Analysis of the UCHL1 genetic variant in Parkinson's disease among Chinese

The inverse association of the functional ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) S18Y variant with Parkinson's disease (PD) among Caucasian populations has been debated. We conducted a large-scale analysis to investigate the age-of-onset effect of the UCHL1 variant in PD among ethnic Chinese. Individual data sets from 5 centers comprising a total of 4088 study subjects were analyzed. In the univariate analysis, only data from 1 center showed a trend towards a protective effect among young subjects. However, in the combined analysis, no significant association between the UCHL1 variant and PD was detected (A allele frequency 0.531 vs. 0.528, p=0.87, OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.92-1.1). Among subjects less than 60 years old, the OR is 0.99 (95% CI 0.84-1.16, p=0.88). A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that family history, UCHL1 variant and the interaction of UCHL1 variant and age at onset (p=0.816) were not significantly associated with PD.

Male breast cancer: follow-up recommendations after surgery

Abstract #4130

Introduction: National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for female breast cancer treatment and surveillance are well established, but data on male breast cancers are not collected. As an NCCN institution, our objective was to examine practice patterns and follow-up for male breast cancer.
 Methods: After IRB approval, a prospective breast database from 1990-2008 was queried for male patients. Medical records were examined for traditional factors (TNM, receptor status, treatment, gynecomastia) and follow-up practices such as mammogram use. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method with 95% confidence intervals (CI) generated for 5-yr estimates. The logrank test was used to compare node positive/negative cohorts.
 Results: Of the 19,132 patients in the database, 71 (0.4%) were male; 64 had complete data. The median age for the 64 patients was 68.8yrs (range 29-85yrs). 89.1% presented with a palpable mass. 12.5% had gynecomastia in the cancer breast and 9.4% had contralateral gynecomastia. 18/64 (28.1%) had a familial history of breast, ovarian or colon cancer. One patient had bilateral synchronous breast cancer. Seven (10.9%) had previous prostate cancer and 4 (6.25%) had other synchronous cancers (2 papillary thyroid, 2 lung). Genetic testing was offered to all 64; 3 accepted. Two men had contralateral prophylactic mastectomy years later. The mean/median invasive tumor size was 2.0/1.6cm (range 0.0-10.0cm) and all but 2 tumors were ductal. 63 had a mastectomy (65.1% with axillary node dissection; 34.9% with sentinel lymph node biopsy). Lymph node involvement occurred in 25/64 (39.1%). Under NCCN guidelines, 49/64 (76.6%) should receive chemotherapy and chest wall radiation should be given to 27/64 (42.2%) based on tumor size and nodal status. Chemotherapy was offered to 50.0%; 35.9% received chemotherapy. Chest wall radiation was given in 59.3%. 63/64 were ER positive; 49 (77.8%) received hormone therapy. Follow-up annual mammograms were obtained in 27/64 (42.2%)[all BIRADs 1 or 2], not obtained in 28/64 (43.8%), and unknown in 9/64 (14.0%). Median follow-up was 26.1mos (range: 0.26-377.8mos). The 5-yr survival estimates and 95% CI for node positive and negative diseases were 75% (95% CI=46-90%) and 93% (95% CI=74-98%) respectively. For comparison, 5-yr survival rates from the NSABP B-04 trial were 60% in node-positive and 75% in node-negative disease. Four patients (6.3%) died of disease; 10 (15.6%) are alive with distant disease; 47 (73.4%) have no evidence of disease; and 3 (4.7%) are unknown or dead of other causes. There were 2 local recurrences (3.1%) [1 chest wall, 1 in-breast] and no metachronous contralateral breast cancer development. Conclusions: Male breast cancer is uncommon, as is contralateral breast cancer. Men were less likely to receive/accept chemotherapy/hormone therapy/genetic testing/annual mammograms and more likely to receive radiation based on NCCN guidelines, but survival compared to historic females was no worse. Creation of follow-up guidelines for males may be different than females.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 4130.

Can a warning leak in a patient with unruptured aneurysm mask an underlying gastrointestinal pathology? A case report

Aggravating headache accompanied by nausea and epigastric discomfort suggesting a warning leak in a 39-year-old woman with a giant thrombosed intracranial aneurysm prompted us to undertake coiling of the aneurysm. After uneventful coil embolization of the aneurysm, collapse of the lung related to bronchospam developed, and was found to have a gastrointestinal pathology which had gone undetected before the procedure. Despite its rarity, gastrointestinal pathology mimicking warning leak should have been considered in a patient with a warning leak sign.

