No abstract

The aim of this study was to assess relations among depression, anxiety and pain in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Pain was measured with the visual analogue scale (VAS), and depression and anxiety with depression and anxiety subscales from the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Pain perception was significantly correlated with depression scores.

Within the human testis, Reinke's crystals are found in Leydig cells but their nature and function are poorly understood. The aim of our study was to investigate the properties of Reinke's crystals in man with the normal morphology of the testis (control group) and infertile patients diagnosed with cryptorchidism. 20 biopsies from infertile patients and six biopsies from men with regular spermatogenesis (20-30 years.) were used. Sections of the testis tissue were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and a modified Masson's method. Specimens were observed by bright field, confocal and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The number of Reinke's crystals in investigated groups was determined applying stereological methods. In both groups, Reinke's crystals were noted within the cytoplasm and nuclei of Leydig cells. Some "free" crystals were found within the interstitial space, outside Leydig cells. Confocal microscopy proved to be very useful in the assessment of the shape and 3D reconstruction of the crystal. TEM analysis confirmed a hexagonal form of the crystal, while crystallographic data on sections of 70-300 nm thickness provided a better insight into the organization of the crystal lattice. Stereological analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of crystals in cryptorchid testes when compared with controls. Increased number of crystals in cryptorchid specimens leads to the assumption that the prolonged exposure to higher (abdominal) temperature might stimulate enzymes involved in the synthesis of the proteins of the crystal. However, the exact molecular nature of the crystal lattice remains in both normal and cryptorchid testis obscure.

ABSTRACTtion that leads to a modest partial loss of VHL activity since the affected residue is distant from the functional VHL domain. 17

PURPOSE The International Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (BFM) study group conducted a study on pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Minimal residual disease (MRD) was assessed using flow cytometry (FCM), and the impact of early intensification and methotrexate (MTX) dose on survival was evaluated. PATIENTS AND METHODS We included 6,187 patients younger than 19 years. MRD by FCM refined the risk group definition previously used in the ALL intercontinental-BFM 2002 study on the basis of age, WBC count, unfavorable genetic aberrations, and treatment response measured morphologically. Patients at intermediate risk (IR) and high risk (HR) were randomly assigned to protocol augmented protocol I phase B (IB) versus IB regimen. MTX doses of 2 versus 5 g/m2 every 2 weeks, four times, were evaluated in precursor B-cell-ALL (pcB-ALL) IR. RESULTS The 5-year event-free survival (EFS ± SE) and overall survival (OS ± SE) rates were 75.2% ± 0.6% and 82.6% ± 0.5%, respectively. Their values in risk groups were standard risk (n = 624), 90.7% ± 1.4% and 94.7% ± 1.1%; IR (n = 4,111), 77.9% ± 0.7% and 85.7% ± 0.6%; and HR (n = 1,452), 60.8% ± 1.5% and 68.4% ± 1.4%, respectively. MRD by FCM was available in 82.6% of cases. The 5-year EFS rates in patients randomly assigned to protocol IB (n = 1,669) and augmented IB (n = 1,620) were 73.6% ± 1.2% and 72.8% ± 1.2%, respectively ( P = .55), while those in patients receiving MTX doses of 2 g/m2 (n = 1,056) and MTX 5 g/m2 (n = 1,027) were 78.8% ± 1.4% and 78.9% ± 1.4%, respectively ( P = .84). CONCLUSION The MRDs were successfully assessed using FCM. An MTX dose of 2 g/m2 was effective in preventing relapse in non-HR pcB-ALL. Augmented IB showed no advantages over the standard IB.