• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.63-66
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• 2014

We present a rare case of a gastric mixed adenoneuroendocrine tumor and review the related English literature. A 77-year-old Caucasian woman was admitted to our department with nausea, anorexia, weight loss, and anemia. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed a large (>7 cm) ulcerative mass in the greater curvature of the stomach. Biopsy showed the presence of an adenocarcinoma with moderate differentiation. The patient underwent D2 subtotal gastrectomy. Histopathological analysis revealed a diagnosis of mixed gastric adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma. The post-operative course was uneventful, and at the 6-month follow-up, the patient was alive without evidence of recurrence. Our review of the English literature suggested that such cases are most often reported from eastern countries. Multimodal treatment should be the aim for these patients because of the neuroendocrine component of the tumor.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.143-147
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• 2006

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare primary cutaneous small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, is a tumor with distinct cytological features. In many cases, immunohistochemical staining (IHC) is required for the differentiation from other small round cell malignancies. Here we describe the cytological findings of Merkel cell carcinoma; these findings contributed to the diagnosis prior to performing IHC. A lower eyelid mass was excised and submitted for frozen section diagnosis. The frozen section diagnosis was consistent with a malignancy, but the more specific diagnosis was limited by the lack of specific histological features. Touch imprint cytology revealed a high cellularity with loosely cohesive small to large sized cells. The tumor cells showed hyperchromatic nuclei with fine chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli, and thin-rimmed-cytoplasm including the characteristic eosinophilic button-like paranuclear inclusion, previously described as a pathognomonic cytological finding of MCC; this was not found in the H&E frozen section. In conclusion, we suggest that the touch imprint cytology may help in the differential diagnosis of small round cell neoplasms prior to performing IHC especially in frozen section diagnosis.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.69-85
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• 2023

Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders and is associated with dysfunction of the neuroendocrine system and alterations in specific brain proteins. Boophone disticha (BD) is an indigenous psychoactive bulb that belongs to the Amaryllidacae family, which is widely used in Southern Africa to treat depression, with scientific evidence of potent antidepressant-like effects. The present study examined the antidepressant effects of BD and its mechanisms of action by measuring some behavioural parameters in the elevated plus maze, brain content of corticosterone, brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), and neuroblast differentiation in the hippocampus of Balb/c mice exposed to the five day repeated forced swim stress (5d-RFSS). Male Balb/c mice were subjected to the 5d-RFSS protocol to induce depressive-like behaviour (decreased swimming, increased floating, decreased open arm entry, decreased time spent in the open arms and decreased head dips in the elevated plus maze test) and treated with distilled water, fluoxetine and BD. BD treatment (10 mg/kg/p.o for 3 weeks) significantly attenuated the 5d-RFSS-induced behavioural abnormalities and the elevated serum corticosterone levels observed in stressed mice. Additionally, 5d-RFSS exposure significantly decreased the number of neuroblasts in the hippocampus and BDNF levels in the brain of Balb/c mice, while fluoxetine and BD treatment attenuated these changes. The antidepressant effects of BD were comparable to those of fluoxetine, but unlike fluoxetine, BD did not show any anxiogenic effects, suggesting better pharmacological functions. In conclusion, our study shows that BD exerted antidepressant-like effects in 5d-RFSS mice, mediated in part by normalizing brain corticosterone and BDNF levels.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7039-7044
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• 2015

Background: Many functional molecules controlling diverse cellular function are included in low-molecular weight proteins and peptides. Materials and Methods: To identify proteins controlling function in lung adenocarcinomas (AC), we performed two-dimensional gel electrophoresis employing tricine-SDS polyacrylamide in the second dimension (tricine 2-DE). This system was able to detect proteins under 1 kDa even with post-translational modifications. To confirm the utility of detected proteins as novel tumor markers for AC, we performed immunohistochemical analysis using 170 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded lung AC tissues. Results: Tricine 2-DE revealed that five proteins including S100A16 were overexpressed in lung AC-derived cells compared with lung squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma-derived cells. Immunohistochemically, S100A16 showed various subcellular localization in lung cancer tissues and a membranous staining status was correlated with the T-factor (P=0.0008), pathological stage (P=0.0015), differentiation extent (P=0.0001), lymphatic invasion (P=0.0007), vascular invasion (P=0.0001), pleural invasion (P=0.0087), and gender (P=0.039), but not with the age or smoking history. More importantly, membranous staining of S100A16 was significantly correlated with a poorer overall survival of either stage I (P=0.0088) or stage II / III (P=0.0003) lung AC patients, and multivariate analysis confirmed that membranous expression of S100A16 was an independent adverse prognostic indicator (P=0.0001). Conclusions: The present results suggest that S100A16 protein is a novel prognostic marker for lung AC.