Altered central micro-opioid receptor binding after psychological trauma.

BACKGROUND: Functional neuroimaging studies have detected abnormal limbic and paralimbic activation to emotional probes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but few studies have examined neurochemical mechanisms that underlie functional alterations in regional cerebral blood flow. The mu-opioid neurotransmitter system, implicated in responses to stress and suppression of pain, is distributed in and is thought to regulate the function of brain regions that are implicated in affective processing. METHODS: Here we examined the micro-opioid system with positron emission tomography and the micro-opioid receptor-selective radiotracer [11C] carfentanil in 16 male patients with PTSD and two non-PTSD male control groups, with (n = 14) and without combat exposure (n = 15). Differences in micro-opioid receptor binding potential (BP2) were detected within discrete limbic and paralimbic regions. RESULTS: Relative to healthy controls, both trauma-exposed groups had lower micro-opioid receptor BP2 in extended amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and dorsal frontal and insular cortex but had higher BP2 in the orbitofrontal cortex. PTSD patients exhibited reduced BP2 in anterior cingulate cortex compared with both control groups. Micro-opioid receptor BP2 in combat-exposed subjects without PTSD was lower in the amygdala but higher in the orbitofrontal cortex compared with both PTSD patients and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings differentiate the general response of the micro-opioid system to trauma from more specific changes associated with PTSD.     

赛赓啶对 KBV200细胞多药抗性的逆转作用

研究赛赓啶对KB_V200细胞多药抗性的逆转作用及逆转机制。在KB_V200细胞,采用MTT法,测出赛赓啶对长春新碱、阿霉素和鬼臼乙叉甙耐药的逆转系数分别为5.5,2.0和1.9,而对5-氟尿嘧啶、美法仑的细胞毒性作用无明显影响,表明赛赓啶为多药抗性逆转剂。荧光分光光度法测定表明,赛赓啶可使KB_V200细胞内阿霉素蓄积量增加。流式细胞荧光测定显示赛赓啶可增加罗丹明123的蓄积并减慢其外排。免疫细胞化学及狭缝杂交表明赛赓啶不影响KB_V200细胞的P-糖蛋白染色深度和 mdr1 RNA 表达水平。以上结果提示赛赓啶的多药抗性逆转机制是抑制P-糖蛋白泵的功能。     

Overexpression/amplification of HER-2/neu is uncommon in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND： Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is one of the most prevalent fatal cancers in the world. Despite advances in early diagnosis and improvements in surgical techniques, the survival of patients with HCC even after resection is poor because of the high incidence of recurrences. Therefore, the identification of prognostic factors may be helpful in the development of new treatment protocols. AIMS： To investigate HER-2/neu status in HCC by immunohistochemistry （IHC） and fluorescence in situ hybridisation （FISH）, and to explore the possibility of using trastuzumab in the treatment of HCC. METH ODS： Eight hundred and sixty eight surgical samples from patients with primary HCC were examined for their HER-2/neu status. IHC for HER-2/neu was performed with the HercepTest kit; FISH analysis was performed with the PathVysion HER-2 DNA probe kit. The correlations between HER-2/neu overexpression and clinicopathological characteristics were analysed statistically. RESULTS： HER-2/neu overexpression was detected in 21 （2.42%） of the 868 primary HCCs. Only one specimen showed HER-2/neu gene amplification by FISH. No significant associations were found between HER-2/neu overexpression and the clinicopathological parameters. CONCLUSIONS： There is a low frequency of HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification in HCC. There appears to be no role for HER-2/neu as a prognostic marker and no benefit of anti-HER-2/neu trastuzumab treatment in patients with HCC.     

极外型腰椎间盘突出症的临床特点与神经节位置的相关性研究

目的 探 讨极 外 型腰 椎间 盘 突出 症患 者 的临 床特 点 与神 经节 位 置的 相关 性 方 法:通过 术前 神 经根 造影 : 。确定 受压 神 经根 的背 根 神经 节的 位 置,根 据 其神 经节 的 位置 ,将 27 例极 外侧 腰 椎间 盘突 出 症患 者 分为 三 组 :椎管内 组,5 例;椎间 孔内 组 ,15 例 ;椎 间孔 外组 ,7 例 。分 别比 较神 经 节的 位置 与 临床 参数 ,如 受压 神 经根 的水 平 ,直腿 抬高 试 验的 度数 ,术 前和 术 后症 状(腿痛 ,下 腰痛 和 行走 能力 )及 体 征(感 觉 和运 动障 碍 )的 严重 程 度 及 与恢复率 之间 的 关系 。结 果:与椎 管 内和 椎间 孔 内组 相比 ,椎 间孔 外 组患 者直 腿 抬高 试验 的 度数 较低 ,下 腰 痛的 程度较轻 ,术 前的 腿痛 明 显重 ,而 行走 能 力低 于椎 管 内和 椎间 孔 组。 背根 神 经节 的位 置 与术 前的 感 觉和 运 动 障 碍以及手 术效 果 没有 明显 差 异。结论 :神 经节 的 位置 会影 响 极外 型腰 椎 间盘 突出 患 者根 性症 状 (腿痛 和 行走 能力 )的严重 程度 。     

