Combination therapy of olmesartan and azelnidipine inhibits sympathetic activity associated with reducing oxidative stress in the brain of hypertensive rats

It has been demonstrated that the antihypertensive drugs with the antioxidant action on the brainstem inhibit the sympathetic activity and consequently decrease blood pressure and heart rate (HR) in hypertensive rats. Combination drugs of the angiotensin receptor blocker and calcium channel blocker, such as olmesartan (OLM)/azelnidipine (AZ) and candesartan (CAN)/amlodipine (AM), are widely used for treating hypertension in Japan. In this study, it was investigated whether there are differences in the antioxidant effect in the brain and the sympathoinhibitory effect between OLM/AZ and CAN/AM combination therapies in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). OLM/AZ (10/8 mg kg(-1) day(-1)), CAN/AM (4/2.5 mg kg(-1) day(-1)), or vehicle was orally administered for 30 days to SHRSP. OLM/AZ and CAN/AM markedly decreased systolic blood pressure to the same extent. OLM/AZ decreased HR to a greater extent than CAN/AM. Urinary norepinephrine excretion as a marker of sympathetic activity was unchanged in the CAN/AM group, but reduced in the OLM/AZ group. Oxidative stress in the whole brain assessed using the in vivo electron spin resonance method was similarly decreased in both OLM/AZ and CAN/AM groups. Importantly, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels in the brainstem were significantly lower in the OLM/AZ group, but not in the CAN/AM group, than in the vehicle group. These results suggest that combination therapy of either OLM/AZ or CAN/AM does not induce reflex-mediated sympathetic activation despite the marked blood pressure reduction, which is associated with an antioxidant effect in the brain regions affecting the sympathetic activity. Furthermore, the antioxidant effect in the brainstem and the sympathoinhibitory effect of OLM/AZ combination may be greater than those of CAN/AM combination treatment.

Correlation of phospholipid metabolites with prostate cancer pathologic grade, proliferative status and surgical stage - impact of tissue environment

This study investigates the relationship between phospholipid metabolite concentrations, Gleason score, rate of cellular proliferation and surgical stage in malignant prostatectomy samples by performing one- and two-dimensional, high-resolution magic angle spinning, total correlation spectroscopy, pathology and Ki-67 staining on the same surgical samples. At radical prostatectomy, surgical samples were obtained from 49 patients [41 with localized TNM stage T1 and T2, and eight with local cancer spread (TNM stage T3)]. Thirteen of the tissue samples were high-grade prostate cancer [Gleason score: 4 + 3 (n = 7); 4 + 4 (n = 6)], 22 low-grade prostate cancer [Gleason score: 3 + 3 (n = 17); 3 + 4 (n = 5)] and 14 benign prostate tissues. This study demonstrates that high-grade prostate cancer shows significantly higher Ki-67 staining and concentrations of phosphocholine (PC) and glycerophosphocholine (GPC) than does low-grade prostate cancer (2.4 ± 2.8% versus 7.6 ± 3.5%, p < 0.005, and 0.671 ± 0.461 versus 1.87 ± 2.15 mmolal, p < 0.005, respectively). In patients with local cancer spread, increases in [PC + GPC + PE + GPE] (PE, phosphoethanolamine; GPE, glycerophosphoethanolamine] and Ki-67 index approached significance (4.2 ± 2.5 versus 2.7 ± 2.4 mmolal, p = 0.07, and 5.3 ± 3.8% versus 2.9 ± 3.8%, p = 0.07, respectively). PC and Ki-67 were significantly lower and GPC higher in prostate tissues when compared with cell cultures, presumably because of a lack of important stromal-epithelial interactions in cell cultures. The findings of this study will need to be validated in a larger cohort of surgical patients with clinical outcome data, but support the role of in vivo (1)H MRSI in discriminating between low- and high-grade prostate cancer based on the magnitude of elevation of the in vivo total choline resonance.

Placental oxidative DNA damage and its repair in preeclamptic women with fetal growth restriction

