Influenza virus overcomes apoptosis by rapid multiplication

The kinetics of apoptotic fragmentation of the chromosomal DNA was determined in the influenza virus-infected MDCK, HeLa and KB cells, respectively. Comparison of these kinetics with the kinetics of virus multiplication revealed that the multiplication of influenza virus was observed only when apoptosis was induced after the production of progeny virus in the infected cells. The extent of apoptotic response was reversely correlated with the permissiveness of the cells.     

QT interval and QT dispersion in eating disorders

BACKGROUND: Eating disorders are thought to be risk factors for cardiac sudden death secondary to arrhythmia. Results in previous studies on QT interval and QT dispersion, markers of fatal arrhythmia, have been inconsistent. METHODS: We prospectively examined 179 female eating disorder patients, being over 18 years old and diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria between January 1995 and December 2002, and 52 healthy women. Patients with abnormal plasma electrolytes or taking medications that might influence the electrocardiogram (ECG) were excluded from the study. QT intervals were corrected for heart rate using Bazett's formula and the nomogram method, which is more reliable at extremely low heart rates than Bazett's formula. QT dispersion was measured as the difference between the longest and shortest QT intervals. QT intervals and QT dispersion in each patient group were compared with those in the control group. RESULTS: The 164 eligible patients consisted of 43 patients with anorexia nervosa restricting type, 35 with anorexia nervosa binge eating/purging type, 63 with bulimia nervosa purging type, and 23 with bulimia nervosa non-purging type. There was no significant difference in age between eating disorder patients and controls. QT interval and QT dispersion were significantly longer in all eating disorder subtypes than in the control group. QT interval and QT dispersion were significantly correlated with the rate of body weight loss in bulimia nervosa. CONCLUSIONS: QT interval and QT dispersion were prolonged in both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Examination of ECG in eating disorder patients without extremely low body weight also appears to be clinically important.     

Neural control of sympathetic nerve response to cardiogenic hypotension in anesthetized cat

The present study was designed to determine effect of the preganglionic splanchnic nerve activity (SNA) on the brief hypotension accompanied with the occlusion of left circumflex coronary artery (CxCAO) in chloralose anesthetized cats. Following CxCAO in animals with neuraxis intact, no significant alterations of SNA occurred despite the significant fall in mean blood pressure (MBP). A significant fall in MBP also occurred in vagotomized animals with arterial baroreceptors intact, but SNA was significantly augmented from 12.9 +/- 2.7 impulses/sec before CxCAO to 24.4 +/- 4.3 impulses/sec 60 sec after the occlusion. In vagotomized animals, in which their carotid sinuses were isolated and perfused with the constant pressure at a level equal to systemic blood pressure (112 +/- 6 mmHg) and with higher pressure (167 +/- 7 mmHg), SNA was not altered significantly during the hypotension due to CxCAO. When the carotid sinuses were perfused with lower pressure (53 +/- 8 mmHg), a significant increase in SNA occurred simultaneously with the decrease in MBP after CxCAO. The peak decreases in blood pressure during the coronary occlusion were significantly greater in the vagotomized group (-46 +/- 5 mmHg) and in the Low-CSP group (-50 +/- 5 mmHg) than in other groups. Onset of this excitatory efferent sympathetic response to the hypotension due to the coronary occlusion in the vagotomized and Low-CSP groups was delayed significantly despite a significant fall in arterial blood pressure. These results show that vagal afferents from the heart may play a role of inhibiting the sympathetic augmentation mediated by arterial baroreceptors during cardiogenic hypotension. An excessive activation of cardiac receptors with sympathetic afferents may be induced by the profound fall in blood pressure, resulting in further impairment of cardiac function due to progressive myocardial ischemia under the condition of high sympathetic tone activated by baroreceptor reflex.     

Peripheral low-density area of hepatic tumors: CT-pathologic correlation

To aid in the distinction between colorectal cancer metastasis to the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma, findings on computed tomographic (CT) scans taken more than 5 minutes after contrast material administration ("late-enhanced CT scans") and pathologic findings were compared. Late-enhanced CT scans of metastatic adenocarcinoma showed a peripheral low-density area (PLDA) that corresponded to viable tumor and a central high-density area that represented fibrous connective tissue. This phenomenon was recognized in 15 of 20 (75%) patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma and in one of 50 (2%) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Late-enhanced CT scans may be useful in distinguishing between metastatic nonmucinous colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma.     

Association of feces sign with prognosis of non-emergency adhesive small bowel obstruction

Background/Objective: The feces sign has been reported as a possible predictive factor for non-operative treatment of small bowel obstruction. However, its relationship with prognosis of non-emergency adhesive small bowel obstruction remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the feces sign and prognosis of non-emergency adhesive small bowel obstruction.MethodsNinety-two patients with non-emergency adhesive small bowel obstruction with the transitional zone visible on computed tomography were included. Patients were categorized into two groups: feces sign positive (n = 40) and negative (n = 52). Clinical features and prognosis were compared between the two groups. Cox proportional hazards regression models incorporating the feces sign were used to analyze odds of diet resumption and discharge.ResultsPatients with feces sign were younger (p = 0.015), had a higher body mass index (p = 0.027), and a lower white blood cell count (p = 0.019) on admission. More patients with feces sign were successfully treated with fasting and/or nasogastric tube placement (p < 0.001), and no patient with feces sign suffered from recurrent obstruction after diet resumption. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that patients with feces sign took less time for diet resumption (p = 0.007) and discharge (p = 0.004) than those without it. Using Cox proportional hazards regression model, the feces sign was reported as an independent predictor of diet resumption (odds ratio 1.685, p = 0.018) and discharge (odds ratio 1.861, p = 0.007).ConclusionsThe feces sign is associated with improved odds for diet resumption and discharge.     

