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Molecular pathology of benign prostatic hyperplasia is multifactorial and involves endocrine, biochemical, immunological interactions. The mechanisms involved in the onset and progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia are: infections, 50 years of age, hormones and neurotransmitters imbalances, inflammation, oxidative stress. The potential role of glycosylation in the pathogenesis of prostate disease has been neglected. In this study we documented the profile of gangliosides in normal and pathological prostatic tissues together with the pathologic changes seen in the level of extracellular gangliosides in patients with prostate pathology. Analysis of the data in the literature suggests that gangliosides may represent immunologic markers useful in the differential diagnosis between prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral hairy leukoplakia is a lesion of the oral mucosa caused by infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. It was first described in 1984 in homosexual men infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but it was later associated also with other forms of immunosuppression. In HIV infected patients this lesion proved to be associated with progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). We report the case of a 32 year-old patient that presented for acneiform lesions on the face and thorax. Apart from acne vulgaris lesions, the clinical examination revealed irregular, adherent, undetachable and corrugated white plaques located on the tongue and oral mucosa. The presumptive diagnosis was oral hairy leukoplakia. Testing for HIV was recommended and the result was positive. CD4 cell count at the time of treatment initiation was 7 cells/mm3. After three months of antiretroviral therapy, the lesions resolved completely. The particularity of the case resides in the peculiar distribution and extent of the lesions and the late diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. In this case, oral hairy leukoplakia was the single marker of immunosuppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The authors proposed to evaluate the seroprevalence of HCV infection, a possible role of HCV in urticaria appearance and the impact of hepatocellular damage caused by HCV infection on the severity of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) activity. Material and methods. We conducted a retrospective case-control study, which included 1208 CIU patients and 907 volunteers without urticaria. For studying the effect of hepatic dysfunction on CIU severity, we monitored 120 persons divided in 4 groups: group A (30 CIU patients HCV-positive), group B (30 CIU patients HCV-negative), group C (30 HCV-positive patients without urticaria), group D (30 healthy volunteers). Results. The presence of HCV infection in CIU patients was 14,4% versus persons without urticaria (11,2%). We didn't find a determinant role of HCV infection in CIU appearance. The hepatocellular damage and the inflammatory status influence the severity of CIU. We calculated a causal relationship between butyrylcholinesterase and the acute phase response in CIU patients. Conclusions. The modulation of BChE activity could represent a mechanism of inflammation inhibition in CIU patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buschke-Löwenstein tumor (BLT) is a rare premalignant disorder, with a considerable potential of malignant transformation into squamous cell carcinoma; HPV infection (especially HPV 6 and HPV 11) have an important role in the ethiopathogeny of the disease, along with immunosuppression- usually caused by HIV virus, a frequently encountered association. We report on the case of a 47 year old male patient who addresses our clinic for the occurrence of a giant tumoral lesion located in the intergluteal cleft, which had rapidly evolved despite the repeatedly negative HIV testing. The histopathologic examination confirms the clinical diagnosis of BLT; wide surgical excision of the tumor with safety margins was not followed by recurrence, during a follow-up period that exceeded 12 months. The case is distinguished through the large dimensions of the tumor, the extremely rare anatomical situation and the rapid evolution, despite the absence of HIV immunosuppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]