[Solid placental transmogrification of the lung: A case report and literature review].

Placental transmogrification of the lung (PTL) is a very rare benign lung lesion. There are only about 40 cases reported in the literature. The imaging and histological features of PTL cases in the publication are various, most of which are cystic and a few of which are solid. Being extremely rare, the solid PTL is unknown to major pathologists and surgeons. We reported a case of solid PTL in the anterior mediastinum. The patient was a 52-year-old male with no history of smoking and without symptoms. During physical examination, chest CT revealed a circular low-density lesion with a maximum diameter of 2.9 cm beside the spine in the posterior basal segment of the left lower lobe of the lung. The wedge resection was performed by video-assisted thoracoscopy. Grossly, a round nodule was located underneath the visceral pleura. It was about 3.0 cm×3.0 cm×1.6 cm and the cut surface was grey-red, soft and spongy. Microscopically, the nodule was constituted of papillare, which resembled placental villi at low magnification. The axis of papillae was edema, in which some mild round cells with clear cytoplasm and CD10 positive staining aggregated and transitioned to immature adipocytes and amorphous pink materials deposited with a few of inflammatory cells infiltration. The surface of papillae was covered with disconti-nuous alveolar epithelium. Combined with the typical morphology and immunohistochemical characteristics of CD10 positive, the diagnosis was PTL. The patient was followed up for 1 year without recurrence and discomfort. So far, the pathogenesis of PTL is unclear. The major hypotheses include hamartoma, variant of emphysema and clonal hyperplasia of stromal cells. Based on the study of our case and publication, we speculate that the hyperplasia of stromal cells located in the alveolar septa might be the first step to form the solid PTL. With the progression of the disease, a typical unilateral cystic nodule develops as a result of secondary cystic degeneration due to the occlusive valve effect. Surgery is the only option for diagnosis and treatment of PTL. The clinician should make an individualized operation plan according to the clinical manifestations, location and scope of the lesion, and preserve the surrounding normal lung tissue as much as possible while completely removing the lesion. There is a favorable prognosis.

Analysis of E6 variants of human papillomavirus type 33, 52 and 58 in Japanese women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia/cervical cancer in relation to their oncogenic potential.

The variation of the E6 region of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) is associated with a high risk for cervical carcinogenesis. To see whether the same is the case with HPV33, 52 and 58, known to have high homology with HPV16, we analyzed the E6 sequence variation of these HPVs in 107 Japanese women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or invasive cervical cancer (ICC): 20 HPV33-positive, 46 HPV52-positive and 41 HPV58-positive cases. HPV33 variants were more frequently observed in CINs I/II than in CIN III/ICCs (71% (5/7) versus 15% (2/13), P=0.02). In HPV52-positive cases, a single E6 variant was detected in 98% of the cases, whereas the prototype accounted for 98% of HPV58-positive cases. In summary, the distribution of E6 variants is different among HPV types tested, suggesting a link between E6 variation and oncogenic potential being type-specific.

Protective role of BCG in the rabbit model of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis.

A study was designed to investigate whether BCG could play a protective role in a rabbit model of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis. Fifteen rabbits were immunised with multiple injections of bovine serum albumin and their mononuclear phagocytic system was depressed by endotoxin from E. coli. The rabbits were divided into two groups: Group 1 (n = 7) received intravenous BCG from 3 weeks prior to the pathogenic immunisation and until the end of this period; Group 2 (n = 8) acted as a control and received normal saline. In the BCG group circulating immune complex (CIC) titres were significantly reduced, rabbit IgG deposition in glomeruli was significantly less, and mean glomerular cell counts were significantly less than those in the control group. We conclude that BCG stimulates the mononuclear phagocytic system to remove CIC and reduce the deposition of immune complexes in glomeruli, thereby mitigating the inflammatory response.