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Annals of Diagnostic Pathology Apr 2023Patients with early-stage breast cancer currently undergo sentinel lymph node dissection to evaluate the axillary region. Frozen tissue blocks are evaluated intra...
INTRODUCTION
Patients with early-stage breast cancer currently undergo sentinel lymph node dissection to evaluate the axillary region. Frozen tissue blocks are evaluated intra operatively and paraffin-embedded samples are studied postoperatively. We explored whether sentinel lymph node dissection adequately reflected axillary involvement (as revealed by the paraffin blocks) in patients with early-stage breast cancer; we sought to avoid axillary dissection.
METHODS
The agreement/non-agreement rates between the results of axillary ultrasonography and biopsy, sentinel lymph node and axillary dissections, and frozen and paraffin block results, were retrospectively analyzed for 200 patients with early-stage breast cancer. The positive predictive values and accuracies were recorded in those who were positive on both ultrasonography and biopsy. The negative predictive values were calculated for doubly negative cases.
RESULTS
The frozen and paraffin block results disagreed in 19 (9.5 %) cases and agreed in 181 (90.5 %). The frozen block and dissection results differed in five of 38 patients who underwent axillary dissection (AD) (one patient did not undergo AD); the results were in agreement in 32. Of the 19 block-disagreement cases, 16 were in the non-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) group and three in the NAC treatment group. Clinically, the negative predictive values of the frozen and paraffin block data were 80 % in patients lacking axillary involvement.
CONCLUSION
Paraffin block evaluations only (thus, without frozen block examinations) of early-stage breast cancer lymph nodes seem to be sufficient to guide treatment. Also, a thorough clinical examination (with ultrasonography and axillary biopsy) reduces the dissection rate and the associated functional impairments.
Topics: Humans; Female; Breast Neoplasms; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; Paraffin; Retrospective Studies; Lymph Nodes; Lymph Node Excision
PubMed: 36587436
DOI: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2022.152097 -
Environmental Science and Pollution... May 2022Aluminum phosphide (ALP) poisoning is a true medical emergency associated with high mortality. The lack of a specific antidote for ALP poisoning mandates searching for... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Aluminum phosphide (ALP) poisoning is a true medical emergency associated with high mortality. The lack of a specific antidote for ALP poisoning mandates searching for new treatment modalities. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of gastric decontamination by paraffin oil in cases with acute ALP poisoning. This study was a randomized, controlled, parallel-group, single-blind, phase II clinical trial conducted over a period of 6 months. Sixty-two patients with acute ALP poisoning were randomly allocated into two equivalent groups. In both groups, the standard ALP treatment was given. Gastric decontamination in the control group was performed by saline and sodium bicarbonate 8.4%, while in the intervention group, it was done by paraffin oil and sodium bicarbonate 8.4%. All patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations. The outcomes were evaluated. The median age of the studied patients was 20 years. Most of the studied cases were females, single, and from rural areas. The median delay time was 1 h. All patients included in the study alleged ingestion of ALP during suicidal attempts. Twelve hours after admission, many clinical and laboratory findings were significantly better in the intervention group. The need for intubation, mechanical ventilation, and total amount of vasopressors was significantly lower, and the mortality rate was non-significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control. The median length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the control group. Gastric decontamination with paraffin oil and sodium bicarbonate 8.4% could be valuable in reducing ALP poisoning severity, the need for intubation, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressors.
Topics: Adult; Aluminum Compounds; Female; Gastric Lavage; Humans; Male; Oils; Paraffin; Pesticides; Phosphines; Poisoning; Single-Blind Method; Sodium Bicarbonate; Young Adult
PubMed: 35031985
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17778-8 -
Biomolecules Jun 2023Recent studies have been able to detect α-synuclein (αSyn) seeding in formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from patients with synucleinopathies using...
Recent studies have been able to detect α-synuclein (αSyn) seeding in formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from patients with synucleinopathies using seed amplification assays (SAAs), but with relatively low sensitivity due to limited protein extraction efficiency. With the aim of introducing an alternative option to frozen tissues, we developed a streamlined protein extraction protocol for evaluating disease-specific seeding in FFPE human brain. We evaluated the protein extraction efficiency of different tissue preparations, deparaffinizations, and protein extraction buffers using formaldehyde-fixed and FFPE tissue of a single Lewy body disease (LBD) subject. Alternatively, we incorporated heat-induced antigen retrieval and dissociation using a commercially available kit. Our novel protein extraction protocol has been optimized to work with 10 sections of 4.5-µm-thickness or 2-mm-diameter micro-punch of FFPE tissue that can be used to seed SAAs. We demonstrated that extracted proteins from FFPE still preserve seeding potential and further show disease-specific seeding in LBD and multiple system atrophy. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to recapitulate disease-specific αSyn seeding behaviour in FFPE human brain. Our findings open new perspectives in re-evaluating archived human brain tissue, extending the disease-specific seeding assays to larger cohorts to facilitate molecular subtyping of synucleinopathies.
