Seventy five patients with pulmonary disease and suspected acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) underwent fibreoptic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage. Of 54 cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, 53 (98%) were diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage. Complications were recorded in 12 instances and included pneumothorax in two and transient increase in fever and hypoxaemia in the rem...

Abnormal collagen metabolism is a hallmark of diffuse lung disease. Biochemical parameters which are correlated with collagen synthesis and degradation may be helpful to monitor fibrosis. In this study, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of procollagen type-III-N-propeptide (PIIINP) and collagen type-VI (C-VI) related antigen levels, as well as a ratio of both parameters (PIIINP/C-VI),...

BACKGROUND NORE1A and RASSF1A are growth and tumour suppressors inactivated in a variety of cancers. Methylation of NORE1A and RASSF1A promoters is the predominant mechanism for downregulation of these proteins; however, other mechanisms are likely to exist. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we describe a proteolysis of NORE1A and RASSF1A by calpains as alternative mechanism of their downre...

The aim of this work was to demonstrate that a natural compound, not-toxic to normal cells, has cytotoxic and sensitizing effects on carcinoma cells, with the final goal of combining it with chemotherapeutic drugs to reduce the overall dose. Prunus spinosa Trigno ecotype (PsT) drupe extract with a nutraceutical activator complex (NAC) made of amino acids, vitamins and mineral salt blends, has s...

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the patterns of interstitial lung disease during everolimus treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, we reviewed seven cases of everolimus-induced interstitial lung disease. METHODS Seven patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, which continued to progress despite treatment with sunitinib or sorafenib, developed interstitial lung disease after t...