Biweekly administration of docetaxel and carboplatin for advanced or recurrent endometrial and ovarian carcinomas

OBJECTIVE

To examine efficacy and safety of biweekly administration of docetaxel and carboplatin for advanced or recurrent en- dometrial and ovarian carcinomas.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The recommended doses were determined in the phase I study. In the phase II feasibility study, the primary end-point was safety, and the secondary end-point was response rate and progression-free survival (PFS).

RESULTS

The recommended doses of docetaxel and carboplatin were determined to be 45 mg/n(2) and AUC 3.0, respectively, in phase I study. In phase II feasibility study, no treatment-related death was observed. Most non-hematotoxicity cases were mild or moderate. Grade 4 neutropenia was confirmed in 13 patients (31.0%), whereas all cases showed tolerability with 2.6 days delay of anticancer drugs administration in both groups. Response rate was 55.0% in the ovarian carcinoma group, and average PFS was 8.7 months. In the endometrial carcinoma group, response rate was 50.0% and average PFS was 32.0 months.

CONCLUSION

The present results showed that biweekly administration of docetaxel and carboplatin for advanced and recurrent endometrial and ovarian carcinomas results in acceptable side effects, response rate, and PFS.

Identification and functional activity of a staphylocoagulase type XI variant originating from staphylococcal food poisoning isolates

Staphylocoagulase, an extracellular protein secreted by Staphylococcus aureus, has been used as an epidemiological marker. At least 12 serotypes and 24 genotypes subdivided on the basis of nucleotide sequence have been reported to date. In this study, we identified a novel staphylocoagulase nucleotide sequence, coa310, from staphylococcal food poisoning isolates that had the ability to coagulate plasma, but could not be typed using the conventional method. The protein encoded by coa310 contained the six fundamental conserved domains of staphylocoagulase. The full-length nucleotide sequence of coa310 shared the highest similarity (77·5%) with that of staphylocoagulase-type (SCT) XIa. The sequence of the D1 region, which would be responsible for the determination of SCT, shared the highest similarity (91·8%) with that of SCT XIa. These results suggest that coa310 is a novel variant of SCT XI. Moreover, we demonstrated that coa310 encodes a functioning coagulase, by confirming the coagulating activity of the recombinant protein expressed from coa310. This is the first study to directly demonstrate that Coa310, a putative SCT XI, has coagulating activity. These findings may be useful for the improvement of the staphylocoagulase-typing method, including serotyping and genotyping.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This is the first study to identify a novel variant of staphylocoagulase type XI based on its nucleotide sequence and to demonstrate coagulating activity in the variant using a recombinant protein. Elucidation of the variety of staphylocoagulases will provide suggestions for further improvement of the staphylocoagulase-typing method and contribute to our understanding of the epidemiologic characterization of Staphylococcus aureus.

Effect of hypoxia on UDP-glucuronosyl transferase mRNA expression in human hepatocarcinoma functional liver celL4 cell line

Although hypoxic conditions have been reported to affect the expression levels of various enzymes like cytochrome P450, the effect of hypoxia for UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT) expression has been unclear. We evaluated the mRNA expression of UGTs (UGT1A1·1A6·1A9·2B7) in a functional liver cell-4 (FLC-4) cell line by three-dimensional culture under hypoxic conditions (37 °C, 1% O₂, 5% CO₂) fo 7 days. The mRNA expression of UGT1A1·1A6·1A9·2B7 decreased significantly after 3 days and that of UGT1A1·1A6·1A9 decreased significantly after 7 days. Hypoxic conditions affect the expression levels of UGT enzymes, thus the adjustment of dosage and interval should be considered in drug therapy that metabolized by UGT.

