A facile method of purification of neocarzinostatin, an antitumor protein.

A three-step column chromatographic method for the purification of neocarzinostatin (NCS) from a crude preparation was described. The purified material was homogeneous by acrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, amino terminal analysis, and immunologic criteria. Purified NCS was 40 times as active in the inhibition of growth of Sarcina lutea and twice as active against CCRF-CEM human leukemia cells in vitro as was the starting material. When assayed against P388 and L1210 mouse leukemias in vivo, the purified material showed a median increase in life-span of 119 and 72%, respectively.     

Benign prostatic hyperplasia: Clinical benefits on Three-Dimensional ultrasound eXtended Imaging (3D-XI)

Objectives:   To prospectively evaluate whether trans -rectal Three-Dimensional eXtended Imaging (3D XI) allows characterization of the prostate gland in cases of isolated benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) so as to elucidate the motive for discrepancy of postvoiding residual urine.
Methods:   The study was conducted according to the standards of the local ethics committee. Patients gave informed consent. Disclosing the 3D XI display of the prostatic urethra and prostatic gland zones was a preliminary essential. The study included 113 men with a clinical diagnosis of BPH in whom transurethral resection of the prostate was planned. Patients aged from 52 to 75 years (mean 63). Other causes of infravesical obstructive uropathy and prostate neoplastic involvement were excluded. All patients were evaluated by three-dimensional Trans-Rectal Ultrasound using 3D XI methods. Patients were grouped according to the postvoiding residual urine volume into three groups, less and more than 100 mL and urine retention.
Results:   3D XI provided excellent resolution and diagnostic authority of prostate gland anatomy and for the appraisal of BPH morphology. The balance and type of nodular eruption proved responsible for the severity of symptoms aspires by extra-axial nodular effect upon the prostate urethra. The 3D XI analysis regarding the nodular stromal to glandular ratio compared to the histopathological results proved effectual in 98.3% of stromal-dominant, 100% in glandular-dominant and 93.3% in mixed type hyperplasia.
Conclusions:   The severity of symptoms among men with BPH showed an association with the nodular credence, highlighted by 3D XI as a supportive tool in characterizing BPH.     

Spatial requirements between haptenic and carrier determinants for T- dependent antibody responses

To gauge the proximity between cooperating T and B cells required for effective triggering of antibody production, guinea pigs were immunized with bifunctional antigens in which the haptenic and carrier determinants were separated by rigid spacers of varied dimension. These took the form 2,4-dinitrophenol-(proline)n-L-tyrosine-p-azobenzenearsonate, where n varied from 1 to 40 proline residues. Animals immunized with n = 10 and n = 22 compounds made strong anti-DNP antibody responses, whereas animals immunized with bifunctional compounds containing longer spacers did not make antibody detectable by precipitation. It can be calculated on the basis of very strong physicochemical evidence for the rigidity and axial translation of poly-L-proline chains in solution that the cut-off point for effective interaction between T and B cells lies between 69 and 97 A U.     

The Emerging Role of Biomarkers in Diabetic and Hypertensive Chronic Kidney Disease

Currently used measures to assess kidney function and injury are largely inadequate. Markers such as serum creatinine, formulas to estimate glomerular filtration rate, cystatin C, and proteinuria largely identify an underlying disease process that is well established. Thus, there has been a recent effort to identify new biomarkers that reflect kidney function, early injury, and/or repair that ultimately can relate to progression or regression of damage. Several biomarkers emerged recently that are able to detect kidney damage earlier than is currently possible with traditional biomarkers such as serum creatinine and proteinuria. Identification of urine biomarkers has proven to be beneficial in recent years because of ease of handling, stability, and the ability to standardize the various markers to creatinine or other peptides generally already present in the urine. Recent markers such as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), and podocin have garnered a lot of attention. The emergence of these and other biomarkers is largely because of the evolution of novel genomic and proteomic applications in investigations of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease. In this article, we focus on the applications of these biomarkers in disease.     

Pilot randomized, controlled trial of pramipexole to augment antipsychotic treatment

The preferential dopamine D(3)-agonist pramipexole (4.25±0.38 mg/day) or placebo were added for up to 12 weeks to ongoing antipsychotic treatment for 24 adult patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Pramipexole was generally well-tolerated (82% trial-completion), and yielded greater decreases in PANSS-total scores (drug/placebo=2.1; p=0.04), with similar decreases in PANSS positive and negative scores and 6.7-fold greater reduction of serum prolactin concentrations compared to placebo. There were no differences in ratings of mood, cognition or extrapyramidal symptoms, all of which were low at intake.