Simple aspiration of pneumothorax

The effectiveness of simple aspiration of pneumothorax with an intravenous cannula was evaluated in 34 patients who would otherwise have been treated by intercostal tube drainage with underwater seal. The procedure was successful in 25 patients (73.5%). The following features were associated with a successful outcome: (a) age below 50 years, (b) absence of underlying lung disease, (c) pneumothorax size not exceeding 50%, (d) volume of air aspirated less than 3000 ml, and (e) no previous pneumothorax. There were no complications encountered. Successfully treated patients benefitted from a shorter hospitalisation stay. The potential use of this procedure in treating selected patients in an outpatient setting should be explored.

Magnetic resonance image of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint

Sixteen temporomandibular joints (TMJ) were examined by a high resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imager. Multisection 3.5 mm thick sagittal and coronal images were obtained by 1.0-T MR system and spin-echo sequence (TR = 800 msec, TE = 20 msec). MR provided useful information about meniscal position, morphology and histology. In our study, the MR of the 16 TMJ showed normal finding in two cases and abnormal findings could be differentiated into anterior disc displacement with reduction (8 cases), anterior disc displacement without reduction (3 cases) and bony change (3 cases). MR imaging can produce high-quality tomographic images with good demonstration of the internal structures of TMJ. As it is a noninvasive technique involving no ionizing radiation, MR imaging has been shown to be a useful tool for the demonstration of internal changes in TMJ.

Elevated interleukin-10 levels correlated with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

OBJECTIVE

To determine serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and to assess their relationship with disease activity.

METHODS

Forty-one SLE patients and 35 controls were studied. Paired serum samples were collected from all SLE patients at the time of their presentation with active disease and at 4 weeks after the institution of treatment. IL-10 levels were determined in the sera and were compared with disease activity, measured using the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and laboratory parameters such as the circulating immune complexes (CIC), C3, C4, anti-DNA antibody, IgG, IgM, and IgA.

RESULTS

The IL-10 levels in SLE patients were significantly higher than those of controls (mean +/- SE, 29.2 +/- 6.8 vs. 3.5 +/- 0.6 pg/ml, p < 0.01). Elevated IL-10 levels correlated well with the SLEDAI in SLE patients (r = 0.46, p < 0.01), but did not correlate with other laboratory activity indices. The changes in serum IL-10 levels also correlated with the changes in the SLEDAI score during the patients' disease course (r = 0.51, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Serum levels of IL-10 are elevated in SLE patients and increased IL-10 correlates well with SLE disease activity.

Induction of late activation events by Igbeta signaling subunit of B-cell receptor in Jurkat T-cell without tyrosine phosphorylation

T-lymphocyte activation consists of multiple intracellular signaling events, eventually leading to cellular proliferation by the control of cytokine gene expression and the acquisition of diverse effector function. To investigate the functional specificity of ITAM (Immunoreceptor Tyrosine-based Activation Motif), chimeric molecules CD8-zeta, CD8-Igalpha, CD8-Igbeta, which contain the extracellular and transmembrane domains of the human CD8alpha molecule and the cytoplasmic tail of T-cell receptor (TcR) chain, Igalpha or Igbeta subunit of B-cell receptor, respectively, were stably expressed in a Jurkat cell line. Upon stimulation with anti-CD8 mAb OKT8, CD8-zeta and CD8-Igalpha chimeric proteins induced tyrosine phosphorylation of various cytoplasmic substrates as seen in TcR stimulation. They were also capable of stimulating IL-2 gene expression in a NF-AT dependent manner and inducing CD69 expression on the surface. However, stimulation of CD8-Igbeta can induce activation of CD69 surface expression and IL-2 gene expression equivalent to the level by CD8-Igalpha and CD8-zeta without induction of the tyrosine phosphorylation of intracellular signaling molecules. These results suggested that some of signaling chains containing ITAM may utilize a signal pathway without substrate tyrosine phosphorylation during T-cell activation leading to the IL-2 secretion.