Topics: Humans; alpha-Synuclein; Lewy Body Disease; Multiple System Atrophy; Synucleinopathies; Paraffin; Paraffin Embedding; Formaldehyde; Brain
PubMed: 37371515
DOI: 10.3390/biom13060936 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2023MicroRNA that is abnormally produced in breast cells can disrupt biological processes, which can lead to cancer. This study aims to screen differentially expressed genes...
MicroRNA that is abnormally produced in breast cells can disrupt biological processes, which can lead to cancer. This study aims to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and ncRNAs (DEncRNAs) in the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of breast cancer (BC) as compared with the normal adjacent tissues (NAT), and identify miR-4510 as a novel biomarker of BC. This study looked at differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using MACE-Seq and differentially expressed ncRNAs (DEncRNAs) using the small RNA-Seq. Real-time qPCR was used to determine the level of expression of miR-4510. In this study, MACE-Seq results showed that 26,795 genes, with a p-value < 0.05, were differentially expressed in BC paraffin tissues as compared with NAT. Small RNA-Seq results revealed that 1326 ncRNAs, with a p-value < 0.05, were differentially expressed. We confirmed that miR-4510 was significantly down-expressed (p-value = 0.001) by qRT-PCR in the paraffin tissue of 120 BC patients. Based on eleven computational prediction programs, TP53, TP53INP1, MMP11, and COL1A1 for the miR-4510 were identified as miR-4510 targets. The MACE-seq result showed that the gene of TP53 (p-value = 0.001) and TP53INP1 (p-value = 0.02) was significantly down-regulated, but the gene of MMP11 (p-value = 0.004) and COL1A1 (p-value = 0.0001) was significantly over-expressed in 20 paired specimens of the BC and NAT. We discovered that a single SNP inside the miR-4510 binding site occurred only in BC, in which Guanine (G) changed into Adenine (A). Two SNPs outside the miR-4510 binding site occurred, and Guanine (G) in both BC and NAT was changed into Thymine (T), as compared to the reference sequence (RefSeq). Overall, our results suggested that miR-4510 functions as a tumor suppressor in the BC. Mir-4510 may act as a tumor suppressor, however additional experimental data is needed to corroborate these assumptions and can be exploited as a biomarker for BC.
Topics: Female; Humans; Breast Neoplasms; Carrier Proteins; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes, Tumor Suppressor; Heat-Shock Proteins; Matrix Metalloproteinase 11; MicroRNAs; Paraffin
PubMed: 36755123
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25292-1 -
Environmental Science and Pollution... May 2023Solar stills are used in distant and arid areas to convert brackish or salty water into potable water fit for human use in a simple, affordable, and effective manner....
Solar stills are used in distant and arid areas to convert brackish or salty water into potable water fit for human use in a simple, affordable, and effective manner. Even when PCM materials are used, typical solar systems still have minimal production per day. In this study, experimental tests were carried out in order to increase the performance of a single-slope solar still combined with PCM material (paraffin wax) and a solar-powered electric heater. Two identical single-slope solar stills were designed, fabricated, and tested under the same climatic conditions during the summer and spring seasons of 2021 in Al-Arish, Egypt. The first is a conventional solar still (CVSS), and the other is also a conventional still but with PCM and an electric heater (CVSSWPCM). Several parameters were measured during the experiments, including sun intensity, meteorological aspects, cumulative freshwater production, average glass, and water temperatures and PCM temperature. The improved solar still was evaluated at different operating temperatures and was compared to the conventional traditional one. There were four cases studied: one case without a heater (paraffin wax only) and three other cases with a heater operating at 58 °C, 60 °C, and 65 °C, respectively. The experimental results revealed that activating the heater inside the paraffin wax increased daily production (i) in the spring by 2.38, 2.66, and 3.1 times and (ii) and in the summer by 2.2, 2.39, and 2.67 times at the three above-mentioned temperatures respectively (when compared to the traditional still). In addition, the maximum rate of daily freshwater production was achieved at paraffin wax temperature of 65 °C in both spring and summer (Case 5). Finally, the economic evaluation of the modified solar still was carried out according to cost per litre. The modified solar still with a heater operating at 65 °C has a higher exergoeconomic value than the traditional one. The maximum CO mitigation in cases 1 and 5 was approximately 28 tons and 160 tons, respectively.
