Spatial variation of 2,4-D and MCPA in tap water and groundwater from China and their fate in source, treated, and tap water from Wuhan, Central China.

Data on chlorophenoxy herbicides (CPHs) in drinking water from China are scarce. This study was designed to describe the occurrence of CPHs in drinking water in China. In June 2019, drinking water samples including 789 tap water and 95 groundwater samples were collected from 31 provinces in mainland China and Hong Kong. Raw source, treated, and tap water samples (n = 20, 20, and 170, respectively) in Wuhan, Central China were also analyzed. 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) were found in 71.2% and 74.9% of the samples nationwide, respectively. The cumulative concentration of CPHs (ΣCPHs) in tap water in China was up to 125 ng/L (median: 1.38 ng/L), and regional variations were found for ΣCPHs. The highest median ΣCPHs (3.95 ng/L) was found in Northeast China, followed by Central (3.40), South (2.71), East (2.43), Southwest (1.58), North (0.42), and Northwest China (0.30). The median ΣCPHs in groundwater was approximately five times lower than that in tap water. In addition, ΣCPHs were found in all the raw source water samples collected in Wuhan, Central China (median: 6.69 ng/L, range: 2.66-43.1 ng/L). The removal of 2,4-D and MCPA during conventional drinking water treatment was not efficient, removing approximately 0.91% and 17.4%, respectively. In a water plant with advanced treatment, they were efficiently removed. Seasonal variations were found in ΣCPHs in tap water from Wuhan, with the highest found in July (median: 21.2 ng/L), and the lowest in October (1.96 ng/L). The intake of CPHs via water ingestion was estimated as below 5 ng/kg-bw/day, much lower than the reference doses for 2,4-D (5 µg/kg-bw/day) and MCPA (4 µg/kg-bw/day). This is the first study to demonstrate the fate of CPHs during drinking water treatment and seasonal variations of CPHs in water from Wuhan, China. Moreover, this study provides an overview of ΣCPHs in tap water for many areas in China.

Primary renal embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in an adult patient.

Adult renal rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a rare and aggressive entity with a paucity of data and reports in the literature. As a result, treatment guidelines for this malignancy are not well-established. Herein, we present the diagnosis, management and clinical course of a 39-year-old patient diagnosed with primary renal embryonal RMS (ERMS) following radical nephrectomy. We also review the existing literature on primary renal ERMS.

Serous Borderline Tumor of the Testis and Associated Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings.

Serous borderline tumor (SBT) of the testis is a rare, ovarian epithelial-type tumor of the testis. We present a case of SBT after radical orchiectomy in a 59-year-old man who had 3-month progressive enlargement of his right hemi-scrotum, negative testicular tumor markers and scrotal ultrasound equivocal for malignancy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvis was obtained to aid with evaluation and showed marked hyperintensity on T2-weighted images with frond-like nodular peripheral enhancement within right testis mass. These distinct MRI findings can help clinicians differentiate SBT from other testis tumors. Relapse has not been observed in 8 years of follow-up.

Epithelioid angiomyolipoma of the kidney: pathological features and clinical outcome in a series of consecutively resected tumors.

The 2004 World Health Organization classification of tumors defines epithelioid angiomyolipoma of kidney as a potentially malignant mesenchymal neoplasm with reported metastasis in approximately one-third of the cases. However, this conclusion was based primarily on individual case reports and small retrospective series. More recently reported larger series have shown varying results. We reviewed 437 consecutive renal angiomyolipomas with primary resection at three tertiary-care institutions with high nephrectomy volumes. Only tumors showing >80% epithelioid histology were included in this study. Tumors resected elsewhere and reviewed in consultation were not included. Twenty of these 437 (4.6%) were classified as epithelioid angiomyolipoma. The female to male ratio was 11:9, mean age 49.7 (range, 30-80) years, and mean tumor size 8.7 (range, 1-25) cm. Microscopic tumor necrosis was present in 10 (50%) tumors and mitotic activity (range, <1-5/10 high power fields) in 8 (40%); atypical mitoses were seen in only 1 (5%) tumor. Pleomorphic ganglion-like or multinucleated giant cells were seen in 18 (90%) tumors. With a mean follow-up of 82.5 (range, 1-356) months, seventeen patients were alive with no-evidence-of-disease at the time of last follow-up; two patients died of unrelated causes with no-evidence-of-disease, and one patient (5%) developed distant metastases. Our data, based on consecutively resected angiomyolipomas with long clinical follow-up, suggests that epithelioid angiomyolipomas constitute a small proportion of all angiomyolipomas, and the rate of aggressive behavior among epithelioid angiomyolipomas, even when showing morphologic features previously reported to portend aggressive clinical behavior, is very low.

