Radioimmunoassay of serum group I and group II pepsinogens in normal controls and patients with various disorders

A radioimmunoassay (RIA) for human group I pepsinogens (PgI) in serum was developed, using Pgl purified from gastric mucosa. The sensitivity (0.7 μg/1) and reproducibility of the assay were satisfactory for clinical use. In normal controls, total serum pepsinogen (T-Pg) level was 58.9 ± 31.7 μg/1 (mean ± SD) (Pgl, 43.6 ± 25.0 μg/1; Pgll, 15.3 ± 11.1 μg/1). Peptic ulcer cases had elevated T-Pg levels (gastric ulcer, gastroduodenal ulcer and duodenal ulcer, in increasing order of magnitude). T-Pg levels were not useful for diagnosis of peptic ulcer because of a large overlap with normal controls. T-Pg levels were low in patients with gastric polyp and in aged subjects. In these groups, the decrease of Pgl was more marked than that of PgII.     

Analysis of patients with advanced gastric cancer undergoing S-1/CDDP combined neoadjuvant chemotherapy

We retrospectively examined patients with advanced gastric cancer who underwent S-1/CDDP combined neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Nine patients who had the factor of curative surgery deemed not feasible for advanced gastric cancer were enrolled. 80 mg/m2 of S-1 was given orally from days 1-14, and 60 mg/m2 of CDDP was administered on day 8. Patients were treated with a three-cycle protocol. When an adverse event greater than Grade 3 showed, we judged that chemotherapy could not be continued and surgery was performed. An anti-tumor effect on the imaging was found in all cases of PR. The histological effect was judged to be Grade 3 and pathological CR in two cases. In the postoperative period, all patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. S-1/CDDP combined neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a potential regimen for advanced gastric cancer.     

In Vitro-In Vivo Correlation of Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability of Drugs: A Feasibility Study Towards Development of Prediction Methods for Brain Drug Concentration in Humans

Pharmaceutical Research - In vitro human blood–brain barrier (BBB) models in combination with central nervous system-physiologically based pharmacokinetic (CNS-PBPK) modeling, hereafter...     

Burkholone, a new cytotoxic antibiotic against IGF-I dependent cells from Burkholderia sp

In the course of our screening program for new inhibitors of IGF-I signaling, we isolated a new cytotoxic antibiotic, burkholone, from the culture broth of Burkholderia sp. QN15488. The structure of burkholone was determined to be (E)-3-methyl-2-(2-octenyl)-4-quinolone by a series of NMR analyses. Burkholone induced cell death 32D/GR15 cells with an IC50 value of 160 nM in IGF-I containing medium, while no cell death was observed in IL-3 containing medium even at the concentration of 37 microM.