Dimethyl sulfoxide modulation of diabetes onset in NOD mice

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a hydroxyl radical scavenger, is known as an immunosuppressive agent and can reduce autoantibody levels in experimental autoimmune diseases. Because classic diabetogens damage the DNA and membrane of the beta-cell by the generation of free radicals, the purpose of these investigations was to determine whether the intake of DMSO or its derivatives methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and dimethylsulfide (DMS) could prevent the expression of autoimmune diabetes in the spontaneously diabetic NOD mouse. DMSO (2.5%), MSM (2.5%), and DMS (0.25%) were added to the drinking water of female NOD mice immediately after weaning. Control animals were maintained on regular drinking water. The presence of overt diabetes was monitored from the age of 2 mo by weekly urinary glucose testing until the animals either became overtly glucosuric or were greater than 240 days of age. In contrast to what we expected, DMSO (2.5%) markedly increased the rate at which the animals expressed overt diabetes (P less than .0004, log-rank test). MSM had no effect, whereas DMS reduced the incidence and rate of diabetes onset. When DMSO (2.5%) was administered to male NOD mice and control strains of mice (BALB/c and ICR), the control group did not develop glucosuria or insipidus, whereas DMSO increased the incidence of diabetes in the male NOD mice from 21 to 79%. In contrast, when DMSO was fed to female NOD mice on a purified AIN-76 diet, diabetes onset was reduced to 36%. We conclude that DMSO accelerates the uptake of dietary diabetogens into the beta-cell of genetically susceptible animals (NOD mice). The protective effect of the purified diet in such animals may be due to a lack of putative diabetogens in purified diet, or alternatively, the diet itself contains factor(s) that protect the beta-cell from autoimmune attack and/or destruction.     

Embolization for genitourinary disorders

Fourteen patients with various genitourinary disorders underwent arterial embolization. The procedure was useful in facilitating surgical removal of hypernephromas, in decreasing tumor-induced hypercalcemia, and in diminishing proteinuria secondary to renal failure. Patients with priapism due to excessive arterial inflow responded well. Results of embolization performed because of bleeding varied. When bleeding was localized to a single vessel or to an area supplied by such a vessel, embolization was successful. However, when hemorrhage was diffuse or due to multiple vessel inflow, arterial embolization was not entirely effective.     

Dimethyl sulfoxide and oxidative stress on cultures of human keratinocytes

OBJECTIVES:

The aim of the present study was to examine the protective action of the antioxidant dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) against the oxidative stress on keratinocyte cultures caused by glucose deprivation and hypoxia, using the concentration of malonyl dialdehyde existing in the cell culture as an indicator of the oxidative stress level.

METHODS:

Eighty flasks with cultured human keratinocytes in a confluent layer were divided into eight groups, including the following: culture medium with and without glucose, culture medium with and without the addition of DMSO, culture medium subjected and not subjected to hypoxia, and culture medium with a combination of these factors.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:

The statistical analysis of the results showed that DMSO proved to be an effective agent against the oxidative stress on cultures of keratinocytes under the experimental conditions studied.     

Dimethyl sulfoxide in experimental brain injury, with comparison to mannitol

The effects of dimethyl sulfoxide therapy were studied in rhesus monkeys following a standardized occipitofrontal missile injury. This therapy resulted in substantially higher blood pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, blood flow, and oxidative metabolism than those of a group of monkeys that had been treated similarly with mannitol, and than those of an untreated group.     

Dimethyl sulfoxide but not indomethacin is efficient for healing in hydrofluoric acid eye burns

Introduction

In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of indomethacin and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents, to heal eye burns induced with hydrofluoric acid in rabbits.

Value of correcting microcirculatory disorders of inflammatory foci in the treatment of infection

Experience in the treatment of 94 patients with sepsis is discussed. Studies showed that microcirculatory disorders occurring around the inflammatory focus are among the main causes of insufficient efficacy of antibiotic therapy. For correction of the microcirculatory changes, the authors suggest (in addition to vasodilators, inhibitors of proteases and heparin used earlier for this purpose) transfusion of chilled plasma which is a antithrombin-III donator. As the result of such treatment mortality reduced from 45.8 to 16.7%.     

