Immunohistochemical assessment of cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R) and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters in glioma

Background

Glioma is the most frequent primary brain tumor and one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Recently, numerous studies have focused on cannabinoids as a new therapeutic approach due to their antineoplastic effects through activation of the cannabinoid receptors. This study aimed to investigate the immunohistochemical expression level of cannabinoid type-1 receptors (CB1R) in human glioma samples and evaluate its clinicopathologic significance.

Materials and methods

We analyzed the expression of CB1R in 61 paraffin-embedded glioma and 4 normal brain tissues using automated immunohistochemical assay. CB1R expression was categorized into high versus low expression levels. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the association between CB1R and phosphorylated extracellular signal-related kinase (p-ERK) expression levels and the clinicopathologic features of glioma.

Results

Our results showed that CB1R immunopositivity was seen in 59 of 61 cases (96.7%). CB1R was down-expressed in glioma compared to normal brain tissues. However, CB1R expression was not correlated with clinicopathological parameters except for p-ERK.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate the down-expression of CB1R in glioma tissues when compared to non-cancerous brain tissues. This change in CB1R expression in gliomas should be further tested regardless of the clinicopathological findings to provide a therapeutic advantage in glioma patients.

A giant mesenteric fibromatosis adherent to the appendix and colonic wall, case report

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MF is a rare tumor, derived from the mesenchymal tissue.

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The gold standard in diagnosis is the final pathology result confirmed by immunohistochemistry examining.

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The definitive treatment is surgical resection when possible.

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New approach “wait-and-see”, is getting more popular.

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This is the first documented case adherent to the wall and arising from the mesentery of the ascending colon and appendix.

Background

Mesenteric fibromatosis, is a rare neoplasm arising usually from the bowel mesentery, with intermediate behavior and local invasion potential. They can be sporadic or related to multiple factors contributions.

They usually presents as an asymptomatic growth of intraabdominal mass, and can reach a large diameter before symptoms appearance. Surgical excision is the definitive treatment when achievable.

Case presentation

In this case we present a case of 34 years old gentleman, presenting for painless abdominal distension, and found to have a giant mesenteric fibromatosis of 23 cm diameter and 4.5 kg arising from the appendix and colonic mesentery. Treated surgically, and was free of recurrence after 1 year follow up.

Conclusion

We report this rare case to encourage physicians to keep this etiology in mind as part of the differential diagnosis of unspecific abdominal mass.

Breast adenomyoepithelioma, a case report

BACKGROUND

Adenomyoepithelioma is a rare tumor of the breast characterized by a dual/biphasic proliferation of two cell populations: the epithelial cells and the myoepithelial cells. The first case was reported in 1970. The majority of the cases are benign, but few malignant cases were reported in literature.

CASE PRESENTATION

A case of a 66-year-old lady presenting with an asymptomatic breast mass, of 18 × 17 × 15 mm size with irregular borders and negative metastatic workup. The patient was operated for wide local excision of the tumor, with a confirmed negative margins intraoperatively. The final pathology was Adenomyoepithelioma.

CONCLUSION

We report this rare case to encourage physicians to keep this etiology in mind as part of the differential diagnosis of breast mass.

Splenoptosis in young female, case report

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The spleen is normally located in the left hypochondriac region just underneath the 9th to 11th intercostal spaces.

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Splenoptosis, wandering spleen or floating spleen, is a rare entity in which the spleen migrates from its normal position.

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The diagnosis is confirmed by imaging modalities.

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The only definitive treatment is surgical intervention.

Background

Splenoptosis is an uncommon disorder defined as the dislodgment of the spleen from its anatomical location in the left hypochondrium to another location in the intraabdominal cavity. This migration is the result of laxity or absence of the ligaments that fix the spleen to surrounding structures. Splenoptosis is either diagnosed after it causes symptoms, or incidentally using different imaging modalities. Surgery is the definite treatment either by splenopexy or splenectomy.

Case presentation

In the case presented here, we discuss a 17 years old female patient who presented to our institution for acute onset of abdominal pain, mainly suprapubic, occurring for 4 days. Ultrasound showed a suspicious right pelvic mass, which was found to be a wandering spleen with pedicle torsion. The patient was treated surgically by splenectomy.

Conclusion

We report this rare case to encourage physicians to keep this etiology in mind as part of the differential diagnosis of unspecific abdominal pain.

Small bowel obstruction due to splenosis 30 years after splenectomy

Splenosis is the autotransplantation of splenic tissue into abnormal locations due to trauma or iatrogenically. Usually, this causes no symptoms, but in rare cases the mass effect of the transplanted nodules can cause small bowel obstruction. Resection of the culprit splenic tissue is recommended, but not more extensive dissection of non-involved nodules. Our patient presented at 43 years of age with abdominal pain, distention and bilious vomiting. He had undergone a splenectomy at the age of 13 years due to splenic rupture after a motor vehicle collision. Computed tomography demonstrated a small bowel obstruction with multiple nodules suspicious of splenosis. The obstructing mass and compromised bowels. were resected. Final pathology confirmed the diagnosis. Splenosis is an uncommon aetiology of small bowel obstruction and must be considered in patients who had previous splenic trauma or surgery.

Hydrogen positions in single nanocrystals revealed by electron diffraction

The localization of hydrogen atoms is an essential part of crystal structure analysis, but it is difficult because of their small scattering power. We report the direct localization of hydrogen atoms in nanocrystalline materials, achieved using the recently developed approach of dynamical refinement of precession electron diffraction tomography data. We used this method to locate hydrogen atoms in both an organic (paracetamol) and an inorganic (framework cobalt aluminophosphate) material. The results demonstrate that the technique can reliably reveal fine structural details, including the positions of hydrogen atoms in single crystals with micro- to nanosized dimensions.

Silver confined within zeolite EMT nanoparticles: preparation and antibacterial properties

The preparation of pure zeolite nanocrystals (EMT-type framework) and their silver ion-exchanged (Ag(+)-EMT) and reduced silver (Ag(0)-EMT) forms is reported. The template-free zeolite nanocrystals are stabilized in water suspensions and used directly for silver ion-exchange and subsequent chemical reduction under microwave irradiation. The high porosity, low Si/Al ratio, high concentration of sodium and ultrasmall crystal size of the EMT-type zeolite permitted the introduction of a high amount of silver using short ion-exchange times in the range of 2-6 h. The killing efficacy of pure EMT, Ag(+)-EMT and Ag(0)-EMT against Escherichia coli was studied semi-quantitatively. The antibacterial activity increased with increasing Ag content for both types of samples (Ag(+)-EMT and Ag(0)-EMT). The Ag(0)-EMT samples show slightly enhanced antimicrobial efficacy compared to that of Ag(+)-EMT, however, the differences are not substantial and the preparation of Ag nanoparticles is not viable considering the complexity of preparation steps.