Granulocyte function is stimulated by a novel hexapeptide, WKYMVm, in chemotherapy-treated cancer patients

Bacterial infections are major life-threatening complications in patients receiving cytotoxic drugs. These infections generally occur during periods of neutropenia. It has been suggested that the incidence of neutropenia correlates with the incidence of infections. A synthetic hexapeptide, WKYMVm, which stimulates phosphoinositide hydrolysis in leukocytes, has been shown to activate microbicidal activities of human polymorphonuclear neutrophils. In this study, we evaluate whether WKYMVm stimulates bactericidal activity in neutrophils obtained from patients who received chemotherapy for solid tumors when they were neutropenic. Eight patients and 11 healthy controls were recruited for the study. Patient neutrophils, on day 0 and at 2 weeks after chemotherapy, were collected. Expression of the WKYMVm peptide receptor, on leukocytes, was analyzed by fluorescein-activated cell sorting. Neutrophil bactericidal assays were performed using both reactive oxygen species generation and intracellular killing. Expression of the WKYMVm peptide receptor on leukocytes showed no difference in the treated patients compared to healthy controls. WKYMVm increased bactericidal activities, in a dose-dependent fashion, of control neutrophils compared to treated patient neutrophils obtained on day 0. WKYMVm markedly stimulated bactericidal activity of treated patient neutrophils obtained at 2 weeks after chemotherapy compared to treated patient neutrophils obtained on day 0. WKYMVm augmented neutrophil bactericidal activity was noted at low concentration but was suppressed at higher concentrations of 5-fluorouracil. WKYMVm augmented neutrophil bactericidal activity was not suppressed by cisplatin. WKYMVm has the potential for increasing neutrophil bactericidal activity in chemotherapy-treated cancer patients.     

Assessment of the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using a cDNA standard for human group A rotavirus

Nucleic acid amplification techniques are used frequently for rapid diagnosis of viral diseases. In this study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction protocol that uses primers specific for the viral VP4 gene and the commercial SYBR Green reagent were evaluated for the quantitative measurement of human rotavirus (HRV) RNA in human stool specimens. SYBR Green I detection involved analysis of the melting temperature of the PCR product and measurement of fluorescence at the optimum temperature. The assay resulted in a sensitive and reproducible detection of targets ranging from low (<10(2)rotavirus cDNA copies/reaction) to high numbers (>10(6)rotavirus cDNA copies/reaction). No cross-reaction was found with crude cell culture stocks of coxsackievirus, echovirus, poliovirus, hepatitis A virus and adenovirus. Analysis with the HRV cDNA standard demonstrated high reproducibility with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.2-0.9%. Daily performance among three different laboratories showed a CV no greater than 8%, indicating an intermediate level of variation. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this method for quantitative analysis of human rotavirus in clinical samples.     

GSTM1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms as potential factors for modifying the effect of smoking on inflammatory response

Inflammation has been known to be an important underlying condition for development of various diseases including cancer. The aims of this study were to investigate whether tobacco smoke exposure increases the level of inflammation biomarkers and the GSTM1 and GSTP1 gene polymorphisms are associated with inflammatory response due to tobacco smoke exposure. We measured urinary cotinine level in 300 healthy university students. Total serum TNF-alpha levels and blood WBC counts were determined to evaluate inflammatory response. Allelic loss of the GSTM1 and the GSTP1 (Ile105Val) polymorphism were determined by PCR and RFLP. Tobacco smoke exposure was found to be associated with increase of both TNF-alpha level and WBC count. Particularly, smokers with combination of GSTM1 null and GSTP1 AG or GG genotypes showed higher TNF-alpha level than those with the other genotype combinations (p=0.07). This result suggests that smoking may induce inflammation measured as TNF-alpha level or WBC count and combinations of the GSTM1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms may modify the effect of smoking on serum TNF-alpha level.     

