A case of true hermaphroditism with androgen insensitivity

A phenotypically normal woman with a 46, XY karyotype was found to have a testis, an ovotestis, bilateral rudimentary uteri, and bilateral fallopian tubes. The endocrinological and pathological aspects of these findings are discussed.

PCR amplification of D2S44 (YNH24) alleles

We have successfully amplified D2S44 (YNH24) alleles by a method for long-distance PCR using a special polymerase enhancer, Taq Extender PCR Additive. The alleles amplified from DNA samples of 58 Japanese subjects ranged from 0.42 to 3.5 kb and were 1.5 kb shorter than those detected by Southern blotting of Hinf I-digested genomic DNAs. Although alleles longer than 3 kb were barely visible by ethidium bromide staining, we were able to visualize them clearly with SYBR GREEN I NUCLEIC ACIC GEL STAIN. PCR amplification of D2S44 alleles is much simpler than their restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis; therefore, our procedure is well-suited for use in medicolegal practice. With minor modifications, the method described here should be applicable to other loci of variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) that have been analyzed by Southern blotting.

[A case of acute myelogenous leukemia accompanied with myelofibrosis and megakaryocyte-like giant bizarre blasts]

A 45-year-old man was admitted with high fever and leukocytosis in August 1993. The diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML; M2) was made on the basis of morphological, cytochemical and immunological characteristics of the blasts in the bone marrow. The induction therapy with BHAC, daunorubicin, 6-MP was unsuccessful in achieving remission; the bone marrow biopsy specimen revealed the proliferation of the remaining leukemic cells and massive fibrosis accompanied with unusual megakaryocyte-like giant bizarre cells. These megakaryocyte-like giant cells were positive for myeloperoxidase and CD34, but not GPIIIa and factor VIII, indicating that those were derived from myelogenous stem cells. Following the low-dose Ara-C therapy, improvement of fibrosis and disappearance of these giant cells were observed in the bone marrow. After the reinduction therapy with high-dose Ara-C and MIT against markedly increased blasts, the patient died of systemic fungal infection. The presence of myelofibrosis and giant atypical blasts might allow resistance to therapy and poor prognosis.

Early detection of cutaneous microcirculatory change during hemorrhage using a laser Doppler flowmetry

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of cutaneous microcirculatory monitoring during hemorrhage. We observed changes in cutaneous blood volume, velocity and flow of five adult rabbits during hemorrhage by using a laser Doppler flowmetry. Mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate and blood gas values were measured. Cutaneous blood volume, velocity and flow decreased significantly after drawing 10 mL/kg of blood, while heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure and blood gas did not change. The decrease of cutaneous blood velocity preceded that of blood volume and was associated more deeply with the reduction of blood flow. In conclusion, cutaneous microcirculatory monitoring using laser Doppler flowmetry is a sensitive technique for detecting early changes of circulatory failure caused by hemorrhage.

Cell surface expression of lysosome-associated membrane protein-2 (lamp2) and CD63 as markers of in vivo platelet activation in malignancy

Platelets may become activated in vivo in a number of prethrombotic conditions including cancer. In the present study, cell surface expression of lysosome-associated membrane protein-2 (lamp2) and CD63 (lamp3) were examined by flow cytometry in 15 healthy volunteers and 5 patients with metastatic cancer to determine their utility as markers of in vivo platelet activation. Unstimulated platelets from controls had low levels of lamp2 expression, in contrast to cancer patients, who had significantly elevated levels (3.79 +/- 1.48% vs 33.9 +/- 5.6%). Upon stimulation with collagen, a greater than two-fold increase in the number of platelets expressing detectable levels of lamp2 was seen only among controls and not in cancer patients. Stimulation with collagen also resulted in a nearly two-fold increase in the proportion of platelets expressing CD63 in the control group, and a less than 1.5-fold increase in CD63 was seen in the patient group. The results suggest that cell surface lamp2 and CD63, like cell surface expression of GMP-140, may be good indicators of in vivo platelet activation and may be potentially useful in identifying patients with prethrombotic disorders.

