Rectal cancer (RC) is one of the most common malignant neoplasms, and cancer stem cells (CSCs) of the intestinal tract have been implicated in its origin. The oncofetal protein OCT4 has been linked to neoplastic processes, but its role and clinical significance in RC are unknown. This study investigates the expression of the stem cell marker OCT4 related to clinical-pathological characteristics and its clinical significance in RC patients. The expression level of stem cell marker OCT4 was analyzed in 22 primary rectal tumors by western blot. The association between OCT4 protein expression and the clinical-pathological features of tumors was evaluated by χ² test and Fisher’s exact test. We demonstrated that the expression of the stem cell marker OCT4 was observed in tumor tissue but not adjacent non-tumor tissue. High expression of the stem cell marker OCT4 was significantly associated with histological differentiation grade (p = 0.039), tumor invasion level (p = 0.004), lymph node involvement (p = 0.044), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (p = 0.002), and clinical stage (p = 0.021). These findings suggest that high OCT4 expression is associated with a more aggressive RC phenotype, with a greater likelihood of progression and metastasis. These results shed light on the importance of targeting this CSC marker to attenuate RC progression.

: Introduction: Cerebral vasospasm is the most common factor contributing to morbidity and poor outcome in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, second only to rebleeding. Most of current evidence assessed the role of vasodilator effect of the irrigating fluid, and the evidence on effects of cisternal irrigation and clots is currently scarce. Method: According to PRISMA guidelines, determined databases were searched for studies and a meta-analysis was performed. Studies included had to meet the established criteria. The statistical analysis was carried out to obtain relative risk with the Mantel-Haenszel methodology for dichotomous variables. Results: After screening and thorough review, five articles were included for qualitative and quantitative synthesis. (n = 621) participants included in this study with n = 472 for the irrigation group and n = 149 for the non-irrigation group. The mean age of the patients was 59.5 years (age range 27–91 years), with 33.5% male and 66.5% female patients. Cisternal irrigation and clot removal reduce vasospasm (OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.22–0.95) and poor outcome (OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.25–0.65). Conclusions: Irrigation of cisterns and aggressive clot removal is a safe and effective procedure in preventing vasospasm and poor outcome in aSAH patients. No significant differences in hemorrhagic, ischemic, and infectious complications with cisternal irrigation and clot removal were reported. Removal of blood clots increases clot clearance and reduces the risk of the development of post-aneurysmal hydrocephalus. Highlights:

Background: There is very limited evidence on biomarkers for evaluating the clinical behavior and therapeutic response in rectal cancer (RC) with positive expression of cancer stem cells (CSCs).Methods: An exploratory prospective study was conducted, which included fresh samples of tumor tissue from 109 patients diagnosed with primary RC. Sociodemographic, pathological and clinical characteristics were collected from medical records and survey. The OCT4 protein was isolated using the Western Blot technique. It was calculated the ΔCEA, ΔOCT4, and ΔOCT4/GUSB values by assessing the changes before and after chemotherapy, aiming to evaluate the therapeutic response.Results: Patients had an average age of 69.9 years, with 55% (n=60) being male. Approximately 63.3% of the tumors were undifferentiated, and the most frequent staging classification was pathological stage III (n=64; 58.7%). Initial positive expression was observed in 77.1% of the patients (n=84), and the median ΔCEA was -1.03 (-3.82 - 0.84) ng/ml, with elevated levels (< -0.94 ng/ml) found in 51.4% of the subjects (n=56). Being OCT4 positive and having an elevated ΔCEA value were significantly associated with undifferentiated tumor phenotype (p=0.002), advanced tumor progression stage (p <0.001), and negative values of ΔOCT4 (p <0.001) (suggestive of poor therapeutic response) compared to those without this status.Conclusion: This study identified a significant and directly proportional association among the values of ΔCEA, ΔOCT4, and ΔOCT4/GUSB. These findings suggest that ΔCEA holds potential as a clinical biomarker for determining the undifferentiated tumor phenotype, advanced clinical stage, and poor therapeutic response in RC with CSCs positive expression.

La enfermedad hepática grasa no alcohólica NAFLD (Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) es un problema de salud, así lo demuestran las diversas investigaciones alrededor del mundo, donde se evidencia una alta prevalencia de la patología. El objetivo del estudio piloto fue describir en términos de variables demográficas, epidemiológicas y bioquímicas la relación de factores de riesgo asociados a NAFLD de una muestra de pacientes que acudieron a la sección de Hígado y vías biliares del Hospital Universitario del Caribe (Cartagena, Colombia). El estudio piloto fue descriptivo prospectivo, fueron revisadas historias clínicas para análisis de variables epidemiológicas-demográficas y valorados por medición espectrofotométrica la actividad enzimática de transaminasas para la relación De Ritis (AST/ALT), niveles de colesterol y triglicéridos. Los resultados sugieren que la población subdividida en obesos, diabetes mellitus, hipertensos/obesos, diabetes/obesos y principalmente del género femenino presenta mayor riesgo de padecer hígado graso, con lo que amerita un estudio bioquímico molecular y un diagnóstico definitivo de NAFLD en la población de estudio.