Vascular endothelial cells (ECs) are continuously exposed to shear stress (SS) generated by blood flow. Such stress plays a key role in regulation of various aspects of EC function including cell proliferation and motility as well as changes in cell morphology. Vascular endothelial-protein-tyrosine phosphatase (VE-PTP) is an R3-subtype PTP that possesses multiple fibronectin type III-like domains in its extracellular region and is expressed specifically in ECs. The role of VE-PTP in EC responses to SS has remained unknown, however. Here we show that VE-PTP is diffusely localized in ECs maintained under static culture conditions, whereas it undergoes rapid accumulation at the downstream edge of the cells relative to the direction of flow in response to SS. This redistribution of VE-PTP triggered by SS was found to require its extracellular and transmembrane regions and was promoted by integrin engagement of extracellular matrix ligands. Inhibition of actin polymerization or of Cdc42, Rab5, or Arf6 activities attenuated the SS-induced redistribution of VE-PTP. VE-PTP also underwent endocytosis in the static and SS conditions. SS induced the polarized distribution of internalized VE-PTP. Such an effect was promoted by integrin engagement of fibronectin but prevented by inhibition of Cdc42 activity or of actin polymerization. In addition, depletion of VE-PTP by RNA interference in human umbilical vein ECs blocked cell elongation in the direction of flow induced by SS. Our results suggest that the polarized redistribution of VE-PTP in response to SS plays an important role in the regulation of EC function by blood flow.

Objective: Visual inspection of cervix after acetic acid application (VIA) has been considered an alternative to Pap smear in resource-limited settings, like Indonesia. However, VIA results mainly depend on examiner’s experience and with the lack of comprehensive training of healthcare workers, VIA accuracy keeps declining. We aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based Android application that can automatically determine VIA results in real time and may be further developed as a health care support system in cervical cancer screening. Result: A total of 199 women who underwent VIA test was studied. Images of cervix before and after VIA test were taken with smartphone, then evaluated and labelled by experienced oncologist as VIA positive or negative. Our AI model training pipeline consists of 3 steps: image pre-processing, feature extraction, and classifier development. Out of the 199 data, 134 were used as train-validation data and the remaining 65 data were used as test data. The trained AI model generated a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 96.4%, accuracy of 93.8%, precision of 80%, and ROC/AUC of 0.85 (95% CI 0.66–1.0). The developed AI-based Android application may potentially aid cervical cancer screening, especially in low resource settings.

The aim of this study was to evaluate burn wound healing activity of coconut shell liquid smoke (CS-LS) in a burn wound animal model. Burn wound–induced mice were treated with CS-LS (CS-LS group), povidone iodine 10% (povidone group), or NaCl 0.9% (NaCl group). Application of CS-LS promoted wound contraction compared to that of the povidone and NaCl groups (P < .05). This study showed a positive correlation between the number of fibroblasts and wound contraction. The number of fibroblasts was highest in the CS-LS group, compared to that of the povidone and NaCl groups (P < .05). In conclusion, CS-LS promotes burn wound healing by one possible mechanism, by increasing the number of fibroblasts. The results indicate that further experimental trials are needed to develop CS-LS as an alternative topical drug for burn wound healing.

Objective: PPARγ is a ligand-binding transcription factor that has been reported to be implicated in lipid metabolism, immune function, and cellular growth and differentiation. It has been suspected to play a role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, although the mechanism is yet to be elaborated. This study aims to investigate the expression of PPARγ in early onset preeclampsia (EOPE), late onset preeclampsia (LOPE), and normal pregnancy. We conducted this study using primary trophoblastic cell culture incubated with serum from EOPE, LOPE, and normal pregnancy. The expression of PPARγ in these cells was analyzed using Western Blot. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni’s post hoc test. p < 0.05 is considered significant. Results: Serum from normal pregnant women and EOPE did not induce any difference in the expression of PPAR-γ (p > 0.05). In contrast, expression of PPAR-γ was increased in those cells induced by serum from LOPE (p < 0.001). Therefore, we conclude that hypothetically PPAR-γ might play role in the pathophysiology of LOPE but not in EOPE. Other possibility is the activity of PPAR-γ in EOPE is inversely correlated with its expression, therefore the high enzymatic activity of PPAR-γ is tightly regulated by attenuating its expression.

Objective: Tumor markers such as CA125 are highly beneficial in predictive ovarian malignancy; however, this advanced test is not always available in remote areas. To address this issue, the author aimed to explore the use of systemic inflammatory biomarkers as complementary modalities for diagnosis of ovarian malignancy. Methods: This diagnostic study utilized a cross-sectional approach, with outcomes measured by AUC and sensitivity. A total of 132 patients with adnexal tumors were consecutively included and measured a complete blood count. From this, the MLR (Monocyte Lymphocyte Ratio), NLR (Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio), PLR (Platelet Lymphocyte Ratio), SII (Systemic Immune Inflammation Index), and SIRI (Systemic Inflammatory Response Index) biomarkers were calculated. After surgery, histopathological examination was performed as the gold standard and the biomarker predictions were then compared to it, followed by statistical analysis. Results: The AUC values for MLR, NLR, PLR, SII, and SIRI were 0.70, 0.731, 0.696, 0.743, and 0.722, respectively. The p-values were MLR (0.005), NLR (0.001), PLR (0.001), SII (< 0.001), and SIRI (< 0.001), respectively. In multivariate analysis, only SII was significant (p = 0.015). The Exp(B) and 95% CI were 5.472 (1.383– 21.655). The validity test for SII showed satisfactory results: sensitivity 71.64%, specificity 73.84%, PPV 73.84%, NPV 71.64%, accuracy 72.72%, LR+ 2.74%, and LR- 0.38%. Conclusion: Systemic inflammatory biomarkers, particularly SII may aid in the predictive markers of early ovarian with diagnostic values nearly as good as CA125 (sensitivity 71.64% vs 75.97%). These biomarkers can serve as complementary predictive markes modalities for ovarian malignancy, especially when advanced tumor marker tests like CA125 are not available in remote areas.

A postmenopausal woman, in her 60s, married with no history of pregnancy, presented to our facility with an abdominal mass of 2 months duration that progressively increased in size. Physical examination revealed a mobile abdominal cystic mass measuring approximately 20×20×10 cm, accompanied by ascites. Transvaginal ultrasonography showed a hypoechoic cystic mass measured >14.6×12.5 x13.5×11.49 cm, with septa and papillary projections, and the Doppler colour score was +2, along with ascites. Based on the IOTA Simple Rules, this mass would be classified as malignant, because it meets the criteria for M2 (ascites) and M4 (irregular multilocular solid tumour ≥100 mm) features. Because malignancy was suspected, a total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with a frozen section were performed. The frozen section and histopathological examination resulted in a right endometrioma. Postmenopausal endometriosis is rare, but clinicians should always be aware of its existence as it confers a risk of malignant transformation and recurrence. Comprehensive follow-up after surgery is recommended in such cases.