Diagnostic difficulties in adrenal incidentaloma--analysis of 125 cases

INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic approach to incidentaloma, in spite of existing algorithms, is not always obvious due to diagnostic difficulties. The aim of the study was to assess the validity of the initial diagnoses of incidentaloma which determined the qualification for the operation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 125 patients hospitalised in the Endocrinology Dept. of the Medical University of Bialystok in the years 2003-2005 and in the Endocrinology dept. of Voivodeship Hospital of Bialystok. The patients were clinically and hormonally examined (metanephrines in daily urine collection, daily cortisol rhythm, short dexamethasone test, aldosterone, and renin plasma activity, Na, K levels in the serum) as well as computer tomography of the adrenal glands were performed. RESULTS: 42 patients were qualified for adrenalectomy. Adenoma was confirmed in 25 patients (in 7 subclinical Cushing syndrome was diagnosed, in 2 Conn disease, in 16 inactive changes), phaeochromocytoma in 6 patients, cysts in 3, lipoma in 2, carcinoma in one, in 4 patients metastases (in 2 of kidney carcinoma, in 1 of malignant melanoma and in 1 of planocellular carcinoma) and in one oncocytoma. Metanephrines urine measurements showed 33% of false positive results. CONCLUSIONS: Qualification for adrenalectomy requires an assessment of tumor's enlargement, its tissue density, morphology and growth dynamics. To reduce the percentage of false positive results of metanephrine measurement there is to eliminate an influence of some drugs, victuals, beverages and nicotine and eventually to carry out additional tests. The decision as to proceeding with adrenal incidentaloma should be individualized based on clinical symptoms, hormonal tests and tumor morphology.     

Milk in the island of Chole [Tanzania] is high in lauric, myristic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids, and low in linoleic acid reconstructed diet of infants born to our ancestors living in tropical coastal regions

BACKGROUND: We need information on the diet on which our genes evolved. OBJECTIVE: We studied the milk fatty acid [FA] composition of mothers living in the island of Chole [Tanzania, Indian Ocean]. These mothers have high intakes of boiled marine fish and coconut, and consume plenty amount of fruits and vegetables. DESIGN: The outcome was compared with three fish-eating tribes living along Tanzanian freshwater lakes [Kerewe, Nyakius, Nyiramba], four tribes living in the Tanzanian inland [Hadzabe, Maasai, Sonjo, Iraqw] and our milk FA database. RESULTS: Milk from Chole contained high levels of 12:0 [20.17 g%], 14:0 [21.19], 12:0/14:0 ratio [0.92 g/g], arachidonic acid [AA, 0.50 g%] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA, 0.73], but low levels of linoleic acid [LA, 4.23]. The combination of a high medium chain fatty acid [MCFA; 相似文献   

A survey of mixed Begomovirus infection in solanaceae and fabaceae at different altitudes in East Java,Indonesia

A multiplex primer set was developed to detect four Begomoviruses in East Java, Indonesia, i.e. Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), Tomato yellow leaf curl Kanchanaburi virus (TYLCKaV), Pepper yellow leaf curl Indonesia virus (PepYLCIV) and Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV). Survey at different altitudes found that begomoviruses infecting pepper, tomato and long bean were more variable, while in eggplant and string bean were more uniform. As a single virus, TYLCKaV infected eggplant, and sometimes tomato and pepper; PepYLCIV infected pepper, tomato and long bean; ToLCNDV only infected long bean and tomato at low frequency; and MYMIV infected beans. Mixed infection occurred more frequently in the low altitude areas. Subsequent examination indicated that Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and potyviruses were also responsible for diseased fabaceous. Our data suggest a relationship between altitudes and virus species occurrence. However, which viral species infects a crop is mainly influenced by the crop rather than by altitude.     

