LARINGOPHARINGEAL REFLUX IMPACTS IMMUNE MICROENVIRONMENT OF LARYNGEAL CARCINOMA

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) on the number of tumourinfiltrating T-lymphocytes in laryngeal cancer (LC). According to the results of pH monitoring, 87 patients with laryngeal tumours were subdivided into three groups: 1st group included patients with LC without LPR; 2nd group comprised LC patients with coexisting LPR, patients with benign neoplasms of the larynx with LPR were enrolled into 3d group. TIME was assessed immunohistochemically by counting T-lymphocytes (CD3+), T-cytotoxic cells (CD8+) and T-regulatory cells (Treg; FOXP3+) number within the tumour, in the peritumour stroma, and in the intact areas of the larynx. It was shown that LPR leads to chronic inflammation and affects TIME of laryngeal carcinomas. LC with coexisting LPR demonstrated a higher inflammatory infiltration of tumour area and intact mucosa. However, no statistically significant differences were found between a number of CD3+- and CD8+-cells in LC of the 1st and 2nd groups. In contrast, LPR was associated with higher number of immunosuppressive Treg-cells within tumour and in intact mucosa that could affect immune tolerance and efficacy of anti-tumour immunity facilitating LC progression.

Laryngeal Chondrosarcoma as a Rare Cause of Subglottic Stenosis

Laryngeal chondrosarcoma (CS) is a very rare entity. It is usually seen in 50–80-year olds. It is developed from cricoid cartilage largely. Patients have laryngeal CS complaint of respiratuvar distress, dysphonia, and dysphagia generally. A submucous mass is usually seen in physical examination with an intact mucosa. Distant metastasis is rare in CSs. Main treatment is surgical excision. An 82-year-old patient who has respiratuvar distress is presented in this paper and laryngeal CS is reviewed in the light of the literature.

Modulation of spontaneous activity in the overactive bladder: the role of P2Y agonists

Spinal cord transection (SCT) leads to an increase in spontaneous contractile activity in the isolated bladder that is reminiscent of an overactive bladder syndrome in patients with similar damage to the central nervous system. An increase in interstitial cell number in the suburothelial space between the urothelium and detrusor smooth muscle layer occurs in SCT bladders, and these cells elicit excitatory responses to purines and pyrimidines such as ATP, ADP, and UTP. We have investigated the hypothesis that these agents underlie the increase in spontaneous activity. Rats underwent lower thoracic spinal cord transection, and their bladder sheets or strips, with intact mucosa except where specified, were used for experiments. Isometric tension was recorded and propagating Ca2+ and membrane potential ( Em) waves were recorded by fluorescence imaging using photodiode arrays. SCT bladders were associated with regular spontaneous contractions (2.9 ± 0.4/min); ADP, UTP, and UDP augmented the amplitude but not their frequency. With strips from such bladders, a P2Y6-selective agonist (PSB0474) exerted similar effects. Fluorescence imaging of bladder sheets showed that ADP or UTP increased the conduction velocity of Ca2+/ Em waves that were confined to regions of the bladder wall with an intact mucosa. When transverse bladder sections were used, Ca2+/ Em waves originated in the suburothelial space and propagated to the detrusor and urothelium. Analysis of wave propagation showed that the suburothelial space exhibited properties of an electrical syncitium. These experiments are consistent with the hypothesis that P2Y-receptor agonists increase spontaneous contractile activity by augmenting functional activity of the cellular syncitium in the suburothelial space.