Patient J.S., 26-year-old man, was first seen by his general practitioner because of chest pain, dyspnoea, weakness, vomiting, headache, dizzines and recent fever on January 29th 2010. Blood samples were taken and revealed leukocytosis 149 × 109/L. His previous medical history was unremarkable. He was immediately referred to our University Hospital with suspicion of acute leukaemia. On admissio...

Spirulina platensis (Spirulina) was investigated on an acute stress (4h cold stress, 4±1°C) induced biochemical alteration in albino rats. Gastric ulcerations, adrenal gland weight, adrenal gland ascorbic acid content, and histopathology were also used as stress indices. Panax ginseng (ginseng) was used as standard adaptogenic agent for comparison. Acute cold stress resulted in elevation of blo...

To the editor: We have read with great interest the recent comment by O ́Dwyer, which discusses the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) using imatinib. The results of imatinib in CML in the first chronic phase (CP) are impressive. However, several major questions remain.1 We would like to mention another treatment option for CML without detracting from the importance of imatinib in the t...

Spirulina platensis is a blue green algae containing vital nutrients (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates), minerals (zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium), vitamins (β–carotene, riboflavin, cyanocobalamine, α-tocopherol), and α–linoleic acid, reported to promote physical health, improve defense mechanisms of the human body and enhance longevity of life. These attributes are similar to the moder...

We review the evidence indicating a possible beneficial role for UVR on three Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases: multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis in relation to recent developments in photoimmunology. Recent work suggests that UVR exposure may be one factor that can attenuate the autoimmune activity leading to these three diseases through several pathways involving UV...

Bacteriophage λ protein phosphatase (λPP) with Mn2+ as the activating metal cofactor was studied using phosphatase inhibition kinetics and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Orthophosphate and the oxoanion analogues orthovanadate, tungstate, molybdate, arsenate, and sulfate were shown to inhibit the phosphomonoesterase activity of λPP, albeit with inhibition constants (Ki) that...

Reg3β is up-regulated in serum and pancreatic juice from patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. However, whether such expression is relevant to the development of tumors has not yet been carefully examined. We have recently demonstrated that silencing Reg3β in a pancreatic cancer model impaired tumor growth by skewing macrophage polarization. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) con...

We present one of the first cases of an adrenal gland abscess caused by subacute dissiminated Nocardia farcinata pneumonia. Infections caused by N. farcinata are uncommon and have a wide variety of clinical manifestations in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. Because of its unspecific symptoms and tendency to disseminate it may mimic the clinical symptoms and radiologic findings of...

Despite the fact that Leishmania parasites are transmitted exclusively by the bite of an infected sand fly, there are few reports concerning the relationship of this factor on Leishmania infection. Two models were developed, one using needle injection and the second based on natural transmission by the vector. During the natural transmission of Leishmania, sand flies inoculate low numbers of me...