Determinants of laser-evoked EEG responses: pain perception or stimulus saliency?

Although laser-evoked electroencephalographic (EEG) responses are increasingly used to investigate nociceptive pathways, their functional significance remains unclear. The reproducible observation of a robust correlation between the intensity of pain perception and the magnitude of the laser-evoked N1, N2, and P2 responses has led some investigators to consider these responses a direct correlate of the neural activity responsible for pain intensity coding in the human cortex. Here, we provide compelling evidence to the contrary. By delivering trains of three identical laser pulses at four different energies, we explored the modulation exerted by the temporal expectancy of the stimulus on the relationship between intensity of pain perception and magnitude of the following laser-evoked brain responses: the phase-locked N1, N2, and P2 waves, and the non-phase-locked laser-induced synchronization (ERS) and desynchronization (ERD). We showed that increasing the temporal expectancy of the stimulus through stimulus repetition at a constant interstimulus interval 1) significantly reduces the magnitudes of the laser-evoked N1, N2, P2, and ERS; and 2) disrupts the relationship between the intensity of pain perception and the magnitude of these responses. Taken together, our results indicate that laser-evoked EEG responses are not determined by the perception of pain per se, but are mainly determined by the saliency of the eliciting nociceptive stimulus (i.e., its ability to capture attention). Therefore laser-evoked EEG responses represent an indirect readout of the function of the nociceptive system.

Predictors of mortality in patients with pyogenic liver abscess

BACKGROUND

Pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) is uncommon but potentially life-threatening. The objective of this study was to identify the prognostic factors for PLA.

METHODS

The medical records of 253 patients, 148 men and 105 women with a mean age of 56.4 years (SD : 15.0 years), who were hospitalised due to a PLA between January 1995 and June 2007 were reviewed. The underlying medical disorders, clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory values, imaging studies, microbiological features, treatments, morbidity and mortality were recorded. Factors related to in-hospital case fatality were analysed.

RESULTS

The mean Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score at admission in patients with PLA was 8.7 points (SD 5.4 points). The most common co-existing disease was diabetes mellitus (41.9%), followed by biliary stone disorders (32.0%). Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most frequent pathogen, followed by Escherichia coli. The in-hospital case-fatality rate was 9.1%. Multivariate analysis revealed that gas-forming abscess (p=0.019), multi-drug resistant isolates (p=0.026), anaerobic infection (p=0.045), blood urea nitrogen level >7.86 mmol/l (p=0.004), and APACHE II score > or =15 (p= 0.004) were associated with mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The prognosis of PLA may depend chiefly on the severity of the basic physical condition and underlying pathology. As the primary treatment for PLA is not completely effective, a more aggressive approach should be considered, especially for patients with poor prognosis.

Monolithic photolithographically patterned Fluorocur PFPE membrane valves and pumps for in situ planetary exploration

Photolithographically defined monolithic membrane valves utilizing Fluorocur perfluoropolyether (PFPE) were fabricated and characterized to be essentially unaltered after one million actuations and exposure to the environmental stresses associated with in situ exploration of Mars.

Supervised pattern recognition for the prediction of contrast-enhancement appearance in brain tumors from multivariate magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to develop a pattern classification algorithm for use in predicting the location of new contrast-enhancement in brain tumor patients using data obtained via multivariate magnetic resonance (MR) imaging from a prior scan. We also explore the use of feature selection or weighting in improving the accuracy of the pattern classifier.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Contrast-enhanced MR images, perfusion images, diffusion images, and proton spectroscopic imaging data were obtained from 26 patients with glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors, divided into a design set and an unseen test set for verification of results. A k-NN algorithm was implemented to classify unknown data based on a set of training data with ground truth derived from post-treatment contrast-enhanced images; the quality of the k-NN results was evaluated using a leave-one-out cross-validation method. A genetic algorithm was implemented to select optimal features and feature weights for the k-NN algorithm. The binary representation of the weights was varied from 1 to 4 bits. Each individual parameter was thresholded as a simple classification technique, and the results compared with the k-NN.

