Glucose starvation induces resistance to metformin through the elevation of mitochondrial multidrug resistance protein 1

Metformin, a drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus, has shown therapeutic effects for various cancers. However, it had no beneficial effects on the survival rate of human malignant mesothelioma (HMM) patients. The present study was performed to elucidate the underlying mechanism of metformin resistance in HMM cells. Glucose‐starved HMM cells had enhanced resistance to metformin, demonstrated by decreased apoptosis and autophagy and increased cell survival. These cells showed abnormalities in mitochondria, such as decreased ATP synthesis, morphological elongation, altered mitochondrial permeability transition pore and hyperpolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Intriguingly, Mdr1 was significantly upregulated in mitochondria but not in cell membrane. The upregulated mitochondrial Mdr1 was reversed by treatment with carbonyl cyanide m‐chlorophenyl hydrazone, an MMP depolarization inducer. Furthermore, apoptosis and autophagy were increased in multidrug resistance protein 1 knockout HMM cells cultured under glucose starvation with metformin treatment. The data suggest that mitochondrial Mdr1 plays a critical role in the chemoresistance to metformin in HMM cells, which could be a potential target for improving its therapeutic efficacy.     

Improved Diagnostic Sensitivity of Bowel Disease of Prematurity on Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

Bowel diseases of prematurity, including necrotizing enterocolitis, are dreaded ailments of neonates. Early diagnosis is difficult, with clinical and radiographic findings often inconclusive. We present a novel use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in detection of pediatric bowel disease. Early identification of compromised blood flow or an at-risk bowel can be quantitatively detected and monitored. This ability has implications for guidance of emerging therapies, allowing targeting of inflammation. These findings represent an advancement in detection of bowel disease in neonates.     

Coronary Artery Lumen Segmentation Using Location–Adaptive Threshold in Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography: A Proof-of-Concept

ObjectiveTo compare the lumen parameters measured by the location-adaptive threshold method (LATM), in which the inter- and intra-scan attenuation variabilities of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) were corrected, and the scan-adaptive threshold method (SATM), in which only the inter-scan variability was corrected, with the reference standard measurement by intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS).Materials and MethodsThe Hounsfield unit (HU) values of whole voxels and the centerline in each of the cross-sections of the 22 target coronary artery segments were obtained from 15 patients between March 2009 and June 2010, in addition to the corresponding voxel size. Lumen volume was calculated mathematically as the voxel volume multiplied by the number of voxels with HU within a given range, defined as the lumen for each method, and compared with the IVUS-derived reference standard. Subgroup analysis of the lumen area was performed to investigate the effect of lumen size on the studied methods. Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement between the measurements.ResultsLumen volumes measured by SATM was significantly smaller than that measured by IVUS (mean difference, 14.6 mm³; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.9–24.3 mm³); the lumen volumes measured by LATM and IVUS were not significantly different (mean difference, −0.7 mm³; 95% CI, −9.1–7.7 mm³). The lumen area measured by SATM was significantly smaller than that measured by LATM in the smaller lumen area group (mean of difference, 1.07 mm²; 95% CI, 0.89–1.25 mm²) but not in the larger lumen area group (mean of difference, −0.07 mm²; 95% CI, −0.22–0.08 mm²). In the smaller lumen group, the mean difference was lower in the Bland-Altman plot of IVUS and LATM (0.46 mm²; 95% CI, 0.27–0.65 mm²) than in that of IVUS and SATM (1.53 mm²; 95% CI, 1.27–1.79 mm²).ConclusionSATM underestimated the lumen parameters for computed lumen segmentation in CCTA, and this may be overcome by using LATM.