Bladder schistosomiasis in Italy: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Human schistosomiasis is a snail-borne disease caused by parasitic blood-dwelling flukes. A long-term infection can lead to the risk of liver damage, kidney failure, infertility, or bladder cancer. The most common sign is hematuria with the blood first seen in the terminal urine, but in severe cases the whole urine sample can be dark colored. We analyze the case of a healthy African child living in Italy since birth, harboring a hidden debilitating disease that was picked up during ultrasonography. CASE REPORT: A 11-year-old African child was admitted to our emergency department with macroscopic hematuria, dysuria, and frequency for 2 months. Ultrasonography revealed a solid mass involving bladder's right wall. Non-contrast and contrast-enhanced scans of computerized tomography showed a mass of 45 mm x 15 mm on the right bladder wall. A bipolar transurethral resection of bladder was performed. The pathological examination showed findings consistent with Schistosoma haematobium. DISCUSSION: The clinical manifestations of schistosomiasis depend on the inflammatory response to the parasitic infection. In particular, it can manifest in the bladder as painless dysuria, urinary incontinence and urinary frequency, hematuria, or even urinary retention if the trigone is involved. Utilization of ultrasonography for diagnostic evaluation of schistosomiasis is mandatory. For treatment, the World Health Organization recommends praziquantel which has an efficacy of up to 90%.

Malignant Mesothelioma of Spermatic Cord in an Elderly Man With a History of Asbestos Exposure.

We report a case of malignant mesothelioma of the spermatic cord in 80-year-old man presented with retained testis, hydrocele, and right inguinal mass. The patient had a long history of asbestos exposure as a railway worker. The patient was submitted to inguinal radical orchiectomy. One year after surgery, the patient is alive without signs of disease. Malignant mesothelioma of spermatic cord is a very rare disease, but this diagnosis should be suspected in patient with a history of asbestos exposure.

Involvement of HSP70 in resveratrol-induced apoptosis of human prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: 70 KDa heat shock proteins (HSPs70), either as a constitutive or inducible form, are expressed at very high levels in malignant human tumors of various origin. In different cell types, they are known to play an antiapoptotic role. Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene), a polyphenol present in red wine, grapes and other dietary and medicinal plants, has been shown to be active in inhibiting multistage carcinogenesis, inducing apoptotic cell death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With the present study, a possible relationship between HSP70 expression and cell death elicited by resveratrol in DU-145 cells, which mimic the late hormone-refractory stages of prostate carcinoma, was investigated. To this end, we treated DU-145 with different concentrations. (50, 100 and 200 microM) of resveratrol and cell viability, by tetrazolium salts assay (MTT) and membrane breakdown, by lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) release, were measured. The possible induction of oxidative stress was evidenced both by performing a fluorescent analysis of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, or evaluating the amount of nitrite/nitrate (NO) in culture medium. In addition, the expression of HSP70 level, evaluated by immunoblotting, was examined and compared with caspase-3 activity (fluorimetrically measured) and DNA damage, determined by Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis or COMET assay. RESULTS: Our data clearly indicate that the addition of resveratrol to DU-145 reduces cell viability and increases membrane breakdown, in a dose-dependent way, without interfering with ROS production or NO synthesis, unless 200 microM resveratrol was added. Furthermore, at low concentration (50-100 microM) resveratrol is able to raise HSP70 levels but, at high concentration (200 microM), the measured levels of protective HSP70 were unmodified with respect to that of the control values. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the ability of resveratrol to suppress the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells with a typical apoptotic feature, interfering with the expression of HSPs70.