RESULTS

The feature selection k-NN was able to achieve a sensitivity of 0.78+/-0.18 and specificity of 0.79+/-0.06 on the holdout test data using only 7 of the 38 original features. Similar results were obtained with non-binary weights, but using a larger number of features. Overfitting was also observed in the higher bit representations. The best single-variable classifier, based on a choline-to-NAA abnormality index computed from spectroscopic data, achieved a sensitivity of 0.79+/-0.20 and specificity of 0.71+/-0.11. The k-NN results had lower variation across patients than the single-variable classifiers.

CONCLUSIONS

We have demonstrated that the optimized k-NN rule could be used for quantitative analysis of multivariate images, and be applied to a specific clinical research question. Selecting features was found to be useful in improving the accuracy of feature weighting algorithms and improving the comprehensibility of the results. We believe that in addition to lending insight into parameter relevance, such algorithms may be useful in aiding radiological interpretation of complex multimodality datasets.

Antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities of the seaweed Sargassum fulvellum and Sargassum thunbergii in mice

Dichloromethane, ethanol, and boiling water extracts of the brown seaweeds Sargassum fulvellum and Sargassum thunbergii were examined for antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities in mice. The activities were evaluated against yeast-induced pyrexia, tail-flick test, and phorbol myristate acetate-induced inflammation (edema, erythema, and blood flow). The dichloromethane extract (0.4 mg/ear) of Sargassum fulvellum inhibited an inflammatory symptom of mouse ear edema by 79.1%. The ethanol extract (0.4 mg/ear) of Sargassum thunbergii also inhibited edema by 72.1%. No acute toxicity was observed after p.o. administration of each extract (5 g/kg bw). These findings are consistent with various claims that these seaweeds can be used as remedies for inflammation-related symptoms.

Persistent environmental pollutants in eggs of aplomado falcons from Northern Chihuahua, Mexico, and south Texas, USA

The northern aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis septentrionalis) disappeared from south Texas in the 1940s. Due to great success in the release of captive-reared aplomado falcons in south Texas, there are currently more than 40 established nesting pairs in the region. Addled eggs from aplomado falcons nesting in northern Chihuahua and south Texas were analyzed to determine organochlorine (OC) and inorganic element contaminant burdens and their potential association with egg failures and effects on reproduction. Among the OCs, DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene] was present at the highest concentrations (range 262-21487 ng/g wet weight) followed by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, range 88-3274 ng/g ww). DDE was greater (P=0.03) in eggs from El Sueco (Chihuahua, Mexico) than in those from Matagorda Island (Texas, USA). DDE concentrations in eggs of aplomado falcons from El Sueco were elevated; however, reproductive success in the two Chihuahuan populations did not seem to be affected by DDE. DDE and metals in potential avian prey of the aplomado falcon from Matagorda Island were very low and below levels in the diet at which some negative effects might be expected. Except for mercury (Hg), metal concentrations in eggs were fairly low and were not different among locations in Chihuahua and south Texas. Hg was somewhat elevated and was greater (P<0.001) in Texas than in the Chihuahua locations. Periodic monitoring of Hg concentrations in addled eggs of aplomado falcons in south Texas is recommended to continue evaluating potential negative effects on their recovery.

Monolithic Teflon membrane valves and pumps for harsh chemical and low-temperature use

Microfluidic diaphragm valves and pumps capable of surviving conditions required for unmanned spaceflight applications have been developed. The Pasteur payload of the European ExoMars Rover is expected to experience temperatures ranging between -100 degrees C and +50 degrees C during its transit to Mars and on the Martian surface. As such, the Urey instrument package, which contains at its core a lab-on-a-chip capillary electrophoresis analysis system first demonstrated by Mathies et al., requires valving and pumping systems that are robust under these conditions before and after exposure to liquid samples, which are to be analyzed for chemical signatures of past or present living processes. The microfluidic system developed to meet this requirement uses membranes consisting of Teflon and Teflon AF as a deformable material in the valve seat region between etched Borofloat glass wafers. Pneumatic pressure and vacuum, delivered via off-chip solenoid valves, are used to actuate individual on-chip valves. Valve sealing properties of Teflon diaphragm valves, as well as pumping properties from collections of valves, are characterized. Secondary processing for embossing the membrane against the valve seats after fabrication is performed to optimize single valve sealing characteristics. A variety of different material solutions are found to produce robust devices. The optimal valve system utilizes a membrane of mechanically cut Teflon sandwiched between two thin spun films of Teflon AF-1600 as a composite "laminated" diaphragm. Pump rates up to 1600 nL s(-1) are achieved with pumps of this kind. These high pumping rates are possible because of the very fast response of the membranes to applied pressure, enabling extremely fast pump cycling with relatively small liquid volumes, compared to analogous diaphragm pumps. The developed technologies are robust over extremes of temperature cycling and are applicable in a wide range of chemical environments.

