Low Phase Angle Is Correlated With Worse General Condition in Patients with Advanced Cancer

Objectives: Phase angle (PA) is a poor prognostic factor in patients with advanced cancer. This study aimed to identify possible correlations between PA and symptoms, quality of life, fluid retention, and laboratory data in cancer patients in palliative care settings.

Methods: Individuals who visited the outpatient clinic or were admitted to the palliative care unit were eligible. Patients with a performance status of 4 and/or those unable to complete questionnaires were excluded. PA was evaluated using a bioanalyzer device. The correlation coefficient between PA and the variables of interest was analyzed.

Results: A total of 102 patients were analyzed. PA was weakly correlated with age (ρ = ?0.22), performance status (ρ = ?0.30), functional well-being (ρ?=?0.20), anorexia/cachexia subscale (ρ?=?0.22), and Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy trial outcome index (ρ?=?0.26). PA was also correlated with fluid retention (ρ = ?0.34) and albumin (ρ?=?0.32), C-reactive protein (ρ = ?0.31), and hemoglobin (ρ?=?0.41) levels. Sub-analysis stratified according to sex revealed that males demonstrated the same results; however, female sex demonstrated a correlation between PA and social well-being (ρ = ?0.43).

Conclusions: PA was correlated with physical condition, but not with psychological well-being.     

Gastric volvulus and giant Bochdalek hernia in an adult patient that were safely repaired by endoscopic reduction and elective laparoscopic surgery

A Bochdalek hernia (BH) is a congenital abnormality with incomplete closure of the diaphragm. It is usually manifested in infants but rarely in adults. Here, we report an adult patient with gastric volvulus and giant BH that were safely repaired by endoscopic reduction and elective laparoscopic surgery, respectively. A 79-year-old woman presented with left upper abdominal pain but no history of trauma. CT revealed a giant BH with gastric volvulus. After emergency endoscopic reduction of the volvulus, elective laparoscopic repair of the BH was performed. The 8 × 8-cm defect was repaired with interrupted nonabsorbable sutures and a mesh. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and no complications or recurrence were observed in the 6 months that followed.     

NEW DEVICE TO PERFORM COAGULATION AND IRRIGATION SIMULTANEOUSLY DURING ENDOSCOPIC SUBMUCOSAL DISSECTION USING AN INSULATION‐TIPPED ELECTROSURGICAL KNIFE

Background: Although bleeding is an unavoidable complication of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), endoscopic hemostasis using an insulation‐tipped electrosurgical knife (IT) knife is impossible because an insulator is mounted at the tip of the knife. We have developed a new type of hood which could perform both coagulation and irrigation simultaneously. Methods: Our new device was fabricated by drilling a side hole in the cap portion of a conventional transparent hood followed by attaching a machined papillotomy knife to the exterior surface of the hole. Results: Our new hood was useful for hemorrhage during ESD using IT knife. Conclusions: With this method, endoscopic hemostasis using IT knife is easy, as hemostatic procedure can be performed under irrigation and coagulation using conventional endoscopy.     

Characterization of peptide components in the venom of the scorpion Liocheles australasiae (Hemiscorpiidae).

Scorpion venoms are composed of a number of neurotoxic peptides. A variety of toxins have been isolated from the venoms of scorpions of the family Buthidae, however, little interest has been paid to non-Buthidae scorpions. In this study, we examined the toxicity of the venom of Liocheles australasiae (Hemiscorpiidae) to mice and crickets, and characterized the peptide components by HPLC and mass spectrometry. Over 200 components were detected in the L. australasiae venom by LC/MS analysis, with components of molecular masses ranging from 500 to 5000 Da being particularly abundant. A number of peptides contained two to four disulfide bridges, which was estimated based on the mass difference after derivatization of Cys residues. A peptide having a monoisotopic molecular mass of 7781.6 Da and four disulfide bridges was isolated from the venom. The peptide has a primary structure similar in terms of the position of eight Cys residues to those observed in several peptides found from scorpions, ticks and insects, although biological roles of these peptides are unknown.     

Pheophytin a, a low molecular weight compound found in the marine brown alga Sargassum fulvellum, promotes the differentiation of PC12 cells

We identified and characterized a neurodifferentiation compound from the marine brown alga Sargassum fulvellum collected from the Japanese coastline. Several instrumental analyses revealed the compound to be pheophytin a. Pheophytin a did not itself promote neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells. However, when PC12 cells were treated with a low concentration of pheophytin a (3.9 microg/ml) in the presence of a low level of nerve growth factor (10 ng/ml), the compound produced neurite outgrowth similar to that produced by a high level of nerve growth factor (50 ng/ml). Pheophytin a also enhanced signal transduction in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, which is also induced by nerve growth factor. The effect of pheophytin a on neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells was completely blocked by U0126, a representative mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor. These results suggest that pheophytin a enhances the neurodifferentiation of PC12 cells in the presence of a low level of nerve growth factor and that this effect is mediated by activation of a mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.     