Psychosocial factors associated with poor diabetes self-care management in a specialized Center in Mexico City

To examine the relationship between demographic, clinical and psychosocial variables and diabetes self-care management in Mexican type 2 diabetic patients. Cross-sectional study of 176 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes aged 30-75 years, attending a tertiary health-care center in Mexico City. A brief medical history and previously validated questionnaires were completed. The study group consisted of 64 males/112 females, aged 55 +/- 11 years, mean diabetes duration of 12 +/- 8 years and HbA1c of 9.0 +/- 2.0%, 78.4% reported following the correct dose of diabetes pills or insulin, 58% ate the recommended food portions, and 44.3% did exercise three or more times per week. A good adherence to these three recommendations was observed in only 26.1% of the patients. These patients considered as a group were characterized by a greater knowledge about the disease (P < 0.00001), regular home blood glucose monitoring (P < 0.01), an inner perception of better diabetes control (P = 0.007), good health (P = 0.004) and better communication with their physician (P < 0.02). A poor adherence to two or the three main diabetes care recommendations was associated with a depressive state (OR 2.38, 95% CI 1.1-4.9, P < 0.01) and a history of excessive alcohol intake (OR 4.03, 95% CI 1.1-21.0, P = 0.03). Poor adherence to standard diabetes care recommendations is frequently observed in patients with type 2 diabetes attending a specialized health care center in Mexico City. Depression must be identified and treated effectively.     

Real-time refinement of subthalamic nucleus targeting using Bayesian decision-making on the root mean square measure.

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a major target for treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. Microelectrode recording (MER) is used in many cases to identify the target nucleus. A real-time procedure for identifying the entry and exit points of the STN would improve the outcome of this targeting procedure. We used the normalized root mean square (NRMS) of a short (5 seconds) MER sampled signal and the estimated anatomical distance to target (EDT) as the basis for this procedure. Electrode tip location was defined intraoperatively by an expert neurophysiologist to be before, within, or after the STN. Data from 46 trajectories of 27 patients were used to calculate the Bayesian posterior probability of being in each of these locations, given RMS-EDT pair values. We tested our predictions on each trajectory using a bootstrapping technique, with the rest of the trajectories serving as a training set and found the error in predicting the STN entry to be (mean +/- SD) 0.18 +/- 0.84, and 0.50 +/- 0.59 mm for STN exit point, which yields a 0.30 +/- 0.28 mm deviation from the expert's target center. The simplicity and computational ease of RMS calculation, its spike sorting-independent nature and tolerance to electrode parameters of this Bayesian predictor, can lead directly to the development of a fully automated intraoperative physiological procedure for the refinement of imaging estimates of STN borders.     

Changing patterns of abnormal vascular wall F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on follow-up PET/CT studies.

BACKGROUND: Fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake may be increased in atherosclerotic plaques in asymptomatic patients. Repeat positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) studies were assessed for changes in patterns of FDG uptake and CT calcifications. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty consecutive cancer patients (mean age, 68 +/- 8 years) had repeat PET/CT studies 8 to 26 months apart. PET, CT, and PET/CT images were retrospectively evaluated for vascular wall abnormalities and for interval changes in the thoracic and abdominal aortas, as well as in carotid and iliac arteries, classified as PET+/CT+, PET+/CT-, and PET-/CT+. There were 485 abnormal sites in the first study and 495 in the second. CT calcifications were found in 46 patients (92%) in the first study and in 47 (94%) in the second. Vascular wall FDG uptake was found in both studies in 37 patients (74%). The pattern changed in 57 of 119 PET+ sites (48%) in the second study compared with 15 of 366 PET- sites (4%) (P < .0001). In the second study new PET+ sites were observed in 36 of 111 sites (32%) versus new PET-/CT+ sites in 19 of 384 sites (5%) (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in vascular FDG activity and CT calcifications can be assessed by repeat PET/CT. FDG-avid foci may represent a dynamic process, transient inflammation, whereas CT calcifications may indicate stable atherosclerosis. These preliminary results support the need for further research.     

Developmental regulation of annexin II (Lipocortin 2) in human brain and expression in high grade glioma.

In experiments to identify molecules that might be important in the pathogenesis of glioblastoma multiforme, the most common malignant brain tumor, we found that annexin II (Lipocortin 2, p36), a likely second messenger in several different mitogenic pathways, was highly expressed in tumor tissue of glioblastoma multiforme (9 of 9) and highly anaplastic astrocytoma (2 of 6), but not in astrocytomas of lower pathological grade (0 of 6). We also detected high levels of annexin II expression in fetal brain during the period when radial glia proliferate, although annexin II expression was not detected in normal adult brain. These data demonstrate that annexin II expression is developmentally regulated in the human central nervous system and suggest that the early progenitor radial glia share important characteristics with highly malignant glial tumors.     

Ga-67 uptake unsuppressed by leukopenia and intense antibiotic therapy.

The authors describe a patient with myelofibrosis who showed intense Ga-67 uptake in spite of being severely leukopenic and receiving large amounts of antibiotics. They conclude that false-negative results associated with leukopenia or intensive antibiotic treatment may not always be correct.