A low-risk ZnT-8 allele (W325) for post-transplantation diabetes mellitus is protective against cyclosporin A-induced impairment of insulin secretion

SLC30A8 encodes the β-cell-specific zinc transporter-8 (ZnT-8) expressed in insulin secretory granules. The single-nucleotide polymorphism rs13266634 of SLC30A8 is associated with susceptibility to post-transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM). We tested the hypothesis that the polymorphic residue at position 325 of ZnT-8 determines the susceptibility to cyclosporin A (CsA) suppression of insulin secretion. INS (insulinoma)-1E cells expressing the W325 variant showed enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and were less sensitive to CsA suppression of GSIS. A reduced number of insulin granule fusion events accompanied the decrease in insulin secretion in CsA-treated cells expressing ZnT-8 R325; however, ZnT-8 W325-expressing cells exhibited resistance to the dampening of insulin granule fusion by CsA, and transported zinc ions into secretory vesicles more efficiently. Both tacrolimus and rapamycin caused similar suppression of GSIS in cells expressing ZnT-8 R325. However, cells expressing ZnT-8 W325 were resistant to tacrolimus, but not to rapamycin. The Down's syndrome candidate region-1 (DSCR1), an endogenous calcineurin inhibitor, overexpression and subsequent calcineurin inhibition significantly reduced GSIS in cells expressing the R325 but not the W325 variant, suggesting that differing susceptibility to CsA may be due to different interactions with calcineurin. These data suggest that the ZnT-8 W325 variant is protective against CsA-induced suppression of insulin secretion. Tolerance of ZnT-8 W325 to calcineurin activity may account for its protective effect in PTDM.

Meal size and starch content affect gastric emptying in horses

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY

Feeding practices have been associated with colic in horses. If meal size and composition have an effect on gastric emptying, this could be one of the mechanisms by which feeding practices are related to the occurrence of colic.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effect of meal size and starch content on solid phase gastric emptying.

METHODS

Solid phase gastric emptying of 3 different radiolabelled meals, small low-starch (SmLS), small high-starch (SmHS) and large high-starch (LgHS) meals, was measured in 5 horses by scintigraphy using 99mTc-disofenin. Data were compared among meals using nonlinear mixed-effects models and paired t tests.

RESULTS

On a percentage basis, SmHS emptied significantly faster than LgHS and SmLS emptied significantly faster than SmHS meals. However, when meals of unequal size were compared by emptying rate in g/min and Kcal/min, LgHS emptied significantly faster than SmHS.

CONCLUSIONS

Meal size and composition affect gastric emptying.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE

Further work needs to be performed in order to substantiate the possibility of a relationship between digestive functions and occurrence of colic and gastric ulcers.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of 2-aryl-7-(3',4'-dialkoxyphenyl)-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines as novel PDE-4 inhibitors

Described herein is design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel series of 2-aryl-7-(3',4'-dialkoxyphenyl)-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines acting as inhibitors of type 4 phosphodiesterase (PDE4) which is known as a good target for the treatment of asthma and COPD. For this purpose, structure optimization was conducted with the aid of structure-based drug design using the known X-ray crystallography. Also, biological effects of these compounds on the target enzyme were evaluated by using in vitro assays, leading to the potent and selective PDE-4 inhibitor (IC(50)<10nM).

Oral administration of 1,4-aryl-2-mercaptoimidazole inhibits T-cell proliferation and reduces clinical severity in the murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model

T cells play a pivotal role in the initiation and progression of multiple sclerosis. We have found that 1,4-aryl-2-mercaptoimidazole (KRM-III) inhibited T-cell antigen receptor- and phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin-induced activation of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and T-cell proliferation with an IC(50) of 5 microM. The KRM-III-mediated inhibitory effect was specific for NFAT activation but not for nuclear factor kappaB. Oral administration of 90 mg/kg KRM-III resulted in complete abrogation of anti-CD3 antibody-induced T-cell activation and a 45.8% reduction in footpad swelling in bovine serum albumin-induced delayed-type hypersensitivity. In the murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model, oral administration of KRM-III significantly attenuated the severity of disease when given before or after disease onset. Draining lymph node cells from KRM-III-treated mice showed markedly reduced proliferation in response to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide. Histological analysis indicated that KRM-III reduced the infiltration of inflammatory cells to the white matter of spinal lumbar cords. These results demonstrate that KRM-III efficiently inhibits T-cell activation and inflammatory responses and lessens EAE clinical signs, which suggest KRM-III as a potential lead compound for the treatment of T-cell-driven autoimmune diseases.

Genetic associations of LYN with systemic lupus erythematosus

We targeted LYN, a src-tyosine kinase involved in B-cell activation, in case-control association studies using populations of European-American, African-American and Korean subjects. Our combined European-derived population, consisting of 2463 independent cases and 3131 unrelated controls, shows significant association with rs6983130 in a female-only analysis with 2254 cases and 2228 controls (P=1.1 x 10(-4), odds ratio (OR)=0.81 (95% confidence interval: 0.73-0.90)). This single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is located in the 5' untranslated region within the first intron near the transcription initiation site of LYN. In addition, SNPs upstream of the first exon also show weak and sporadic association in subsets of the total European-American population. Multivariate logistic regression analysis implicates rs6983130 as a protective factor for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility when anti-dsDNA, anti-chromatin, anti-52 kDa Ro or anti-Sm autoantibody status were used as covariates. Subset analysis of the European-American female cases by American College of Rheumatology classification criteria shows a reduction in the risk of hematological disorder with rs6983130 compared with cases without hematological disorders (P=1.5 x 10(-3), OR=0.75 (95% CI: 0.62-0.89)). None of the 90 SNPs tested show significant association with SLE in the African American or Korean populations. These results support an association of LYN with European-derived individuals with SLE, especially within autoantibody or clinical subsets.