Preeclampsia is frequently accompanied by fetal growth restriction (FGR). Preeclampsia increases oxygen free radical production, and the resulting oxidative stress impairs placental blood flow. To determine whether placental oxidative stress is associated with FGR in preeclamptic women, we evaluated placental oxidative DNA damage and its repair in 13 preeclamptic women with FGR, 10 preeclamptic women without FGR, and 11 healthy pregnant women without complications. We measured maternal and umbilical serum derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs), as a marker of oxygen free radicals, and pulsatility index (PI) of uterine and umbilical arteries, and performed an immunohistochemical analysis to measure the proportion of nuclei in the placental trophoblast that stained positive for 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosin (8-OHdG), an indicator of oxidative DNA damage, and redox factor-1 (ref-1), indicative of the repair function towards oxidative DNA damage. D-ROMs were increased in the maternal blood of both preeclamptic groups (with FGR, 687.3 ± 50.4 CARR U, p < 0.01; without FGR, 750.4 ± 87.2 CARR U, p < 0.001) compared with controls (504.7 ± 25.0 CARR U). In contrast, d-ROM levels in the umbilical artery were elevated in preeclamptic women with FGR (134.9 ± 13.3 CARR U, p < 0.01), but not in preeclamptic women without FGR (44.0 ± 7.3 CARR U) compared with controls (38.2 ± 5.0 CARR U). Mean PI for uterine arteries was significantly increased in both preeclamptic groups, and the PI in preeclamptic women with FGR was significantly greater than that in women without FGR (0.94 ± 0.07 vs. 1.31 ± 0.07, p < 0.001). The PI for umbilical arteries was significantly increased in preeclamptic women with FGR (0.90 ± 0.05vs. 1.19 ± 0.07, p < 0.001), but not in preeclamptic women without FGR. The proportion of nuclei positive for 8-OHdG was higher in both groups of preeclamptic women than in the control group, but was higher in preeclamptic women with FGR (0.21 ± 0.05 vs. 0.87 ± 0.01, p < 0.001). The proportion of nuclei positive for ref-1 was higher in preeclamptic women without FGR (0.54 ± 0.06, p < 0.001) than in the control group, whereas the proportion did not differ significantly between normal and preeclamptic women with FGR. Our findings indicate that increased oxidative stress and disrupted compensatory reaction against placental oxidative DNA damage may be associated with FGR in preeclamptic women.

Disease-specific survival outcomes in lymph node–positive patients with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy

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Background: Involvement of regional lymph nodes (LN+) at the time of prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis is widely regarded as an adverse prognostic factor associated with poor outcome. No commonly utilized treatment, composed of any combination of androgen ablation, surgery and radiation, has proven to be superior for survival. This study will evaluate the clinical survival outcomes of patients (pts) with newly diagnosed LN+ PCa at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).

Methods: All newly diagnosed LN+ PCa pts treated with External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) as primary therapy or after surgery, each with and without androgen ablation between 1987 and 2009 were included. All pts had confirmed pathologic or radiologic LN+ whereas none had evidence of metastases on the work up. Cause Specific Survival (CSS), Disease Free survival (DFS) and biochemical control were measured from the start of treatment. PSA failure was determined by the Phoenix definition after EBRT and by a confirmed PSA >1 ng/mL following RP+EBRT.

Results: A retrospective analysis identified 91 pts with LN+ at the time of diagnosis (75.8% high risk pts) with disease follow-up. Thirty-four (37%) were managed with exclusive EBRT alone (eRT), 18 pts (20%) with a combination of radical prostatectomy (RP) and adjuvant EBRT (RP+aRT) and 39 pts (43%) were treated with a combination of RP + salvage RT (RP+sRT). Overall 78% of patients also received hormone therapy (HT): 74.0% with eRT, 89% with RP+aRT and 79% with RP+sRT. The 10 years CSS estimates was 89% for eRT, 0% after RP+aRT and 88% after RP+sRT. The 10 years DFS estimates was 33% for eRT, 0% after RP+aRT and 75% after RP+sRT. Among pts remaining disease free the median follow-up is 38 mos for eRT, 26 mos for RP+aRT and 64 mos for RP+sRT. The last PSA for these patients was <0.1 for 85% of all patients which included 47% following eRT, 100% after RP+aRT and 97% after RP+sRT. There were 7 deaths due to PCa occurring between 5 and 73 mos from the start of EBRT.

Conclusions: The results of the current analysis indicate that some pts with LN+ from PCa have prolonged disease free outcomes; and for these men, aggressive treatment may be appropriate.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Fast neutron-gamma discrimination on neutron emission profile measurement on JT-60U

A digital signal processing (DSP) system is applied to stilbene scintillation detectors of the multichannel neutron emission profile monitor in JT-60U. Automatic analysis of the neutron-γ pulse shape discrimination is a key issue to diminish the processing time in the DSP system, and it has been applied using the two-dimensional (2D) map. Linear discriminant function is used to determine the dividing line between neutron events and γ-ray events on a 2D map. In order to verify the validity of the dividing line determination, the pulse shape discrimination quality is evaluated. As a result, the γ-ray contamination in most of the beam heating phase was negligible compared with the statistical error with 10 ms time resolution.

Observation of an energetic-particle-driven instability in the wall-stabilized high-beta plasmas in the JT-60U tokamak

We have observed a bursting mode in the high-beta plasmas above the ideal beta limit without a conducting wall. The mode frequency is chirping down as the mode amplitude increases, and its initial value is close to the precession frequency of the trapped energetic particle from the perpendicular neutral beams. The mode structure is radially extended with a peak around the q = 2 surface. This mode can finally trigger the resistive wall mode (RWM) despite enough plasma rotation for RWM stabilization. It is concluded that the mode is driven by trapped energetic particles. The mode is attributed to the interaction between the trapped energetic particles and a marginally stable mode in the wall-stabilized high-beta_{N} region.