Immunoelectron microscopy of cell populations in regional and central lymph of sheep

The immunoreactivity and the ultrastructural localization of monoclonal anti-sheep lymphocyte antibodies conjugated with colloidal gold particles were examined in free-floating cells of sheep central lymph from the thoracic duct, postnodal lymph draining either the popliteal nodes or the mesenteric nodes, and prenodal lymph draining the pregnant uterus. The monoclonal antibodies used in this study were SBU-T1 (CD5), SBU-T4 (CD4), SBU-T8 (CD8), SBU-II (anti DR antibody), and E53 which are reported to be sheep homologues of human T1, T4, T8, HLA-DR, and pan B cell antibodies, respectively. Colloidal gold particles were evenly distributed or segmentally aggregated on the surfaces of lymphocytes and macrophages incubated with monoclonal antibodies and in vesicles in the cytoplasm of anti DR antibody labeled macrophages. Not only did CD5 labeled cells show a high percentage in each regional lymph examined, but the percentage of CD4 labeled cells was consistently higher than that of CD8 labeled cells. Moreover, the immunoreactivity of CD8 labeled cells was specific among lymph from the different regions. The sum of the percentages of CD4 and CD8 labeled cells was less than the percentage of CD5 labeled cells, indicating the presence of a minor T cell subpopulation which was CD5+, CD4-, and CD8-. A characteristic finding was a high percentage of CD8 labeled cells and many abnormal eosinophils in uterine prenodal lymph in pregnant sheep. Taken together the results showed that variously labeled immunoreactive cells are distributed somewhat differently in lymph derived from different organ sites.     

Persistent supersensitivity of sigma receptors develops during repeated methamphetamine treatment.

Functional changes in sigma receptors were examined after behavioral sensitization induced by repeated methamphetamine treatment. Rats received either saline or 4 mg/kg methamphetamine for 14 days. (+)3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-N-(1-propyl)piperidine ((+)-3-PPP), a sigma receptor agonist, was given as challenge after various periods of abstinence. (+)-3-PPP at doses greater than 6 mg/kg stimulated several forms of behavior in naive rats. (+)-3-PPP at 12 and 24 mg/kg produced more frequent rearing and more intense stereotyped sniffing and repetitive head movements in rats previously sensitized with methamphetamine than in saline-pretreated rats. The augmented response to (+)-3-PPP in methamphetamine-treated rats was maintained for at least one month. The augmented response to (+)-3-PPP was reversed by the combined administration of 100 mg/kg (+/-)-sulpiride, a D2 dopamine receptor antagonist, and 30 mg/kg BMY 14802, a sigma receptor antagonist. These results suggest that repeated methamphetamine treatment induces persistent supersensitivity in sigma receptors and that it may subsequently activate the dopamine system.     

Simulation for population analysis of Michaelis-Menten elimination kinetics

A simulation study was conducted to compare the cost and performance of various models for population analysis of the steady state pharmacokinetic data arising from a one-compartment model with Michaelis-Menten elimination. The usual Michaelis-Menten model (MM) and its variants provide no estimate of the volume of distribution, and generally give poor estimates of the maximal elimination rate and the Michaelis-Menten constant. The exact solution to the Michaelis-Menten differential equation (TRUE) requires a precise analysis method designed for estimation of population pharmacokinetic parameters (the first-order conditional estimation method) and also considerable computational time to estimate population mean parameters accurately. The one-compartment model with dose-dependent clearance (DDCL), in conjunction with the first-order conditional estimation or Laplacian method, ran approximately 20-fold faster than TRUE and gave accurate population mean parameters for a drug having a long biological half-life relative to the dosing interval. These findings suggest that the well-known MM and its variants should be used carefully for the analysis of blood concentrations of a drug with Michaelis-Menten elimination kinetics, and that TRUE, in conjunction with a precise analysis method, should be considered for estimating population pharmacokinetic parameters. In addition, DDCL is a promising alternative to TRUE with respect to computation time, when the dosing interval is short relative to the biological half-life of a drug. This work was supported in part by the Epilepsy Research Foundation, the Nakatomi Foundation, and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of Japan.     

Anaplastic ganglioglioma with sarcomatous component: An immunohistochemical study and molecular analysis of p53 tumor suppressor gene

The present case report describes a case of ganglioglioma with a distinct sarcomatous component in the left temporal lobe of a 59‐year‐old Japanese man. Neoplastic neuroglial tissue contained both benign and anaplastic glial components with a MIB‐1 labeling index of 0.1% and 12.0%, respectively. Sarcomatous tissue adjacent to the anaplastic glial tissue was dominated by pleomorphic fibroblastic cells with a MIB‐1 labeling index of 10.8%. They were immunoreactive for smooth muscle actin, type IV collagen, and alpha 1 antitrypsin, but not for desmin and CD34. Interestingly, some of the sarcomatous cells were double‐positive for smooth muscle actin and GFAP. The p53 protein had accumulated in the anaplastic astrocytes and sarcomatous cells, but direct DNA sequencing of PCR products failed to detect any mutation in the p53 gene (from exon 4 to exon 10).