Causes and Contributing Factors to "Dark Cutting" Meat: Current Trends and Future Directions: A Review.

Dark cutting in beef and sheep meat has been the subject of extensive research with numerous associations established between it and various production practices. Despite these associations, dark cutting still occurs and causes significant financial losses globally in the fresh meat market. Consumers tend to reject dark meat as it is perceived to be from old or poorly-handled animals and is described as being tough, having an undesirable flavor, and having a short shelf-life. There is no universal system to categorize dark cutting carcasses and meat across countries, although various methods are used to determine the phenomenon. Classifying carcasses as dark cutters on the basis of ultimate pH or color using one muscle, such as the m. longissimus thoracis can lead to mis-description of other muscles within the same carcass and loss of income across the supply chain. The purpose of this review was to identify the factors predisposing animals to dark cutting and to provide recommendations and directions for future research. The review revealed no single production factor causing dark cutting, but that a range of factors or a combination of factors and interactions lead to its occurrence. Dark cutting is a complex condition that can be resolved through comprehensive management of animals, and management of human involvement, and clear guidelines to minimize the incidence of "dark cutting" meat and to improve the profitability of all sectors in the supply chain are provided here.

Expression of apoptosis-related markers in malignant epithelial tumours of the lacrimal gland and their relation to clinical outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the expression of apoptosis-related markers and prognosis in malignant epithelial tumours of the lacrimal gland. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Series of cases. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty one cases with malignant epithelial tumours of the lacrimal gland. Histological diagnosis was re-examined and blocks selected were evaluated for the following parameters: incidence of apoptosis with TUNEL assay, expression of p53 and Bcl-2 using monoclonal antibody. Predictors factors for survival, local recurrence and cumulative probability of death were statistically evaluated. RESULTS: Re-eximination of the 21 specimens was as follow: 11 adenoid cystic carcinomas, 4 mucoepidermoid carcinomas, 3 squamous cell carcinomas and 3 adenocarcinomas. Eleven of the 21 patients (53%) died during the follow-up period (4-192 months; mean 71). Bcl-2 staining >6% was significantly correlated with the death of patients. A statistically significant positive relationship for TUNEL and p53, and an inverse correlation for Bcl-2 staining, was demonstrated with overall survival. CONCLUSION: The correlation with survival of apoptotic index, p53 and Bcl-2 expression suggest the more tumour cells go in apoptosis, upregulating p53 and down-regulating Bcl-2, the better the survival of patients. This study establishes a role of apoptosis-regulatory proteins in the pathogenesis of malignant epithelial lacrimal gland tumours, and supports the hypothesis that evaluation of the expression of apoptosis-related markers in these tumours may provide a prognostic tool.

Voriconazole curative treatment for Acremonium species keratitis developed in a patient with concomitant Staphylococcus aureus corneal infection: a case report.

The case of a 49-year-old male Caucasian, with more than a 3-year history of recurrent keratoconjunctivitis treated with steroids, antibiotics and midriatics, is reported. A combined Acremonium spp. and S. aureus infection was detected. After unsuccessful therapy with fluconazole, the Acremonium spp. infection was eradicated by voriconazole treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of complete regression of this kind of infection by the use of voriconazole. Therefore, we strongly recommend, in the event of a compatible clinical picture, laboratory testing for mycetes even in the absence of traumatic events, and the use of the new generation azoles, in order avoid a keratoplasty intervention and disease progression to severe endophthalmitis.

Localization and distribution of wolframin in human tissues.

Wolframin is a transmembrane glycoprotein of 890 aminoacids, encoded by WFS1 gene. WFS1 mutations are responsible for Wolfram syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder. In the present paper, we first characterized the polyclonal wolframin antibody by dot blot. Secondly, we verified antibody specificity by western blotting using different human cell lines. Thirdly, we studied wolframin localization in human foetal (14-35 weeks) and adult tissues by immunohistochemistry. Wolframin expression was distributed in many organs, with different tissue and cell localization and expression levels. In foetal systems, wolframin expression was faint at 14-16 weeks and increased when development proceeded. In adult human tissues a variable positive staining was observed in both simple and stratified epithelia. A moderate wolframin expression was observed in liver and in the endocrine portion of the pancreas. In conclusion, our data suggest that this protein may have important roles in a number of different tissues, including many that are not known to be affected by WFS1-linked diseases. The immunopositivity in adult human tissues suggests that it may function maintaining physiological cellular homeostasis.