Determination of cadmium and bismuth in high-purity zinc metal by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with on-line matrix separation

Traces of cadmium and bismuth in high-purity zinc metal were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in combination with flow injection (FI) on-line matrix separation (FI-ICP-MS). The anion-exchange separation method of the potassium iodide (KI) system was applied to the separation of the analytes from the matrix zinc. The analytes, cadmium and bismuth, were adsorbed on the anion-exchange (BIO. RAD AG1-X8) mini-column (1.0 mm i.d.x 100 mm bed length), while the matrix zinc can be completely removed from the anion-exchange resin. The analytes were eluted by 2 mol/l HNO(3) and directly introduced into the ICP-MS. The detection limits (D.L.) obtained by using a single injection (350 microl) were 0.81 and 0.075 ng g(-1) for cadmium and bismuth, respectively. In the case of multi-injection concentration onto the anion-exchange mini-column (five injections 350 microl each), the detection limits could be improved to 0.16 and 0.014 ng g(-1) for cadmium and bismuth, respectively. The reproducibilities of the single injection and the multi-injection method were satisfactory with a relative standard deviation of less than 5% (at the 10 and 1 ng ml(-1) level for the single injection and the multi-injection method, respectively). The method was successfully applied to the determination of trace impurities in four samples of high-purity zinc metal (7 nines grade) and three standard reference materials of high-purity unalloyed zinc samples (from NIST).

[Glial tumor cell proliferation and immune response in the brain]

The mechanism of glial tumor cell proliferation and the immune response to glioma cells in the brain were examined both in vitro and in vivo experimental systems, using mouse malignant glioma cell line, 203-glioma. A fura-2 fluorescence image showed marked rise in the intracellular calcium ion concentration in mechanically stimulated single cells. The increased calcium spread to adjacent cells, probably due to some stimulating factor released from cells. Dye microinjection revealed no gap junction between cells. Antagonists of voltage-dependent calcium channels did not act on the calcium response. These suggest that calcium signaling in the glioma cells may be mediated via a membrane receptor but not through a gap junction. Depletion of extracellular calcium ion and addition of intracellular calcium blocker demonstrated that calcium signaling in stimulated cells may be related to both an influx of extracellular calcium and a redistribution of intracellular calcium from internal stores, whereas calcium transmission to adjacent cells may involve calcium influx alone. The splenic cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity in intracerebral tumor-bearing hosts increased with a peak 2 weeks after tumor cell inoculation, but rapidly decreased concurrently with increased intracranial pressure. The major histocompatibility complex, MHC, class I antigen expression on tumor cells grafted intracerebrally was found to enhance markedly, resulting in an increase in susceptibility to CTL. It was suggested that there may be a positive correlation between the cell surface MHC class I antigen expression and sensitivity to CTL in glioma cells.

Preparation of multi-locus DNA probe cocktail by liquid-phase reassociation

We developed a simple, rapid method for the preparation of a DNA-fingerprinting probe cocktail, and tested its usefulness in paternity testing. Exploiting the property of tandemly repetitive DNA segments to be rapidly renatured after heat denaturation, we enriched restriction fragments of a child's genomic DNA for minisatellites by liquid phase reassociation followed by capture with immobilized streptavidin. We amplified and simultaneously labeled the reassociation product by anchored PCR using a digoxigenin-labeling mixture. Using this probe cocktail, we were able to detect fingerprints of paternity case trios, and the results were corroborated by DNA fingerprinting with a commercially available probe as well as by conventional phenotyping. Our method enables one to prepare a fresh cocktail of probes from the DNA sample under study during the overnight electrophoresis and Southern transfer steps in DNA fingerprinting, and eliminates the need of having an expensive probe of limited shelf life. If one has a practical outlook on DNA fingerprinting and regard it as a preliminary test, one does not have to use a cloned DNA probe. The present study demonstrates that a multi-locus probe cocktail serves such a practical purpose.