Abstract P6-09-36: Tamoxifen resistance: EGFR expression in hormone receptor-positive and HER2 negative breast cancer

Purpose: Crosstalk between growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and the estrogen receptor (ER) represents one of the most important mechanisms of endocrine resistance. EGFR and HER2 have been recognized as prominent factors associated with endocrine resistance. Most previous studies did not identify subgroups by HER2 overexpression and/or included breast cancer with HER2 overexpression. Accordingly, we analyzed HR positive (HR+) tumors without HER2 overexpression (HER2-).

Methods: We analyzed the clinical data of 2,166 patients with HR+HER2- breast tumors, between January 2007 and July 2013.We included only patients who had endocrine therapy with tamoxifen. Immunostaining for EGFR was interpreted as positive when at least 10% of the tumor cells showed moderate to strong membrane staining.

Results: EGFR expression (EGFR+) was present in 109 patients (5%). EGFR expression was significantly associated with more advanced stage and higher grades. In the univariate analyses, EGFR+ tumors were associated with poorer prognosis than EGFR- tumors (5-year DFS, EGFR+ vs. EGFR-, 91.2% vs. 96.6%, P &lt;0.001; 5-year OS, EFGR+ vs EGFR-, 93.1 % vs. 99.4%, P &lt; 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, EGFR+ tumors had a hazard ratio of 2.63 (95% CI 1.14 -6.05) for DFS. EGFR+ tumors had a hazard ratio of 8.8 (95% CI 2.68-132.25) for OS.

Conclusion: EGFR expression could be prognostic factor in hormone receptor-positive and HER2 negative breast cancer, for tamoxifen resistance.

Citation Format: Bae SY, Nam SJ, Lee SK, Kim SW, Lee JE, Yu JH. Tamoxifen resistance: EGFR expression in hormone receptor-positive and HER2 negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-09-36.

Abstract P2-08-29: The impact of time interval between diagnosis and surgery in each type and stage of breast cancer

Background: There are many factors that might contribute to the delay of surgery in patients with breast cancer. Previous studies investigate the influence of delay of surgery, but they reported inconsistent results. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of time of surgery on prognosis of breast cancer.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of the patients with breast cancer, who received surgery between 1992 and 2009, by using data from Korea Breast Cancer Society Registry. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression model were used to evaluate the impact of time to surgery in breast cancer and subgroup analyses were performed for each disease stage and molecular subtype.

Result: A total 14727 patients were included for analysis. Delay of surgery more than 31 days was associated with worse survival for breast cancer [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.936-2.408, p&lt;0.001]. Subgroup analyses revealed that over 31 days of surgical delay were significantly associated with worse survival in hormone receptor positive and HER-2 negative (p&lt;0.001), hormone receptor positive and HER-2 positive (p&lt;0.001), hormone receptor negative and HER-2 positive (p&lt;0.001), triple negative (p&lt;0.001) and stage II, III breast cancer patients (p&lt;0.001).

Conclusion: Surgical delay of more than 31 days were independent risk factors for worse outcome of breast cancer in each molecular subtype and breast cancer group except stage 0 and I. Although preoperative evaluation is required, surgical delay should be shortened to enhance survival of breast cancer, especially in patients with tumor size more than 2cm or presence of lymph node metastasis.

Citation Format: Kim J-M, Choi HJ, Kim I, Ryu JM, Yu J, Lee JE, Kim SW, Nam SJ, Lee SK. The impact of time interval between diagnosis and surgery in each type and stage of breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-08-29.

