The present and future organisation of Veterinary Services in Asia: the examples of the Republic of Korea and Japan

The Veterinary Services of the Republic of Korea and Japan are reviewed and summarised. To cope with ever-increasing demands on Veterinary Services, both countries have made continued efforts to expand the services, which currently only have a limited number of government personnel. To overcome some of the problems associated with international trade, e.g. outbreaks of foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever (hog cholera), the authorities of the Republic of Korea are considering strengthening quarantine services by combining the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service and the National Plant Quarantine Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). In the field of veterinary public health services, the Republic of Korea and Japan have different organisational structures. All Veterinary Services, including veterinary public health, are kept within the MAF in the Republic of Korea, whereas in Japan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) deals with general animal production and health services and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) deals with the safety of animal products, food poisoning and the prevention/control of zoonoses, such as rabies and Q fever. In Japan, after the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in 2001, the authorities undertook a thorough review of the Veterinary Services, focusing particularly on food safety. A reorganisation of the administrative structure was proposed, and will be completed by the end of 2003. Subject to the approval of the Diet (House of Councillors), an independent 'Food Safety Commission' will be created within the cabinet office which will undertake risk analyses related to foods, and risk management will be carried out by the relevant ministry, i.e. the MAFF or the MHLW. The Animal Health Division of the MAFF will also be moved from the Livestock Industry Department to a new 'Consumer Safety Department' of the MAFF, where additional responsibilities in fish health control and feed safety control will be assumed.

Current status of minimally invasive esophagectomy

Minimally invasive esophagectomy is emerging as an option in the management of benign and malignant esophageal diseases. With minimally invasive esophagectomy, the conventional laparotomy is substituted with laparoscopy and the open thoracotomy with thoracoscopy. This article discusses the surgical techniques and outcomes for a variety of minimally invasive esophagectomy options.

Features predicting adverse outcomes of status epilepticus in childhood

OBJECTIVE

To examine variables that might predict abnormal outcome of status epilepticus among children.

DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

Regional hospital, Hong Kong.

PATIENTS

All children younger than 15 years who were admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit with status epilepticus between 1997 and 2002.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Neurodevelopmental outcomes.

RESULTS

Two of the 25 patients died, resulting in a mortality rate of 8%. No deaths were due to status epilepticus itself. No patient with febrile or idiopathic status epilepticus developed epilepsy. Neurological deterioration was observed in a quarter (six of 23) of the survivors. Symptomatic aetiology (acute or remote) and refractory status epilepticus were associated with adverse outcomes (P<0.05). Young age at status epilepticus (<12 months) and duration of status epilepticus (>60 minutes) tended to be more frequent among those who developed adverse outcome. Rectal diazepam was given before hospital arrival in only four patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Paediatric patients with status epilepticus who had normal neurodevelopmental status before the onset of an attack and who did not sustain an acute insult to the central nervous system or have progressive encephalopathy, had favourable outcomes. Prompt use of rectal diazepam or buccal midazolam administered by caretakers or paramedics should be encouraged.

Antibody responses to human rotavirus (HRV) in gnotobiotic pigs following a new prime/boost vaccine strategy using oral attenuated HRV priming and intranasal VP2/6 rotavirus-like particle (VLP) boosting with ISCOM

