Acute lung injury (ALI) results in high morbidity and mortality among preterm neonates and efforts have therefore been devoted to both antenatal and postnatal prevention of the disease. ALI is the result of an inflammatory response which is triggered by a variety of different mechanisms. It mostly affects the fetal lung and, in particular, causes damage to the integrity of the lung's alveolar-capillary unit while weakening its cellular linings. Chemotactic activity and inflammatory products, such as proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, IL-11, VEGF,TGF-α and TGF-β, provoke serious damage to the capillary endothelium and the alveolar epithelium, resulting in hyaline membrane formation and leakage of protein-rich edema fluid into the alveoli. Chorioamnionitis plays a major part in triggering fetal lung inflammation, while mechanical ventilation, the application of which is frequently necessary in preterm neonates, also causes ALI by inducing proinflammatory cytokines. Many different ventilation-strategies have been developed in order to reduce potential lung injury. Furthermore, tissue injury may occur as a result of injurious oxygen by-products (Reactive Oxygen Species, ROS), secondary to hyperoxia. Knowledge of the inflammatory pathways that connect intra-amniotic inflammation and ALI can lead to the formulation of novel interventional procedures. Future research should concentrate on the pathophysiology of ALI in preterm neonates and οn possible pharmaceutical interventions targeting prevention and/or resolution of ALI.

'The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of classification and regression trees (CARTs) in discriminating benign from malignant endometrial nuclei and lesions. The study was performed on 222 histologically confirmed liquid based cytological smears, specifically: 117 benign cases, 62 malignant cases and 43 hyperplasias with or without atypia. About 100 nuclei were measured from each case using an image analysis system; in total, we collected 22783 nuclei. The nuclei from 50% of the cases (the training set) were used to construct a CART model that was used for knowledge extraction. The nuclei from the remaining 50% of cases (test set) were used to evaluate the stability and performance of the CART on unknown data. Based on the results of the CART for nuclei classification, we propose two classification methods to discriminate benign from malignant cases. The CART model had an overall accuracy for the classification of endometrial nuclei equal to 85%, specificity 90.68%, and sensitivity 72.05%. Both methods for case classification had similar performance: overall accuracy in the range 94-95%, specificity 95%, and sensitivity 91-94%. The results of the proposed system outperform the standard cytological diagnosis of endometrial lesions. This study highlights interesting diagnostic features of endometrial nuclear morphology and provides a new classification approach for endometrial nuclei and cases. The proposed method can be a useful tool for the everyday practice of the cytological laboratory.

No abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), is increasingly hypothesized to be a factor contributing to changes in fetal growth velocity. BPA exposure may be environmental, occupational, and/or dietary, with canned foods and plastic bottles contributing significantly. Our systematic review aims to evaluate the current literature and to investigate the role of BPA in abnormal fetal growth patterns. A search was conducted in the PubMed and Cochrane databases. A total of 25 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in this systematic review. Eleven of them failed to show a clear relationship between BPA and abnormal fetal growth. The majority of the remaining studies (9/14) found an inverse association of BPA with indicators of fetal growth, whereas three studies suggested increased fetal growth, and two studies produced contradictory findings. Of note, both of the studies that collected a sample (amniotic fluid) directly reflecting BPA concentration in the fetus during the first half of pregnancy revealed an inverse association with birth weight. In conclusion, there is mounting evidence that combined exposure to BPA from dietary and non-dietary sources during pregnancy may contribute to abnormal fetal growth; a tendency towards fetal growth restriction was shown, especially when exposure occurs during the first half.

No abstract

Menopause, probably the most important natural change in a woman’s life and a major component of female senescence, is characterized, inter alia, by cessation of ovarian estrogen and progesterone production, resulting in a gradual deterioration of the female immune system. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used in postmenopausal women to relieve some of the peri- and postmenopausal symptoms, while there is also evidence that the therapy may additionally partially reverse menopausal immune senescence. Flavonoids, and especially isoflavones, are widely used for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, although it is not at present clear whether they can reverse or alleviate other menopausal changes. HRT reverses the menopausal CD4/CD8 ratio and also limits the general peri- and postmenopausal inflammatory state. Moreover, the increased levels of interleukins (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-8, as well as of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are decreased after the initiation of HRT. However, some reports show no effect of HRT on IL-4, IL-10, and IL-12. It is thus evident that the molecular pathways connecting HRT and female immune senescence need to be clarified. Interestingly, recent studies have suggested that the anti-inflammatory properties of isoflavones possibly interact with inflammatory cytokines when applied in menopause treatments, thereby potentially reversing immune senescence. This narrative review presents the latest data on the effect of menopausal therapies, including administration of flavonoid-rich products, on age-associated immune senescence reversal with the aim of revealing possible directions for future research and treatment development.

No abstract

No abstract