A novel family of retrotransposons in Xenopus with a developmentally regulated expression

SUMMARY

We have obtained a novel family of LTR-retrotransposons in Xenopus laevis, named Xretpos, from cDNA and genomic clones. Its long terminal repeats (LTRs) can be subdivided into U3, R, and U3 to U5 region, and are bounded by 6 bp inverted repeats. Xretpos contains primer binding site and polypurine tract, and multiple copies of Xretpos-related element are present in the genome. A long open reading frame (ORF) encodes the CCHC motif conserved in retroviral gag proteins and leucine zipper motif capable of forming the coiled-coil. However, no amino acid homology to usually conserved retroviral pol gene was revealed. We report that in vitro synthesized Xretpos complementary RNAs are translated to produce a predicted size of protein. We also show that zygotically activated Xretpos transcripts are restricted to ventro-posterior specific regions and induced by UV-irradiation and BMP-4 overexpression in cycloheximide-dependent way. genesis 26:198-207, 2000.

A new selective and potent inhibitor of human cytochrome P450 1B1 and its application to antimutagenesis

Human cytochrome P450 (P450) 1B1 is found mainly in extrahepatic tissues and is overexpressed in a variety of human tumors. Metabolic activation of 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) to 4-hydroxy E(2) by P450 1B1 has been postulated to be a factor in mammary carcinogenesis. The inhibition of recombinant human P450 1B1 by 2,4,3',5'-tetramethoxystilbene (TMS) was investigated using either bacterial membranes from a human P450/NADPH-P450 reductase bicistronic expression system or using purified enzymes. TMS showed potent and selective inhibition of the ethoxyresorufin O-deethylation (EROD) activity of P450 1B1 with an IC(50) value of 6 nM. TMS exhibited 50-fold selectivity for P450 1B1 over P450 1A1 (IC(50) = 300 nM) and 500-fold selectivity for P450 1B1 over P450 1A2 (IC(50) = 3 microM). The inhibitory effects of TMS on EROD activity of human liver microsomes were determined. TMS inhibited EROD activity of human liver microsomes at the same concentration as with recombinant human P450 1A2. TMS also strongly inhibited 4- and 2-hydroxylation of E(2) by P450 1B1-expressing membranes or purified P450 1B1. TMS was a competitive inhibitor of P450 1B1 with a K(i) of 3 nM. The inhibition by TMS was not mechanism-based, and the loss of activity was not blocked by the trapping agents glutathione, N-acetylcysteine, or dithiothreitol. Using purified histidine-tagged P450 1B1, the binding kinetic analysis was performed with TMS, yielding a K(d) of 3 microM. The activation of 2-amino-3,5-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline in an Escherichia coli lac-based mutagenicity tester system containing functional human P450 1B1 was strongly inhibited by TMS. Our results indicate that TMS is a very selective and potent competitive inhibitor of P450 1B1. TMS is selective for inhibiting P450 1B1 among other human P450s including 1A1, 1A2, and 3A4 and warrants consideration as a candidate for preventing mammary tumor formation by E(2) in humans.

Cefuroxime compared to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia

The study compared the efficacy and safety of cefuroxime (CFX) versus amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AC) in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. A total of 48 patients (mean age 44 years; 32 males and 16 females) were randomised to receive sequential intravenous/oral CFX (750 mg i.v. 8H for 48 H/500 mg p.o bid) and sequential intravenous/oral AC (1.2 g i.v. 8 H for 48 H/ 750 mg p.o. tid) for 7-14 days. The two groups were well matched for age, sex and treatment duration (median 7 days). The most frequent causative organisms were Mycoplasma (3), Klebsiella species (2), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2) and hemolytic streptococcus (2). clinical cure was obtained in 20 patients (83.3%) and 18 patients (75%) of CFX and AC group respectively. Clinical improvement was observed in one patient of the CFX group. There were 3 failures in the CFX group and 4 failures in the AC group. Two patients in the AC group developed adverse drug reactions (namely vomiting and rash) and were withdrawn from the study. In conclusion, cefuroxime and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid have comparable efficacy and safety in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia.

