A Retrospective Study about the Impact of Switching from Nested PCR to Multiplex Real-Time PCR on the Distribution of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Genotypes

Exploring preventive and treatment strategies for oral cancer: Modulation of signaling pathways and microbiota by probiotics

The evidence suggests that the microbiome plays a crucial role in cancer development. The oral cavity has many microorganisms that can influence oral cancer progression. Understanding the mechanisms and signaling pathways of the oral, gum, and teeth microbiome in tumor progression can lead to new treatment strategies. Probiotics, which are friendly microorganisms, have shown potential as anti-cancer agents. These positive characteristics of probiotic strains make them suitable for cancer prevention or treatment. The oral-gut microbiome axis supports health and homeostasis, and imbalances in the oral microbiome can disrupt immune signaling pathways, epithelial barriers, cell cycles, apoptosis, genomic stability, angiogenesis, and metabolic processes. Changes in the oral microbiome in oral cancer may suggest using probiotics-based treatments for their direct or indirect positive roles in cancer development, progression, and metastasis, specifically oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Here, reported relationships between probiotics, oral microbiota, and oral cancer are summarized.

An Overview of the Microbiota of the Human Urinary Tract in Health and Disease: Current Issues and Perspectives

This article is intended to deepen our knowledge to date regarding the functions of the resident microbiota/microbiome in the urinary system for human health and disease. First, we sought to report the general characteristics (composition and stability) of the normal urinary system microbiota in the different anatomical sites in relation to some factors such as the effect of age, gender and diet, analyzing in detail the functions and the composition of the microbiota in the light of current knowledge. Several pieces of evidence suggest the importance of preserving the micro-ecosystem of the urinary system, and in some cases their relationship with diseases is important for maintaining human health is well understood. The female and male reproductive microbiota have mainly been studied over the past decade. In the past, the arrest was thought to have taken place in a sterile environment. Microorganisms of the microbiota form biofilms, three-dimensional structures, that differ in the reproductive organs and interact with both gametes and the embryo as well as with maternal tissues. These biofilms from the reproductive system also interact with others, such as that of the gastrointestinal tract. Reduction in its diversity intestinal microbiota can disrupt estrogen metabolism and affect the reproductive microbiota. It is therefore understood that its quantitative and qualitative identification is important for microbiota, but also the study of the structures formed by the microorganisms. A dysbiosis with local or systemic causes can lead to serious diseases. The role of probiotics in maintaining microbial population harmony (eubiosis) and preventing certain pathologies of the urinary and reproductive system was also investigated. A negative variation in the qualitative and quantitative composition of certain strains of microorganisms (dysbiosis) due to local or systemic causes can even lead to serious diseases. The role of probiotics in maintaining the healthy balance of microorganism populations (eubiosis), and thus in the prevention of certain pathologies of the urinary and reproductive system, has also been studied.

The World of Oral Cancer and Its Risk Factors Viewed from the Aspect of MicroRNA Expression Patterns

Oral cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with a reported 5-year survival rate of around 50% after treatment. Epigenetic modifications are considered to have a key role in oral carcinogenesis due to histone modifications, aberrant DNA methylation, and altered expression of miRNAs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that have a key role in cancer development by regulating signaling pathways involved in carcinogenesis. MiRNA deregulation identified in oral cancer has led to the idea of using them as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis, and the development of novel therapeutic strategies. In recent years, a key role has been observed for risk factors in preventing and treating this malignancy. The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent knowledge about the altered mechanisms of oral cancer due to risk factors and the role of miRNAs in these mechanisms.

Focus on HPV Infection and the Molecular Mechanisms of Oral Carcinogenesis

This study is focused on the epidemiological characteristics and biomolecular mechanisms that lead to the development of precancerous and cancerous conditions of oral lesions related to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections. Current evidence from the literature demonstrates the role of HPV in potentially malignant oral disorders. Therefore, the underlying biomolecular processes can give arise, or contribute to, benign lesions as well as to oral carcinogenesis.

