Histogram analysis of MR imaging-derived cerebral blood volume maps： combined glioma grading and identification of low-grade oligodendroglial subtypes

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE： Inclusion of oligodendroglial tumors may confound the utility of MR based glioma grading. Our aim was, first, to assess retrospectively whether a histogram-analysis method of MR peifusion images may both grade gliomas and differentiate between low-grade oligodendroglial tumors with or without loss of heterozygosity （LOH） on 1p/19q and, second, to assess retrospectively whether low-grade oligodendroglial subtypes can be identified in a population of patients with high-grade and low-grade astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors.     

Factors predictive of response and survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in Taiwan

5-Fluorouracil in combination with leucovorin has been shown to be active in therapeutic trials of metastatic colorectal carcinoma. In this study, we administered these drugs to 72 patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma. Thirty-six of them without previous exposure to 5-fluorouracil were treated with weekly bolus injections of 5-fluorouracil (425 mg/m2) and leucovorin (25 mg/m2) supplemented with oral levamisole. Another 36 patients with or without prior 5-fluorouracil treatment received 5-fluorouracil 3,000 mg/m2 and leucovorin 300 mg/m2 in a 48-hour continuous infusion every two weeks. Clinical efficacy and toxicity were assessed by WHO criteria. Variables were tested for relations to response and survival by univariate and multivariate analysis. The response rate was 19.4% in weekly bolus arm and 13.9% in biweekly high-dose infusion arm (P = 0.527). Median survivals in the two arms were 18.4 months (weekly) and 21 months (biweekly) respectively (P = 0.708). Gastrointestinal side effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and mucositia were the major toxicities of these regimens. By multivariate analysis, the only factor to influence response rate was the site of metastases (P = 0.009). The only factor to affect survival was performance status of the patient (P = 0.0001). We concluded that the two 5-fluorouracil based regimens are well-tolerated and shown to have a response rate comparable with previous reports of similar regimens in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Only liver metastases seemed to have a better response to therapy. Performance status is the most important prognostic factor in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.      

Housing conditions and the anxiolytic efficacy of buspirone: the relationship between main and side effects

Serotonergic anxiolytics yield contradictory results both in the laboratory and clinically. In an attempt to investigate the cause of discrepancies, the anxiolytic effect of buspirone (0, 3 or 10 mg/kg, single treatment) was tested 1 h and 4 h after injection in rats in different housing conditions. At 1 h after drug administration, buspirone increased corticosterone production and decreased locomotor behaviour in both the elevated plus-maze and the social interaction tests. No anxiolytic-like effect was produced in either test. At 4 h after drug injection, no corticosterone or locomotor effects of buspirone were observed. In contrast, anxiolytic effects emerged in this phase. Open arm exploration and social investigation were increased in the plus-maze and social interaction test, respectively. In the plus-maze, the anxiolytic effect was significant in isolated animals only. In the social interaction test, the anxiolytic effect was stronger in isolated than in group-housed animals. When corticosterone secretion was inhibited by adrenalectomy, a full anxiolytic effect of buspirone was observed 1 h after drug administration. It appears that the side effects of buspirone have a shorter duration than the main anxiolytic effect. The buspirone-induced increase in corticosterone may have abolished the anxiolytic effects of the drug shortly after injection. Individual housing enhanced the anxiolytic efficacy of buspirone 4 h after administration.     

HIV-1tat induced apoptosis of T-cells is not mediated by TGF-β

Recent reports have demonstrated that the HIV-1 transactivator protein,tat, induces apoptosis in T-lymphocyte cell lines, as well as in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and stimulates a cascade of events resulting in up-regulation of the potent immunosuppressive cytokine, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). In this study we evaluated the ability of TGF-β to mediatetat induced apoptosis in T-lymphocyte cell lines. T-cells treated exogenously with either TGF-β1 or a combination of tat and pan-specific TGF-β neutralizing antibodies showed little change in the amount of apoptosis. When treated with pan-specific TGF-β neutralizing antibodies, Jurkat cells that stably expresstat protein (Jurkat-tat) showed only a modest decrease in apoptosis, while CEM-TART cells (CEM T-cells expressing both HIV-1tat andrev) demonstrated little change in the amount of apoptosis. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that TGF-β does not play a significant role in mediatingtat induced T-cell apoptosis.     

Fatty infiltration of the liver: evaluation by proton spectroscopic imaging

The reliability of proton spectroscopic imaging in evaluating fatty infiltration of the liver was investigated in 35 subjects (12 healthy volunteers and 23 patients with fatty livers). With this modified spin-echo technique, fatty liver could be separated from normal liver both visually and quantitatively. On the opposed image, normal liver had an intermediate signal intensity, greater than that of muscle, whereas fatty liver had a lower signal intensity, equal to or less than that of muscle. In normal livers, the lipid signal fraction was less than 10%, while in fatty livers it was greater than 10% and usually exceeded 20%. With this technique, nonuniform fatty infiltration of the liver can be differentiated from hepatic metastases, and the technique may prove useful in the differentiation of some hepatic disorders.     

Total and partial hypothalamic deafferentations for topographical identification of catecholaminergic innervations of certain preoptic and hypothalamic nuclei

Acquisition of nicititating membrane (NM) conditioned responses (CRs) to tone onset was studied in male albino rabbits with their heads immobilized and bodies loosely restrained. The conditioned stimulus (CS) was a 1000 Hz tone presented over a white noise background. The unconditioned stimulus (US) was an air puff directed at the exposed cornea. NM closure was detected with an integrated circuit infrared light reflection transducer. The latency of the unconditioned response (UR) was 17.5 msec from puff onset at the cornea. URs were bilateral. All 22 experimental rabbits showed CR acquisition in the eye to which puff was delivered on training Day I. Group response rates approached 80% in the last 40 trials of Day I. During Days II and III, the rate was between 90 and 100%. Mean CR response latency decreased significantly from 177 msec on Day I to 135 msec on Day II. None of the 9 pseudoconditioning control animals showed CR acquisition. A learning curve was constructed with the trial of the tenth CR (rather than trial 0) as the anchor point. The probability of CR occurrence showed an abrupt 50% increase between trials—12 and —11 (before the anchor point) when examined in this fashion. NM performance of the non-puff eye (eye not receiving the air puff US) was determined in 13 rabbits. CRs were determined to be largely unilateral. When non-puff CRs were present, they were of significantly longer latency and of smaller size than those occuring simultaneously in the puff eye. The advantages of rabbit NM conditioning as a system in which to examine the neurophysiological and anatomical substrates of learning were discussed.     

Thoracic wall involvement by Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: CT evaluation

Thoracic computed tomographic (CT) scans of 250 patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent lymphoma revealed thoracic wall involvement in 24 patients (11 with Hodgkin disease, 13 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma). Thoracic wall involvement occurred without contiguous mediastinal or parenchymal involvement in 17 patients. Of these, 13 patients had masses beneath the pectoralis muscles or within the breast, and four had masses arising from the ribs. Five additional patients had mediastinal masses with thymic involvement and parasternal extension through the thoracic wall. Pulmonary parenchymal lymphoma with thoracic wall invasion was noted in the remaining two patients. In five of nine patients receiving radiation therapy, treatment plans were modified by CT demonstration of thoracic wall lymphoma.