Effect of gallium-porphyrin analogue ATX-70 on nitroxide formation from a cyclic secondary amine by ultrasound: on the mechanism of sonodynamic activation

Sonodynamic therapy is a promising new modality for cancer treatment based on the synergistic effect on tumor cell killing by combination of a drug (typically a photosensitizer) and ultrasound. The mechanism of sonodynamic action was suggested to involve photoexcitation of the sensitizer by sonoluminescent light, with subsequent formation of singlet oxygen. In this work we studied the aqueous sonochemical reactions of the gallium-porphyrin derivative ATX-70, one of the most active sonodynamic agents found, using 50 kHz ultrasound. The experiments were carried out in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone hydrochloride (TMP), which reacts with singlet oxygen or .OH radicals to give the EPR-detectable nitroxide 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone-N-oxyl (TMP-NO). Recently it has been suggested that the enhancement of TMP-NO yields in the presence of aqueous solutions of ATX-70 exposed to ultrasound was evidence for the formation of singlet oxygen in the system. Our results show that the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) can mimic the ATX-70-induced increase in the TMP-NO signal, but it fails to reproduce the behavior of ATX-70 in D2O: while the yields of TMP-NO in the presence of ATX-70 increase in D2O, the opposite effect was found with the surfactant CTAB. However, our data show that the increased TMP-NO yields in D2O are paralleled by an increased concentration of ATX-70 dimer, a form that is inactive in the photochemical generation of singlet oxygen. Our finding that the ATX-70-dependent enhancement of the TMP-NO signal was highest at approximately 20% O2, in both N2/O2 and argon/O2 mixtures, and decreased with increasing oxygen concentration is not compatible with the singlet oxygen mechanism. Finally, our results on the temperature dependence of the ATX-70-induced formation of TMP-NO are not consistent with the photochemical excitation of ATX-70 by sonoluminescent light: the ATX-70-dependent enhancement of TMP-NO signal increased with temperature in the range 10-25 degrees C, while the intensity of sonoluminescence of aqueous solutions both in multiple-bubble fields and in single-bubble experiments is known to decrease with increasing temperature.

A mutation in the glucagon receptor gene (Gly40Ser): heterogeneity in the association with diabetes mellitus

A possible pathogenic mutation in the glucagon receptor gene causing a Gly to Ser change at codon 40 (Gly40Ser) was reported to be associated and linked with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), in France and Sardinia. Since the frequency of the mutation (Gly40Ser), about 5% in the French population of familial NIDDM and 8% in randomly chosen diabetic patients in Sardinia, was much higher than that of any of the previously reported mutations in candidate genes, it is important to clarify whether the contribution of this mutation to NIDDM is universal. In this study, we investigated the association of this mutation with diabetes mellitus in a large number of Japanese diabetic patients (383 NIDDM and 53 insulin-dependent diabetic patients) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. None of the Japanese diabetic patients showed Gly40Ser mutation and the association of this mutation with NIDDM was significantly different (p < 4.10(-5) vs French, p < 3.10(-6) vs Sardinian by Fisher's exact test). The results not only indicate that the mutation plays little, if any, role in susceptibility to diabetes in Japan, but also indicate the genetic heterogeneity in NIDDM and further emphasize the importance of studies on genetic susceptibility to NIDDM and other complex traits in different ethnic groups.

