Genotype 1 of hepatitis C virus increases the risk of major depression: a 12-week prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Depressive symptoms have been frequently observed in association with immune activation. We prospectively evaluate depressive symptoms and risk factors for major depression in patients with hepatitis C virus treated with antiviral combined therapy. METHODS: Fifty patients were assessed during 1 year; the structured diagnostic interview - Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview - was used to screen psychiatric disorders at the baseline and during the 4th and 12th week of antiviral therapy. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: generalized estimating equations and pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni adjustment. RESULTS: In our sample the prevalence of the Genotype 1 was 42%, and the pegylated interferon alpha plus ribavirin was the most prevalent treatment used for hepatitis C (86%). We found increased risk of depression in the 4th week (34%) but not in the 12th week (24%) compared with baseline values (20%) (P=0.040). In addition, we found differences between depression prevalence and hepatitis C genotypes, with higher odds in the 4th week compared to the baseline and 12th week [OR: 2.1(1.15-2.9); P=0.040]. Patients with the Genotype 2/3 had significantly lower odds of presenting depression compared to the Genotype 1 [OR: 0.3 (0.1-0.9); P=0.030]. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence for an association between hepatitis C genotype and major depression, showing that besides immune activation, the Genotype 1 is associated with increased risk for psychiatric symptoms during the follow-up.

Immunohistochemical study of mixed germ cell sex cord stromal tumours in 13 canine testes.

Mixed germ cell sex cord stromal tumours (MGSCTs) are composed of seminiferous tubules, filled with admixed neoplastic Sertoli cells (SCs) and germ cells (GCs). The aim of the present study was to describe 13 canine testicular MGSCTs and to investigate the histochemical features and the immunophenotype of the neoplastic GCs and SCs. Neoplastic SCs were always diffusely labelled for vimentin (VIM), neuron specific enolase (NSE), inhibin (INH)-α and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Cytokeratins AE1/AE3 (CK) and desmin (DES) were expressed in 6/13 and 8/13 cases, respectively. Neoplastic GCs were labelled for placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) in 7/13 cases and for CD117 (KIT) in 8/13 cases, while 10 cases were stained uniformly by periodic acid-Schiff (PAS). Immature canine SCs are known to express CK, DES, INH-α and AMH, while immature GCs are stained by PAS and express PLAP and KIT. This GC phenotype also distinguishes between classical and spermatocytic seminoma, with the latter being negative for these markers. The results of the present study show that both neoplastic SCs and GCs in MGSCTs have a de-differentiated phenotype.

Gender-based differences in oxidative stress parameters do not underlie the differences in mood disorders susceptibility between sexes.

The present study aimed to determine whether any gender-related difference exists concerning oxidative stress parameters in a population of 231 subjects, and if these changes might be related to gender-associated differences in major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) vulnerability. This is a case-control nested in a population-based study. The initial psychopathology screen was performed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the diagnostic was further confirmed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Blood samples were obtained after the interview and the oxidative stress parameters such as uric acid, advanced oxidation protein product (PCC) and lipid hydroperoxides (TBARS) were determined. Our results indicated a higher prevalence of MDD and BD in women when compared to men. In addition, significant gender differences were found in the levels of PCC (0.27±0.27 vs. 0.40±0.31nmol CO/mg protein, men vs. women, respectively; P=0.02) and uric acid (4.88±1.39mg/dL vs. 3.53±1.02mg/dL, men vs. women, respectively; P=0.0001), but not in TBARS (0.013±0.01nmol/mg of protein vs. 0.017±0.02nmol/mg of protein, men vs. women respectively; P=0.243). After sample stratification by gender, no association was found between oxidative stress parameters and clinical diagnosis of MDD and BD for women (P=0.516 for PCC; P=0.620 for TBARS P=0.727 for uric acid) and men (P=0.367 for PCC; P=0.372 for TBARS P=0.664 for uric acid). In this study, women seem more susceptible to oxidative stress than male. However, these gender-based differences do not seem to provide a biochemical basis for the epidemiologic differences in mood disorders susceptibility between sexes.

