Plos One
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Fibrocytes are circulating precursors for fibroblasts. Blood fibrocytes are increased in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The aim of this study was to determine whether alveolar fibrocytes are detected in broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL), to identify their prognostic value, and their potential association with culture of fibroblasts from BAL. ⋯ Fibrocytes were detected in BAL fluid in about half of the patients with IPF and SSc-ILD. Their number was associated with less severe disease in IPF patients and did not associate with the capacity to grow fibroblasts from BAL fluid.
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The PALB2 gene, also known as FANCN, forms a bond and co-localizes with BRCA2 in DNA repair. Germline mutations in PALB2 have been identified in approximately 1% of familial breast cancer and 3-4% of familial pancreatic cancer. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of PALB2 mutations in a population of BRCA1/BRCA2 negative breast cancer patients selected from either a personal or family history of pancreatic cancer. ⋯ The prevalence rate of PALB2 mutations in non-BRCA1/BRCA2 breast/ovarian cancer families, selected from either a personal or family pancreatic cancer history, is similar to that previously described for unselected breast/ovarian cancer families. Future research directed towards identifying other gene(s) involved in the development of breast/pancreatic cancer families is required.
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been suggested as potentially promising markers for early detection of CRC. We aimed to identify and evaluate a panel of miRNAs that might be suitable for CRC early detection. ⋯ The study underscores the high potential of plasma miRNAs for the improvement of current offers of non-invasive CRC screening.
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In countries with incomplete or no vital registration systems, verbal autopsy data are often reviewed by physicians in order to assign the probable cause of death. But in addition to being time and energy consuming, the method is liable to produce inconsistent results. The aim of this study is to validate the InterVA model for estimating the burden of mortality from verbal autopsy data by using physician review as a reference standard. ⋯ In understanding the burden of disease and setting health intervention priorities in areas that lack reliable vital registration systems, an accurate analysis of verbal autopsies is essential. Therefore, users should be aware of the suboptimal performance of the InterVA model. Similar validation studies need to be undertaken considering the limitation of the physician review as gold standard since physicians may misinterpret some of the verbal autopsy data and finally reach a wrong conclusion of the cause of death.
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Comparative Study
[18F]DPA-714: direct comparison with [11C]PK11195 in a model of cerebral ischemia in rats.
Neuroinflammation is involved in several brain disorders and can be monitored through expression of the translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) on activated microglia. In recent years, several new PET radioligands for TSPO have been evaluated in disease models. [(18)F]DPA-714 is a TSPO radiotracer with great promise; however results vary between different experimental models of neuroinflammation. To further examine the potential of [(18)F]DPA-714, it was compared directly to [(11)C]PK11195 in experimental cerebral ischaemia in rats. ⋯ In a clinically relevant model of neuroinflammation, uptake for both radiotracers appeared to be similar at first, but a high variability was observed in our model. Therefore, to truly compare tracers in such models, we performed scans with both tracers in the same animals. By doing so, our result demonstrated that [(18)F]DPA-714 displayed a higher signal-to-noise ratio than [(11)C]PK11195. Our results suggest that, with the longer half-life of [(18)F] which facilitates distribution of the tracer across PET centre, [(18)F]DPA-714 is a good alternative for TSPO imaging.