A review on adolescent childbearing in Taiwan: its characteristics, outcomes and risks

In Taiwan, the age-specific fertility rate for adolescent girls aged 15-19 years has remained at 14-18/1,000 births during the past two decades, which is the highest among developed countries in Asia. There was a surprisingly high age-specific fertility rate for married women aged 15-19 years at 726 per 1,000 in 1994, much higher than that of the United States. Adolescent childbearing causes many adverse outcomes including unwanted and unstable marriage, repeated childbearing during adolescence, and increased risks of having low birth weight and preterm births and neonatal mortality. Studies in Taiwan showed that adolescent childbearing is associated with their poor knowledge but open attitude and behaviour on sexuality, the inadequate contraceptive services for the adolescents in need, some risk-taking behaviors, family dysfunction and low socioeconomic status of the adolescents' families. About two-thirds of the fathers of infants born to adolescent girls were adults, even old adults with a low education level Effective strategies for adolescent childbearing prevention range from sex education, the direct provision of contraceptive supplies, and to life options programmes, especially for the adolescents with high risk of adolescent pregnancy. Reducing the incidence of adolescent childbearing by active use of contraception is more important and practical than prohibiting adolescent sexual activity.

Immune responses to foot-and-mouth disease virus in pig farms after the 1997 outbreak in Taiwan

This paper reports on a retrospective study of the antibody responses to structural and non-structural proteins of FMD virus O Taiwan 97 in six pig herds in Taiwan in the year after the 1997 Taiwanese FMD outbreak. All herds were vaccinated against FMD after the outbreak as part of the countrywide control program. Three of the herds had confirmed FMD infections (herds N, O and P) and three herds remained non-infected (herds K, L and M). The serum neutralizing antibody titers and the non-structural protein ELISA (NSP) antibody responses in sows and 1-month-old pigs in the infected herds were higher than in the non-infected herds, but over time a number of positive NSP reactors were detected. From the serological studies and the herd monitoring and investigations it was considered that the FMD NSP positive reactors may not have constituted a true reservoir of FMD virus infection especially in herds where susceptible pigs were no longer present post-exposure or post-vaccination. Pigs vaccinated with an unpurified FMD type O vaccines being used at that time also showed false positive responses for NSP antibodies.

Patterns of recurrence analysis in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme after three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy with respect to pre-radiation therapy magnetic resonance spectroscopic findings

PURPOSE

To determine whether the combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) before radiation therapy (RT) is valuable for RT target definition, and to evaluate the feasibility of replacing the current definition of uniform margins by custom-shaped margins based on the information from MRI and MRSI.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

A total of 23 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients underwent MRI and MRSI within 4 weeks after surgery but before the initiation of RT and at 2-month follow-up intervals thereafter. The MRSI data were quantified on the basis of a Choline-to-NAA Index (CNI) as a measure of spectroscopic abnormality. A combined anatomic and metabolic region of interest (MRI/S) consisting of T2-weighted hyperintensity, contrast enhancement (CE), resection cavity, and CNI2 (CNI >or= 2) based on the pre-RT imaging was compared to the extent of CNI2 and the RT dose distribution. The spatial relationship of the pre-RT MRI/S and the RT dose volume was compared with the extent of CE at each follow-up.

RESULTS

Nine patients showed new or increased CE during follow-up, and 14 patients were either stable or had decreased CE. New or increased areas of CE occurred within CNI2 that was covered by 60 Gy in 6 patients and within the CNI2 that was not entirely covered by 60 Gy in 3 patients. New or increased CE resided within the pre-RT MRI/S lesion in 89% (8/9) of the patients with new or increased CE.

CONCLUSION

These data indicate that the definition of RT target volumes according to the combined morphologic and metabolic abnormality may be sufficient for RT targeting.

