Cell proliferation is strictly controlled during differentiation. In T cell development, the cell cycle is normally arrested at the CD4(+)CD8(+) stage, but the mechanism underlying such differentiation-specific exit from the cell cycle has been unclear. Fbxw7 (also known as Fbw7, Sel-10, hCdc4, or hAgo), an F-box protein subunit of an SCF-type ubiquitin ligase complex, induces the degradation o...

BACKGROUND Myasthenia gravis superimposed with proteinuria is a very rare disorder with only 39 cases reported so far. Of these cases, the most commonly associated disorder is minimal change disease. Myasthenia gravis and minimal change disease are both related to the dysfunction of T lymphocytes and hence the 2 disorders may be connected. METHODS Here we report the first case on a patient di...

Evidence synthesis, both qualitatively and quantitatively through meta-analysis, is central to the development of evidence-based medicine. Unfortunately, meta-analysis is often complicated by the suspicion that the available studies represent a biased subset of the evidence, possibly due to publication bias or other systematically different effects in small studies. A number of statistical meth...

A 51-year old woman was admitted with multiple cerebral, pulmonary and intra-abdominal abscesses. The combination of apparent immunosuppression, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypokalaemia, osteoporotic fractures and bilateral shoulder avascular necrosis led to a clinical diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome (CS). This was biochemically confirmed as follows: midnight serum cortisol 4275 n...

A 56-years-old Caucasian woman was admitted to our Departent for evaluation of mediastinal enlargement detected during nvestigations for angor and long-lasting dyspnoea. A non-contrast nhanced chest CT scan evidenced multiple swellings in the nterior mediastinum making a proper radiological evaluation of he mediastinum unfeasible. Thus, a 18F-FDG PET-CT-scan was erformed and revealed a round-sh...

A 23-year-old woman with myasthenia gravis underwent thymectomy in September, 1975 by a trans-sternal approach for the removal of an hyperplastic gland. Surgical intervention was followed by marked improvement of her symptoms. Five years later, symptoms recurred. In March, 1982 diagnostic pneumomediastinum disclosed an anterosuperior mediastinal mass which, on excision, proved to be an hyperpla...

Background: Thymomas are rare epithelial tumors arising from thymus gland. This study aims at investigating the clinical presentation, prognostic factors and treatment outcome of forty five patients with thymoma and thymic carcinoma. Methods: Forty-five patients being histologically diagnosed with thymoma or thymic carcinoma that were treated and followed-up at a tertiary academic hospital duri...