Re: Bernardi D, Tomassi O, Stefani M, Di Giacobbe A. Comment on “Clinical features and course of brain metastases in colorectal cancer: an experience from a single institution.” Curr Oncol 2013;20:e278. [...]
The synthesis of phenylene-ethynylene rods and their use as rigid spacers is described. Alternation of a Sonogashira reaction and silyl group cleavage was used to obtain rigid spacers with even and odd numbers of phenylene units. Preliminary applications of these rods in divalent systems are shown. Inhibition studies with Pseudomonas Aeruginosa lectin LecA showed that the rigid spacer proved greatly beneficial for the inhibitory potency.
TP53 represents a suitable candidate for a colorectal cancer susceptibility locus. The polymorphism in the p53 72nd codon involves a proline to arginine substitution, leading to changes in gene transcription activity, interaction with other proteins and modulation of apoptosis. Studies evaluating the association between this polymorphism and colorectal cancer (CRC) have shown inconsistent results, and none have evaluated the mRNA status of TP53. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between this SNP expression at the mRNA level in CRC samples and patient clinicopathological variables and prognosis, p53 protein expression and TP53 mutation. This is the first report to describe the mRNA expression of p53 codon 72 alleles in CRC. We evaluated 101 non-related patients with CRC treated at the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center in Brazil. RNA was isolated from frozen tumor tissues using a trizol-based protocol. The polymorphism was detected using RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. Associations were analyzed using Pearson's Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests, logistic regression and Cox. This polymorphism was significantly associated with clinicopathological variables related to increased tumor aggressiveness. The expression of Arg72 (OR, 3.83; CI 1.02-14.35; P=0.046) and the TNM stage (OR, 7.15; CI 1.45-35.29; P=0.016) were found to be independent predictors for recurrence. These data suggest that the mRNA expression of the Pro72 allele is associated with less favorable tumor features. The allele frequency of the p53 Pro72 was 0.26. The analysis of mRNA is important to determine the specific contribution of the allele expressed. These results suggest that this polymorphism may play a role in CRC.
OBJETIVO: O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a associação entre renda e os domínios da qualidade de vida de uma amostra da comunidade universitária do Brasil. MÉTODOS: A amostra constou de 1966 sujeitos da comunidade universitária da Universidade Estadual de São Paulo (USP). A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio da internet. A avaliação da qualidade de vida deu-se pela aplicação do instrumento WHOQOL-bref (OMS), composto de 26 questões, sendo 24 questões distribuídas em 4 domínios - físico, psicológico, relações sociais e meio ambiente - e duas questões que avaliam a qualidade de vida geral. Para a classificação do nível de renda foi considerado a renda familiar em salários mínimos (SM) por níveis de até 1 SM, entre 2 e 3 SM, entre 4 e 6 SM, entre 7 e 9 SM, e mais que 10 SM. Foi realizada a análise descritiva dos dados, teste de aderência a distribuição normal e, posteriormente, o teste de coeficiente de correlação de Spearman foi aplicado para identificar possíveis associações entre renda e domínios da qualidade de vida. RESULTADOS: Os resultados de qualidade de vida indicaram maior valor médio no domínio físico e menor valor médio no domínio meio ambiente. Já os dados sobre a renda indicaram prevalência de pessoas que recebem mais que 10 SM (40,5 %). O resultado indicou correlação entre renda e o domínio meio ambiente. CONCLUSÕES: O presente estudo permite concluir que o domínio do meio ambiente apresenta associação com a renda, impactando a qualidade de vida da amostra estudada
Neocarus proteus sp. n., is described from caves and the surrounding epigean environment of ferruginous outcrops (Cangas) in Minas Gerais, Brazil. In addition, some notes about development in this species are presented. Neocarus proteus is the only species in the genus that has smooth or barbed genital setae and that carries coronidia on the basitarsi, tibiae and genua of legs II-III. Females carry additional setae with rounded tips on the subcapitulum, and are, on average, larger than males. This distinct sexual dimorphism appears in the tritonymphal instar and is maintained in the adults.
The present study investigated whether late maternal inflammation disrupts the mother/pup interaction, resulting in long-lasting effects on pup behavior and alterations in biological pathways, thereby programming prepubertal behavior and the pups' inflammatory responses after bacterial endotoxin treatment. Female rats received 100 μg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or .9% saline solution on gestation day 18. Reproductive performance was observed at birth. On lactation days (LD) 5 and LD 6, respectively, maternal behavior and maternal aggressive behavior were assessed. In pups, maternal odor preference on LD 7, open field behavior on LD 21, and serum tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels after LPS challenge on LD 21 were investigated. The results showed that prenatal LPS exposure improved maternal care and reduced maternal aggressive behavior but did not alter maternal reproductive performance. Male offspring exhibited increased body weights at birth and reduced maternal odor preference. Lipopolysaccharide challenge increased the duration of immobility in the open field and induced a slight increase in serum TNF-α levels. Prenatal exposure to LPS during late pregnancy improved maternal care, reduced maternal olfactory preference, and induced TNF-α hyporesponsiveness to a single dose of LPS in pups.