Immune responses of pigs to commercialized emulsion FMD vaccines and live virus challenge

The immune response to structural and non-structural proteins (NSPs) was studied on sequential serum samples in swine from O/Taiwan/97 FMDV challenge studies, outbreaks and after vaccination. The results showed that pigs vaccinated with a commercial vaccine prior to or after infection maintained high neutralizing antibody titers with gradual decline from peak titers over the duration of this study. However, neutralizing antibody titers in non-vaccinated pigs only reached moderate levels 2-4 weeks post infection and remained low thereafter. For the 3B and 3ABC NSP antibody ELISA responses, there were gradually decreasing levels of NSP antibody over time. In multiple vaccinations, all pigs showed significant increases in neutralizing antibodies after booster vaccination. For the 3B NSP antibody ELISA after vaccination, the mean S/P ratios for pigs vaccinated with all three FMD vaccines were all below the 0.23 cut-off value set by the manufacture, but some sera from individual vaccinated pigs gave results above this cut-off after primary or secondary vaccination. However, with the 3ABC NSP antibody ELISA, all sera from vaccinated pigs had negative results for NSP antibody for all time points.

Multislice Brain Myelin Water Fractions at 3T in Multiple Sclerosis

PURPOSE

To evaluate a multislice nonlinearly-spaced 12-echo imaging sequence at 3T covering the supratentorial brain for the quantification of myelin water fraction (MWF) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

METHODS

Eighty-nine patients with, or at risk of, MS (69 relapsing remitting MS [RRMS], 7 secondary progressive MS [SPMS], 13 clinically isolated syndrome [CIS]) and 28 controls were studied. Twelve-echo datasets were acquired using a multislice T2 prep spiral imaging sequence and were fitted using a nonnegative least squares algorithm. The mean MWF within normal appearing white matter (NAWM), contrast-enhancing (CE), and nonenhancing T2 lesions were calculated.

RESULTS

Mean MWF in white matter for controls was 11.3%. Mean MWF was significantly reduced in NAWM of MS patients (10.6%, P= .004) relative to controls. SPMS/RRMS patients with disease duration >5 years (10.3%) had lower MWF compared to CIS/RRMS with disease duration <or=5 years (10.8%, P= .03). Mean MWF was reduced by 26% and 29% within both CE (P < .0001) and nonenhancing T2 lesions (P < .0001) relative to controls.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a multicomponent T2 sequence at 3T, a significant decrease in the supratentorial MWF was observed in MS NAWM and lesions relative to controls. The method was sensitive to detect white matter changes early in the disease process.

Transcript accumulation from the rpoS gene encoding a stationary-phase sigma factor in Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain O6 is regulated by the polyphosphate kinase gene

Polyphosphate levels are modulated by the actions of polyphosphate kinase, encoded by ppk, and exopolyphosphatase, encoded by ppx. The genes ppk and ppx are adjacent to each other in the genome of the root colonizer, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6. A ppk-deficient mutant was more sensitive to oxidative stress than the wild-type and the ppx mutant. Transcripts from ppx increased as cultures matured from mid- to late-logarithmic and stationary phases, whereas abundance was greater for ppk in the late-logarithmic phase than in the stationary phase. Transcript accumulation from the rpoS gene, encoding the stationary-phase sigma factor RpoS, was decreased in the mid- and late-logarithmic and stationary phases in the ppk mutant. Thus, ppk regulates rpoS transcript accumulation in P. chlororaphis 06. However, mutations in either the ppk or ppx genes had no effect on induction of systemic resistance in plants colonized by P. chlororaphis O6.

Feasibility of dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion MR imaging at 3T using a standard quadrature head coil and eight-channel phased-array coil with and without SENSE reconstruction

PURPOSE

To investigate changes in image and dynamic signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the DeltaR2* curve, as well as magnetic susceptibility-induced artifacts between a standard quadrature head coil and an eight-channel phased-array coil with and without sensitivity-encoding (SENSE) at 3T, compared to the current clinical standard head coil acquisition at 1.5T.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion MRI was performed on 80 brain tumor patients using a gradient-echo, echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence. Image and dynamic SNR were compared between 1.5T and 3T field strengths, a quadrature and eight-channel phased-array coil, and a conventional vs. partially parallel EPI acquisition with SENSE reconstruction. The amount of geometric distortion and signal dropout was quantified and compared between conventional and SENSE EPI acquisitions within the same exam at 3T.

