Pitfalls in the cytological diagnosis of nodular fasciitis: A report of two cases.

Cytological diagnosis of nodular fasciitis can be challenging. The main features on cytological smears are bland, round to ovoid cells with fuzzy cytoplasmic processes in a background of focal myxoid change. The cytological features of two cases of nodular fasciitis are described here, along with the cytological differentials.

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of juvenile granulosa cell tumour: A case report with summary of prior published cases.

Juvenile granulosa cell tumours (JGCT) are uncommon tumours of the ovary and can present diagnostic difficulty both on histology and cytology because of its rarity. Here we present the fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) findings of a 4 year-old girl who came with a large abdominal mass and bleeding per vaginum. FNAC from the mass showed features suggestive of granulosa cell tumour (GCT) and which was later confirmed on histology to be of juvenile type. Only two cases of cytological findings of JGCT have been described earlier, both of which were recurrent cases and at metastatic sites. The main cytological feature in our case was presence of thick colloid like fluid containing apparent bubbles along with small clusters of uniform cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm and fine vacuolation. The presence of these secretions corresponding to the macrofollicles on histology has not been reported earlier.

Adrenal and Mesenteric Teratomas in Infants: Common Tumors in Uncommon Sites.

Teratomas are common tumors in children. The most common sites are gonads, however, several extragonadal sites are well known such as sacrococcygeal region, mediastinum, head and neck, stomach, and vagina. Occasionally, teratomas occur in unusual sites which pose diagnostic difficulties. Here, we describe two cases of infantile teratomas with unusual presentation. The first case was a 6-month-old girl who presented with a mass in the right side of the abdomen. Computed tomography (CT) scan showed a solid-cystic mass in the right suprarenal region. The second was a 4-month-old boy who came with a huge abdominal mass. Contrast-enhanced CT showed a tumor arising from the jejunal mesentery. On microscopic examination, they were diagnosed as mature and immature teratoma, respectively. Although neuroblastoma is the most common infantile adrenal neoplasm, the possibility of teratoma should be considered for cystic adrenal lesions. Mesenteric teratoma can be difficult to distinguish radiologically from the more common lymphangioma; however, accurate diagnosis is important in view of long-term follow-up for teratomas because of the possibility of malignant transformation.

Physicochemical, Pharmacokinetic and Cytotoxicity of the Compounds Isolated from an Endophyte Fusarium oxysporum: In Vitro and In Silico Approaches.

The present study was intended to characterize the secondary metabolites of the endophyte Fusarium oxysporum isolated from the plant Aglaonema hookerianum Schott. And to investigate the cytotoxic and other pharmacological properties of the isolated compounds as part of the drug discovery and development process. Different chromatographic techniques were adopted to isolate the bioactive compounds that were identified by spectroscopic techniques. The cytotoxic properties of the compounds were assessed in the Vero cell line via the trypan blue method. Moreover, physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, bioactivity and toxicity profiles of the compounds were also investigated through in silico approaches. After careful spectral analysis, the isolated compounds were identified as 3ß,5α-dihydroxy-ergosta-7,22-dien-6-one (1), 3ß,5α,9α-trihydroxy-ergosta-7,22-dien-6-one (2), p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (3), 3-(R)-7-butyl-6,8-dihydroxy-3-pent-11-enylisochroman-1-one (4) and beauvericin (5). An in vitro study in the Vero cell line revealed that the presence of the compounds reduced the number of cells, as well as the percentage of viable cells, in most cases. An in silico cytotoxic analysis revealed that compounds 1, 2 and 5 might be explored as cytotoxic agents. Moreover, compounds 3 and 4 were found to be highly mutagenic. The present study suggested that further thorough investigations are necessary to use these molecules as leads for the cytotoxic drug development process.

Infantile Myofibroma: A Series of 2 Cases with Special Reference to Cytological Features.

BackgroundInfantile myofibromas (IM) are benign soft tissue lesions of childhood and represent a significant portion of the benign spectrum of fibroblastic-myofibroblastic tumors. Cytological diagnosis of these tumors can be challenging because of overlapping morphology and limited case report descriptions. We describe the cytological features and the cytological differential diagnoses.Case reportWe describe cytological features of two IMs. The main features were the presence of loose clusters and dispersed bland myofibroblasts in varying stages of maturation with traversing blood vessels and myxoid stroma. The cells typically lacked features of atypia, mitoses and significant pleomorphism.ConclusionDiagnosis of IM on the basis of cytology alone can be tricky and definitive diagnosis should be made only after correlating the cytological features with histology. However, bland morphology of differentiating myofibroblasts can aid in cytological diagnosis and help to exclude other malignant spindle cells neoplasms needing preoperative chemotherapy.

Immunogenicity Assessment of Cell Wall Carbohydrates of Group A Streptococcus via Self-Adjuvanted Glyco-lipopeptides.