The "Scourge of the Renaissance". A Short Review About Treponema pallidum infection

BACKGROUND

There is not a time in the history when epidemics did not loom large: infectious diseases have always had civilisation and evolution-altering consequences. Throughout history, there have been a number of pandemics: cholera, bubonic plague, influenza, smallpox are some of the most brutal killers in human history. Historical accounts of pandemics clearly demonstrate that war, unhygienic conditions, social and health inequality create conditions for the transmission of infectious diseases, and existing health disparities can contribute to unequal morbidity and mortality. The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic "rebirth" following the Middle Ages, but it was also the time when new infectious disease appeared, such as Syphilis. The epidemic spread of Syphilis began between the late 15th century and early 16th century due to the increased migration of peoples across Europe. The rapid spread of venereal syphilis throughout Europe suggests the introduction of a disease into a population that had not previously been exposed. Syphilis is a type of treponematosis, which includes syphilis, bejel, yaws, and pinta, but, while syphilis is venereal disease, the others are nonvenereal. Syphilis was, at the beginning, a disease of great severity due to its novelty, as the population had no time to gain any immunity against this venereal disease.

METHODS

The purpose of this study is to investigate the origin of syphilis and the evolution of the treatments from the empiric means to the discovery of penicillin, but also to understand how this venereal disease has largely influenced human lifestyle and evolution.

CONCLUSION

The first of the three hypotheses about its origins is the Columbian hypothesis, which states that Columbus's crew acquired syphilis from Native Americans and carried it back to Europe in 1493 A. D. On the contrary, the second hypothesis (pre-Columbian) asserts that syphilis was present in Europe long before Columbus's voyage and was transferred to the New World by Columbus's men. The Unitarian theory argues that syphilis, bejel, yaws, and pinta are not separate diseases but they represent syndromes caused by slightly different strains of one organism. Nowadays, Syphilis' origin is still uncertain and remains controversial. However, the large impact on the social behavior and international public health is an important reason to investigate about its origins and how to prevent the transmission.

Oral Cancer: A Historical Review

Aim: This historical medical literature review aims at understanding the evolution of the medical existence of oral cancer over times, particularly better comprehending if the apparent lower prevalence of this type of cancer in antiquity is a real value due to the absence of modern environmental and lifestyle factors or it is linked to a misinterpretation of ancient foreign terms found in ancient medical texts regarding oral neoplasms. Methods: The databases MedLne, PubMed, Web of Science, Elsevier's EMBASE.com, Cochrane Review, National Library of Greece (Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Athens) and the Library of the School of Health Sciences of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) were extensively searched for relevant studies published during the past century on the history of oral cancer and its treatment from antiquity to modern times, in addition to the WHO website to analyse the latest epidemiological data. In addition, we included historical books on the topic of interest and original sources. Results: Historical references reveal that the cradle of the oral oncology was in ancient Egypt, the Asian continent and Greece and cancer management was confined to an approximate surgical practice, in order to remove abnormal masses and avoid bleeding with cauterization. In the Medieval Age, little progress occurred in medicine in general, oral cancers management included. It is only from the Renaissance to modern times that knowledge about its pathophysiological mechanisms and histopathology and its surgical and pharmacological treatment approaches became increasingly deep all over the world, evolving to the actual integrated treatment. Despite the abundant literature exploring oncology in past civilizations, the real prevalence of oral cancer in antiquity is much less known; but a literature analysis cannot exclude a consistent prevalence of this cancer in past populations, probably with a likely lower incidence than today, because many descriptions of its aggressiveness were found in ancient medical texts, but it is still difficult to be sure that each single description of oral masses could be associated to cancer, particularly for what concerns the period before the Middle Ages. Conclusions: Modern oncologists and oral surgeons must learn a lot from their historic counterparts in order to avoid past unsuccessful efforts to treatment oral malignancies. Several descriptions of oral cancers in the antiquity that we found let us think that this disease might be linked to mechanisms not strictly dependent on environmental risk factors, and this might guide future research on oral cavity treatments towards strategical cellular and molecular techniques.