Neuromedin U Does Not Act as a Decretin in Rats

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Signal Transduction by BvgS Sensor Kinase: BINDING OF MODULATOR NICOTINATE AFFECTS THE CONFORMATION AND DYNAMICS OF THE ENTIRE PERIPLASMIC MOIETY*

The two-component sensory transduction system BvgAS controls the virulence regulon of the whooping-cough agent Bordetella pertussis. The periplasmic moiety of the homodimeric sensor kinase BvgS is composed of four bilobed Venus flytrap (VFT) perception domains followed by α helices that extend into the cytoplasmic membrane. In the virulent phase, the default state of B. pertussis, the cytoplasmic enzymatic moiety of BvgS acts as kinase by autophosphorylating and transferring the phosphoryl group to the response regulator BvgA. Under laboratory conditions, BvgS shifts to phosphatase activity in response to modulators, notably nicotinate ions. Here we characterized the effects of nicotinate and related modulators on the BvgS periplasmic moiety by using site-directed mutagenesis and in silico and biophysical approaches. Modulators bind with low affinity to BvgS in the VFT2 cavity. Electron paramagnetic resonance shows that their binding globally affects the conformation and dynamics of the periplasmic moiety. Specific amino acid substitutions designed to slacken interactions within and between the VFT lobes prevent BvgS from responding to nicotinate, showing that BvgS shifts from kinase to phosphatase activity in response to this modulator via a tense transition state that involves a large periplasmic structural block. We propose that this transition enables the transmembrane helices to adopt a distinct conformation that sets the cytoplasmic enzymatic moiety in the phosphatase mode. The bona fide, in vivo VFT ligands that remain to be identified are likely to trigger similar effects on the transmembrane and cytoplasmic moieties. This mechanism may be relevant to the other VFT-containing sensor kinases homologous to BvgS.     

Presynaptic cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels modulate neurotransmission in the mammalian olfactory bulb

Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGCs) on the dendritic cilia of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) are critical for sensory transduction in the olfactory system. Do CNGCs also play a role in the axons and/or nerve terminals of ORNs? We find that the cyclic nucleotides cAMP and cGMP can both facilitate and depress synaptic transmission between olfactory nerve fibers and their targets in olfactory bulb glomeruli. Cyclic nucleotides increase intracellular Ca(2+) in ORN terminals and enhance spontaneous transmitter release; at higher concentrations, cyclic nucleotides depress evoked transmission by altering olfactory nerve excitability. Cyclic nucleotides have no effect on transmission or nerve excitability, however, in mice lacking olfactory CNGCs. Taken together, our results identify a novel role for presynaptic CNGCs in modulating neurotransmission.     

‘Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae’, a novel lineage of endosymbiotic Actinobacteria in termite gut flagellates of the genus Trichonympha

Termite gut flagellates are colonized by host‐specific lineages of ectosymbiotic and endosymbiotic bacteria. Previous studies have shown that flagellates of the genus Trichonympha may harbour more than one type of symbiont. Using a comprehensive approach that combined cloning of SSU rRNA genes with fluorescence in situ hybridization and electron microscopy, we investigated the phylogeny and subcellular locations of the symbionts in a variety of Trichonympha species from different termites. The flagellates in Trichonympha Cluster I were the only species associated with ‘Endomicrobia’, which were located in the posterior part of the cell, confirming previous results. Trichonympha species of Cluster II from the termite genus Incisitermes (family Kalotermitidae) lacked ‘Endomicrobia’ and were associated with endosymbiotic Actinobacteria, which is highly unusual. The endosymbionts, for which we suggest the name ‘Candidatus Ancillula trichonymphae’, represent a novel, deep‐branching lineage in the Micrococcineae that consists exclusively of clones from termite guts. They preferentially colonized the anterior part of the flagellate host and were highly abundant in all species of Trichonympha Cluster II except Trichonympha globulosa. Here, they were outnumbered by a Desulfovibrio species associated with the cytoplasmic lamellae at the anterior cell pole. Such symbionts are present in both Trichonympha clusters, but not in all species. Unlike the intracellular location reported for the Desulfovibrio symbionts of Trichonympha agilis (Cluster I), the Desulfovibrio symbionts of T. globulosa (Cluster II) were situated in deep invaginations of the plasma membrane that were clearly connected to the exterior of the host cell.