Silver and gold nanoparticles can be found in a range of household products related to almost every area of life, including patches, bandages, paints, sportswear, personal care products, food storage equipment, cosmetics, disinfectants, etc. Their confirmed ability to enter the organism through respiratory and digestive systems, skin, and crossing the blood–brain barrier raises questions of their potential effect on cell function. Therefore, this manuscript aimed to summarize recent reports concerning the influence of variables such as size, shape, concentration, type of coating, or incubation time, on effects of gold and silver nanoparticles on cultured cell lines. Due to the increasingly common use of AgNP and AuNP in multiple branches of the industry, further studies on the effects of nanoparticles on different types of cells and the general natural environment are needed to enable their long-term use. However, some environmentally friendly solutions to chemically synthesized nanoparticles are also investigated, such as plant-based synthesis methods.

Background: A major concern related to modern surgery is to evaluate and address the complications associated with breast enlargement using Aquafilling^® injection. This study aimed to assess the effect of Aquafilling^® injection on immune response in such patients. Methods: For four patients who consulted a surgeon after receiving Aquafilling^® injection, medical history of the patients was taken; based on imaging examinations, Aquafilling^® was removed. Samples were processed for histopathological and immunohistochemical examination. For detecting tissue antigens in histopathological samples, monoclonal antibodies against CD3 (lymphocytes T), CD 20 (lymphocytes B), and CD68 (macrophages) were used. By analyzing the images, the number of immune cells (lymphocytes T, lymphocytes B, and macrophages) and immunohistochemical reaction area were semiquantitatively evaluated. Results: Different clinical features were observed in each patient after receiving Aquafilling^® injection. In samples obtained from four patients, lymphocytes T (CD3), lymphocytes B (CD20), and macrophages (CD68) tissue expressions were observed. Statistically significant variations in the number of lymphocytes B (CD20) and macrophages (CD68), and differentiation of immunohistochemical reaction area for lymphocytes T (CD3) and lymphocytes B (CD20) were observed. Conclusions: Inflammation is elevated in patients who received Aquafilling^® injection. Medical imaging should be carried out in all such patients even if there are no visible symptoms. Removal of Aquafilling^® can reduce the inflammation and risk of neoplastic progression in the patients. The influence of time elapsed since Aquafilling^® injection and intensity of immune response requires further validation. Level of Evidence IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

One of the many factors involved in the development of uterine fibroids is vitamin D deficiency. One aspect of this deficiency is decreased serum concentration of calcidiol-25(OH)D, a metabolite of D3 vitamin. The active form of vitamin D3, which arises after numerous enzymatic reactions, is calcitriol-1,25(OH)2D3; this compound is transported to various body tissues. Vitamin D possesses extra-genomic effects due to its influence on various signaling pathways, i.e., through activating tyrosine kinases and by genomic effects via binding to a specific nuclear receptor, vitamin D receptor (VDR). The vitamin D/VDR complex regulates the expression of genes and is involved in the pathogenesis of fibroids. Numerous studies have shown that vitamin D supplementation reduces fibroid size. It has also been shown that the expression of VDR in myoma tissue is significantly lower than in the uterine muscle tissue at the tumor periphery. However, the expression of VDR in non-myoma uterine muscle has not previously been investigated. Our VDR expression studies were performed immunohistochemically with tissue microarrays (TMA) in three tissue groups: 98 uterine myoma tissues, 98 uterine tissues (tumor margin), and 12 tissues of normal uterine muscle (i.e., without fibroids). A statistical analysis showed significantly lower VDR expression in uterine muscle at the periphery of the fibroid than in healthy uterine muscle. Lower expression of VDR at the periphery of the myoma compared to that in normal uterine muscle may indicate potential for new myomas. This observation and the described reduction in the size of fibroids after vitamin D supplementation supports the hypothesis of causal development of uterine fibroids and may be useful for the prevention of re-development in the event of their excision from the uterus.

The prevalence and distribution of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in women who underwent screening for cervical cancer in the Wielkopolska region, Poland, were assessed, and the correlation of genotypes with the histological results was evaluated. Cervical samples were collected from 2969 women for cervical cancer screening. Participants were screened by liquid-based cytology and HPV genotyping (n = 1654) and referred to colposcopy and punch biopsy (n = 616) if recommended. HPV genotypes 16, 31, 52, 66, 53, and 51 are the most frequent types in the studied population. Genotypes 16 and 31 account for nearly one-fifth of the infections of diagnosed HPV infections. HPV 16, 31, and 52 are found in nearly 80% of premalignant HSIL lesions (CIN 2 and CIN 3). That leads to the conclusion that vaccination programs should cover as many types of HPV as possible and shows the urgent need to vaccinate the Polish population with a 9-valent vaccine.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common types of cancer in Poland and worldwide. Many risk factors lead to the pathogenesis of this disease, such as lifestyle choices, BMI, the medicines used in breast cancer therapy, and Lynch syndrome. EC cells show the expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) and progesterone receptors (PgR). These receptors occur in multiple isoforms and have a significant influence on the operation of cells. The loss of ER and PgR expression is associated with a poor prognosis. We assessed tissue slides that were obtained from 103 women with EC diagnoses of various grades, stages, and histological types. In this study, we used computer image analyses to increase the objectivity of the assessment. We proved that, in the tissue of patients with high-grade (G3) EC, the expression of PgR is significantly lower than that in the tissues of patients with low-grade EC. We also observed that PgR is significantly expressed in EC with a low FIGO stage and in the endometroid type of EC (which rarely becomes malignant compared to serous type). The expression of ERb1 was lower in patients with EC at the IV FIGO stage than in patients with stage III EC. These findings confirm that the loss of ER and PgR expression is connected with a poor prognosis.

There is evidence that vaccination against seasonal influenza can improve innate immune responses to COVID-19 and decrease disease severity. However, less is known about whether it could also impact the humoral immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. The present study aimed to compare the SARS-CoV-2 specific humoral responses (IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid; anti-N, receptor binding domain; anti-RBD, subunit S2; anti-S2, and envelope protein; anti-E) between non-hospitalized, COVID-19 unvaccinated, and mild COVID-19 convalescent patients who were and were not vaccinated against influenza during the 2019/2020 epidemic season (n = 489 and n = 292, respectively). The influenza-vaccinated group had significantly higher frequency and titers of anti-N antibodies (75 vs. 66%; mean 559 vs. 520 U/mL) and anti-RBD antibodies (85 vs. 76%; mean 580 vs. 540 U/mL). The prevalence and concentrations of anti-S2 and anti-E antibodies did not differ between groups (40–43%; mean 370–375 U/mL and 1.4–1.7%; mean 261–294 U/mL) and were significantly lower compared to those of anti-RBD and anti-N. In both groups, age, comorbidities, and gender did not affect the prevalence and concentrations of studied antibodies. The results indicate that influenza vaccination can improve serum antibody levels produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.