Safer and more effective human rotavirus (HRV) vaccines are needed. We evaluated oral priming with attenuated WaHRV (AttHRV) followed by boosting with two intranasal (IN) doses of VP2/6 virus-like particles (2/6 VLP) with immunostimulating complexes (ISCOM) to determine if this regimen induces protection against diarrhoea and viral shedding in the gnotobiotic pig model. IgM, IgA and IgG antibody titres in serum and intestinal contents were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and serum neutralizing antibody titres were measured by a virus neutralization (VN) test. Seven groups of neonatal gnotobiotic pigs were vaccinated at post-inoculation days (PID) 0, 10 and 21 and challenged with virulent WaHRV at PID 28. The vaccine groups included: (1, 2) oral priming with AttHRV and boosting with two IN immunizations with 2/6 VLP-ISCOM (Att + 2/6 VLP-ISCOM) at VLP concentrations of 250 micro g or 25 micro g; (3, 4) three IN immunizations with 2/6 VLP-ISCOM at VLP concentrations of 250 micro g or 25 micro g (2/6 VLP-ISCOM); (5) three oral immunizations with AttHRV (3xAttHRV); (6) one oral immunization with AttHRV (1xAttHRV); (7) controls (ISCOM matrix and/or diluent). The pigs that received 3xAttHRV or Att + 2/6 VLP250-ISCOM had the highest protection rates against diarrhoea upon challenge at PID 28 with virulent WaHRV. The IgA antibody titres to HRV in intestinal contents were significantly higher in the Att + 2/6 VLP250-ISCOM group than in all other groups prechallenge (PID 28). Serum VN antibody titres were statistically similar after the first inoculation among the groups given AttHRV, but at PID 28 VN antibody titres were significantly higher for the 3xAttHRV and Att + 2/6 VLP250-ISCOM groups than for the 1xAttHRV group suggesting that boosting with 2/6 VLP also boosted VN antibody responses. In humans, intestinal IgA antibodies have been correlated with protection against symptomatic reinfection. Thus the vaccine regimen of one oral dose of AttHRV and two IN immunizations with 2/6 VLP250-ISCOM may be an alternative to multiple-dose live oral vaccines in humans.

Pretargeting for cancer radioimmunotherapy with bispecific antibodies: role of the bispecific antibody's valency for the tumor target antigen

The use of a divalent effector molecule improves bispecific antibody (bsMAb) pretargeting by enabling the cross-linking of monovalently bound bsMAb on the cell surface, thereby increasing the functional affinity of a bsMAb. In this work, it was determined if a bsMAb with divalency for the primary target antigen would improve bsMAb pretargeting of a divalent hapten. The pretargeting of a (99m)Tc-labeled divalent DTPA-peptide, IMP-192, using a bsMAb prepared by chemically coupling two Fab' fragments, one with monovalent specificity to the primary target antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and to indium-loaded DTPA [DTPA(In)], was compared to two other bsMAbs, both with divalency to CEA. One conjugate used the whole anti-CEA IgG, while the other used the anti-CEA F(ab')(2) fragment to make bsMAbs that had divalency to CEA, but with different molecular weights to affect their pharmacokinetic behavior. The rate of bsMAb blood clearance was a function of molecular weight (IgG x Fab' < F(ab')(2) x Fab' < Fab' x Fab' conjugate). The IgG x Fab' bsMAb conjugate had the highest uptake and longest retention in the tumor. However, when used for pretargeting, the F(ab')(2) x Fab' conjugate allowed for superior tumor accretion of the (99m)Tc-IMP-192 peptide, because its more rapid clearance from the blood enabled early intervention with the radiolabeled peptide when tumor uptake of the bsMAb was at its peak. Excellent peptide targeting was also seen with the Fab' x Fab' conjugate, albeit tumor uptake was lower than with the F(ab')(2) x Fab' conjugate. Because the IgG x Fab' bsMAb cleared from the blood so slowly, when the peptide was given at the time of its maximum tumor accretion, the peptide was captured predominantly by the bsMAb in the blood. Several strategies were explored to reduce the IgG x Fab' bsMAb remaining in the blood to take advantage of its 3-4-fold higher tumor accretion than the other bsMAb conjugates. A number of agents were tested, including those that could clear the bsMAb from the blood (e.g., galactosylated or nongalactosylated anti-id antibody) and those that could block the anti-DTPA(In) binding arm [e.g., DTPA(In), divalent-DTPA(In) peptide, and DTPA coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) or IgG]. When clearing agents were given 65 h after the IgG x Fab' conjugate (time of maximum tumor accretion for this bsMAb), (99m)Tc-IMP-192 levels in the blood were significantly reduced, but a majority of the peptide localized in the liver. Increasing the interval between the clearing agent and the time the peptide was given to allow for further processing of the bsMAb-clearing agent complex did not improve targeting. At the dose and level of substitution tested, galacosylated BSA-DTPA(In) was cleared too quickly to be an effective blocking agent, but BSA- and IgG-DTPA(In) conjugates were able to reduce the uptake of the (99m)Tc-IMP-192 in the blood and liver. Tumor/nontumor ratios compared favorably for the radiolabeled peptide using the IgG x Fab'/blocking agent combination and the F(ab')(2) x Fab' (no clearing/blocking agent), and peptide uptake 3 h after the blocking agent even exceeded that of the F(ab')(2) x Fab'. However, this higher level of peptide in the tumor was not sustained over 24 h, and actually decreased to levels lower than that seen with the F(ab')(2) x Fab' by this time. These results demonstrate that divalency of a bsMAb to its primary target antigen can lead to higher tumor accretion by a pretargeted divalent peptide, but that the pharmacokinetic behavior of the bsMAb also needs to be optimized to allow for its clearance from the blood. Otherwise, blocking agents will need to be developed to reduce unwanted peptide uptake in normal tissues.