Identifying the immunogenic moieties and their precise structure of carbohydrates plays an important role for developing effective carbohydrate-based subunit vaccines. This study assessed the structure-immunogenicity relationship of carbohydrate moieties of a single repeating unit of group A carbohydrate (GAC) present on the cell wall of group A Streptococcus (GAS) using a rationally designed self-adjuvanted lipid-core peptide, instead of a carrier protein. Immunological evaluation of fully synthetic glyco-lipopeptides (particle size: 300-500 nm) revealed that construct consisting of higher rhamnose moieties (trirhamnosyl-lipopeptide) was able to induce enhanced immunogenic activity in mice, and GlcNAc moiety was not found to be an essential component of immunogenic GAC mimicked epitope. Trirhamnosyl-lipopeptide also showed 75-97% opsonic activity against four different clinical isolates of GAS and was comparable to a subunit peptide vaccine (J8-lipopeptide) which illustrated 65-96% opsonic activity.

Immunology of carbohydrate-based vaccines.

Carbohydrates are considered as promising targets for vaccine development against infectious diseases where cell surface glycan's on many infectious agents are attributed to playing an important role in pathogenesis. Understanding the relationship between carbohydrates and immune components at a molecular level is crucial for the development of well-defined vaccines. Recently, carbohydrate immunology research has been accelerated by the development of new technologies that contribute to the design of optimum antigens, synthesis of antigens and the studies of antigen-antibody interactions, and as a result, several promising carbohydrate-based vaccine candidates have been prepared in recent years. This article briefly presents the mechanistic pathways of polysaccharide, glycoconjugate, glycolipid and zwitterionic vaccines and the interplay between carbohydrate antigen and immune response.

An Overview of Structural Features of Antibacterial Glycoconjugate Vaccines That Influence Their Immunogenicity.

Bacterial cell-surface-derived or mimicked carbohydrate moieties that act as protective antigens are used in the development of antibacterial glycoconjugate vaccines. The carbohydrate antigen must have a minimum length or size to maintain the conformational structure of the antigenic epitope(s). The presence or absence of O-acetate, phosphate, glycerol phosphate and pyruvate ketal plays a vital role in defining the immunogenicity of the carbohydrate antigen. The nature of the carrier protein, spacer and conjugation pattern used to develop the glycoconjugate vaccine also defines its overall spatial orientation which in turn affects its avidity and selectivity of interaction with the desired target(s). In addition, the ratio of carbohydrate to protein in glycoconjugate vaccines also makes an important contribution in determining the optimum immunological response. This Review article presents the importance of these variables in the development of antibacterial glycoconjugate vaccines and their effects on immune efficacy.

Analgesic, neuropharmacological, anti-diarrheal, and cytotoxic activities of the extract of Solanum sisymbriifolium (Lam.) leaves.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possible analgesic, neuropharmacological, anti-diarrheal, and cytotoxic activities of the ethanol extract of leaves of Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. (Family: Solanaceae). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analgesic activity was measured by acetic acid-induced writhing inhibition test. The neuropharmacological activities were evaluated using hole cross, hole board, and elevated plus-maze test and the anti-diarrheal activity was assessed using castor oil-induced diarrhea inhibition method. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was carried out for assessing the cytotoxicity of the ethanol extract of the leaves. Except cytotoxic activity, all the tests were conducted on mice. RESULTS: The extract at oral doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight showed highly significant (p<0.001) decrease in number of writhing, 52.1±0.66 and 4.4±0.64 compared with the control (78.6±0.29) with the percentage of inhibitions of writhing response were found to be 33.72% and 94.40%, respectively. Compare with the control, the extract at both doses showed significant sedative effect in hole cross test. In hole board test, the extract exhibited highly significant (p<0.001) anxiolytic activity at dose of (200 mg/kg), while the same activity was observed at dose of 400 mg/kg in elevated plus-maze test. The extract showed highly significant (p<0.001) anti-diarrheal activity in a dose-dependent manner. With the extract, significant lethality to brine shrimp was found with LC50 value of 61.66±0.9 µg/ml, which was comparable with the positive control (LC50: 11.89±0.8 µg/ml). CONCLUSION: The results from the present studies support the traditional uses of this plant part and could form the basis of further investigation including compound isolation.

Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanolic extract of Cymbidium aloifolium (L.).

The ethanol leaf extract of Cymbidium aloifolium (L.) was evaluated for its analgesic and antiinflammatory activities. The extract, at the dose of 200 and 400 mg kg(-1) body weight, exerted the analgesic activity by observing the number of abdominal contractions and anti-inflammatory activity against Carrageenin induced paw edema in mice by measuring the paw volume. The ethanolic extract of Cymbidium aloifolium (L.) showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) reduction of percentage of writhing of 33.57 and 61.31% at 200 and 400 mg kg(-1) oral dose, respectively, when compared to negative control. The Ethanolic plant extract also showed significant (p < 0.05) dose dependent reduction of mean increase of formation of paw edema. The results of the experiment and its statistical analysis showed that the ethanolic plant extract had shown significant (p < 0.05) dose dependent analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities when compared to the control.