The WW Domain and its Proline-Rich Ligand in Alzheimer's Disease and Muscular Dystrophy

Distant migration of malignant cells or metastasis is considered one of the hallmarks of tumour progression and makes cancer a most deadly disease. The elevated expression of osteopontin (OPN), a metastasis-associated small integrin-binding ligand N-linked glycoprotein family member has been observed in several cancers and, thus, this protein is considered as a potent prognostic marker during tumour progression. OPN regulates a series of signalling cascades and augments the expression of several oncogenic molecules. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanism and the signalling pathways by which OPN promotes tumorigenesis may be helpful in designing a novel anticancer therapy. At present, the role of OPN in regulating cancer progression is the subject of intense investigation and targeting OPN might be an appropriate therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer. This review is focused on OPN-based anticancer therapy, which may provide a new dimension for the successful treatment of cancer.     

Expression of tenascin and nucleolar organizer region in ameloblastoma and ameloblastic fibroma

J Oral Pathol Med (2010) 39 : 223–229 Background: The aim of this study was to assess the expression, distribution and comparison of tenascin, a glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix in ameloblastoma and ameloblastic fibroma, both odontogenic neoplasms with diverse biological behavior and to understand the proliferative activity by using the morphometric analysis. Methods: Paraffin embedded tissue from 25 cases of odontogenic tumors i.e., ameloblastoma (n = 15) and ameloblastic fibroma (n = 10) were used. The expression of tenascin was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. Morphometric analysis of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) from ameloblastoma and ameloblastic fibroma was carried out by silver staining. Results: A heterogeneous expression of tenascin was found in ameloblastoma which was mainly localized at the epithelial–mesenchymal interface and a patchy distribution was observed in the stroma (80%), while strong positivity was observed in the stroma and at the basement membrane zone of ameloblastic fibroma (100%). argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) revealed higher mean counts in ameloblastoma (3.093 ± 0.902) when compared with those of ameloblastic fibroma (1.553 ± 0.250). Ameloblastoma presented more than two NORs (two to five) per nucleus in majority of the cells, while ameloblastic fibroma exhibited only one NORs per nucleus. Conclusions: Expression of tenascin in these neoplasms suggest that it could play a role in epithelial‐ mesenchymal interaction, while AgNORs reveal that ameloblastomas are more aggressive when compared with ameloblastic fibromas.     

Serum Lysozyme Levels and Clinical Features of Sarcoidosis

Serum lysozyme is used as a marker of sarcoidosis disease activity. In this study we examined the association between lysozyme levels and the clinical features of sarcoidosis and thus the clinical usability of this parameter in a large population. One hundred ten sarcoidosis patients from central Japan were examined for clinical features and serum lysozyme level at the first visit to our hospital and on a regular basis thereafter. The sensitivity of lysozyme for predicting sarcoidosis was 79.1%, whereas that of serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) was 59.0%. Even in the cases without an elevated serum ACE level, a value of 72.1% was obtained. The serum lysozyme level demonstrated a significant tendency to increase with the number of organs involved (p < 0.01). There were significant differences among the four radiographic stages (p < 0.05). The maximum serum lysozyme levels of patients without a disappearance of abnormal shadows on chest radiography within 5 years were significantly greater than those of individuals with a disappearance (p < 0.05). A positive correlation between serum lysozyme and serum ACE levels was observed. Because serum lysozyme is much less specific for sarcoidosis than serum ACE, its diagnostic value may be limited. However, the sensitivity was high even when serum ACE levels were within normal limits and correlated well with clinical features in sarcoidosis. Therefore, this parameter seems suitable for disease monitoring in proven cases. Accepted for publication: 19 November 1998     

联合检测ADA、CA125和CEA对结核性与恶性胸腔积液的诊断价值

目的 探讨联合检测胸腔积液中腺苷脱氨酶(ADA)、糖类抗原125(CA125)和癌胚抗原(CEA)对结核性与恶性积液的鉴别诊断价值.方法 采用酶连续监测法和化学发光免疫分析法检测82例结核性积液及56例恶性胸腔积液中ADA、CA125和CEA的水平,并对检测结果进行综合分析.结果 结核性胸腔积液中平均ADA含量明显高于恶性胸腔积液,而CEA和CA125平均水平明显低于恶性胸腔积液(P＜O.05).以ADA＞40U/L为临界值,对结核性积液的敏感性、特异性和准确性分别为82.8％,80.4％和81.7％.以CA125＞35U/ml和CEA＞5μg/L为临界值,对恶性积液诊断的敏感性分别为82.6％和71.7％,特异性分别为58.8％和82.8％,准确性分别为65.4％和76.0％;联合检测CA125和CEA诊断恶性胸腔积液的敏感性和准确性分别为93.5％和81.7％,显著高于单一检测项目(P＜O.05).结论 联合检测胸腔积液中ADA、CEA和CA125对早期鉴别诊断结核性与恶性胸水的有重要参考价值.     

Effect of clarithromycin on airway obstruction and inflammatory markers in induced sputum in cystic fibrosis: a pilot study.