A novel expression vector composed of a regulatory element of the human leukosialin-encoding gene in different types of mammalian cells

The regulatory element (RE) of the human leukosialin (LS)-encoding gene, that encodes a major sialoglycoprotein of human leukocyte and platelet membranes, was used to develop a novel expression vector, pKX. The vector was constructed by cloning a RE fragment and the SV40 fragment containing polyadenylation and splicing signals between HindIII and BamHI sites of the pCAT-Basic vector. The transcription level controlled by this vector was evaluated in six different cell lines using a transient expression assay of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). The CAT activity of the pKX vector was compared to the other common expression vectors, namely pMSG (driven by the mouse mammary tumor virus LTR), pcDL-SR alpha (SV40 promoter/enhancer and HTLV-I LTR), pcDNAI (cytomegalovirus promoter/enhancer) and pCAT-Control (SV40 promoter/enhancer). The level of expression provided by the pKX vector was comparable to that observed with pcDNAI and pcDL-SR alpha vectors. In different mammalian cell lines, the highest efficiency of expression of the pKX vector was observed in the human T-cell lines, Jurkat and CEM, although the expression of pcDL-SR alpha-CAT in those cell lines was in the same range. The expression of the pKX vector driven by a non-viral promoter and/or enhancer can be as efficient as that driven by a viral promoter and/or enhancer. Potential uses of this vector may be found in studies of transient gene expression in hematopoietic cells and for gene therapy, particularly the ones involving T-cells.

Induction of neurite outgrowth by MAP kinase in PC12 cells

Treatment of PC12 cells with nerve growth factor (NGF) results in neural differentiation of the cells, inducing neurite outgrowth. Ras protein has been shown to play an essential role in this process. To examine whether or not the MAP kinase (MAPK) cascade mediates the NGF- and Ras-induced neural differentiation process, we injected PC12 cells with constitutive active forms of each components of the MAPK cascade. When a moderately active mutant of Xenopus MAPK kinase (S222E-MAPKK) in which Ser 222 was changed into glutamic acid was injected, the neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells occurred to some extent. Injection of an N-terminal truncated STE11 protein (delta N-STE11), a constitutively active form of STE11 which is a yeast MAPKK kinase, induced neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. Furthermore, injection of thiophosphorylated MAPK, but not purified active MAPK, into PC12 cells resulted in neurite outgrowth. Thiophosphorylated MAPK was resistant to protein phosphatase 2A treatment, while purified active MAPK was inactivated by this treatment. All these results have suggested that sustained activation of MAPK is sufficient for PC12 cell differentiation. In accord with this, the delta N-STE11- or S222E- MAPKK-induced neurite outgrowth was inhibited by coinjection of CL-100 protein, a dual-specificity phosphatase that is capable of inactivating MAPK.

Expression cloning of a human polysialyltransferase that forms the polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule present in embryonic brain

Polysialic acid is a developmentally regulated posttranslational modification of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM). It has been suggested that this large anionic carbohydrate modulates the adhesive property of N-CAM, but the precise function of polysialic acid is not known. Here we describe the isolation and functional expression of a cDNA encoding a human polysialyltransferase. For this expression cloning, COS-1 cells were cotransfected with a human fetal brain cDNA library and a cDNA encoding human N-CAM. Transfected COS-1 cells were stained with a monoclonal antibody specific for polysialic acid and enriched by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Sibling selection of recovered plasmids resulted in a cDNA clone that directs the expression of polysialic acid on the cell surface. The deduced amino acid sequence indicates that the polysialyltransferase shares a common sequence motif with other sialyltransferases cloned so far. The polysialyltransferase is, however, distinct by having two clusters of basic amino acids. The amount of the polysialyltransferase transcripts correlates well with the formation of polysialic acid in various human tissues, and is abundant in the fetal brain but not in the adult brain. Moreover, HeLa cells stably expressing polysialic acid and N-CAM promoted neurite outgrowth and sprouting. These results indicate that the cloned polysialyltransferase forms polysialylated, embryonic N-CAM, which is critical for plasticity of neural cells.

