Thermostabilization of egg grown influenza viruses

The observation that the addition of deuterium oxide to tissue culture cell harvests stabilized trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine prompted us to examine the effect of deuterium oxide on stabilization of other licensed and experimental live viral vaccines. The most striking effect afforded by deuterium oxide was on stabilization of live, attenuated influenza A and B vaccine candidates grown in the allantoic cavity of embryonated eggs. Thermostabilization with deuterium oxide is much greater than seen with standard stabilization of these live influenza vaccines with sucrose-phosphate-glutamate. Subsequently, we have shown that a similar, stabilization is provided by diluting egg allantoic fluid in water or minimal essential medium. The mechanism of action has been explored but remains uncertain. The implications of being able to stabilize influenza after harvesting from eggs have practical application for utilization of live influenza vaccines and provides a possible way to increase and standardize the potency of inactivated vaccines that may partially degrade in the inimical environment of allantoic fluid during growth and before final vaccine purification and stabilization.     

Gastric metastasis from lung carcinoma. Case report

We report here gastric metastasis from lung carcinoma in an 80-year-old man. His chief complaint was epigastric pain from metastases in the stomach. Although metastasis from primary carcinoma of the lung to the small intestine is more common than has been previously suspected, symptoms are rare. Such a metastasis may present as bowel perforation. To find cases of lung carcinoma metastasis to the gastrointestinal tract is clinically rare, and there have been few reports in the English literature. This report describes the gastrointestinal metastasis from lung carcinoma.     

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of tandospirone in rats exposed to conditioned fear stress.

The 5-HT1, agonist tandospirone is generally thought to have a weak anxiolytic effect with a slow onset of action. Our recent clinical study suggested that a comparatively high dose of tandospirone has excellent anxiolytic efficacy and is without significant adverse effects. The present study was designed to clarify the relationship between the anxiolytic effect of tandospirone and its plasma and brain concentrations. The anxiolytic effect was estimated by determining the conditioned fear stress-induced freezing behavior in rats after tandospirone administration. Obvious correlations between anxiolytic effect and brain concentration of tandospirone were observed 0.5 and 4 h after tandospirone administration, while the anxiolytic effect was dependent on the plasma concentration of at 0.5 h but not 4 h after tandospirone administration. The plasma concentration was significantly correlated with the brain concentration. These findings suggest that the potency of the anxiolytic effect is dependent on both the plasma and brain concentration.     

Microbial growth in various perfluorocarbon liquids.

A prospective in vitro study was conducted to investigate the potential for various perfluorocarbon liquids to support the growth of microbes, which may be introduced into these liquids as contaminants during intraocular surgery. Perfluorodecaline, perfluoro-noctane, and perfluorophenanthrene were tested for the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans by using tryptone soy broth, pancreatic digest of casein, and Sabouraud broth as culture media for up to 10 days. No microbial growth was observed in any of these perfluorocarbon liquids. Perfluorocarbon liquids do not promote microbial growth. Thus, they do not increase the risk of endophthalmitis in vitreoretinal surgery.     

Up-regulation of Frizzled-10 (FZD10) by beta-estradiol in MCF-7 cells and by retinoic acid in NT2 cells.

Frizzled (FZD) genes encode receptors for WNTs, which play key roles in carcinogenesis and embryogenesis. We have previously cloned the FZD10 gene, and demonstrated up-regulation of FZD10 mRNA in the cervical cancer cell line HeLa S3, gastric cancer cell lines TMK1 and MKN74, and 4 cases out of 10 cases of primary gastric cancer. Here, effects of beta-estradiol, retinoic acid, and inflammatory cytokines on expression of FZD10 mRNA in human cancer cell lines were investigated. FZD10 mRNA was undetectable in MCF-7 cells derived from breast cancer, and was significantly up-regulated by beta-estradiol in MCF-7 cells with a peak at 24 h after treatment. FZD10 mRNA was expressed in NT2 cells, which are reported to differentiate into neuronal cells after exposure to retinoic acid. Although expression level of FZD10 mRNA was unchanged until 36 h after retinoic-acid treatment, FZD10 mRNA was up-regulated at 48 and 72 h after retinoic-acid treatment in NT2 cells. Effects of inflammatory cytokines on FZD10 mRNA expression in a gastric cancer cell line MKN45 was next investigated. FZD10 mRNA was undetectable in MKN45 cells, and was not up-regulated by IFNgamma and TNFalpha in MKN45 cells. Because we have previously demonstrated up-regulation of WNT2 mRNA by beta-estradiol in MCF-7 cells, FZD10 and WNT2 mRNAs were found to be up-regulated together by beta-estradiol in MCF-7 cells with the same time course. Synchronous up-regulation of FZD10 and WNT2 mRNAs might lead to activation of the WNT signaling pathway in human breast cancer.