Treatment results of radiotherapy to both the prostate and metastatic sites in patients with bone metastatic prostate cancer

Although systemic therapy is the standard treatment for metastatic prostate cancer, a randomized controlled trial showed radiotherapy to the prostate improved overall survival of metastatic prostate cancer patients with the low metastatic burden. Additionally, a randomized phase II trial showed that metastasis-directed therapy for oligo-recurrent prostate cancer improved androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT)-free survival. Therefore, administering radiotherapy to both prostate and metastatic regions might result in better outcomes. Thus, we report the treatment results of radiotherapy to both prostate and metastatic regions. Our institutional database was searched for patients who received radiotherapy to the prostate and metastatic regions. We summarized patient characteristics and treatment efficacy and performed statistical analysis to find possible prognostic factors. A total of 35 patients were included in this study. The median age was 66 years, and the median initial prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was 32 ng/ml. The Gleason score was 7 in 10 patients, 8 in 13 patients, and 9 in 12 patients. The median radiotherapy dose was 72 Gy to the prostate and 50 Gy to the metastatic bone region. The 8-year overall survival, cause-specific survival, progression-free survival, and freedom from biochemical failure rate were 81, 85, 53, and 57%. Among the 35 patients, 12 were disease-free even after ADT was discontinued. In selected patients with metastatic prostate cancer, ADT and radiotherapy to the prostate and metastatic sites were effective. Patients with good response to ADT may benefit from radiotherapy to both prostate and metastatic regions.     

Light and electron microscopic localization of the N-terminal fragment of human pro-opiomelanocortin in the human pituitary gland and in neoplasms

Summary Immunohistochemical localization of theN-terminal fragment (1–76) (NTF) of human pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) was studied in human adult and fetal pituitary glands, as well as in pituitary adenomas associated with Cushing's syndrome and in ectopic ACTH-producing tumors. Comparison of localization between NTF and ACTH was performed using mirror sections. Our results indicated concomitant localization of NTF and ACTH in the same cells, not only in normal adult and fetal pituitaries but also in pituitary adenomas and ectopic ACTH producing tumours. Specificity of the NTF staining was confirmed by immunoabsorption. Negative staining of the bovine pituitary gland indicated the immunohistochemical localization ofN-terminal (1–45) of human POMC as there is a known species difference in the sequence 1–45 between human and the bovineN-terminal fragment. Presence of NTF in cisterna of rough endoplasmic reticulum indicates its production by small cell carcinoma. These findings, together with the previous studies, suggest that the complete form of POMC is produced in the tumours as well as in normal pituitaries.This work was supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research (58-Z) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.Supported by NIH # 16315-04 and by a program grant from the Medical Research Center of Canada     

Efficacy of postoperative adjuvant therapy for stage ilia breast cancer: Futraful vs futraful+tamoxifen for er-positive patients and futraful vs futraful + adriamycin for er-negative breast cancer

A multi-center, randomized controlled collaborative study was conducted in 310 institutions located throughout Japan for 3 years and 9 months from February 1985 until October 1988 to evaluate the efficacy of post-operative adjuvant therapy for patients who had previously undergone curative surgery for treatment of Stage IIIa breast cancer. Patients with estrogen receptor-positive [ER( + )] breast cancer were treated with two types of regimens, ie, cyclophosphamide + adriamycin + fluorouracil (CAF; 2 cycles) + Futraful (FT) or CAF (2 cycles) + FT + tamoxifen (TAM), and the clinical benefit of additional use of TAM was evaluated. Of the 509 ER( + ) patients registered for the trial, 473 patients (92.9%) were eligible for evaluation. The 5-year survival rate was 77.2% for the CAF + FT group and 74.6% for the CAF + FT+TAM group, and the 5-year disease-free survival rate was 56.7% for the CAF+FT group and 59.2% for the CAF + FT + TAM group. Neither the survival rate nor the disease-free survival rate differed significantly between the groups. Analyses by factor revealed that the 5-year disease-free rate for lymph node-negative patients in the CAF + FT + TAM group was significantly higher than that for the corresponding patients in the CAF + FT group. No differences were noted in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two treatment groups, other than an increase in LDH (the frequency of which was higher in the CAF + FT+TAM group than in the CAF + FT group). Patients with estrogen receptor-negative [ER( -)] breast cancer were treated with two types of regimens, ie, CAF + FT or CAF + FT + adriamycin (ADR), and the clinical benefit of the combined use of intermittent doses of ADR was evaluated. Of the 514 ER(-) patients registered in the trial, 478 (93.0%) were eligible for evaluation. The 5-year survival rate was 64.9% for the CAF + FT group and 63.0% for the CAF + FT + ADR group, and the 5-year disease-free survival rate was 59.2% for both CAF + FT and CAF + FT + ADR groups. Neither the survival rate nor the disease-free survival rate differed significantly between the groups. There were no significant differences between these groups in analyses by nodal or menopausal status. The incidences of adverse reactions including anorexia, nausea/vomiting and alopecia were higher in the CAF + FT+ADR group than in the CAF + FT group.