Detailed physical mapping of the genes encoding glycophorins A, B and E, as revealed by P1 plasmids containing human genomic DNA

Human glycophorins A, B and E (GPA, GPB and GPE) are members of the glycophorin gene family encompassing a 330-kb genomic segment located on chromosome 4, band q31 [Onda et al., J. Biol. Chem., 269 (1994) 13013-13020]. This gene family was apparently generated by two successive duplications of an ancestral gene. One of the progenitor genes, resulting from the first duplication, directly evolved into the GPA gene. The other progenitor gene acquired a unique 3'-region sequence and was then duplicated to yield GPB and GPE. In order to obtain a more detailed understanding of how these different members of the gene family evolved, we isolated several P1 plasmid clones encoding GPA, GPB or GPE. The precise locations of exon 1 and the exon encoding the transmembrane (TM) domain in GPA, GPB and GPE were then determined by hybridization with specific probes after restricted DNA fragments were separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The results obtained showed that the distances between exon 1 and exon 2 are almost equal for GPA and GPB, whereas this distance is larger in GPE. In contrast, the distance between exon 2 and the exon encoding the TM domain was shown to be the same among GPA, GPB and GPE. These results suggest that the gene divergence, i.e., insertions or deletions, took place after two successive duplications and supports the hypothesis that GPE acquired a portion of the GPA sequence surrounding exon 2 by gene conversion.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of a 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase from Pseudomonas sp. strain KKS102 having polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-degrading activity

Crystals have been obtained for a 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase (conventionally called BphC) from a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-degrader, Pseudomonas sp. strain KKS102. The crystals were grown using both ammonium sulfate and MPD as the precipitating agents. The crystals belonged to a tetragonal space group (I422) and diffracted to 2.5 A.

Characterization of the gene for dbpA, a family member of the nucleic-acid-binding proteins containing a cold-shock domain

Human DNA-binding proteins, dbpA and dbpB (YB-1), are members of a protein family containing a cold-shock domain, and are regarded as transcriptional regulators. Here, we isolated genomic fragments of these genes and characterized their transcriptional regulation. Analysis of lambda phage genomic clones revealed that the dbpA gene consists of 10 exons spanning a 24-kb genomic region. The cold-shock domain, composed of about 70 amino acid residues, is encoded separately by exons 2-5. The exon 6, encoding 69 amino acid residues, was found to be an alternative exon. Northern-blot analysis showed that both genes were highly expressed in skeletal muscle and heart compared with in other tissues. The dbpA gene contains no typical TATA box or CAAT box at the immediate 5' region, but a sequence similar to an initiator consensus sequence was revealed at a major transcription-start site. A transient expression assay using the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene revealed that the sequence located at positions -17 to +70 relative to the major transcription-start site was critical for promoter function. Within this region, the consensus sequence for serum-response element, CC(A/T)6GG, is present at positions -13 to -4 in addition to the initiator sequence. Immunofluorescence showed the cellular localization of dbpA to be both in the cytoplasm and nucleus, particularly at the perinuclear region. In situ hybridization demonstrated the localization of the dbpA gene on chromosome 12 band p13.1, whereas dbpB-(YB-1)-related genes were dispersed on many chromosomes with strongest hybridization signals on chromosome 1. All 16 dbpB (YB-1) clones, isolated from the same genomic library used for dbpA genomic cloning, were processed genes because of their intronless structures and multiple mutations. One of these processed genes possesses an open reading frame, which encodes most of the amino acid residues of dbpB (YB-1). These results indicate that dbpA and dbpB (YB-1) genes evolved in different fashions after deviation from a common ancestral gene.

[Prognostic factors for metastatic renal cell cancer]

We examined various prognostic factors of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Patients who had metastasis at nephrectomy (A group, 38 cases) and those who had metastasis as recurrent tumors after nephrectomy (B group, 38 cases) entered in this study. Five-year survival rate of total cases after confirmation of metastatic foci was 15% and there was no statistical significant difference between A and B groups. Several pathological factors were related to poorer prognosis and included large diameters of original tumors, positive lymph nodes, higher grade tumors and non-clear cell type tumors. Patients who have a solitary lung metastasis showed better prognosis compared to those with multiple lung metastases or metastases of other organs. Two factors related to treatment were shown to contribute to better prognosis. These were the response to interferon alfa (IFN alpha) and the possibility of total resection of visible metastatic tumors. Patients who belong to A group were shown to achieve markedly better therapeutic benefit from IFN alpha or IFN alpha plus anticancer drugs. Five-year survival rate for the responders was 40%, as compared to less than 5% for the non-responders. Ten-year survival rate for patients with metastasis who had undergone complete resection of visible tumor was 50%, and the for patients belonging to B group Showed 80%. We concluded that these prognostic factors should be considered to decide how to select patients with metastatic renal cell cancer.