RESULTS

An initial 2.6-fold elevation in dynamic SNR was observed in normal-appearing white matter when doubling the field strength (P < 0.001), with an additional 1.7-fold increase found when employing an eight-channel phased-array coil (P < 0.002). Compared to the standard 3T eight-channel coil acquisition, the implementation of SENSE reduced the number of voxels experiencing large anterior shifts in the phase-encode direction, lowered the volume of signal dropout by 2.0-11.5%, and allowed a 1.4-fold increase in slice coverage, while only decreasing the dynamic SNR by 22%.

CONCLUSION

SENSE EPI at 3T yielded a significant improvement in dynamic SNR over the 1.5T acquisitions. A significant reduction in magnetic susceptibility-induced artifacts was achieved with SENSE EPI compared to the standard EPI eight-channel coil acquisition at 3T.

Comparison of sensitivity and specificity in three commercial foot-and-mouth disease virus non-structural protein ELISA kits with swine sera in Taiwan

Three commercialized ELISA kits for the detection of antibodies to the non-structural proteins (NSPs) of FMD virus were compared, using sera from uninfected, vaccinated, challenged and naturally infected pigs. The kinetics of the antibody response to NSPs was compared on sequential serum samples in swine from challenge studies and outbreaks. The results showed that ELISA A (UBI) and ELISA B (CEDI) had better sensitivity than that of the 3ABC recombinant protein-based ELISA C (Chekit). The peak for detection of antibodies to NSPs in ELISA C was significantly delayed in sera from natural infection and challenged swine as compared to the ELISA A and B. The sensitivity of the three ELISAs gradually declined during the 6-month post-infection as antibodies to NSP decline. ELISA kits A and B detected NSP antibody in 50% of challenged pigs by the 9-10th-day and 7-8th-day post-challenge, respectively. ELISA B and C had better specificity than ELISA A on sequential serum samples obtained from swine immunized with a type O FMD vaccine commercially available in Taiwan. Antibody to NSPs before vaccination was not detected in swine not exposed to FMD virus, however, antibody to NSPs was found in sera of some pigs after vaccination. All assays had significantly lower specificity when testing sera from repeatedly vaccinated sows and finishers in 1997 that were tested after the 1997 FMD outbreak. However, when testing sera from repeatedly vaccinated sows or finishers in 2003-2004, the specificity for ELISAs A, B and C were significantly better than those in 1997. This effect was less marked for ELISA A. The ELISA B was the best test in terms of the highest sensitivity and specificity and the lowest reactivity with residual NSP in vaccinates.

Surface characterization and chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells derived from synovium

BACKGROUND

Synovium is the only tissue that can produce hyaline cartilage in benign conditions, such as synovial chondromatosis and osteoarthritis, suggesting potential advantages in chondrogenesis using mesenchymal stromal cells. We performed surface characterization of cells isolated from the synovium of patients with osteoarthritis after different passages and induced chondrogenic differentiation.

METHODS

Using cells obtained from synovium, colony-forming unit fibroblast assay and characterization of cell-surface markers by flow cytometry using 22 different Ab at different passages were performed. Cells were cultured under chondrogenic conditions and evaluated grossly, histologically, immunohistochemically and by [(35)S]sulfate incorporation and reverse transcription-PCR.

RESULTS

The positive cell-surface markers of immediately isolated cells were CD10, CD13, CD14, CD34, CD44, CD45, CD49a, CD62e, CD73 and HLA-DR. After the first passage (P), CD14, CD34, CD45, CD62e and HLA-DR disappeared, whereas CD105 and CD166 appeared and CD10, CD13, CD44, CD49a and CD73 showed increased expression levels. The surface marker expression level did not vary much after P1 through to P8. The chondrogenic differentiation potential of cells from the synovium was confirmed using various evaluation methods.

DISCUSSION

We have demonstrated that cells from synovium contain a mesenchymal stromal cell population capable of chondrogenic differentiation, which seems to increase with passage under our culture conditions. The cell-surface markers were found to change remarkably after the first passage and then remained stable. The results of this study may be helpful for sorting mesenchymal stromal cells from heterogeneous synovial cells for future studies.

FDG uptake and glucose transporter type 1 expression in lymph nodes of non-small cell lung cancer

AIMS

FDG uptake in NSCLC is related to glucose transporter type 1 (Glut-1) expression. Here, we investigated the direct causal relationship between FDG uptake and Glut-1 expression to determine the role of Glut-1 in FDG uptake by malignant and benign lymph nodes (LNs).

