalbuminuria at baseline, 2 reverted to normoalbuminuria, 2 reverted to microalbuminuria and 3 remained with macroalbuminuria on their final recording in the 36-month period of follow-up. Of 16 patients with microalbuminuria, 9 reverted to normoalbuminuria, while 6 remained with microalbuminuria. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates significant improvements in albuminuria in patients with established diabetic nephropathy following LAGB. These results suggest the potential for LAGB to improve or reverse renal damage in patients with T2DM.