To determine whether macrolide antibiotics improve pulmonary function and decrease airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF), we treated 10 patients (females; aged 19-26 years, all colonized with P. aeruginosa, none with atypical Mycobacteria) with 3 weeks of placebo, followed by 6 weeks of clarithromycin (500 mg BID) in a single-blind prospective study. We also determined the safety of sputum induction and the reproducibility of assessing inflammatory markers in induced sputum. Subjects performed spirometry and underwent sputum induction (12-min inhalation of 3% saline) at 3-week intervals. We found that sputum induction was well-tolerated. We also found that the reproducibility was high for neutrophil (PMN) number (R = 0.87, P = 0.009), interleukin (IL)-8 (R = 0.73, P < 0.05, free neutrophil elastase (NE) (R = 0.82, P < 0.05), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels (R = 0.86, P < 0.05), but was less so for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (R = -0.15, P = 0.7). We found no significant difference in pulmonary function after 6 weeks of treatment with clarithromycin (FEV(1) (% predicted) (mean +/- SEM), 2.2 +/- 0.9 (60 +/- 24%) vs. 2.3 +/- 1 (61 +/- 29%)), and no significant differences in any of the inflammatory indices measured. The median (and range) values before and after treatment for indices of airway inflammation in the induced sputum samples were: for PMNs, 8 (1-326) and 21 (0.2 -175) x 10(6) cells/mL sputum; for IL-8, 156 (24-656) and 202 (16-680) ng/mL; for free NE, 260 (31-1,264) and 237 (49-1,048) microg/mL; for TNF-alpha, 20 (7-128) and 35 (17-87) pg/mL; and for MPO, 169 (13-960) and 195 (14-816) microg/mL. We conclude that clarithromycin is not uniformly effective in improving airway obstruction or in decreasing airway inflammation in patients with CF.     

Association of distal chromosome 2q with IDDM in Japanese subjects

Summary An insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM)-susceptibility gene (IDDM13) has recently been mapped to a region of distal chromosome 2q, which is syntenic to the region of mouse chromosome 1 containing a murine susceptibility gene for IDDM, Idd5. To determine the contribution of this region to IDDM disease susceptibility further and to narrow the region for positional cloning of susceptibility genes, we have studied the association of distal chromosome 2q with IDDM in the genetically distinct Japanese population. A 137 mobility unit (mu) allele at D2S137 locus was significantly associated with IDDM (odds ratio 1.92, p = 0.0016). Other markers, D2S301 and D2S143, located in the same region were not associated with IDDM, indicating that IDDM13 is in linkage disequilibrium with D2S137, but not with D2S301 or D2S143. The association of D2S137 with IDDM was observed in patients lacking one of two high risk HLA alleles, DQB1 ^* 0303 and DQB1 ^* 0401, but not in patients with either of these alleles. The frequency of high risk HLA alleles was significantly lower in patients with the susceptible allele at D2S137, suggesting that IDDM13 contributes to IDDM susceptibility in subjects without high risk genotypes at IDDM1. Demonstration of allelic association of D2S137 with IDDM localizes IDDM13 in the close vicinity (< 2 centiMorgans) of D2S137, greatly facilitating fine structure mapping and positional cloning of IDDM13. [Diabetologia (1998) 41: 228–232] Received: 27 March 1997 and in revised form: 3 October 1997     

绝经后女性骨标志物与骨质疏松症的相关性研究

目的:探讨绝经后女性骨代谢标志物与骨质疏松之间的关系.方法:双能X线骨密度仪测定患者股骨的骨密度(BMD),计算其BMD与正常年轻人的骨峰值比值(以t值表示),并按照骨密度值将120例患者分为63例非骨质疏松组和57例骨质疏松组.选用瑞士罗氏诊断公司COBAS6000全自动电化学发光免疫分析仪,测定骨代谢标志物总骨I型前胶原N端肽(PINP)、血清骨钙素(N-MID)和β胶原特殊序列(β-crosslaps)的水平.结果:PINP、N-MID和β-crosslaps水平骨质疏松组均高于非骨质疏松组;两组患者的BMD、PINP、N-MID和β-crosslaps水平之间均具有统计学差异(P＜0.05).结论:绝经后女性的骨代谢标志物与骨质疏松的发生关系密切,血清中P1NP、N-MID、B-Crosslaps可作为诊断绝经后妇女骨质疏松症的理想生化指标.     

重组人血管内皮抑素介入栓塞治疗对肝癌恶性生物学行为的影响

目的:研究重组人血管内皮抑素介入栓塞治疗对肝癌恶性生物学行为的影响.方法:选取本院收治的80例原发性肝癌患者纳入研究,随机分为两组,观察组接受重组人血管内皮抑素+吉西他滨+奥沙利铂介入栓塞化疗,对照组接受吉西他滨+奥沙利铂介入栓塞化疗,比较两组血清肿瘤标志物含量、增殖和黏附分子含量以及外周血中免疫分子含量.结果:(1)肿瘤标志物:观察组血清高尔基体蛋白73(GP73)、缺氧诱导因子-1α(HIF-1α)、DDK1含量低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);(2)增殖和黏附分子:观察组血清Polo样激酶1(Plk1)、可溶性细胞间黏附分子-1(sICAM-1)、CD44v含量低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);(3)免疫分子:观察组外周血中Th1/Th2比例高于对照组、Treg/Th17比例低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).结论:重组人血管内皮抑素介入栓塞治疗有助于杀灭肝癌细胞、抑制细胞增殖和黏附、增强细胞免疫功能,是治疗原发性肝癌的理想方法.