Long non-coding RNA panel as a molecular biomarker in glioma

Background Glioma is one of the most malignant brain tumors, accounting for about half of the gliomas that occur in central nervous system (CNS), originates from the glial tissue of the brain. The aim of the present study was to determine the expression levels of 5 lncRNAs (MDC1-AS1, HOXA11-AS, MALAT1, CASC2, ADAMTS9-AS2) in patients with high-grade glioma in comparison with low grade glioma. Methods This was a retrospective study which determined molecular biomarker on pathologic glioma samples. We examined 100 patients’ pathologic block which consisted of 50 pathology samples of high-grade glioma (case group) and control group consisted of 50 pathology samples of low-grade glioma. This research was performed using real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Results The results showed that the expression of ADAMTS9-AS2 and HOXA11-AS genes significantly increased with increasing tumor grade. Also the expression of CASC2 gene significantly decreased with increasing tumor grade. Conclusions It was concluded that ADAMTS9-AS2 and HOXA11-AS and CASC2 are promising lncRNA markers in prognosis of glioma.

PARTIAL DUPLICATION OF VERMIFORM APPENDIX AS A CAUSE OF THE APPENDICEAL INFILTRATE

The appendix anomalies are extremely rare malformations. Preoperative diagnosis of appendiceal duplication is often difficult and usually discovered incidentally during surgery forappendicitis. A clinical case of the development of chronic residual appendicitis in a 32-year-old woman with the abnormality of the vermiform appendix identified duplicity, type A according to the Cave-Wallbridge classification is described. During the first hospitalization, the patient was treated conservatively with a diagnosis of «a dense appendiceal infiltrate»; later, a planned appendectomy was performed. A duplication of the vermiform appendix type A was revealed during the examination of the removed appendix. Histopathological examination detected the underdevelopment of the wall of the accessory vermiform appendix - a complete absence of the outer longitudinal layer of the muscular membrane. The abnormally thin wall of the accessory appendix, as well as the related with it hypoperistalsis provoked the onset of chronic inflammation in the wall, which easily spread to the periappendiceal adipose tissue with the formation of a dense appendiceal infiltrate, which required surgical intervention. Thus, a rare clinical case of duplication of the vermiform appendix type A with forming of appendiceal infiltrate, associated with abnomality of muscular tissue, shown by the surgical findings and corroborated by pathology samples of intestinal tissue has been presented.

In search of ‘extra data’: Making tissues flow from personal to personalised medicine

One of the key features of the contemporary data economy is the widespread circulation of data and its interoperability. Critical data scholars have analysed data repurposing practices and other factors facilitating the travelling of data. While this approach focused on flows provides great potential, in this article we argue that it tends to overlook questions of attachment and belonging. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork within a Danish data-linkage infrastructure, and building upon insights from archival science, we discuss the work of data practitioners enabling the repurposing of pathology samples extracted from patients for the conduct of ‘personal medicine’ – our term to discuss the so-called old-fashioned treatment of patients – towards personalised medicine. This first involves ‘getting to know’ the tissues and unpacking their previous uses and meanings, then detaching them from their original source to extract data from such tissues and making them flow towards a new container where they can be worked on and connected with other data. As data practitioners make these tissues travel, transforming them into research data, they organise the attachments of data to new agendas, persons and places. Crucially, in our case, we observe the prominence of national attachments, whereby managing tissues and data in and out of containers involves tying them to the nation to serve its interests. We thus expose how the building of data linkage infrastructures entails more than the accumulation and curation of data, but also involves crafting meanings, futures and belonging to specific communities and territories.

The first described case of Lodderomyces elongisporus meningitis

We describe the first documented case of meningitis caused by Lodderomyces elongisporus. Identification of L. elongisporus was made on the basis of an arachnoid biopsy with pathology samples sent for fungal internal transcribed spacer sequencing after multiple central nervous system (CNS) fungal culture specimens were negative. After final diagnosis, treatment was transitioned from amphotericin to fluconazole, which, combined with insertion of lumbar drain followed by a permanent ventriculopleural shunt, resulted in significant clinical improvement. Our report reviews the literature of (1) cases of L. elongisporus, which almost exclusively describe fungemia or endocarditis; (2) CNS infections caused by Candida parapsilosis, an organism with which L. elongisporus was previously conflated; and (3) management of fungal meningitis–associated hydrocephalus.

