Animals are commonly considered to be potential sources for Giardia lamblia infections in humans, but the extent of zoonotic transmission of G. lamblia remains controversial because of inadequate understanding of its epidemiology. A better understanding of the epidemiology of G. lamblia may be facilitated by a more effective means for classifying G. lamblia isolates. To develop a sequence-based classification system, the gene encoding the metabolic enzyme triose phosphate isomerase (tim) was sequenced from a number of G. lamblia isolates of various host origins. Restriction enzymes were identified that can distinguish among isolates without the need for sequencing, simplifying the application of this approach to the epidemiologic investigation of giardiasis. Isolates from a previously reported epidemic of giardiasis were accurately classified by this technique, further verifying its utility for epidemiologic investigation.

We compared the efficacy of p16 and ProExC immunostaining in detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2+ in 136 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cervical tissue specimens with consensus diagnoses of normal cervix, CIN 1, CIN 2, CIN 3, and carcinoma. Diffuse staining patterns of more than half the thickness of CINs and more than 10% of carcinoma cells were scored as positive. The positivity of p16 and ProExC increased significantly with the severity of cervical lesion (P < .001). For CIN 2+ or CIN 3+, p16 immunostaining was more sensitive (79% for CIN 2+; 90% for CIN 3+) than ProExC immunostaining (67% for CIN 2+; 84% for CIN 3+). ProExC showed higher specificity for CIN 3+ compared with p16. Specimens with p16+/ProExC+ results showed the highest specificity (100% for CIN 2+; 93% for CIN 3+), suggesting that these 2 biomarkers can be used together to distinguish CIN 2/3 from its mimics in cervical biopsy specimens.

We describe two sibs with the unbalanced translocation der(6)t(6;8)(p25.1;q24.23), making them monosomic for 6p25.1-->6pter and trisomic for 8q24.23-->8qter. The siblings both possess Axenfeld-Rieger Anomaly (ARA), hypertelorism, clinodactyly, and cardiac anomalies, but otherwise vary in the phenotypic manifestations of this unbalanced translocation. We compare them to previously described cases and a recently proposed syndrome of ARA, atrial septal defect, and sensorineural deafness.

Mesothelin is a potential marker of pancreatic adenocarcinoma that was recently identified by serial analysis of gene expression. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of mesothelin as a marker of pancreatic adenocarcinoma on destained Papanicolaou (Pap) smears and unstained cellblocks from 28 patients using a monoclonal antibody to mesothelin. Intensity and proportion of staining was semiquantitatively graded on a scale of 1-3, and as 0%, 1 to <10%, 10-50%, or >50%. Positive staining for mesothelin was seen in 64% of the direct smears and in 36% of cell block sections. Focal positivity for mesothelin was noted in benign pancreatic tissue in one of 10 cases. Staining was most often focal (<50% of cells) in both direct smears and cell block sections. The overall sensitivity and specificity of mesothelin as a marker for pancreatic adenocarcinoma were 68% and 90%, respectively. Sensitivity was higher in Pap smears than in cell block sections (64% versus 36%). The presence of occasional mesothelin expression in benign tissue, its very focal expression in malignant tissue may limit the utility of mesothelin as a marker of pancreatic adenocarcinomas in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens.

As the incidence of melanoma increases, so does the search for new staging techniques that may provide important prognostic information and aid in the detection of early metastatic disease. The application of molecular techniques may provide powerful new tools in this search. This review summarizes recent findings obtained by means of conventional RT-PCR, cDNA arrays, and proteomics in the investigation of human melanoma. The molecular tools discussed in this review demonstrate how global transcript and protein analysis might contribute not only to the staging of melanoma, but may hold great promise in improving the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.