Overweight and obesity as risk factors for biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy

International Journal of Clinical Oncology - Previous studies have shown a relationship between the occurrence and recurrence of prostate cancer; however, this relationship remains controversial....     

Video capsule endoscopy for previous overt obscure gastrointestinal bleeding in patients using anti‐thrombotic drugs

Background and Aim: Little is known about the causes of overt obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) in patients using anti‐thrombotic therapy. We aimed to describe video capsule endoscopy (VCE) findings and to identify factors associated with positive findings in these patients. Methods: We carried out a retrospective study of 56 patients who underwent VCE for evaluation of previous overt OGIB during anti‐thrombotic therapy. VCE studies were re‐evaluated by a gastroenterologist blinded to clinical details. Clinical data included in the multivariate analysis were sex, age, indication for and type of anti‐thrombotic therapy, hemodynamic instability on admission, type of blood loss, hemoglobin on admission, use of a proton pump inhibitor, NSAID use, time between bleeding episodes and VCE, and whether or not anti‐thrombotic therapy was resumed before the VCE study. Results: A probable cause for gastrointestinal bleeding was identified in 28 (50%) of the 56 studies. Angiodysplasia was found in 19 patients. Twenty‐two studies showed a possible cause in the small bowel. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that reinstitution of anti‐thrombotic therapy before VCE was carried out was the only independent predictor of positive VCE findings (OR: 8.61, 95% CI: 1.20–60.42, P = 0.032). Conclusions: Small intestinal angiodysplasia was the most common cause for overt OGIB. Reinstitution of withdrawn anti‐thrombotic drugs before the VCE examination was carried out was associated with positive VCE findings in multivariate analysis.     

A case of primary small cell carcinoma arising from the common bile duct]

Small cell carcinoma is usually seen in the lung, but rarely involves the gastrointestinal tract including biliary tract. A 65 year-old man was admitted because of obstructive jaundice. A smooth-surfaced round intraluminal mass with proximal bile duct dilatation was seen in the proximal common bile duct on endoscopic retrograde cholangiogram. Under the diagnosis of bile duct cancer, pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy was done. Pathology revealed a 2 cm sized small cell carcinoma in the proximal common bile duct and distal common hepatic duct. On immunohistochemical stain, the tumor cells were positive for neuroendocrine markers CD56 and synaptophysin. After surgery, the patient received 5 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy with VIP (etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin) regimen. However, the patient died of liver metastasis 12 months after the diagnosis. We report a case of extrapulmonary small cell carcinoma arising from the common bile duct.     

Carrier detection in hemophilia A: a cooperative international study. I. The carrier phenotype

Eight laboratories in six countries cooperated to clarify several issues concerning the phenotypes of heterozygous carriers of hemophilia "A." Plasma levels of factor VIII (F.VIII:C, formerly VIII:C) and von Willebrand factor (VWF:Ag, formerly VIIIR:Ag) of carriers and normal women were determined by various "in-house" methods; a single lyophilized plasma standard was used for all assays. Analysis of the collated data from 336 carriers (296 obligatory carriers and 40 sporadic carriers) and 137 normal women showed that there was no difference in the F.VIII:C levels of "paternal" carriers (women who had obtained the abnormal gene from their fathers) and "maternal" carriers. Neither was there a difference in the VWF:Ag levels of normal women and either type of carrier. Age was found to have a significant effect on both F.VIII:C and VWF:Ag, values being higher at very young and very old ages, the minima occurring in the 25- to 30-year range. ABO blood type had a striking effect. Women of types A, B, and AB (designated non- O in the study), both normals and carriers, had significantly higher levels of both factors than did women of type O. Analysis by laboratories showed that differences in mean levels of both factors between laboratories were highly significant. It was concluded that age, ABO blood type, and laboratory variation should be taken into account in carrier detection.     

A Novel Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Correction Method for Mitochondrial Ca2+ Measurement with FURA-2-FF in Single Permeabilized Ventricular Myocytes of Rat

Fura-2 analogs are ratiometric fluoroprobes that are widely used for the quantitative measurement of [Ca²⁺]. However, the dye usage is intrinsically limited, as the dyes require ultraviolet (UV) excitation, which can also generate great interference, mainly from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) autofluorescence. Specifically, this limitation causes serious problems for the quantitative measurement of mitochondrial [Ca²⁺], as no available ratiometric dyes are excited in the visible range. Thus, NADH interference cannot be avoided during quantitative measurement of [Ca²⁺] because the majority of NADH is located in the mitochondria. The emission intensity ratio of two different excitation wavelengths must be constant when the fluorescent dye concentration is the same. In accordance with this principle, we developed a novel online method that corrected NADH and Fura-2-FF interference. We simultaneously measured multiple parameters, including NADH, [Ca²⁺], and pH/mitochondrial membrane potential; Fura-2-FF for mitochondrial [Ca²⁺] and TMRE for Ψ_m or carboxy-SNARF-1 for pH were used. With this novel method, we found that the resting mitochondrial [Ca²⁺] concentration was 1.03 µM. This 1 µM cytosolic Ca²⁺ could theoretically increase to more than 100 mM in mitochondria. However, the mitochondrial [Ca²⁺] increase was limited to ~30 µM in the presence of 1 µM cytosolic Ca²⁺. Our method solved the problem of NADH signal contamination during the use of Fura-2 analogs, and therefore the method may be useful when NADH interference is expected.