Prevalence of depression and correlates of depressive symptoms for residents in the urban part of Jeju Island, Korea

AIMS: This study examined the prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms, and the correlates of depressive symptoms, and proposes some methods for reducing risk of depression in residents of the urban part of Jeju Island in Korea. METHODS: In all, 1050 residents were selected using multiphasic cluster sampling to represent each district. Of the 981 respondents, 413 were men and 568 were women. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to evaluate depression (CES-D score over 25) and depressive symptoms (CES-D score over 21). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed for comparisons. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression in males and females was comparable, at 9.47 and 11.36%, respectively. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in men was 15.01%, while in women the level rose to 18.37%. Those with high self-assessed level of stress scores were significantly more likely to have depressive symptoms than those with low self-assessed level of stress scores (odds ratio (OR) = 5.73 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.29-25.36)). Residents at high risk of problem drinking (CAGE score over 3) were significantly more likely to have depressive symptoms than those with a CAGE score under 1 (OR = 3.43 95% CI, 1.77-6.66). Respondents who slept poorly had more depressive symptoms than respondents who slept well (OR = 2.11 95% CI, 1.37-3.23). Females were significantly more likely to have more depressive symptoms than males (OR = 1.70 95% CI, 1.08-2.68). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms in urban Jeju Island is similar to that in a nation-wide sample. By providing intensive mental health services to those who have high stress levels, problem drinking, and poor health behavior, early detection of depressive symptoms in the community will be important for improving general health status.     

Adapting a cognitive behavioral program in treating alcohol dependence in South Korea

PURPOSE. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of the traditional Korean moral behavioral-cognitive approach treatment for promoting insight in patients with alcohol dependence. METHOD. Data were collected from 22 participants and 22 nonparticipants. The program consisted of daily practices of self-control and reflection, and weekly feedback sessions. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests, among others. RESULT. There was statistically significant promotion of insight, especially in control/dependence insight, after treatment. CONCLUSION. The therapeutic intervention, considering the sociocultural factors, could be more effective in promoting insight in clients with alcohol dependence.     

Long-Term Outcomes of Hemispheric Disconnection in Pediatric Patients with Intractable Epilepsy

Background and Purpose

Hemispherectomy reportedly produces remarkable results in terms of seizure outcome and quality of life for medically intractable hemispheric epilepsy in children. We reviewed the neuroradiologic findings, pathologic findings, epilepsy characteristics, and clinical long-term outcomes in pediatric patients following a hemispheric disconnection.

Methods

We retrospectively studied 12 children (8 males) who underwent a hemispherectomy at Asan Medical Center between 1997 and 2005. Clinical, EEG, neuroradiological, and surgical data were collected. Long-term outcomes for seizure, motor functions, and cognitive functions were evaluated at a mean follow-up of 12.7 years (range, 7.6-16.2 years) after surgery.

Results

The mean age at epilepsy onset was 3.0 years (range, 0-7.6 years). The following epilepsy syndromes were identified in our cohort: focal symptomatic epilepsy (n=8), West syndrome (n=3), and Rasmussen''s syndrome (n=1). Postoperative histopathology of our study patients revealed malformation of cortical development (n=7), encephalomalacia as a sequela of infarction or trauma (n=3), Sturge-Weber syndrome (n=1), and Rasmussen''s encephalitis (n=1). The mean age at surgery was 6.5 years (range, 0.8-12.3 years). Anatomical or functional hemispherectomy was performed in 8 patients, and hemispherotomy was performed in 4 patients. Eight of our 12 children (66.7%) were seizure-free, but 3 patients with perioperative complications showed persistent seizure. Although all patients had preoperative hemiparesis and developmental delay, none had additional motor or cognitive deficits after surgery, and most achieved independent walking and improvement in daily activities.

Conclusions

The long-term clinical outcomes of hemispherectomy in children with intractable hemispheric epilepsy are good when careful patient selection and skilled surgical approaches are applied.