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       RESEARCH       

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scientific Activity

Main research and development directions:

 

SELF-EVALUATION REPORT

 

Activity report:

 

In addition to the research and development activity it carries out, the National Institute for Research and Development in the Field of Pathology and Biomedical Sciences “Victor Babes” offers technical, scientific and methodological support to the medical assistance network, regarding problems of super specialized histopathologic diagnosis; tests of humoral and cellular immunology; ultrastructural diagnosis; genetic consult. The National Institute for Research and Development in the Field of Pathology and Biomedical Sciences “Victor Babes” offers methodological assistance in the realization of residencies, bachelor degrees, doctorates and specializations in the fields of anatomopathology, immunology and genetics.

Important results obtained while pursuing these directions, in comparison to the international level:

  • The standardization and application of the modern methods of anatomopathologic diagnosis: immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, PCR.
  • The improvement of the precision of histopathologic diagnosis, with direct implications in the monitoring of therapeutics and in the evaluation of the prognosis.
  • The implementation of immunologic factors with a predictive and prognostic role in tumoral pathology.
  • The application of in situ immunophenotyping in the case of malignant lymphoma, in order to modulate the therapy.
  • The evaluation of hormonal dependency and of the indicators of the immunohistochemistry for the therapeutic orientation for mammary cancer.
  • The improvement of the etiologic diagnosis of infections and contagious diseases at the tissual level, through the in situ identification of viral markers.
  • The discovery of the Koch bacillus in paucibacillar infections through the PCR technique.
  • The evaluation of the immunocompetent and immunoassociated cellular populations in tumoral pathology, in order to introduce modern immunomodulating treatments.
  • Treatments with immunomodulators (interferon and interleukin 2) in a Kaposi sarcoma. The results obtained were published in an international magazine (from Japan) and received excellent reviews in the United States.
  • Testing the effectiveness of the hypericin treatment for cutaneous epithelioma – a project carried out in collaboration with the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, and published in international magazines.
  • The determination, through high performance methods (flow cytometry) of the lymphocyte populations and subpopulations in peripheral blood, with the aim of researching and immunodiagnosing (diagnosis determinations in immunodeficiencies and immune disfunctions) rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, malignant tumors and transplants.
  • Phototherapy in cancer.
  • Experimental animal models:
            1. Experimental model for malignant tumors (melanoma, El-4 thymoma, Guerin)
            2. Experimental pharmacologic models for the testing of treatments with vitamins, cytokines, antiproliferation medicine, natural extracts etc.
            3. Experimental models of autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis – experimental allergic encephalopathy).
            4. Experimental model for pathologies with an inflammatory component.
            5. Experimental model for inducing arterial hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy.
  • The study of the cellular populations involved in the unspecific immune response, in diseases with an inflammatory or autoimmune component, etc. – the cellular functionality in various conditions of experimental activation.
  • The physiology of the inflammatory neutrofil – the functional interference of the receptors for immune complexes, chemotactic peptides, complementary to the development and modulation of the cytotoxic activity of these cells – results published in the form of a chapter in the book Immuneregulation in Health and Disease, Experimental and Clinical Aspects, Academic Press.
  • The study of the implication of microns in cellular physiology.
            1. The transportation of calcium, potassium and sodium ions to the level of the membrane of lymphomyeloid cells, tumoral cells and cardiac cells.
            2. The intracellular calcium level and the transportation of this ion through enzymatic mechanisms mediated by calcium ATP (SERCA, PMCA), the modulation of the ionic transportation through ionophores, the inter-relations between the intracellular concentration of calcium and the functionality of the lymphomyeloid cells.
  • Immunodiagnostics in diseases with an immune component and cancer.
            1. Evaluation of unspecific antibodies and with an organ specificity through indirect immunofluorescence on sections of tissue.
            2. Diagnosis of malignant tumors and of certain autoimmune maladies through methods of immunodiagnosing in a gel with placenta extract.
  • The determination of a dose/effect report of the hepatoprotection conferred by vitamin E against the aggression of pesticides.
  • The characterization and classification of the hypophysis tumors according to the receptor hormones, with the help of immunohistochemistry and electronic microscopy.
  • The demonstration of the utility of genetic tests for the refinement of the layering of patients, necessary to the individualization of therapy and the identification of the risk factors in the appearance and development of leukemia and lymphoma.
  • The calculation of the hereditability of certain malignant tumors (internationally this parameter has only been calculated for mammary cancer).
  • The confirmation of the involvement of some risk factors in colorectal cancer, factors which presented controversies in the specialized literature.
  • The standardization of an experimental model of retrograde perfusion of the isolated heart in the Langendorff system, which allows for highly accurate studies with implications in cardiac therapy.
  • The immunologic monitoring of cytokine therapy (IFN) in chronic post-viral hepatitis.
  • The molecular diagnosis and monitoring of the patients with chronic granulocytic leukemia with a Philadelphia chromosome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, through the RT-PCR method.
  • The determination of the genetic HLA molecular profile in patients with autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases.
  • The application of the nuclear magnetic resonance methods in the study of the specific elements of blood in the case of cardiovascular affections.

 

Institutul National Victor Babes - www.ivb.ro - @ 2008