Gastric Cancer in History: A Perspective Interdisciplinary Study

BACKGROUND

Gastric adenocarcinoma is the fourth most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the world. Despite abundant traces of an ancient history, the comprehension of its pathogenic mechanisms is rather recent and continuously updated.

METHODS

We investigated about how the ancient civilizations tried to understand the exactly physiopathology of gastric cancer, from the time when they could not examine deeply the histological and pathophysiologic aspects of the disease, but they just based their knowledge on a visual analysis of the signs and consequences of such disease. We examined the historical evolving knowledge of the disease along the centuries on the gastroenterological, pharmacological, and surgical fields, defining how gastric cancer became an increasingly curable disease.

RESULTS

Cancer was known in the ancient world. Ancient people did not know exactly the causes but the climatic, hygienic, and food conditions were the first to be considered over time, also taking into consideration supernatural negative influences. During the Renaissance, a tumultuous time of scientific discoveries started, thanks to an increasing number of autopsies made on cadavers and to the progressions in visual analysis of the stomach mucosa throughout endoscopy. From the first gastric surgery in 1879, many steps forward have been made and, today, gastric cancer is regarded as a more curable disease; one important discovery in this field has been the revelation of the role of Helicobacter pylori in the peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and in some forms of gastric lymphoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Gastric cancer has the fourth highest incidence of various cancers worldwide and is ranked second as a cause of cancer-related death. It exists from the antiquity and a lot of hypotheses have been developed about its etiology during the centuries, influencing its therapy. During the 20th century, thanks to the scientific and technological progresses the causes of the cancer have been discovered and the role of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been demonstrated, and new perspective research are currently trying to investigate the role of other microorganisms in gastric physiopathology, as well as its possible modulation by probiotics.

The Preoperative Inflammatory Status Affects the Clinical Outcome in Cardiac Surgery

AIMS

There are many reasons for the increase in post-operative mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing surgery. In fact, an activated inflammatory state before cardiac surgery, can potentially worsen the patient's prognosis and the effects of this preoperative inflammatory state in the medium-term remains unknown.

METHODS

There were 470 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac surgery, and were divided in three groups according to the median values of preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen (FBG): The first group was the low inflammatory status group (LIS) with 161 patients (CRP < 0.39 mg/dL and FBG < 366 mg/dL); the second was the medium inflammatory status group (MIS) with 150 patients (CRP < 0.39 mg/dL and FBG ≥ 366 mg/dL or CRP ≥ 0.39 mg/dL and FBG < 366 mg/dL,); and the third was the high inflammatory status group (HIS) with 159 patients (CRP ≥ 0.39 mg/dL and FBG ≥ 366 mg/dL,).

RESULTS

The parameters to be considered for the patients before surgery were similar between the three groups except, however, for age, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the presence of arterial hypertension. The operative mortality was not significantly different between the groups (LIS = 2.5%, MIS = 6%, HIS = 6.9%, p = 0.16) while mortality for sepsis was significantly different (LIS = 0%, MIS = 1.3%, HIS = 3.7%, p = 0.03). The infections were more frequent in the HIS group (p = 0.0002). The HIS group resulted in an independent risk factor for infections (relative risk (RR) = 3.1, confidence interval (CI) = 1.2-7.9, p = 0.02). During the 48-months follow-up, survival was lower for the HIS patients. This HIS group (RR = 2.39, CI = 1.03-5.53, p = 0.05) and LVEF (RR = 0.96, CI = 0.92-0.99, p = 0.04) resulted in independent risk factors for mortality during the follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

The patients undergoing cardiac surgery with a preoperative highly activated inflammatory status are at a higher risk of post-operative infections. Furthermore, during the intermediate follow-up, the preoperative highly activated inflammatory status and LVEF resulted in independent risk factors for mortality.