The Seeds of Doubt: Finding Seeds in Intriguing Places

Introduction: Seeds may be found in gastrointestinal tissue samples, and their multifaceted appearance may be challenging. The aim is to report a rough incidence of pathology samples which show seeds, specify the most frequent sample types and show an iconography of the most commonly identified seeds.Materials and Methods: Between 2017 and 2020, all gastrointestinal pathology cases in which seeds/seed parts were found, were collected and seed type described by referencing a seed image library.Results: Fifty cases with complete seeds/seed parts were collected: 16 colonic resections for colorectal cancer and diverticulosis, 13 appendiceal resections for appendicitis, 1 gastric resection. Fifteen cases were found in polypectomy specimens and 5 cases in colorectal endoscopic biopsies. Most frequent seed types were tomato, kiwi, blueberry, and blackberry seeds.Conclusion: Seeds may be found in up to 4% of specimens; their recognition may be useful to exclude parasitic infections as well as in forensic sciences.

Thermal Analysis of Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Blocks for Anatomic Pathology Processes

Goal: We analyze temperature dynamics in anatomic pathology samples to identify the most efficient refrigeration method and to predict the time available for an optimal sectioning before sample heating, thus to get appropriate information for a correct diagnosis by anatomopathologists. Methods: A thermal Finite Element (FE) analysis was carried out with COMSOL Multiphysics to evaluate temperature variations in paraffin-embedded tissues, i.e., muscle, bone and fat. Experiments with different tissues and thermocouple-based measurements allowed to validate the FE simulations. Results: Simulations allowed to estimate the time needed to bring the sample at the optimal temperature for sectioning (-8 - -4 °C) in different conditions: refrigeration on a cold plate, refrigeration in a cooled environment and refrigeration in an environment with a forced convection. Among the three cooling methods tested the last one resulted the most efficient. A cooling temperature of -20 °C was the most effective, among the ones tested. For the different conditions, the time needed for the surface of the tissue block to exit from a temperature corresponding to an optimal cutting, when leaving the sample expose to room temperature after refrigeration, ranged from 12s to 310 s. Conclusions: We quantify the time needed to adequately refrigerate paraffin-embedded tissue samples and the time available before they leave the optimal temperature window for sectioning. This information will be helpful in optimizing anatomic pathology processes.

Systems biology predicts that fibrosis in tuberculous granulomas may arise through macrophage-to-myofibroblast transformation

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection causes tuberculosis (TB), a disease characterized by development of granulomas. Granulomas consist of activated immune cells that cluster together to limit bacterial growth and restrict dissemination. Control of the TB epidemic has been limited by lengthy drug regimens, antibiotic resistance, and lack of a robustly efficacious vaccine. Fibrosis commonly occurs during treatment and is associated with both positive and negative disease outcomes in TB but little is known about the processes that initiate fibrosis in granulomas. Human and nonhuman primate granulomas undergoing fibrosis can have spindle-shaped macrophages with fibroblast-like morphologies suggesting a relationship between macrophages, fibroblasts, and granuloma fibrosis. This relationship has been difficult to investigate because of the limited availability of human pathology samples, the time scale involved in human TB, and overlap between fibroblast and myeloid cell markers in tissues. To better understand the origins of fibrosis in TB, we used a computational model of TB granuloma biology to identify factors that drive fibrosis over the course of local disease progression. We validated the model with granulomas from nonhuman primates to delineate myeloid cells and lung-resident fibroblasts. Our results suggest that peripheral granuloma fibrosis, which is commonly observed, can arise through macrophage-to-myofibroblast transformation (MMT). Further, we hypothesize that MMT is induced in M1 macrophages through a sequential combination of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signaling in granuloma macrophages. We predict that MMT may be a mechanism underlying granuloma-associated fibrosis and warrants further investigation into myeloid cells as drivers of fibrotic disease.

Handling and processing of pathology samples of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient

The SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a major public health concern. Human to human transmission has been confirmed via droplets, contaminated surfaces, and hands. All the staffs and personnel working in the laboratory are also at risk of contracting this infection, especially during the handling and processing of samples from suspected or confirmed patients of COVID-19. With no definite treatment and vaccine in sight, the way forward is to break the chain of transmission by eliminating the risk of exposure to laboratory staffs by proper handling and processing of all the samples in an appropriate containment level laboratory, proper use of personal protective equipment with special attention on disposal and decontamination of work surfaces.