Generation of Mie size microdroplet aerosols with applications in laser-driven fusion experiments

We have developed a tunable source of Mie scale microdroplet aerosols that can be used for the generation of energetic ions. To demonstrate this potential, a terawatt Ti:Al2O3 laser focused to 2 x 10(19) W/cm2 was used to irradiate heavy water (D2O) aerosols composed of micron-scale droplets. Energetic deuterium ions, which were generated in the laser-droplet interaction, produced deuterium-deuterium fusion with approximately 2 x 10(3) fusion neutrons measured per joule of incident laser energy.

Impact of the income-based health service types on survival in patients with metastatic gastric cancer

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Background: Subscription to National Health Insurance (NHI) is a national obligation for South Korean people. For low-income citizens (about lower 3% of population), Medicaid is applied. Many recipients of Medicaid are vulnerable people such as old age singles, the homeless or the handicapped. These populations are suspected to have worse prognosis. According to one report, on the other hand, patients with Medicaid were more likely to receive chemotherapy than patients with NHI despite the uniform health insurance coverage within the two types of health cost financing. Owing to these conflicting findings, we investigated the relationship between health insurance type and prognosis. Methods: Patients are stage IV advanced gastric cancer patients who received palliative chemotherapy. Medical records were reviewed from January 2006 to November 2008 in Seoul Medical Center (municipal teaching hospital). Results: Total 37 patients were found. Median age was 61 years (range 31–85) and male constituted 75.7%. Platinum (cisplatin or oxaliplatin) combined with 5-FU was the most frequently used regimen (78.4%). Twelve patients (32.4%) were recipients of Medicaid. Median PFS and OS of NHI group were 6.9 (95% CI, 1.7–12.0) and 7.8 (95% CI, 3.4–12.1). And that of Medicaid were 5.6 (95% CI, 2.6–8.6) and 7.8 (95% CI, 3.4–12.2) months. The difference from two groups were not statistically different (p = 0.739 for PFS and 0.466 for OS). When patients were divided into longer or shorter survivors according to mean OS (14.1 ±2.6 months), NHI recipients had more probability for survival (odds ratio 0.72, 95% CI 0.56–0.92). Conclusions: The question is raised whether recipients of Medicaid have poorer prognosis than patients with NHI in metastatic gastric cancer in South Korea. Although it seems that NHI recipients has better prognosis, still we cannot sure. It should be cleared in large scale cohort study whether this is related to low socio-economic status or other uncontrolled confounder.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

The clinical significance of oophorectomy in gastric patients

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Background: The oophorectomy in isolated metastasis of ovary can lead to long term survival in patients with gastric cancer, but the clinical significance of oophorectomy in stage IV gastric cancer patients is not known well in this time. Methods: We reviewed the medical record of the 55 gastric cancer patients who were metastasis or recurrent in ovary at Dongsan Medical Center, Kimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea from 1985 to 2008. Results: Twenty-one patients were metastasis to ovary at the time of diagnosis of gastric cancer, and 34 patients were recurrent in ovary after the gastric resection. The mean age was 45.3 ± 11.6 years in metastatic cancer and 46.8 ±12.6 years in recurrent cancer patients. The stage at the time of gastric resection in 34 recurrent patients were I in 3, II in 1, III in 18, and IV in 10. Adjuvant chemotherapy were performed in 26 (76.5%) patients. Oophorectomy were performed in 33 (97.1%) of recurrent cancer, and 17 (81.0%) of metastatic cancer. The 1-year and 2-year survival rate of metastatic cancer were 14.7%, and 0%, and 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year survival rate of recurrent cancer were 47.2%, 18.1%, and 0%, respectively. The median survival duration of metastatic cancer were 8.9 ±1.0 months, and recurrent cancer were 11.4 ±2.3 months. Recurrent cancer were better survival than metastatic cancer patients (p=0.014). The long-term survival (over 2 years) was noted in 5 patients of recurrent cancer patients. The stage of gastric cancer was correlated to overall survival time in total patients (p=0.028). But, the relapse-free survival time after gastrectomy is the only factor to predict survival duration after oophorectomy in recurrent cancer patients (p=0.029). Age, stage of gastric cancer, extent of involvement of ovary, and systemic chemotherapy were not related to survival time of recurrent cancer patients. Conclusions: The survival time in patients with oophorectomy in recurrent gastric cancer was correlated to relapse-free survival time after gastric resection.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Prognostic significance of histological grade in clear-cell carcinoma of the ovary: a retrospective study of Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group

BACKGROUND

This study was to investigate the prognostic significance of clinicopathologic characteristics in patients with clear-cell carcinoma (CCC) of the ovary.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Two hundred and one patients with CCC of the ovary were registered in the Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group. The Korean Gynecologic Pathology Study Group reviewed the pathological slides centrally, using a universal grading system. The prognostic significances of clinicopathologic factors were evaluated by multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Most of the patients were diagnosed at an early stage (stage I, 61.3%), and the overall 5-year survival rate was 57%. Early-stage disease showed a favorable prognosis, but advanced diseases showed poor prognosis. Stage of disease was the only significant prognostic factor on multivariate analysis (P < 0.001). However, universal grade and residual tumor also showed prognostic significance on the forward stepwise likelihood ratio test. There was no survival difference observed between patients treated with paclitaxel-based and those treated with platinum-based combination chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

The stage, residual tumor, and universal grade were significant prognostic factors in patients with CCC of the ovary. The universal grading system is applicable in determining prognosis of CCC of the ovary. Further clinical trials for optimal chemotherapy are in need.