Healthy and atretic follicles: vaginosonographic detection and follicular fluid hormone profiles

The health status of human preovulatory follicles was prospectively studied by non-invasive transvaginal ultrasound. Daily ultrasound scans were performed from the time when the follicle measured 15 mm in diameter until formation of corpus luteum or oocyte retrieval. Based on the ultrasound scans two types of follicles were defined: type A follicles showed a cloud visualized as a cone projecting into the follicular fluid with the base of the cone positioned on the follicle wall. A light spot seen at the tip of the cloud in the majority of scans was presumed to be the oocyte-cumulus complex. Type B follicles showed an echo free space without a cloud. Two groups of infertility patients were studied: Group I received intrauterine insemination; 106 patients undergoing a total of 263 cycles (188 spontaneous cycles and 75 clomiphene citrate cycles). Group II received in-vitro fertilization (IVF); 22 patients undergoing a total of 52 cycles (31 spontaneous cycles and 21 clomiphene cycles). In the first group, the ovulatory potential of the follicle is associated with the ultrasound characteristics. From the IVF patients the follicular fluid was harvested and assessed for the free concentration of the following steroids: oestradiol, progesterone, testosterone and androstenedione. The endocrine health status of the follicle was associated with the ultrasound characteristics of the follicle. In patients of group I, 288 type A follicles ovulated out of a total of 298 follicles (97%). None of the type B follicles ovulated (0/14). In patients of group II, oocytes were obtained in 79% of the type A follicles (50/63), whereas 7% of the type B follicles yielded an oocyte (1/14).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Tissue-specific transcriptional regulation of human leukosialin (CD43) gene is achieved by DNA methylation

The expression of human leukosialin (CD43), a major sialoglycoprotein on the surface of hematopoietic cells, is regulated in cell lineage-specific as well as differentiation stage-specific manners. We have shown previously that transcription from the TATA-less promoter is mediated by the transcription factor Sp1, which binds to repeats of a GGGTGG motif in the 5'-flanking sequence. This regulatory region is ubiquitously functional in mammalian cells, providing a high transcriptional potential. No cis-acting element responsible for the specificity of this gene expression was revealed by extensive studies using transient as well as stable expression systems. Here, we demonstrate that DNA methylation plays a key role in leukosialin gene expression. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNAs from various human cell lines with methylation-sensitive and -insensitive restriction enzymes showed a tight correlation between gene activity and demethylation state of the 5'-region of the leukosialin gene. Consistent results were obtained from the same analysis of genomic DNAs from various human tissues. In addition, in vitro DNA methylation of the 5'-region drastically reduced transcriptional activity in a transient expression system. These results indicate that DNA methylation around the 5'-region of the leukosialin gene is required to shut off a high level of transcription. Thus, the tissue-specific expression of the leukosialin gene is constitutively achieved by alteration of DNA methylation.

