The Perspectives of Biomarkers in Predicting the Survival of the Renal Graft.

Kidney transplantation (KT) is currently the elective approach for patients with end-stage renal disease. Although it is a safe choice for these patients, the early complications can lead to graft dysfunction. One of the most redoubtable complications is delayed graft function (DGF), having no specific treatment. The effects of DGF on the graft survival are large enough to justify the formulation of specific biological protocols. Therefore, discovering biomarkers of acute impairment in renal transplanted patients is required. Creatinine is a poor marker to establish the kidney injury. Estimated glomerular filtration rate together with creatinine is ready to approximately measure the kidney function. Different serum and urine proteins are being studied as possible predictive biomarkers for delayed graft function. This review will concentrate on recent and existing research which provide insight concerning the contribution of some molecules for the estimation and evaluation of graft function after kidney transplantation. Further studies examining various aspects of DGF after KT are urgently needed to address a hitherto less-known clinical question.

Treatment trends in oral lichen planus and oral lichenoid lesions (Review).

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease, associated with altered cell-mediated immunological function. It has long-term evolution, repeated exacerbations, sometimes painful and resistant to treatment, even all of these, OLP significantly affects patient's life quality. Not least, OLP is accompanied by an increased risk of malignant transformation. A wide spectrum of therapeutic options is available, but none are curative. In this review, 58 structured studies on the clinical symptomatology and treatment strategy of OLP were analyzed. The literature research was performed according to the criteria of the PRISMA system. This study summarizes current knowledge regarding management of OLP and oral lichenoid lesions, discusses the challenges of choosing an adequate treatment and, in attempt to improve the quality of patient life, trying to describe a therapeutic algorithm that takes into consideration the clinical features of the disease. Current OLP therapy aims at eliminating all mucosal-related lesions, reduce symptomatology and decrease the risk of oral cancer and include corticosteroids, immunomodulatory agents, retinoids, ultraviolet irradiation and/or laser therapy.

Mitochondrial nanotargeting in malignancies (Review).

Malignancies represent a burden for the health system worldwide. Treating them represents a challenge through the prism of the cancer cell behaviour and the serious systemic side effects that usually occur. Both traditional (chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery) and associated therapies (immunotherapy and hormone therapy) have reached a plateau. The new trend for the management of malignancies includes nanoparticles (NPs) which are studied for both their diagnostic and therapeutical use. NPs can be designed in various ways, many of them targeting mitochondria causing cellular apoptosis. This review summarizes the main characteristics of NPs that are studied in different cancers to highlight their mechanism of action. Since mitochondria play a key role in the cellular homeostasis, they represent the main target for the experimental current studies. While there are NPs approved by the FDA for clinical use, most of them are still under extended research and still need to prove their efficacy and biocompatibility, preferable with minimal systemic side effects.

Cell populations involved in the processes of local mucosal defense in extended partially edentulous and completely edentulous patients. Clinical and immunohistochemical study.

Considering the fact that extended partial edentation and complete edentation have high incidence rates worldwide, the necessity for correct prosthetic treatment is very important. We performed a clinical study on 37 extended partially edentulous patients and completely edentulous patients, who were divided into three groups. We also performed a morphological study using classic techniques of histology and immunohistochemistry methods on sections obtained from oral mucosa fragments collected from these patients and processed by paraffin embedding technique. To identify the cell populations present in the inflammatory processes, we used the CD20, CD8, CD3 and CD68 markers. In the studied cases, we found the presence of changes that have interested both the epithelium and lamina propria. Epithelium showed in particular epithelial hyperplasia aspects, with orthokeratinization and parakeratinization areas and, in some sections, areas of ulceration. We found the inflammatory process present in the lamina propria to be chronic and it consists in particular of lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages. This process was differentiated in intensity from one case to another, but varied even within the same case, from one area to another. Inflammation was determined by the local microbial flora enhanced by the action of prosthetic appliances or by the prolonged edentulous state. We observed more intense changes in denture wearers patients. The inflammatory response indicates the reactivity of the edentulous mucosa in response to local aggression, the specific defense mechanism coexisting with the nonspecific defense mechanism, with predominance of cellular immune defense.