Correlation between fine-needle aspiration cytology and histopathology in the evaluation of cutaneous and subcutaneous masses from dogs and cats.

BACKGROUND: Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is commonly used as a diagnostic procedure to evaluate superficial and deep masses in animals. However, few studies have addressed the accuracy of FNAC in the evaluation of cutaneous and subcutaneous masses in a clinical setting. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of FNAC as compared with histopathology in the diagnosis of cutaneous and subcutaneous masses from dogs and cats. METHODS: Cytologic and histopathologic specimens obtained between 1999 and 2003 from 292 palpable cutaneous and subcutaneous masses obtained from 242 dogs and 50 cats were retrospectively evaluated. Cytologic samples were obtained by FNA and histopathologic samples were collected by surgical biopsy or at necropsy. Concordance was determined and the accuracy of FNAC for the diagnosis of neoplasia was determined using histopathology as the gold standard. RESULTS: Of 292 specimens, 49 (from 44 dogs and 5 cats) were excluded due to poor cellularity of the cytologic specimen (retrieval rate 83.2%, n = 243). A cytologic diagnosis of neoplasia was obtained in 176 cases (175 true positives and 1 false positive compared with histopathology). Sixty-seven cytology samples were classified as non-neoplastic (46 true negatives, 21 false negatives compared with histopathology). Overall, the cytologic diagnosis was in agreement with the histopathologic diagnosis in 90.9% (221/243) of cases. For diagnosing neoplasia, cytology had a sensitivity of 89.3%, a specificity of 97.9%, a positive predictive value of 99.4%, and a negative predictive value of 68.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirmed FNAC as a reliable and useful diagnostic procedure for the evaluation of palpable cutaneous and subcutaneous lesions in small animal practice.

Percutaneous fine-needle biopsy of deep thoracic and abdominal masses in dogs and cats.

Percutaneous fine-needle biopsy was used to investigate thoracic and abdominal masses in the dog and cat. One hundred and thirty-two cases were included in the study; 20 cases were excluded from the comparative study due to poor cellularity or blood contamination (retrieval rate 86.8 per cent). One hundred samples (56 dogs and 44 cats) were classified by cytology as neoplastic. All the cytological diagnoses of neoplasia were confirmed by histological samples obtained either by non-surgical methods, at surgery or during postmortem examination. No false positive diagnoses of neoplasia were made. Thirty-two samples were cytologically classified as 'negative for neoplasia'. Subsequent histological examination revealed 18 true negative and 14 false negative results. The procedure had an overall 89.4 per cent (118 cases out of 132) agreement between the diagnosis of inflammatory disease versus neoplasia, with a sensitivity of 87.8 per cent, a specificity of 100 per cent, a predictive value of a positive test of 100 per cent and a predictive value of a negative test of 56.3 per cent.

Association studies between -1185A/G von Willebrand factor gene polymorphism and coronary artery disease.

High levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) have been associated with cardiovascular disease. The A allele of the -1185A/G polymorphism in the 5'-regulatory region of the vWF gene was associated with the highest plasma vWF levels in a normal population. To examine the association between -1185A/G polymorphism and coronary artery disease (CAD), 173 Brazilian Caucasian subjects submitted to coronary angiography were studied. Of these, 57 (33%) had normal coronary arteries (control group) and 116 (67%) had CAD (patient group). Plasma vWF levels were higher in patients (145 U/dl) than in controls (130 U/dl), but the differences were significant only for O blood group subjects. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of the 864-bp vWF promoter region followed by AccII restriction digestion was used to identify the -1185A/G genotypes. The -1185A allele frequency was 43.1% in patients and 44.7% in controls. Allele and genotype frequencies were not significantly different between patients and controls. No association was observed between the -1185A/G genotypes and plasma vWF levels in patients or controls. These results suggest that -1185A/G polymorphism is not an independent risk factor for CAD.