Correlation of therapeutic outcome in non-small cell lung cancer and DNA damage assayed by polymerase chain reaction in leukocytes damaged in vitro

A pilot study was conducted in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer to examine whether the gene-specific damage in mononuclear cells (MNCs) incubated with cisplatin in vitro correlates with chemotherapeutic outcome in cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Twenty-one patients received cisplatin-based chemotherapy, consisting of cisplatin (80 mg/m2 i.v. on day 1), vindesine (3 mg/m2 i.v. on days 1 and 8), with or without mitomycin (8 mg/m2 i.v. on day 1). MNCs from peripheral blood were obtained from each patient before chemotherapy. The cells were incubated with cisplatin for 3 h in vitro and the 2.7-kb fragment of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene was amplified by PCR for quantitation of DNA damage. There was a 4-fold interpatient variation in DNA damage in MNCs. Seven of 21 patients had a partial response to chemotherapy. When the dose of cisplatin required to reduce amplification of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase sequence by 63% (D63 value) of MNCs was compared in each patient (defined by a Poisson distribution as the dose that produced an average of one lesion per single strand of the 2.7-kb fragment), the mean D63 value in patients showing a partial response (n = 7; 52 +/- 11 micrograms/ml) was significantly lower than that in patients showing no change (n = 10; 81 +/- 20 micrograms/ml; P = 0.0045) and in patients with disease progression (n = 4; 115 +/- 34 micrograms/ml; P = 0.0012). The mean D63 in patients with no change was also significantly lower than that in the patients with disease progression (P = 0.0386). Seven (70%) of 10 patients with a D63 value < 70 micrograms/ml were responders. No relationship was observed between the D63 values and hematological and nonhematological toxicities. It is suggested that DNA damage in MNCs incubated by cisplatin treatment in vitro in responders was greater than that in nonresponders. Gene-specific damage in MNCs from peripheral blood incubated with cisplatin in vitro assayed by PCR may predict the chemotherapeutic response in cisplatin-based chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer.

[A rapid susceptibility test of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using hybridization protection assay]

The conventional drug susceptibility tests of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are time-consuming and usually require 2 to 4 weeks to obtain final results. In this study, we attempted to develop a novel method for rapid detection of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis using hybridization protection assay (HPA). Clinically isolated strains of M. tuberculosis including seven isoniazid (INH) susceptible strains and six resistant strains were used. The organisms grown on Ogawa egg medium were inoculated into Middlebrook 7H9 broth and cultured at 37 degrees C for one week. Then, the inoculum of each strain was prepared as a tenfold dilution of bacterial suspension at McFarland No. 0.5. The inocula were mixed with INH solutions to yield final concentrations of 0.1 and 1.0 micrograms/ml, and the resulting bacterial suspensions with or without test drug were cultured on the swaying plate at 37 degrees C for up to 5 days. At intervals, 50 microliters of each sample was withdrawn and subjected to the protocol of the HPA using acridinium-ester (AE) labeled DNA probe, and then the relative light unit (RLU) was read in a luminometer. In the case of the susceptible strains, a significant difference in the mode of increase in RLU ratio (% of RLU on day x/RLU on day 0) was observed between the INH-treated and drug-free control sets within three days of cultivation, while no such differences were seen in the case of the resistant strains.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Indocyanine green videoangiographic findings in choroidal metastatic tumor

BACKGROUND

Indocyanine green videoangiography (ICGV) has recently advanced and become widely available as a clinical tool. We tested the efficacy of ICGV in evaluating metastatic choroidal tumors.

METHODS

ICGV using Topcon 50-IA was performed in five patients with clinically diagnosed choroidal metastatic tumors. The findings were compared with those of conventional fluorescein angiography (FAG).

RESULTS

Compared with FAG, ICGV demonstrated more smooth and regular hypofluorescent lesions, precisely indicating the exact size of the tumor. In all cases, no tumor vessels were found. The choroidal vascular integrity around the tumors was observed. FAG, however, was more sensitive in detecting the tumor development than ICGV when the extent of the hypofluorescent lesion could be seen clearly in the early phase. FAG provided more information regarding retinal pigment epithelial dysfunction in the outer blood retinal barrier overlying the tumor.

CONCLUSION

Since ICGV enables visualization of tumors through the retina, it is very useful, particularly in cases of associated secondary retinal detachment around the tumors. ICGV combined with FAG provides more precise assessment of the tumors themselves and their response to treatment than FAG alone.