Design of a retroviral-mediated ecdysone-inducible system and its application to the expression profiling of the PTEN tumor suppressor

We have engineered the ecdysone-inducible mammalian expression system for general retroviral delivery to cultured mammalian cells. We inducibly expressed PTEN in the glioblastoma cell line, U87MG, lacking this gene. Because nearly all cells are recruited on induction, we find both up- and down-regulated genes by cDNA microarray analysis. The changes we see are similar to those observed after treatment with LY294002, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase, fully consistent with the model that PTEN antagonizes phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase. Both treatments result in suppressed expression of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta gene and the genes of the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Our results illustrate the power of using a fully inducible expression system in conjunction with cDNA microarray analysis for exploring gene function.

Recent advances in brain injury research: a new human head model development and validation

Many finite element models have been developed by several research groups in order to achieve a better understanding of brain injury. Due to the lack of experimental data, validation of these models has generally been limited. Consequently, applying these models to investigate brain responses has also been limited. Over the last several years, several versions of the Wayne State University brain injury model (WSUBIM) were developed. However, none of these models is capable of simulating indirect impacts with an angular acceleration higher than 8,000 rad/s(2). Additionally, the density and quality of the mesh in the regions of interest are not detailed and sensitive enough to accurately predict the stress/strain level associated with a wide range of impact severities. In this study, WSUBIM version 2001, capable of simulating direct and indirect impacts with a combined translational and rotational acceleration of the head up to 200 g and 12,000 rad/s(2) has been developed. This new finely meshed model, consisting of more than 314,500 elements and 281,800 nodes, also simulates an anatomically detailed facial bone model. An additional new feature of the model is the damageable material property representation of the facial bone and the skull, allowing it to simulate bony fractures. The model was subjected to extensive validation using published cadaveric test data. These data include the intracranial and ventricular pressure data reported by Nahum et al. (1977) and Trosseille et al. (1992), the relative displacement data between the brain and the skull reported by King et al. (1999) and Hardy et al. (2001), and the facial impact data reported by Nyquist et al. (1986) and Allsop et al. (1988). With the enhanced accuracy of model predictions offered by this new model, along with new experimental data, it is hoped that it will become a powerful tool to further our understanding of the mechanisms of injury and the tolerance of the brain to blunt impact.

[Acute myocardial infarction in the postoperative period in an elderly man with low coronary risk factor before the operation]

An 86-year-old man complicated by severe asthma developed myocardial infarction after the operation of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Emergency coronary angiography (CAG) revealed 99% stenosis of main trunks of left coronary artery (LMT). Because the patient had been without major coronary risk factors, it was difficult to predict coronary lesions preoperatively. Elderly patients have frequently latent complications not detected by usual consultation. Therefore, in elderly patients, we have to evaluate each individual risk factor more rigidly, and perform more thorough preoperative tests, including CAG.