Quantification of microRNA by gold nanoparticle probes.

MicroRNAs are important posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression in animals and plants. A sensitive and specific detection method is urgently needed for intensive studies on differential expression and regulatory roles of microRNA. Here we present a simple and reliable method for the quantification of microRNA. The hybridization products of target microRNA with capture probe and gold nanoparticle probe are immobilized onto the surface of a streptavidin-coated microplate, and the signal is amplified by silver enhancement. Distribution of miR-122a/miR-128 in mouse brain and liver tissue was detected by this method, and synthetic miRNA122a was quantified. This method allowed a lower detect limit of 10 fM with a linear dynamic range from 10 pM to 10 fM and a high specificity to discriminate one single oligonucleotide mismatch of the target microRNA.

Evaluation of Tissue Metabolites with High Resolution Magic Angle Spinning MR Spectroscopy Human Prostate Samples After Three-Year Storage at -80 degrees C.

Accurate interpretation and correlation of tissue spectroscopy with pathological conditions requires disease-specific tissue metabolite databases; however, specimens for research are often kept in frozen storage for various lengths of time. Whether such frozen storage results in alterations to the measured metabolites is a critical but largely unknown issue. In this study, human prostate tissues from specimens that had been stored at -80 degrees C for 32 months were analyzed with high resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy, and compared with the initial measurements of the adjacent specimens from the same cases when snap frozen in the operation room and kept frozen for less than 24 hours. Results of the current study indicate that that the storage-induced metabolite alterations are below the limits that tissue MR spectroscopy can discriminate. Furthermore, quantitative pathology evaluations suggest the observed alterations in metabolite profiles measured from the adjacent specimens of the same prostates may be accounted for by tissue pathological heterogeneities and are not a result of storage conditions. Hence, these results indicate that long-term frozen storage of prostate specimens can be quantitatively analyzed by HRMAS MR spectroscopy without concerns regarding significant metabolic degradation or alteration.

Pathologic outcome of laparoscopic and open radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinicopathologic data of 286 laparoscopic radical prostatectomies (LRPs) and 714 open radical prostatectomies (RRPs) performed at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 2001 to 2005. METHODS: A total of 1000 radical prostatectomy procedures were analyzed for prostate weight, pathologic stage, Gleason score, surgical margin status, and positive margin location. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 58.6 and 59.1 years for the LRP and RRP groups, respectively. The mean preoperative prostate-specific antigen level was 5.96 and 6.00 ng/mL, respectively. Clinical Stage T1c cancer was seen in 86.4% of the LRP and 90.5% of the RRP patients. Gleason score 7 or less disease was seen on biopsy in 97.5% of the LRP and 96.9% of the RRP patients. The average prostate weight was 46.8 g for LRP and 46.0 g for RRP. In the radical prostatectomy specimens, 94.4% of LRP and 93.3% of RRP patients had Gleason score 7 or less disease and 86.0% of LRP and 81.7% of RRP patients had pathologic Stage pT2 cancer. The rate of positive surgical margins was 15.0% and 17.4% for the LRP and RRP groups, respectively. The positive margins occurred mainly at the peripheral and apical regions in both groups. No significant difference was found in the preoperative variables or final pathologic findings between the two surgical groups. CONCLUSIONS: With similar case selection, LRP and RRP achieve similar pathologic outcomes.

