19F NMR in vivo spectroscopy reflects the effectiveness of perfusion-enhancing vascular modifiers for improving gemcitabine chemotherapy.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of fluorine-19 ((19)F NMR) has proven useful for evaluating kinetics of fluorinated chemotherapy drugs in tumors in vivo. This work investigated how three perfusion-enhancing vascular modifiers (BQ123, thalidomide, and Botulinum neurotoxin type A [BoNT-A]) would affect the chemotherapeutic efficacy of gemcitabine, a fluorinated drug widely used in human cancer treatment. Murine tumor growth experiments demonstrated that only BoNT-A showed a strong trend to enhance tumor growth inhibition by gemcitabine (1.7 days growth delay, P = 0.052, Student t-test). In accord with these results, (19)F NMR experiments showed that only BoNT-A increased significantly the uptake of gemcitabine in tumors (50% increase, P = 0.0008, Student t-test). Further experiments on gemcitabine kinetics (NMR vs time) and distribution ((19)F MRI) confirmed the uptake-enhancing properties of BoNT-A. The results of this study demonstrate that (19)F NMR can monitor modulation of the pharmacokinetics of fluorinated chemotherapy drugs in tumors. The results also show that (19)F NMR data can give a strong indication of the effectiveness of perfusion-enhancing vascular modifiers for improving gemcitabine chemotherapy in murine tumors. (19)F NMR is a promising tool for preclinical evaluation of such vascular modifiers and may ultimately be used in the clinic to monitor how these modifiers affect chemotherapy.     

Glomerular filtration rate in adults estimated from 123iodine-hippuran and 99mtechnetium-diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid gamma camera renography

Summary. In a retrospective study a close relationship was found between the rate constant for renal clearance of the radioactive indicator (λ_pk) and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measured by ⁵¹Cr-EDTA plasma clearance. The material comprised eighteen adult subjects submitted to ¹²³I-hippuran gamma camera renography (IHGR) and twenty-two adult subjects to ^99mTc-DTPA gamma camera renography (TDGR). The rate constant was calculated from a bi-exponential decomposition of the activity-time curve recorded within a small region of interest over the left ventricle. The total cleared renal fraction (TCRF) of the cardiac output with respect to the radioactive indicator has previously been shown to be closely related to GFR. A pooled estimate of GFR (GFR_p) was calculated from the stochastically independent estimates of GFR based on λ_pk and TCRF. The comparison of GFR_p with measured GFR was satisfactory and yielded substantially smaller standard deviations (SD) of GFR_p than estimates based on λ_pk and TCRF separately. The standard deviations of GFR_p were about 7 and 12 ml/min/1·73 m² in IHGR for GFR equal to 50 and 100 ml/min/1·73 m², respectively. The corresponding SD in TDGR were about 7 and 11 ml/min/1·73 m². These standard deviations are sufficiently small for many clinical purposes and the method requires no blood samples or urine collections.     

Imaging Validation of Drug-Eluting Beads Transarterial Chemoembolization of Hepatocellular Carcinomas in Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Objective

The aim of this study is to determine whether post-transarterial chemoembolization imaging (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) could accurately predict the tumors' necrosis on pathologic specimens.

Thirty-seven-year Population-based Study of Colorectal Cancer Rates in Renal Transplant Recipients in Ireland

Background

Renal transplantation is associated with an increased risk of neoplasia, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Advances in surgical techniques and immunosuppressive medications have resulted in increased survival rates of both patients and grafts, but the incidence of CRC in the Irish renal transplant population is currently unknown. The aim of this study is to review the incidence of CRC in the Irish renal transplant population and compare it to the general population.

The Correlation Between CVP and SVV and Intraoperative Minimal Blood Loss in Living Donor Hepatectomy

Background

Blood loss during liver surgery is found to be correlated with central venous pressure (CVP). The aim of the current retrospective study is to find out the cutoff value of CVP and stroke volume variation (SVV), which may increase the risk of having intraoperative blood loss of more than 100 mL during living liver donor hepatectomies.

