Correlation Between Renal Cortical Stiffness and Histological Determinants by Point Shear-Wave Elastography in Patients With Kidney Transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Renal allograft biopsy is the gold standard for the detection of histological lesions of chronic allograft dysfunction. The identification of a noninvasive routine test would be desirable. Elastosonography is used to assess tissue stiffness according to viscosity, and no data are available on the use of point quantification shear-wave elastography (ElastPQ) for the evaluation of renal chronic lesions. RESEARCH QUESTION: To evaluate the feasibility of ElastPQ to assess cortical allograft stiffness and to determine the correlation of clinical, biological, and pathological factors with the diagnostic accuracy of kidney stiffness values in patients with histological lesions. DESIGN: Forty-two patients underwent kidney transplant biopsy and 10 valid measurements of ElastPQ, blindly performed by 2 operators. The interobserver reproducibility was assessed according to intraclass correlation coefficient. The ElastPQ measurements and the clinical data were compared using the Spearman correlation analysis. RESULTS: 97.6% reliable measurements were obtained using ElastPQ, with an excellent interobserver agreement. The kidney stiffness was significantly higher in the patients with a time since transplantation >12 months and was correlated with chronic lesions (interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy transplant glomerulopathy, and mesangial matrix), with the interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy, score and with the sum of the scores of the chronic lesions. Mesangial matrix increase is the only independent determinant of kidney stiffness. DISCUSSION: ElastPQ is a noninvasive, reproducible, and sensitive diagnostic tool able to detect moderate/severe chronic lesions. Its routine use during follow-up can identify patients eligible for biopsy, which remains the gold standard exam for detecting chronic allograft dysfunction.

Pneumatosis intestinalis and spontaneous perforation associated with drug toxicity in oncologic patients: a case series.

Pneumatosis Intestinalis (PI) is a rare radiological finding defined as the presence of extra-luminal gas within the intestinal wall. Several anti-tumor drugs can induce a damage of the gastrointestinal walls as an adverse effect, causing loss of mucosal integrity and endoluminal gas diffusion, responsible for PI development. We retrospectively analyzed 8 cases of PI detected through radiological imaging in oncologic patients undergoing various therapeutic regimens: five patients were receiving chemotherapy, two molecular targeted therapy (MTT) and one immunotherapy. Three patients were asymptomatic and pneumatosis was incidentally detected at routinary follow-up CT and then treated conservatively. Five patients presented acute abdomen symptoms and in these cases bowel perforation was the cause of death. Our experience confirms PI and perforation as rare complications of drug toxicity, especially in oncologic patients treated with combinations of different anticancer drugs and documented the second reported case of PI associated with atezolizumab and alectinib single administration.

Identification, localization and functional activity of oxytocin receptors in epididymis.

Oxytocin (OT) is a neurohypophysial hormone with unclear physiological functions in the male. Several previous studies indicated that OT might have a role in the ejaculatory process, stimulating sperm release from the epididymal storage. In this study we investigated on the presence and function of OT receptor (OTR) in rabbit and human epididymis. By using RT-PCR, Western and binding studies, we found that OTR gene and protein is expressed in the human epididymis and stimulates in vitro contractility. The immunolocalization of OTR suggests that the receptor is not only present in the smooth muscle cells of the human epididymis but also in the epithelial compartment. Experiments performed in rabbit epididymal epithelial (rEE) cells in culture indicate that OT induces the release of an other potent stimulator of epididymal contractility, endothelin-1 (ET-1), Blocking the ET(A) subtype of the ET-1 receptors, by using a specific antagonist (BQ-123), partially counteracts the contractile effect of OT, suggesting positive interactions between the two peptides in regulating epididymal contractility. Finally, to investigate whether an acute OT administration increases sperm release also in humans, we treated oligozoospermic patients with an intravenous bolus of OT (2.5 IU), just before sperm collection. In a small, single blind study, we found that OT almost doubled sperm retrieval when compared with vehicle administration. Our results indicate that OT might have physiological functions also in the male, controlling epididymal motility and sperm progression through the male genital tract.

Endothelin-1 production by prostate cancer cell lines is up-regulated by factors involved in cancer progression and down-regulated by androgens.

BACKGROUND: Recent data demonstrate that endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentration increases in plasma of men with advanced, hormone-refractory prostate adenocarcinoma. In addition, ET-1 is involved in osteblastic remodelling and new bone formation, suggesting a role for this vasoactive peptide in the metastatic progression of prostate cancer to the bone. METHODS: We investigated the regulation of ET-1 expression in androgen-sensitive and insensitive prostate cancer cell lines by androgens and several factors involved in progression of prostate cancer (EGF) and bone remodelling (TGFbeta-1, IL1-alpha and IGF-1). RESULTS: Northern analysis and radio immunoassay demonstrated that all the ET-1 pathways are tuned off in the androgen-sensitive LNCaP cell line when compared to the androgen-insensitive PC-3 and DU145. In PC-3 cells transfected with a full-length androgen receptor expression vector (PC-3-AR), treatment with androgens reduced gene expression and secretion of ET-1 without affecting the gene expression of ET-3. Collectively, these data support a role for androgens in the regulation of ET-1 production by prostate adenocarcinoma cells. In PC-3 and DU145 cells, ET-1 gene expression and secretion were up-regulated by TGFbeta-1, EGF and IL1-alpha, whereas IGF-1 was ineffective. Conversely, none of the treatments affected ECE-1 or ET-3 gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, ET-1 production by prostate adenocarcinoma cells is down-regulated by androgens and up-regulated by factors involved in tumour progression indicating a role for this peptide in the biology of prostate cancer. In view of the role exerted by ET-1 in the process of bone metastasis, our data suggest the use of ET-1 receptor antagonists in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.