Metabolic characterization of human prostate cancer with tissue magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Diagnostic advancements for prostate cancer have so greatly increased early detections that hope abounds for improved patient outcomes. However, histopathology, which guides treatment, often subcategorizes aggressiveness insufficiently among moderately differentiated Gleason score (6 and 7) tumors (>70% of new cases). Here, we test the diagnostic capability of prostate metabolite profiles measured with intact tissue magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the sensitivity of local prostate metabolites in predicting prostate cancer status. Prostate tissue samples (n = 199) obtained from 82 prostate cancer patients after prostatectomy were analyzed with high-resolution magic angle spinning proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and afterwards with quantitative pathology. Metabolite profiles obtained from principal component analysis of magnetic resonance spectroscopy were correlated with pathologic quantitative findings by using linear regression analysis and evaluated against patient pathologic statuses by using ANOVA. Paired t tests show that tissue metabolite profiles can differentiate malignant from benign samples obtained from the same patient (P < 0.005) and correlate with patient serum prostate-specific antigen levels (P < 0.006). Furthermore, metabolite profiles obtained from histologically benign tissue samples of Gleason score 6 and 7 prostates can delineate a subset of less aggressive tumors (P < 0.008) and predict tumor perineural invasion within the subset (P < 0.03). These results indicate that magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolite profiles of biopsy tissues may help direct treatment plans by assessing prostate cancer pathologic stage and aggressiveness, which at present can be histopathologically determined only after prostatectomy.

Quantitative pathology in tissue MR spectroscopy based human prostate metabolomics.

At present, the clinical utility of metabolomic profiles of human prostate tissue relies on the establishment of correlations between metabolite data and clinical measurements, particularly pathological findings. Because metabolomics is a quantitative study, its clinical value can be rigorously investigated by determining its association with other quantitative measures. The human visual assessment of prostate tissue, however, introduces both inter- and intra-observer biases that may limit the reliability of its quantitations, and therefore, the strength of its correlations with metabolomic profiles. The aim of this study was to develop a simple, feasible protocol for the computer-aided image analysis (CAIA) of prostate pathology slides in order to achieve quantitative pathology from tissue samples, following metabolomic measurement with high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Thirty-eight samples from 29 prostatectomy cases were studied with HRMAS MRS. After spectroscopy analysis, samples were serial-sectioned, stained and visually assessed by pathologists. Cross-sections from these samples were then measured with the CAIA protocol. Results showed a two-fold difference between human visual assessments of the area percentages of tissue pathologies and CAIA area percentages obtained for the same features. Linear correlations were found between both metabolites indicative of normal epithelium and those indicative of prostate cancer, and the CAIA quantitative results. CAIA based quantitative pathology is more reliable than human visual assessment in establishing correlations useful for disease diagnosis between prostate pathology and metabolite concentrations.

Proton high-resolution magic angle spinning NMR analysis of fresh and previously frozen tissue of human prostate.

The previously observed improvement in spectral resolution of tissue proton NMR with high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) was speculated to be due largely to freeze-thawing artifacts resulting from tissue storage. In this study, 12 human prostate samples were analyzed on a 14.1T spectrometer at 3 degrees C, with HRMAS rates of 600 and 700 Hz. These samples were measured fresh and after they were frozen for 12-16 hr prior to thawing. The spectral linewidths measured from fresh and previously frozen samples were identical for all metabolites except citrate and acetate. The metabolite intensities of fresh and freeze-thawed samples depend on the quantification procedures used; however, in this experiment the differences of means were <30%. As expected, it was found that tissue storage impacts tissue quality for pathological analysis, and HRMAS conditions alone are not sufficiently destructive to impair pathological evaluation. Furthermore, although storage conditions affect absolute metabolite concentrations in NMR analysis, relative metabolite concentrations are less affected.