Topics: Humans; Solar Energy; Paraffin; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Egypt; Water
PubMed: 37097568
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-26761-4 -
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... Jan 2022There are large knowledge gaps concerning environmental levels and fate of many organic pollutants, particularly for chemicals of emerging concern in tropical regions of...
There are large knowledge gaps concerning environmental levels and fate of many organic pollutants, particularly for chemicals of emerging concern in tropical regions of the Global South. In this study, we investigated the levels of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) and dechloranes in air and soil in rural, suburban, and urban regions in and around Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Samples were also collected near the city's main municipal waste dumpsite and an electronic waste (e-waste) handling facility. In passive air samples, short chain CPs (SCCPs) dominated, with an average estimated concentration of 22 ng/m, while medium chain CPs (MCCPs) had an average estimated concentration of 9 ng/m. The average estimated air concentration of ∑dechloranes (Dechlorane Plus (DP) + Dechlorane 602 + Dechlorane 603) was three to four orders of magnitudes lower, 2 pg/m. In soil samples, MCCPs dominated with an average concentration of 640 ng/g dw, followed by SCCPs with an average concentration of 330 ng/g dw, and ∑dechloranes with an average concentration of 0.9 ng/g dw. In both air and soil, DP was the dominating dechlorane compound. Urban pulses were observed for CPs and dechloranes in air and soil. CPs were in addition found in elevated levels at the municipal waste dumpsite and the e-waste handling facility, while DPs were found in elevated levels at the e-waste handling facility. This suggests that waste handling sites represent important emission sources for these pollutants. Investigations into seasonal trends and environmental fate of CPs and dechloranes showed that monsoonal rain patterns play a major role in governing air concentrations and mobility, particularly for the less volatile MCCPs and dechloranes. This study is the first to report levels of CPs in air from sub-Saharan Africa, and DP, Dechlorane 602, and Dechlorane 603 in soil from sub-Saharan Africa.
Topics: China; Environmental Monitoring; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Paraffin; Soil; Tanzania
PubMed: 34626702
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118298 -
Acta Histochemica Jan 2023Heart failure poses a big health problem and may result from obesity, smoking, alcohol and/or growing age. Studying pathological heart tissue demands accurate...
Heart failure poses a big health problem and may result from obesity, smoking, alcohol and/or growing age. Studying pathological heart tissue demands accurate histological and immunohistochemical stainings in animal models, including chromogenic and fluorescent approaches. Moreover, a reliable set of healthy heart stainings and labeling are required, in order to provide a reference for the pathological situation. Heart and brain tissue of a healthy rabbit were collected, and different histological key steps were compared, such as paraffin embedding after formalin fixation versus cryopreservation; an antigen retrieval (AR) step in processing paraffin sections versus the same procedure without AR; or a chromogenic with a fluorescent detection system, respectively. Using serial sections, we stained the same morphological structure with classic approaches (HE, Masson Goldner Trichrome (GT) and Elastica van Gieson (EL)) and with different markers, including collagen I, collagen III, fibronectin, α-SMA, protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) which is an inflammation-related marker, and ki67 for proliferating cells. Differences between conditions were quantitatively assessed by measuring the color intensity. Generally, cryosections exhibited a more prominent signal intensity in immunohistochemically labeled sections than in paraffin sections, but the strong staining was slurry, which sometimes impeded proper identification of morphological structures, particularly at higher magnifications. In addition, the advantage of an AR step was observed when compared to the condition without AR, where signal intensities were significantly lower. Different stainings of the heart arteries and the myocardium revealed a clear distribution of extracellular matrix components, with prominent collagen III in the artery wall, but an absence of collagen III in the myocardium. Moreover, paraffin-embedded sections provided more distinct structures compared to cryosections after collagen III, ki67, fibronectin, and α-SMA labeling. As for the Purkinje cells that were depicted in the heart and the cerebellum (Purkinje neurons), we found GT staining most suitable to depict them in the heart, while HE as well as EL staining was ideal to depict Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum. In sum, we provide useful reference images with different stainings for researchers using the rabbit heart or brain model. Such images can help to decide which of the immunohistochemical protocols are valuable to reach a specific aim. Recommendations are given for the best visualization of the target structures and specific (immunohistochemical) staining.
Topics: Animals; Rabbits; Immunohistochemistry; Fibronectins; Ki-67 Antigen; Paraffin; Collagen; Paraffin Embedding
PubMed: 36584538
DOI: 10.1016/j.acthis.2022.151993 -
International Journal of Biological... Nov 2022Novel lignin/paraffin/epoxy resin composite coated urea (LPECCU) was successfully prepared. Paraffin and epoxy resin (ER) were used to improve the slow-release...
