Aims and Background: To report an extremely rare case of Ewing's sarcoma located in the rectovaginal septum. Ewing's sarcoma is a highly malignant neoplasm of bone, which usually occurs during childhood. Common extraosseous localizations of Ewing's sarcoma include the trunk, extremities, uterus, cervix and vagina. Methods: A 45-year-old woman presented to us with a six-month history of pain in the lower abdomen during intercourse. Pelvic examination was performed and a palpable mass was found. The mass had a size of 9 × 6 cm, a soft tissue consistency, was partially movable and the patient felt the pain during palpation. Examination of the inguinal lymph nodes revealed no signs of inguinal adenopathy. The results of laboratory tests, rectoscopy, chest X-rays, barium enema and bone scan were normal. Computed tomography (CT) showed an inhomogeneous expansive mass in the rectovaginal septum measuring 8.7 × 6.1 cm, without any signs of rectum or bladder invasion. The vascular structures of the pelvis were normal. At laparotomy the process was judged inoperable and only biopsy of the tumor mass was carried out. Histology showed a neoplasm with small, round to oval cells with scarce cytoplasm. Immunohistology with the monoclonal antibody CD99 (MIC-2 gene product, Ewing's sarcoma marker, clone 12E7, DAKO A/S, Glostrup, Denmark) revealed an extraosseous Ewing's sarcoma. The patient was treated with chemotherapy followed by whole-pelvis external beam radiation and intracavitary brachytherapy. Results: A residual mass measuring 3.5 × 2.5 cm was visible on a control CT scan 18 months after treatment; however, the patient was feeling well and refused surgery to remove the residual mass. Conclusions: To our knowledge this is the first reported case of extraosseous Ewing's sarcoma in the rectovaginal septum.

Skeletal muscles are high-insulin tissues responsible for disposing of glucose via the highly regulated process of facilitated glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4). Impaired insulin action in diabetes, as well as disorders of GLUT4 vesicle trafficking in the muscle, are involved in defects in insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. Since the Rab GTPases are the main regulators of vesicular membrane transport in exo- and endo-cytosis, in the present work, we studied the effect of olive leaf polyphenols (OLPs) on Rab8A, Rab13, and Rab14 proteins of the rat soleus muscle in a model of streptozotocin (SZT)-induced diabetes (DM) in a dose-dependent manner. Glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were determined in the blood, morphological changes of the muscle tissue were captured by hematoxylin and eosin histological staining, and expression of GLUT4, Rab8A, Rab13, and Rab14 proteins were analyzed in the rat soleus muscle by the immunofluorescence staining and immunoblotting. OLPs significantly reduced blood glucose level in all treated groups. Furthermore, significantly reduced blood triglycerides were found in the groups with the lowest and highest OLPs treatment. The dynamics of activation of Rab8A, Rab13, and Rab14 was OLPs dose-dependent and more effective at higher OLP doses. Thus, these results indicate a beneficial role of phenolic compounds from the olive leaf in the regulation of glucose homeostasis in the skeletal muscle.

Background: Cell-wall components of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria induce the production of cytokines in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These cytokines are the main mediators of local or systemic inflammatory reaction that can contribute to the development of innate immunity.