Association studies between -1185A/G von Willebrand factor gene polymorphism and coronary artery disease

High levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) have been associated with cardiovascular disease. The A allele of the -1185A/G polymorphism in the 5'-regulatory region of the vWF gene was associated with the highest plasma vWF levels in a normal population. To examine the association between -1185A/G polymorphism and coronary artery disease (CAD), 173 Brazilian Caucasian subjects submitted to coronary angiography were studied. Of these, 57 (33 percent) had normal coronary arteries (control group) and 116 (67 percent) had CAD (patient group). Plasma vWF levels were higher in patients (145 U/dl) than in controls (130 U/dl), but the differences were significant only for O blood group subjects. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of the 864-bp vWF promoter region followed by AccII restriction digestion was used to identify the -1185A/G genotypes. The -1185A allele frequency was 43.1 percent in patients and 44.7 percent in controls. Allele and genotype frequencies were not significantly different between patients and controls. No association was observed between the -1185A/G genotypes and plasma vWF levels in patients or controls. These results suggest that -1185A/G polymorphism is not an independent risk factor for CAD

p73 Overexpression increases VEGF and reduces thrombospondin-1 production: implications for tumor angiogenesis.

Tumor neovascularization is controlled by a balance between positive and negative effectors, whose production can be regulated by oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the angiogenic potential of tumors could also be controlled by p73, a gene homologous to the tumor suppressor p53, whose involvement in tumor angiogenesis is known. We have studied the production of proangiogenic (VEGF, FGF-2, PIGF and PDGF) and antiangiogenic (TSP-1) factors in two p73 overexpressing clones obtained from the human ovarian carcinoma cells A2780. TSP-1 was downregulated in both clones compared to mock transfected cells, both at mRNA and protein level. Conversely, both clones showed an increased production of VEGF mRNA and protein. For both TSP-1 and VEGF, regulation of expression was partially due to modulation of the promoter activity, and was dependent on p53 status. Production of the other angiogenic factors FGF-2, PIGF and PDGF-B was also increased in p73 overexpressing clones. The two clones were more angiogenic than parental cells, as shown in vitro by their increased chemotactic activity for endothelial cells, and in vivo by the generation of more vascularized tumors. These findings suggest a potential role of p73 in tumor angiogenesis.

Simultaneous seminoma and interstitial cell tumour in a rabbit with a previous cutaneous basal cell tumour.

The development of spontaneous multiple tumours is a rare event in domestic rabbits. The diagnosis of a cutaneous basal cell tumour and the successive development of simultaneous bilateral testicular tumours with dissimilar histology (a seminoma and an interstitial cell tumour) are described in a vasectomized, crossbred dwarf rabbit, aged 6 years. Two cases of basalioma associated with uterine adenocarcinoma have been previously described in rabbits. A similar association between basal cell neoplasia and development of tumours (e.g., testicular and breast cancer) at cutaneous and non-cutaneous sites has been reported in man.

Evaluation of brush cytology in the diagnosis of chronic intranasal disease in cats.

Brush cytology was used as a diagnostic aid in 85 cats affected with chronic intranasal disease. Fifty-three of these cases, sampled over a five-year period, were included in this study, while the other cases were excluded due to poor cellularity of the cytological samples (nine cases) or a lack of histological or follow-up data (23 cases). Thirty-six brush samples were classified by cytology as inflammatory. Subsequent histological examination revealed a false negative diagnosis of neoplasia in six cats, two of which had malignant tumours (one adenocarcinoma and one lymphoma), the remaining four having benign tumours (two adenomas and two osteochondromas). Seventeen samples were classified by brush cytology as neoplastic. This was confirmed in 16 of these cases by histology or follow-up (nine epithelial malignant tumours, six lymphomas and one osteosarcoma). In the remaining case, a false positive diagnosis of lymphoma was made. The procedure had an overall 86.8 per cent (46/53) agreement between the diagnosis of inflammatory conditions versus neoplasia, with a sensitivity of 72.7 per cent, a specificity of 96.8 per cent, a predictive value of a positive test of 94.1 per cent and a predictive value of a negative test of 83.3 per cent.