Thermal ablation of prostate diseases: advantages and limitations

Both benign and malignant conditions affecting prostate gland are very common in elderly men. However, the conventional treatment of these conditions can be associated with significant side effects and complications, and less invasive treatment alternative has been always searched for. Because of the anatomical location and easy accessibility of prostate, many newer treatment modalities using thermal ablation have been applied to the organ. These include not only heating of the pathological tissue but also freezing. Some of such treatment techniques have shown to be effective and safe and been clinically used widely. In this review article, various tissue ablation techniques using temperature change applied to prostate gland are covered. Each procedure's advantages and disadvantages are compared and discussed.

High repetition rate neutron flux array using digital-signal processing and scintillators for study of high performance plasma at JT-60U

Aiming at increasing the count rate capability of the radial neutron collimator system in JT-60U, a digital-signal processing system has been extended to seven channels for data acquisition of stilbene crystal detector using analog-to-digital converters equipped with a fast flash memory. In this method, the detected pulses were postprocessed concerning pulse shape and pulse height. Using this system, the radial neutron collimator system can provide the information on the temporal evolution of emission rate of d-T neutrons and gamma rays as well as d-D neutrons. On the course of the development, the fast and stable handling of the large data around 7 GB is undertaken for a discharge.

Adaptation of a 3D prostate cancer atlas for transrectal ultrasound guided target-specific biopsy

Due to lack of imaging modalities to identify prostate cancer in vivo, current TRUS guided prostate biopsies are taken randomly. Consequently, many important cancers are missed during initial biopsies. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential clinical utility of a high-speed registration algorithm for a 3D prostate cancer atlas. This 3D prostate cancer atlas provides voxel-level likelihood of cancer and optimized biopsy locations on a template space (Zhan et al 2007). The atlas was constructed from 158 expert annotated, 3D reconstructed radical prostatectomy specimens outlined for cancers (Shen et al 2004). For successful clinical implementation, the prostate atlas needs to be registered to each patient's TRUS image with high registration accuracy in a time-efficient manner. This is implemented in a two-step procedure, the segmentation of the prostate gland from a patient's TRUS image followed by the registration of the prostate atlas. We have developed a fast registration algorithm suitable for clinical applications of this prostate cancer atlas. The registration algorithm was implemented on a graphical processing unit (GPU) to meet the critical processing speed requirements for atlas guided biopsy. A color overlay of the atlas superposed on the TRUS image was presented to help pick statistically likely regions known to harbor cancer. We validated our fast registration algorithm using computer simulations of two optimized 7- and 12-core biopsy protocols to maximize the overall detection rate. Using a GPU, patient's TRUS image segmentation and atlas registration took less than 12 s. The prostate cancer atlas guided 7- and 12-core biopsy protocols had cancer detection rates of 84.81% and 89.87% respectively when validated on the same set of data. Whereas the sextant biopsy approach without the utility of 3D cancer atlas detected only 70.5% of the cancers using the same histology data. We estimate 10-20% increase in prostate cancer detection rates when TRUS guided biopsies are assisted by the 3D prostate cancer atlas compared to the current standard of care. The fast registration algorithm we have developed can easily be adapted for clinical applications for the improved diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Continuous Grinding Kinetics of Ethenzamide Particles by Fluidized-Bed Jet-Milling

Continuous grinding kinetics of Ethenzamide powder, as a model active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) was investigated by fluidized-bed jet-milling. Because the oversize fractions after the classification were well fitted by a modified Rosin-Rammler distribution function, an equation of grade efficiency curve was obtained, which was also characteristic of API. A continuous grinding model was developed on the basis of a batch model by using 1st Kapur function relating grinding rate, the grade efficiency curve, and the overall process flow model consisting of grinding, classification, and mixing zones. The residual ratio obtained was well fitted to the experimental results except for the particle size range smaller than 4 microm and larger than 100 microm. Furthermore, because the volume of the active grinding zone adopted as the fitting parameter was found to be 5 cm3 in all experiments and the value was considered to be appropriate dimensionally, this result supports the reliability of the model.

Isolation and characterisation of cytopathic avian enteroviruses from broiler chicks

Cytopathic viruses were isolated from the faeces, pancreas and caecal contents of broiler chicks in two cases of a stunting syndrome. Two representative strains, designated AAF7 and M-8, were identified as enteroviruses on the basis of their size (25 nm in diameter), RNA in the viral core, virus growth in the cytoplasm, resistance to chloroform, trypsin and acid, and partial heat-stabilisation to molar magnesium chloride. They formed irregular plaques in chick kidney cell cultures. Numerous granula eosinophilic inclusions were induced in the cytoplasm of chicken kidney cell cultures infected with the viruses. Both isolates reacted partially with the G4260 strain of avian nephritis virus but not with the VR strain of avian encephalomyelitis virus.