Feeding Pregnant and Lactating Mice Rhodiola kirilowii Extracts helps to Preserve Thymus Function of their Adult Progeny.

Plants belonging to Rhodiola kirilowii species, members of Rhodiola genus and Crassulaceae family, grow wildly in Tibet, Mongolia and China mountains and are traditionally used as adaptogens, antidepressants and anti-inflammatory remedies. Nowadays, R. kirilowii is cultivated in some countries, also in Poland. In our previous papers we reported immuno- and angio-modulatory effects of aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts of radix and rhizome of this plant in non-pregnant and pregnant mice. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of feeding pregnant and further lactating mice these extracts on selected thymus function parameters in adult progeny. The counts of M-30+ apoptotic cells, in the thymuses obtained from progeny of mice fed during pregnancy and lactation water or 50% water-alcoholic extract of Rhodiola kirilowii, were significantly lower (p<0.05) than apoptotic cells counts observed in the control mice. No significant differences in the counts of IL-7-positive cells in the thymuses obtained from progeny of the control mice and mothers treated with water or hydro-alcohol extracts of Rhodiola kirilowii were observed.

A lack of Fas/FasL signalling leads to disturbances in the antiviral response during ectromelia virus infection.

Ectromelia virus (ECTV) is an orthopoxvirus (OPV) that causes mousepox, the murine equivalent of human smallpox. Fas receptor-Fas ligand (FasL) signaling is involved in apoptosis of immune cells and virus-specific cytotoxicity. The Fas/FasL pathway also plays an important role in controlling the local inflammatory response during ECTV infection. Here, the immune response to the ECTV Moscow strain was examined in Fas (-) (lpr), FasL (-) (gld) and C57BL6 wild-type mice. During ECTV-MOS infection, Fas- and FasL mice showed increased viral titers, decreased total numbers of NK cells, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells followed by decreased percentages of IFN-γ expressing NK cells, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in spleens and lymph nodes. At day 7 of ECTV-MOS infection, Fas- and FasL-deficient mice had the highest regulatory T cell (Treg) counts in spleen and lymph nodes in contrast to wild-type mice. Furthermore, at days 7 and 10 of the infection, we observed significantly higher numbers of PD-L1-expressing dendritic cells in Fas (-) and FasL (-) mice in comparison to wild-type mice. Experiments in co-cultures of CD4(+) T cells and bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells showed that the lack of bilateral Fas-FasL signalling led to expansion of Tregs. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that during ECTV infection, Fas/FasL can regulate development of tolerogenic DCs and Tregs, leading to an ineffective immune response.

Popliteal artery thrombosis secondary to a tibial osteochondroma.

Popliteal artery thrombosis may present as a complication of an osteochondroma located in the vicinity of the knee joint. This is a case report of a 26-year-old man with symptoms of the right lower extremity ischaemia without a previous history of vascular disease or trauma. Plain radiography, magnetic resonance angiography and Doppler ultrasonography documented the presence of an osteochondrous structure of the proximal tibial metaphysis, which displaced and compressed the popliteal artery, causing its occlusion due to intraluminal thrombosis..The patient was operated and histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of osteochondroma.

The relationship between Ki-67 labeling and mitotic index in gliomas and meningiomas: demonstration of the variability of the intermitotic cycle time.

The monoclonal antibody (mAb) Ki-67 is a marker for the growth fraction (GF) of tumor cells. The exact relationship between the Ki-67 labeling index (LI) and the conventional diagnostic criterion of the proliferative activity of brain tumors, the mitotic index (MI), is unknown except for some general references. On serial frozen sections Ki-67 LI and MI were determined in nearly identical areas of 32 glioblastomas, 20 grade III astrocytomas, 21 grade II astrocytomas and 20 selected cases of meningioma. The data not only clearly showed different median values of LI and MI for the various malignancy grades, but also similar regression coefficients for each glioma type. A non-linear relationship between the two indices was found for all glioma cases with high significance and high correlation coefficient; (LI) = 5.6 (MI)0.59. This results from differing intermitotic cycle times, the variability of which can be estimated from the data given.