Patent medicines for the treatment of genitourinary diseases

The present article addresses the nineteenth-century advertising of patent medicines in America, sold to “cure” diseases of the kidney and bladder, the “loss of manhood”, and “debilitating conditions of the generative system.” Most of the proprietary remedies made extravagant claims of effectiveness concerning a wide variety of ailments, and some claimed to cure every disease. Examples of promotional excesses demonstrate how the public was persuaded to buy a kaleidoscope of largely useless and occasionally harmful patent nostrums. The ephemera considered became a part of the history of medicine related to urology.     

Maximizing outcomes in genitourinary cancers across the treatment continuum

Key controversies concerning the management of genitourinary cancers across the treatment continua were discussed at the second annual Interactive Genitourinary Cancer Conference (IGUCC) held in February 2010 in Athens, Greece. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among western men and prevention strategies are needed. Trials evaluating 5α-reductase inhibitors have reported beneficial and clinically meaningful results, but uptake remains low for primary prostate cancer prevention. Prostate cancer detection programmes are also important as curative treatments for advanced disease are unavailable. Two large landmark randomized controlled trials reported conflicting results concerning screening efficacy and uncovered high levels of over-diagnosis and potential over-treatment. Tailored management strategies after diagnosis are important and predictive markers that distinguish between aggressive and indolent tumours are needed. The majority of newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer are clinically localized. Active surveillance of favourable risk patients may be beneficial in the intermediate term, while an integrated approach of multi-modality therapy in patients with adverse features is recommended. The benefits of new technologies such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and robotic prostatectomy have not been established in prospective randomized trials vs current standards of care. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to evolving the management of advanced prostate cancer into a chronic disease paradigm. Docetaxel plus prednisone is the standard first-line chemotherapy for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but the optimal timing of chemotherapy initiation has not been addressed in randomized clinical trials. Retrospective analyses suggest that asymptomatic patients with adverse prognostic factors for survival may also benefit from receiving chemotherapy. Bladder cancer is a common malignancy and the most expensive cancer per patient. Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is a heterogenous disease that requires dynamic multidisciplinary management. Aggressive early intervention may be beneficial in some cases. Platinum-based therapies represent the first-line standard of care for advanced bladder cancer, but the maximum benefit may have been reached for conventional chemotherapies and new strategies are needed. Several ongoing clinical trials are assessing combination chemotherapy and targeted therapy.     

Current trends in treatment of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma of lower genitourinary tract

Treatment of childhood embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the lower genitourinary tract is in the process of undergoing drastic changes. Extensive surgery with excision of the lesion and its contiguous structures leaving the patient with significant physical disability is being replaced by biopsy and aggressive combined chemotherapy along with radiation therapy. Although it would appear that survival may be improved by this approach, caution is recommended and extirpation advised should the tumor fail to respond rapidly to chemotherapy.     

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome: incidence and treatment of genitourinary sequelae

PURPOSE: Prior reviews regarding genitourinary manifestations of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome used data acquired from diverse specialty specific articles to define the incidence and sequelae of its genitourinary manifestations. We believe that this resulted in erroneous conclusions regarding the urological complications of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on genitourinary manifestations in patients with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome treated at 1 institution from 1970 through 2005 were acquired. RESULTS: Of 218 patients with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome 30% (66 of 218) had genitourinary involvement, including 7% (15) with cutaneous genital abnormalities, 7% (15) with visceral genitourinary involvement and 16% (36) with each type. Intermittent bleeding from cutaneous genital abnormalities developed in 65% of patients (33 of 51). Conservative treatment with compression and/or cauterization was attempted in all 33 patients and it was successful in 64% (21 of 33). Intractable hemorrhage resulted in excision of the cutaneous bleeding site in 36% of cases (12 of 33). A total of 39 hospitalizations for gross hematuria occurred in 9% of the patients (19 of 218). Hematuria developed from the bladder in 11 cases, the urethra in 4 and the kidney in 4. Conservative therapy resolved gross hematuria in 21% of the patients (4 of 19). Refractory hematuria was successfully treated with cauterization in 37% of the patients (7 of 19) and by angiographic embolization in 10% (2 of 19). Intractable gross hematuria resulted in open surgical excision of the bleeding site in 32% of the patients (6 of 19). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of genitourinary manifestations of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome is 30%, which is triple the previously reported incidence of 9%. Unlike prior reports stating that the genitourinary abnormalities rarely caused problems, 52% of the patients (34 of 66) with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome who had urological manifestations eventually required interventional therapy for genitourinary complications.