Pharmacokinetic studies of 2-amino-9-(3-acetoxymethyl-4-isopropoxycarbonyl-oxybut-1-yl)purine, an oral prodrug for the antiviral agent penciclovir

2-Amino-9-(3-acetoxymethyl-4-isopropoxycarbonyloxybut-1-yl)- purine (SK1899) was tested as an oral prodrug for penciclovir. SK1899 was administered orally to rats and dogs at doses up to 2 and 0.68 mmol/kg, respectively. SK1899 was well absorbed, and the major metabolites detected in plasma and urine were penciclovir, the active antiviral compound, and 6-deoxypenciclovir (M4) in both species. In rats, SK1899 was rapidly and extensively metabolized to penciclovir, which reached the peak plasma concentration (C(max)) of 39.5 microM at 0.5 h after 0.2-mmol/kg dosing. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) for penciclovir was 57.5 microM x h. After an oral dose of 0.034 mmol/kg to dogs, extensive conversion of SK1899 to penciclovir also occurred with slower rate of formation of penciclovir from M4 than in rats. The mean C(max) and AUC for penciclovir were 4.5 microM at 2.7 h and 28.2 microM x h, respectively. The 0- to 24-h urinary recovery of penciclovir represented 36.1 and 36.3% of dose to rats and dogs, respectively. Radioactivity was found in fetuses following an oral administration of [(14)C]SK1899 to pregnant rats, but no significant accumulation was observed. Although substantial milk transfer of [(14)C]SK1899 occurred in rats, the radioactivity in milk was rapidly cleared. The values of C(max), AUC, and urinary recovery of penciclovir after dosing with SK1899 to rats and dogs were similar or slightly higher than those from famciclovir. These data indicate that introduction of an isopropoxy carbonate group into one of the two hydroxyl groups of M4 did not significantly alter the oral bioavailability of penciclovir compared with famciclovir.

Synthesis and phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitory activity of novel phenyl ring modified sildenafil analogues

New sildenafil analogues containing an ether ring fused into the phenyl moiety, 6a--d and 7a--d, were efficiently synthesized from the readily available starting materials, 1a--d and 2, in five steps. Ab initio calculations indicated that introduction of a cyclic ether to the phenyl group might enhance the co-planarity of the molecule. The torsional angles were calculated to be 2--3 degrees for the 5-membered cyclic ether derivatives, 6a, 6c, 7a, and 7c, and 12--16 degrees for the 6-membered ones, 6b, 6d, 7b, and 7d. On the other hand, sildenafil showed the least co-planarity with the torsional angle of 23 degrees compared with the target compounds, 6a--d and 7a--d. In the enzyme assay, however, the in vitro PDE 5 inhibitory activity was found out to be inversely related to the degree of co-planarity. In other words, the least planar sildenafil showed the highest activity, and the most planar 5-membered cyclic ether derivatives were least active by 100--200-fold compared with sildenafil. Our study clearly demonstrated that the open chain 2'-alkoxy group of the phenyl ring, although less effective for inducing the co-planarity, seemed to act as a much better lipophilic requirement than the cyclic alkoxy moiety.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel A-ring modified hexacyclic camptothecin analogues

Eleven A-ring modified hexacyclic analogues of camptothecin (CPT) containing a 1,4-oxazine ring were synthesized from 10-hydroxycamptothecin (11a) and 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (3) (SN-38) in four to five steps and were subjected to the biological tests such as cytotoxicity, topoisomerase I (Topo I) inhibitory activity, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition, and stability in human plasma. Four compounds 15a, 15b, 16a, and 16c were about 2-fold more potent than topotecan and as potent as CPT toward human cancer cell lines A549, H128, WiDr, MKN45, SK-OV-3, and SK-BR-3 in vitro, even though the most active compound 15b was slightly less potent than SN-38. The potency of Topo I inhibition of these compounds showed relatively good correlation with their cytotoxicity. Most of the compounds exhibited AChE inhibitory activity weaker (9 +/- 2 to 20 +/- 3%) than CPT (23 +/- 5%) or topotecan (20 +/- 4%) and similar to SN-38 (13 +/- 2%), indicating that they might have little effect on causing early diarrhea. The stability of lactone forms of these compounds in human plasma seemed to be much higher than that of CPT and similar to that of topotecan but lower than that of SN-38. Among the new hexacyclic CPT analogues, compound 15b showed higher antitumor activity against human tumor xenograft, WiDr, in nude mice compared to that of SN-38. The most promising compound 15b has been selected for further development.