Abnormality of the left ventricular sympathetic nervous function assessed by I-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine imaging in pediatric patients with neurocardiogenic syncope

The purpose of this study was to assess the left ventricular sympathetic nervous system function in the patients with neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS) using I-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging of the heart, and to compare the plasma noradrenaline (NA) and MIBG results of tilt positive and tilt negative patients following a head-up tilt test (HUT). The study included 30 patients. Their physical and laboratory examinations did not show a pathology that may be the cause of their syncope. HUT test was positive in 13 patients and negative in 17 patients. Plasma NA concentrations were higher in the HUT positive than the HUT negative group at the beginning and at the 10th minute of the test. Specific I-123 MIBG uptake assessed as the cardiac to mediastinal activity ratio in the delayed image was significantly higher in HUT positive group. The higher levels of MIBG uptake and plasma NA observed in HUT positive patients may reflect the greater capacity of NA storage in cardiac adrenergic neuronal tissue in patients with NCS. The results of this study support the critical role of autonomic nervous system in the pathophysiology of NCS and the excessive sympathetic nervous stimulation as the trigger of paradox reflex.     

C-Phycocyanin: an effective protective agent against thymic atrophy by tributyltin

Spirulina platensis, used worldwide as a food supplement, is a natural source of protein, vitamins, carbohydrates and polyunsaturated fatty acids. C-Phycocyanin (C-Pc), its major biliprotein, is known to possess anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and radical scavenging properties. Our present study showed that treatment with C-Pc protects the rats from Tributyltin (TBT) induced thymic atrophy. The results reveal TBT-induced oxidative stress mediated apoptosis in rat thymocytes in vivo and its attenuation by C-Pc. This ameliorative effect could be attributed to antioxidant activity of the biliprotein. C-Pc also increased TBTC reduced thymic weight and cellularity as well. TBTC-induced ROS generation and lowered GSH levels were restored by C-Pc, suggesting its radical scavenging properties. The various apoptotic determinants such as mitochondrial membrane potential, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase-3 activity and apoptotic cell population were effectively modulated by C-Pc treatment. We make this first observation to illustrate the effectiveness of C-Pc in reducing TBTC-induced thymic atrophy. The morphology of thymic tissue was restored to near normal by this biliprotein. The present study, therefore, suggests that C-Pc could serve as an effective natural antioxidant for efficient management of TBTC induced oxidative damage.     

CD123在儿童急性B淋巴细胞白血病中的表达及其在微小残留病检测中的应用

目的:检测细胞表面抗原CD123在儿童急性B淋巴细胞白血病(B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia,B-ALL)中的表达,并探讨其在儿童B-ALL微小残留病(minimal residual disease,MRD)检测中的应用及意义。方法:以健康儿童骨髓淋巴细胞为对照,应用多参数流式细胞术检测91例儿童B-ALL患者骨髓淋巴细胞免疫表型及CD123的表达,其中78例B-ALL患者进行了骨髓细胞染色体培养及细胞遗传学分析。用CD10/CD123/CD34/CD19等抗体组合对其中CD123阳性表达的65例B-ALL患者进行MRD标记的筛选和监测。结果:健康儿童骨髓淋巴细胞CD123为阴性表达,91例儿童B-ALL患者中65例骨髓淋巴细胞CD123阳性表达(阳性率71.43%),且表达水平与白血病细胞成熟度呈负相关,CD34高表达患儿CD123表达水平高于CD34低表达患儿;细胞遗传学分析超二倍体组患儿CD123表达水平高于非超二倍体组;筛选到47例(占51.65%)B-ALL患儿CD123高表达。结论:儿童B-ALL患者多数表达CD123,表达水平与细胞成熟度呈负相关,CD123可用作B-ALL患儿的MRD监测标记。