Plantar injection of formalin in rats reduces the expression of a potassium chroride cotransporter KCC2 in the spinal cord and a kinase inhibitor suppresses this reduction

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is released from activated microglia during neuropathic pain and is hypothesized to downregulate the expression of the potassium chloride cotransporter 2 (KCC2) via the TrkB receptor. Previous studies reported that KCC2 is downregulated 5 min after the plantar injection of formalin in rats; however, the mechanism behind this decrease in KCC2 expression during acute inflammatory pain remains unknown. In this study, we determined whether the TrkB receptor contributes to the expression of KCC2 during the acute pain. Five minutes after the plantar injection of formalin in rats, the ratio of KCC2-immunoreactive area in layer II of the spinal cord significantly decreased on the stimulated side compared to the unaffected side. On the other hand, this response was inhibited by the injection of a kinase inhibitor, K252a, in the subarachnoid space 15 min before the formalin injection. These findings suggest that in acute pain, the TrkB receptor may contribute to the decrease in the expression of KCC2.

The problems of cervical conization for postmenopausal patients

PURPOSE

Cervical conization is the definitive treatment for women of any age who have cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). However, complications of the procedure have not been fully investigated in postmenopausal patients. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the results and complications of cervical conization performed on premenopausal and postmenopausal patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study recruited 405 patients who had undergone cervical laser conization. The median age was 36 years (range 20 to 75), and there were 361 (89.1%) premenopausal and 44 (10.9%) postmenopausal women.

RESULTS

The length of the cone removed from the postmenopausal patients was significantly longer than the length from the premenopausal patients (17.9 ± 3.9 mm vs. 15.7 ± 3.6 mm, respectively; p = 0.02). The rate of positive endocervical cone margins from the premenopausal patients was significantly higher than the rate from the postmenopausal patients (9.1% vs. 0%, respectively; p = 0.037). The rate of cervical stenosis was significantly higher in postmenopausal patients than in premenopausal patients (59.1% vs. 8.3%; respectively; p < 0.0001). There was no difference in the rates of frequency of intraoperative complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Although deep incision is mandatory for complete excision of CIN in postmenopausal patients, it increases the incidence of cervical stenosis. Cervical conization may be a less invasive surgical procedure for older women with CIN than hysterectomy; however, the risk of postoperative complications remains, causing a dilemma for physicians treating postmenopausal women with CIN.

Universality class of the mott transition

Pressure dependence of the conductivity and thermoelectric power is measured through the Mott transition in the layer organic conductor EtMe_{3}P[Pd(dmit)_{2}]_{2}. The critical behavior of the thermoelectric effect provides a clear and objective determination of the Mott-Hubbard transition during the isothermal pressure sweep. Above the critical end point, the metal-insulator crossing, determined by the thermoelectric effect minimum value, is not found to coincide with the maximum of the derivative of the conductivity as a function of pressure. We show that the critical exponents of the Mott-Hubbard transition fall within the Ising universality class regardless of the dimensionality of the system.

Successful treatment of cerebral large vessel vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus with intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide

A 39-year-old woman with a six-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was admitted because of a prolonged high fever, discoid rash, and multiple lymphadenopathies. She also developed pericarditis, and was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy followed by prednisolone 50 mg daily and cyclosporine 100 mg daily. Meanwhile, she had a progressive headache, and a brain MRI revealed right pons infarction, although she did not have any abnormal neurological findings. An MRA revealed obvious irregular narrowing in the basilar, right vertebral and right posterior cerebral artery. There was no evidence of antiphospholipid syndrome. We concluded that the cause of the asymptomatic brain infarction was cerebral large vessel vasculitis associated with neuropsychiatric SLE. Intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was started, and two months later, we confirmed that the irregular arterial narrowing had markedly ameliorated.

Cerebral large vessel vasculitis in neuropsychiatric SLE is very rare, and a marked amelioration has not been reported to date. Here, we present a rare case of cerebral large vessel vasculitis treated successfully with a clear visual presentation.

Thermal boundary resistance at Au/Ge/Ge and Au/Si/Ge interfaces

Amorphous Ge (a-Ge), crystalline Ge (c-Ge), and amorphous Si (a-Si) thin films were deposited on a Ge substrate at different temperatures by magnetron sputtering.