Removal of ethylacetate vapor from waste gases by a trickle-bed air biofilter

Biofilter system is a relatively new process that has been proven to be more cost-effective than traditional technologies such as carbon adsorption, liquid scrubbing, condensation, thermal incineration, and catalytic incineration for removing low-strength volatile organic compounds from waste gases. The trickle-bed air biofilter (TBAB) performance for ethylacetate (EA) removal was evaluated under different influent loadings. In the pseudo-steady states, the elimination capacity increased, but the removal efficiency decreased with increased influent loading. More than 95 and 90% removal efficiencies could be achieved for EA loadings below 490 and 810 g m(-3) h(-1), respectively. The TBAB appears to be very effective for controlling EA emission under low to high loading conditions, and the effectiveness could be maintained over 190 days of laboratory operation.

Effects of nicotine on APP secretion and Abeta- or CT(105)-induced toxicity

Several lines of evidence indicated that overexpression or aberrant processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) is causally related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Amyloid precursor protein is principally cleaved within the amyloid beta protein domain to release a large soluble ectodomain (APPs), known to have a wide range of trophic functions. The central hypothesis guiding this review is that nicotine may play an important role in APP secretion and protection against toxicity induced by APP metabolic fragments (beta-amyloid [Abeta], carboxyl terminal [CT]). Findings from our experiments have shown that nicotine enhances the release of APPs, which has neurotrophic and neuroprotective activities in concentration-dependent (>50 micromol/L) and time-dependent (>2 hours) manners. In addition, pretreatment of nicotine (>10 micromol/L for 24 hours) partially prevented Abeta or CT(105)-induced cytotoxicity in primary cultured neuron cells, and the effects of nicotine-induced protection were inhibited by the pretreatment with a nicotine alpha-bungarotoxin. Nicotine (>10 micromol/L for 24 hours) partially inhibited CT(105)-induced cytotoxicity when PC12 cells was transfected with CT(105). From these results, we proposed that nicotine or nicotinic receptor agonist treatment might improve the cognitive functions not only by supplementation of cholinergic neurotransmission, but also by protecting Abeta- or CT(105)-induced neurotoxicity probably through the increased release of APPs and the activation of nicotinic receptors.

In vivo trafficking and catabolism of IgG1 antibodies with Fc associated carbohydrates of differing structure

We have now produced mouse-human chimeric IgG1 in wild-type Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines Pro-5 as well as in the glycosylation mutants Lec 2, Lec 8, and Lec 1. Analysis of the attached carbohydrates shows those present on IgG1-Lec 1 were mannose terminated. Carbohydrate present on IgG1-Lec8 was uniformly biantennary terminating in N-acetylglucosamine. The glycosylation profiles of IgG1-Lec 2 and IgG1-Pro-5 were heterogeneous. Only IgG1-Pro-5 was sialylated with sialic acid present on only a small percentage of the carbohydrate structures. When the in vivo fate of antibodies labeled with (125)I-lactotyramine was determined, it was found that the majority of all of the antibodies, irrespective of the structure of their attached carbohydrate, is catabolized in the skin and muscle. However, the attached carbohydrate structure does influence the amount that is catabolized in the liver and the liver serves as a major site for the catabolism of proteins bearing carbohydrate with the Lec2 (with terminal galactose) or Lec1(with terminal mannose) structure.