Fracture strength of all-ceramic crowns with varying core elastic moduli

The aim of this study was to investigate the fracture strength of aluminous porcelain jacket crowns on core structures with different elastic moduli. Forty standardized aluminous porcelain jacket crowns were fabricated and divided into four groups. Each crown was luted with zinc phosphate cement onto a master die with a known elastic modulus, and loaded until failure occurred. The fracture load was shown to increase with increasing elastic modulus of the core. Analysis of data by ANOVA revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the four groups. The results suggested that core elastic modulus may have an influence on the fracture resistance of aluminous porcelain jacket crowns, and it may be appropriate to recommend the use of high modulus metals for core placement on teeth to be restored with all-ceramic crowns.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the wrist in defining remission of rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE

To assess the efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in objectively defining a state of remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after treatment.

METHODS

Ten patients with RA involving the wrist were evaluated before treatment with methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine, and then mean 14 mo later with a followup evaluation. Clinical variables, laboratory measurements, and MRI using various techniques (T1 weighted image, T2 weighted image, fat suppression T2 weighted image, postcontrast T1 weighted image, postcontrast dynamic image, postcontrast 3 dimensional image) were observed. Remission was defined by ACR criteria. MRI changes were observed using 3 variables: extent of synovial proliferation; extent of bone marrow edema; and development of new erosion. In 6 of 10 patients, synovial signal intensity time curve changes at 30 s (E30 ratio) were determined for quantitative assessment of synovitis.

RESULTS

Four patients achieved remission and 6 did not. All patients in remission showed decrease in extent of synovial proliferation and bone marrow edema with no newly developed erosion after treatment, compared to baseline. Five of 6 patients in nonremission showed newly developed erosions with variable changes in extent of synovial proliferation and bone marrow edema. E30 ratio was determined in 3 patients in the remission group and 3 in the nonremission group, with 48% reduction in the former compared to 9% reduction in the latter.

CONCLUSION

MRI is feasible for objectively defining remission and assessing the therapeutic effect of antirheumatic drugs; utility of MRI measures in clinical remission criteria remains to be verified.

Protective effect of agmatine on a reperfusion model after transient cerebral ischemia: Temporal evolution on perfusion MR imaging and histopathologic findings

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The goal of thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute ischemic stroke is early recanalization, but this may result in delayed reperfusion injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of agmatine in a transient ischemic cat model by using MR perfusion imaging and histopathologic analyses.

METHOD

One-hour temporary occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery of cats was performed in the control ischemia group (n = 10), and 100 mg/kg of agmatine was intravenously injected immediately after recanalization in the agmatine-treated group (n = 15). MR imaging was performed at 1, 24, and 48 hours after recanalization, and the perfusion patterns were investigated. Terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick and end-labeling (TUNEL) and hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) stainings were performed at the corresponding sections.

RESULTS

In the control ischemia group, the number of TUNEL-positive cells was significantly increased in the areas with reperfusion hyperemia (P < .05). In the agmatine-treated group, no significant increase in the number of TUNEL-positive cells was noted in the areas of reperfusion hyperemia. The difference in the number of TUNEL-positive cells between the control ischemia and agmatine-treated group in the areas of reperfusion hyperemia was significant (P < .05). The total number of TUNEL-positive cells and the area of severe ischemic neuronal damage on H&E stain were also significantly attenuated in the agmatine-treated cats compared with the control ischemia cats (P < .05).

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that agmatine has neuroprotective effects against reperfusion injury and ischemia.

Synthesis of Co3O4 nanowire arrays supported on Ni foam for removal of volatile organic compounds

Crystalline Co3O4 nanowire arrays freely supported on Ni foam are successfully synthesized using a template-free method. The effects of reaction time, concentration of reactants, and temperature on the morphology of the nanowires are studied. The results indicate that uniform Co3O4 nanowires could be synthesized at 90 degrees C, and a transformation of the samples' morphology from nanoparticles to nanowires to microrods is observed by controlling the concentration of the reactants. The well-ordered nanowires synthesized under the selected reaction conditions are composed of spinel Co3O4 with diameters of 500-580 nm and lengths of 6-8 microm. These nanowires show good catalytic activity for the ozone catalytic oxidation of toluene.