METHODS

Fifty-five curative lung resections in 53 NSCLC patients (male:female=36:17, age=62.0+/-11.8 years) were included. Maximum standardized uptake values (maxSUVs) of LNs in preoperative whole body FDG-PET and Glut-1 immunostaining results were compared.

RESULTS

Of 316 pathologically confirmed LNs, 12.3% (39/316) were malignant, and in malignant LNs, FDG positive LNs were no different from FDG negative LNs in terms of size (15.0+/-6.7 mm vs 10.0+/-6.1mm, p>0.05), or in terms of the proportion of LNs occupied by tumor (60.0+/-28.8% vs 39.2+/-38.4%, p>0.05), but had greater percentages of Glut-1 positive cells in tumors (74.1+/-31.8% vs 22.7+/-18.7%, p<0.01), and Glut-1 staining intensities (3.4+/-0.9 vs 1.8+/-1.3, p<0.01). FDG negative malignant LNs featured cytoplasmic Glut-1 expression and adenocarcinoma. Glut-1 staining intensities were found to be significantly correlated with the maxSUVs of malignant LNs (rho=0.516, p<0.05), but the percentages of Glut-1 positive cells in tumors were not (r=0.2072, p>0.05). Analysis of FDG positive benign LNs showed that maxSUV was not correlated with degree of follicular hyperplasia, or Glut-1 expression (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Intense Glut-1 immunoreactivity was found to be proportionally related to the degree of FDG uptake by malignant LNs in NSCLC. However, the finding that Glut-1 expression in lymphoid hyperplasia showed no correlation with FDG uptake in benign LNs requires further investigation.

Subdural hematoma in spontaneous CSF hypovolemia

Of 67 consecutive patients with spontaneous CSF hypovolemia (SCH), 11 (16.4%) had subdural hematoma (SDH). Patients with SDH were older (p = 0.005), more likely to be male (p = 0.035), and displayed longer time to diagnosis of SCH (p = 0.019) than those without SDH. All patients with SDH showed the findings of pseudo-subarachnoid hemorrhage on CT and responded favorably to epidural blood patches and neurosurgical drainage.

Partial-volume model for determining white matter and gray matter cerebral blood volume for analysis of gliomas

PURPOSE

To model the partial voluming of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in perfusion imaging, and to use this model to estimate the cerebral blood volume (CBV) of pure WM and GM, which could then be used to normalize data across patients in preparation for analyzing tumor perfusion.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion imaging was performed on 20 glioma patients. The perfusion data were registered to the T1 image using rigid-body and non-rigid algorithms. The rCBV for each voxel was computed by gamma-variate fitting and then fit as a linear function of the estimated fractional WM content. The estimated CBV of pure WM was used to normalize across patients, and the resulting tumor CBV values were compared with expectations.

RESULTS

Rigid registration improved the correlation between the fractional WM content and CBV for all patients, with non-rigid registration yielding further improvements for all but two patients. The mean GM-to-WM CBV ratio was estimated at 2.15 +/- 0.33 (mean +/- SD). Voxels that exhibited both T1-Gd contrast enhancement and an abnormal proton spectrum were found to have a CBV 2.53 +/- 0.89 times higher than that in the WM.

CONCLUSION

A partial-volume model is demonstrated for estimating pure WM and GM CBV. It is also shown that the relationship between the tumor CBV as estimated with this model is generally consistent with expectations based on spectroscopy and imaging.

Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in breast carcinogenesis and its relation to HER-2/neu and p53 protein expression in invasive ductal carcinoma

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in the successive steps of breast carcinogenesis and to determine its correlation with HER-2/neu and p53 expression in invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast. Immunohistochemical staining with anti-COX-2 antibody was performed in normal breast tissue, usual hyperplasia, ductal carcinoma in situ, and invasive ductal carcinoma. Expression of COX-2 in invasive ductal carcinoma was correlated with immunohistochemical expression of HER-2/neu and p53 protein. COX-2 expression was found to be progressively elevated along the continuum from normal breast tissue to invasive ductal carcinoma (P<0.001). COX-2 expression significantly correlated with p53 and HER-2/neu protein expression (P<0.05 and P<0.001). On multivariate analysis, only TNM stage and elevated COX-2 expression correlated with survival. Our results suggest that COX-2 may be involved in the carcinogenesis of the breast and may be an independent prognostic indicator in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma. HER-2/neu and p53 are likely to be involved in the regulation of COX-2 expression in invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast.