Antitumor activity of dextran derivatives immobilizing platinum complex (II)

The in vivo antitumor activity and toxicity of a newly synthesized polymeric prodrug of cisplatin was investigated and also compared with plain cisplatin. The prodrug included a dicarboxymethyl-dextran conjugate of cisplatin (DCM-Dex/CDDP). DCM-Dex/CDDP was i.v. injected in mice bearing s.c. Colon 26 mouse colon cancer cells. The tissue distribution of platinum was thereafter determined by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The platinic concentration of the organs showed a high rate of retention at 24 h after injection in the DCM-Dex/CDDP-treated mice. No biochemical or hematologically adverse effects were observed. In addition, DCM-Dex/CDDP showed a significantly higher antitumor activity than cisplatin alone. These results indicate that DCM-Dex/CDDP may therefore be a potentially effective cancer chemotherapy.     

Acoustic radiation force impulse elastography of the liver: can fat deposition in the liver affect the measurement of liver stiffness?

Purpose  

The aim of this study was to compare acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) results between livers with and without fat deposition.     

Needle position during 125I seed implantation: accurately recognized by sagittal transrectal ultrasonography

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess the variation of probe rotation angles for detecting a single needle using sagittal images of transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS).

Materials and methods

A phantom study was performed. One needle was inserted through each of 10 holes of the template, and variations in the probe rotation angles for detecting the needle were measured.

Results

The mean variation of probe rotation for detecting a single needle was 17.0° (range 4°–25°). Slightly broader variation was seen for the needle in holes farther away from the probe.

Conclusion

Probe rotation angles for detecting a single needle displayed considerable variation. Seed locations recognized on sagittal imaging by TRUS are thus indeterminate, and real-time dose calculations using TRUS for ¹²⁵I seed implantation should be used with care.     

Blood coagulation and fibrinolysis in patients with Beh?et's disease

In patients with Beh?et's disease, venous thrombosis has often been described as a complication. The pathogenesis of this complication, however, has not been fully understood. In this work, various parameters of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis were studied in 20 patients with Beh?et's disease and 13 sex-matched healthy volunteers. Patients were classified into three subgroups according to the number of clinical signs involved; group I (no sign): 4 patients; group II (one or two signs): 11 patients; group III (more than three signs): 5 patients. Patients with Beh?et's disease, showed an activation of blood coagulation, such as the shortening of prothrombin time (p less than 0.001), decreases in concentrations and activities of plasma antithrombin III (AT-III) (p less than 0.01) and elevated levels of plasma thrombin-antithrombin-III complex (TAT) (p less than 0.01), compared to the control group. Plasma levels (p less than 0.01) and activities (p less than 0.01) of protein C (PC) and total protein S (PS) levels (p less than 0.05) were increased in the patients. Decreased levels of alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor (p less than 0.001) also indicated an activation of fibrinolysis in the patients. When analyzed among the subgroups, patients belong to group II and III showed higher levels of plasma FDP D-dimer (p less than 0.05) and lower levels of plasminogen (p less than 0.05), as compared with patients in group I or control group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Clinical anatomic study of pure dysarthria

Nine patients with pure dysarthria underwent computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Eight patients had infarcts of lacunar or larger size in the internal capsule: four in the superior portion of the anterior limb or adjacent corona radiata and four in the superior portion of the genu or the adjacent corona radiata. In one patient, there was a small infarct in the bulbar motor cortex. Dysarthria was transient and characterized by poor articulation in all cases. Five patients also had contralateral facial weakness, and three patients with lesions in the genu had minimal and transient involvement of the contralateral fingers. These three cases appeared to be variants of the dysarthria-clumsy hand syndrome. We submit that this syndrome should sometimes be regarded as a stroke syndrome rather than always as a lacunar syndrome.     

Intravenous immunoglobulin for acute exacerbation of fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonias

Background and aim:Acute exacerbation (AE) of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal condition with no established treatment. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a unique therapy with both anti-inflammatory and anti-infective effects. Therefore, we hypothesized that IVIG may have a positive effect on AE of interstitial pneumonia. This study aimed to determine the effect of IVIG in patients with AE of fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs), including IPF.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients who were diagnosed with AE of fibrotic IIPs and treated with pulse corticosteroid therapy (methylprednisolone 500–1000 mg/day for 3 days) between April 2018 and May 2021 at Kagawa Rosai Hospital and KKR Takamatsu Hospital.Results:This study included 52 patients with AE of fibrotic IIPs (IPF,41; fibrotic IIPs other than IPF,11). Thirteen patients received IVIG (5 g/day for 3–5 days) concurrently with pulse corticosteroid therapy. The remaining 39 patients were assigned to the control group. The survival rate on day 90 was significantly higher in the IVIG group than that in the control group (76.9% vs. 38.5%, p = 0.02). IVIG administration (odds ratio [OR], 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02–0.69; p = 0.02) and C- reactive protein (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06–1.33, p < 0.01) were independently associated with 90-day mortality.Conclusions:The results indicate that administration of IVIG may improve the survival of patients with AE of fibrotic IIPs. We are now conducting a prospective study to confirm the effect of IVIG on AE of IPF since May 2022 (jRCT1061220010).     

Immunological assay of the CA-125 value in pleural effusion in various types of pleuritis--its application as a differential diagnostic parameter of tuberculous or carcinomatous pleuritis

We measured the CA-125 value in the peripheral blood and pleural effusion of 85 patients with various types of pleural effusion using an immunoradiometric assay with a monoclonal antibody (CA-125 radioimmunoassay kit). In pleuritis with primary lung cancer, the positive rate of the CA-125 value in the peripheral blood was 53.6%. The CA-125 value in tuberculous pleural effusion was significantly lower than that in carcinomatous pleural effusion (p less than 0.02). Accordingly, this assay of CA-125 in the pleural effusion is useful in the differential diagnosis of whether the pleural effusion is tuberculous or carcinomatous.     

The co-expression of VR1 and VRL-1 in the rat vagal sensory ganglia

Immunohistochemistry for two nociceptive transducers, the vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1) and vanilloid receptor 1-like receptor (VRL-1), was performed on the vagal sensory ganglia. In the jugular ganglion, VR1-immunoreactive (IR) neurons were small to medium-sized (range 49.7–1125.6 μm², mean±S.D. 407.7±219.7 μm²), whereas VRL-1-IR neurons were medium-sized to large (range 223.6–1341.1 μm², mean±S.D. 584.3±253.5 μm²). In the nodose ganglion, VR1- and VRL-1-IR neurons were mostly small to medium-sized (VR1: range 148.5–1464.4 μm², mean±S.D. 554.3±207.4 μm²; VRL-1: range 161.7–1166.2 μm², mean±S.D. 541.9±186.2 μm²). The double immunofluorescence method revealed that co-expression of VR1-immunoreactivity among VRL-1-IR neurons was more abundant in the nodose ganglion (63%) than in the jugular ganglion (4%). The present study suggests that co-expression of VR1 and VRL-1 may be more common in visceral sensory neurons than in somatic sensory neurons.