Novel lignin/paraffin/epoxy resin composite coated urea (LPECCU) was successfully prepared. Paraffin and epoxy resin (ER) were used to improve the slow-release properties of the lignin-based polyurethane (LPU) coated urea. The relationships among the N release characteristics, liquid-solid rate, -CNO/-OH molar rate and film formation rate in the coating material of LPECCU were investigated. The results showed that the water contact angle (WCA) of the LPU-paraffin increased with the rate of liquid-solid rate (73.61-88.19°) and -CNO/-OH molar rate (65.17-82.24°) increased. The average particle hardness of LPECCU decreased with the increased of liquid-solid rate (57.10-66.80 N) and the reduced of -CNO/-OH molar rate (48.11-63.00 N). The LPECCU emerged compact micro-structure, low sustained release and high compressive resistance by adding paraffin and ER. The coating material of LPECCU appeared excellent biodegradability in the soil. The optimal N cumulative release rate (72.49 %) of LPECCU was obtained (liquid-solid rate of 1.43, -CNO/-OH molar rate of 2, and the film formation rate of 6.66 %). The lettuce growth study was conducted to further evaluate the pot application of the LPECCU. In comparison to conventional urea, LPECCU could improve the total dry matter accumulation and N use efficiency of the lettuce.
Topics: Urea; Nitrogen; Lignin; Fertilizers; Epoxy Resins; Lactuca; Paraffin; Composite Resins; Polyurethanes
PubMed: 36113589
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.09.112 -
Environmental Science & Technology Sep 2022A semiquantitative high-resolution mass spectrometry method was developed and applied to assess the occurrence of bromo-/chloro paraffins (BCPs) and olefins (BCOs) in...
A semiquantitative high-resolution mass spectrometry method was developed and applied to assess the occurrence of bromo-/chloro paraffins (BCPs) and olefins (BCOs) in the environment. More than 400 possible BCPs and BCO congener groups were detected in dust, air, and sewage sludge samples collected from Australia. Median chain analytes with the number of halogen atoms <7 (CHClBr, 14 ≤ ≤ 17, + < 7) prevailed in the dust and sludge samples, while short chain analytes (CHClBr, 10 ≤ ≤ 13, + < 7) predominated the air samples. The estimated concentrations of ∑BCPs and ∑BCOs in dust and sludge were approximately 20% that of the chlorinated paraffins (CPs) present, with the median concentrations of 5.4 μg/g (dust) and 0.18 μg/g (sludge) for ∑BCPs and 22 μg/g (in dust) and 0.50 μg/g (sludge) for BCOs. In the air samples, the concentrations of BCPs (0.020 pg/m) and BCOs (0.032 pg/m) were 3-4 orders of magnitudes lower than the concentrations of CPs (790 pg/m). Significant correlations ( < 0.001) were found between the concentration of CPs, BCPs, and BCOs in all the matrices.
Topics: Alkenes; Australia; China; Dust; Environmental Monitoring; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Paraffin; Sewage
PubMed: 35976999
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03576 -
The Science of the Total Environment Feb 2022Because of their highly persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have become emerging contaminants and have been...
Because of their highly persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) have become emerging contaminants and have been included in Annex A (elimination) of the Stockholm Convention since 2017. The contamination of SCCPs has been observed in the environment and biota worldwide but has not been detected in Taiwanese river ecosystems. Thus, this study aimed to determine the occurrence of SCCPs in sediments and fish from 30 major rivers in Taiwan and to evaluate the risk of SCCPs to river ecosystems and human health. The concentrations of SCCPs in sediments and fish ranged from ND (not detected) to 12.6 mg/kg dw and ND to 2.07 mg/kg ww, respectively. The concentrations of SCCPs in sediments were significantly correlated with some indicators of the discharge sources and water quality variables, indicating that SCCPs were released via human activities and various discharges into rivers and accumulated in sediments. The bioaccumulation of SCCPs in fish exhibited species-specific profiles and was related to environmental contamination levels and the living pattern and trophic level of the fish. The SCCP levels in sediments from 20 major rivers in Taiwan might pose a potential ecological risk to river ecosystems according to the criteria of the Federal Environmental Quality Guidelines in Canada, the biota-sediment accumulation factor and the risk quotient. Consumption of SCCP-contaminated river fish by different gender and age groups showed no significant health risk to residents in Taiwan evaluated by the estimated daily intake and hazard quotient. However, there was a health concern for the 0- to 3-year-old group due to the consumption of contaminated river fish at a bioaccessibility of 100% for SCCPs by the margin of exposure. Routine monitoring of SCCPs in river ecosystems is needed to protect aquatic organisms and human health.
Topics: Animals; Child, Preschool; China; Ecosystem; Environmental Monitoring; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Paraffin; Risk Assessment; Taiwan
PubMed: 34656600
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150969