IL-17 is increased in severe asthma compared to mild/moderate forms of the disease and values above 20 pg/ml are an independent risk factor for severe asthma.

Given the present high incidence of melanoma and skin cancer, interest in potential drugs of plant origin has increased significantly. Pentacyclic lupane-type triterpenes are widely distributed in plants, offering numerous pharmacological benefits. Betulin is an important compound in the bark of Betula pendula Roth and has important therapeutic properties, including antitumor activities. Its biological effect is limited by its poor water solubility, which can be improved by cyclodextrin complexation. The best results have been obtained by using a novel cyclodextrin derivative, octakis-[6-deoxy-6-(2-sulfanyl ethanesulfonate)]-γ-CD. The complexes between betulin and the previously mentioned cyclodextrin were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and pharmacologically evaluated in vitro (MTT and immunocytochemistry tests) and in vivo in C57BL/6J mice. The solubility of betulin is improved by cyclodextrin complexation, which creates a stable complex that improves the in vitro and in vivo properties of the active compound.

Estrogens represent risk factors for endocrinerelated cancers and play also an important role in the development and progression of other malignancies. In order to analyze the associations between estrogen receptor gene alpha polymorphisms and cancers susceptibility, we genotyped six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 163 Caucasian cancer patients-103 breast cancers and 60 other malignancies (colorectal, bladder, hepatocellular carcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia)-and 114 healthy controls using hybridization probes. We performed Armitage`s association trend-test to evaluate the risk. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was assessed for each pair of markers. The genotypes CC and CT of rs3798577 were significantly associated with the cancers risk (p-trend breast =4×10 -5

Polymorphisms in estrogen receptor alpha gene (ESR1) have been previously associated with breast cancer risk; however, the results were not fully consistent. Our purpose was to study interactions between common genotypes in ESR1, breast cancer risk and tumor phenotypes. 6 ESR1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 103 breast cancer patients and 90 controls using hybridization probes; the genotypes were correlated with known prognostic factors for breast cancer and 5 years-follow up data. To assess estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER, PR) and HER2/neu expressions, immunohistochemistry was performed. Our results showed that rs3798577 was significantly associated with the risk of breast cancer, the common allele C conferring susceptibility (p-trend=4x10 -5 ); rs3798577 was also correlated with PR expression (p=0.01), but not with ER expression; rs2228480 (p=0.047) and rs1801132 (p=0.02) were associated with the age at diagnosis; rs1801132 was correlated with hypercholesterolemia (p=0.003) and increased BMI (body mass index) (p=0.01); rs2234693 showed a low significant association (p=0.042) with the tumor grade; rs3798577 was correlated with disease-free survival (p=0.05), allele C conferring increased risk for relapses, but it reached not statistical significance after adjustments. In conclusions, we identified four genotypes significantly correlated with either the risk or some tumor characteristics, suggesting that the main selection criteria of the investigated SNPs (frequency and the position in modulating domains of the gene) are pertinent instruments for establish correlations between the gene structure and the tumor phenotype.

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a real burden for the modern medicine. One of the most frecvently isolated hospital acquired (HA) pathogens wordlwide, is Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Recently not only HA, but also community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections have been reported. A prospective study was performed between February 2009 and October 2010, with the aim to investigate bacterial resistance of CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA. DNA microarray technology has been used for the detection of 4 AMR genes for the studied MRSA strains. A number of 218 HA- S.aureus strains have been isolated, from which 89 (40. 82%) were MRSA. In the community, 1.553 S.aureus strains were isolated, out of which, 356 (22. 92%) were MRSA. From these, a number of 17 HA and 12 CA �MRSA strains have been analyzed by DNA microarray technology. From 100% phenotypically described HA- MRSA, we identified mecA gene in 10 strains (58. 83%). Other 6 strains (35. 29%) have been erm(A) positive and 4 (23. 53%) - tet(O) positive. 83. 33% (10 strains) from the CA strains had mecA gene, only one (8. 33%) was erm(A) positive and 4 (33. 33%) were erm(C) positive. DNA microarray is a method allowing the concomitant scan of multiple genes and can be done within a few hours. That type of rapid and reliable methods for antimicrobial sensitivity tests are important to start an appropriate therapy.

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