Human parathyroid hormone (1-34) increases mass and structure of the cortical shell,with resultant increase in lumbar bone strength,in ovariectomized rats

Estrogen deficiency causes reduction of bone mass and abnormal bone microarchitecture, consequently reducing bone strength. Human parathyroid hormone (hPTH) (1-34) increases bone mass and strength. To clarify the factors that determine the recovery of bone strength in the lumbar vertebrae of ovariectomized rats by intermittent hPTH administration, we analyzed the relationship between skeletal measurements and bone strength. Human PTH (1-34) administration resulted in recovery of cortical bone mineral content (BMC) and cortical bone area to sham the levels, but in resulted in a less pronounced recovery of trabecular BMC and no increase in the total cross-sectional area of the vertebral body. Of the three-dimensional (3D) trabecular bone parameters, hPTH (1-34) increased trabecular thickness (Tb.Th). The cortical shell area of L4, determined by histomorphometry, was also increased. In hPTH-treated rats, the only determinant of the compressive load of L5 was the cortical shell BMC, in the early recovery period (days 42–84). Our data suggest that increased cortical bone mass contributes more than trabecular bone mass and structure to the recovery of bone strength in response to hPTH therapy in the rat lumbar vertebral body after ovariectomy.     

Application of Polyethylene Glycolic Acid Felt with Fibrin Sealant to Prevent Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula in Pancreatic Surgery

Objective

The purpose of this nonrandomized retrospective study was to report our new procedures using polyethylene glycolic acid (PGA) felt with fibrin sealant to prevent severe pancreatic fistula in patients undergoing pancreatic surgery.

Methods

From 2000 to 2008, 54 and 63 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and distal pancreatectomy (DP), respectively. Of those patients, we applied PGA felt with fibrin sealant to 18 PD patients and 26 DP patients. In PD patients, the PGA felt was wrapped around the pancreatic suture site, while in DP patients, the PGA felt was wrapped around the predictive division site. The pancreaticojejunostomy site in PD patients and the cut stump in DP patients were coated with fibrin sealant. We compared the occurrence rates for severe postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) that occurred after PD or DP both with and without our new procedures.

Results

Before introduction of our procedures, severe POPF developed in 14 of 36 PD patients (39%) and 10 of 37 DP patients (27%). In contrast, after introduction of our procedures, the incidence of POPF was only one in both of 18 PD (6%; P?=?0.016) and 26 DP (4%; P?=?0.017) patients.

Conclusion

In summary, our procedure using PGA felt with fibrin sealant may reduce the risk of severe POPF.     

Polymorphism and haplotype analysis of three novel short tandem repeat loci in the p11.4 region of human X chromosome

International Journal of Legal Medicine - X-chromosomal short tandem repeats (X-STRs) are useful for the identification of absent single parents and complex blood relations. In the present study,...     

An optimal therapeutic expression level is crucial for suicide gene therapy for hepatic metastatic cancer in mice

The most serious problem in current gene therapy is discrepancies between experimental data and actual clinical outcomes, which may be due to insufficient analyses and/or inappropriate animal models. We have explored suicide gene therapy by using various clinically relevant animal models and doubt the clinical use of maximal suicide gene expression, which has been generally recommended. To explore this subject further, we studied what expression level of suicide gene and what promoter led to the maximal clinical benefit in the case of hepatic metastatic cancer in mice. Therapeutic and adverse side effects of 4 adenoviral vectors that express herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) under different promoters were scrupulously investigated in 2 mouse models of hepatic metastasis of gastric cancer that possess clinical characteristics. Surprisingly, increases in HSV-tk expression beyond a certain point, achieved by the Rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeat promoter, not only enhanced the adverse side effects of lethal hepatotoxicity and ganciclovir-independent cytotoxicity but also failed to further increase therapeutic potential. Moreover, the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) tumor-specific promoter, the therapeutic potential of which had been underestimated, was much more useful-even in the case of low CEA-producing cancer-than had been previously reported. In conclusion, the optimal therapeutic expression level of a suicide gene is a novel concept and a crucial factor for successful cancer gene therapy. The present results, which contradict those of previous studies, alert researchers about possible problems with ongoing and future clinical trials that lack this concept.