Disinfectants ; Fixatives ; toxicity ; Formaldehyde ; toxicity ; Paraffin Embedding ; Tissue Fixation

BACKGROUND: PM is known to induce various pulmonary diseases, including asthma, cancer, fibrosis and chronic bronchitis. Despite the epidemiological evidence the pathogenesis of PM-related pulmonary diseases is unclear. METHODS: This study examined the effects of PM exposure on the secretion of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in the cultured alveolar macrophages. The cultured primary alveolar macrophages were treated with the medium, PM (5~20 microgram/cm2), LPS (5ng/ml), and PM with LPS for 24h and 48h respectively. ELISA was used to assay the secreted TNF-alpha and IL-beta in the culture medium. Western blotting was used to identify and determine the level of proteins isolated from the culture cells. The cells cultured in the Lab-Tek(R) chamber slides were stained with immunocytochemical stains. RESULTS: PM induced TNF-alpha and IL-1beta secretion in the culturing alveolar macrophages, collected from the SPF and inflammatory rats. However, the effects were only dose-dependent in the inflammatory macrophages. When the cells were co-treated with PM and LPS, there was a significant synergistic effect compared with the LPS in the both cell types. CONCLUSION: PM might be play an important role in the induction and/or potentiation of various lung diseases by oversecretion of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta.
Animals ; Asthma ; Blotting, Western ; Bronchitis, Chronic ; Coloring Agents ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fibrosis ; Lung Diseases ; Macrophages ; Macrophages, Alveolar* ; Rats ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

BACKGROUND: Particulate matters (PM) when inhaled is known to induce pulmonary diseases including asthma and chronic bronchitis when inhaled. Despite the epidemiological proofevidence, the pathogenesis of PM-related pulmonary diseases is unclearremain poorly understood. METHODS: Primary alveolar macrophages were harvested from the SPF and inflammatory rats by bronchioalveolar lavage (BAL). The cultured primary alveolar macrophages were treated with the medium only, PM only (5~40 microgram/cm2), LPS (5ng/ml) only, and PM with LPS for 24 and 48 hours. The level of secreted nitric oxide (NO) was assayed from the cultured medium by using the Griess reaction. The cultured cells were utilized for the western blotting against the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) proteins. Immunocyto- chemical staining against the iNOS and NT-proteins were performed in cells that cultured in the Lab-Tek(R) chamber slide after treatments. RESULTS: The PM that utilizein this experiments induced NO formation with iNOS expression in the cultured SPF and inflammatory rats alveolar macrophages, by itself. When the cells were co-treated with PM and LPS, there was a statistically significant synergistic effect on NO formation and iNOS expression over the LPS effect. The cells from the sham control showed minimal immunoreactivity for the NT-proteins. Significantly higher quantities of NT-proteins were detected in the PM and PM with LPS co-treated cells than from the sham control. CONCLUSION: Increased iNOS expression and NO formation with increased NT-proteins formation might be involved in the pathogenesis of PM-induced lung injury.
Animals ; Asthma ; Blotting, Western ; Bronchitis, Chronic ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Cells, Cultured ; Lung Diseases ; Lung Injury ; Macrophages, Alveolar* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; Nitric Oxide* ; Rats

No abstract available.
Coloring Agents* ; Granuloma*

Pancreatic arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is an extremely rare condition with various clinical manifestations. We report herein a case of recurrent acute pancreatitis due to pancreatic AVM in a 49-year-old man. This patient presented with epigastric pain that had developed after consuming alcohol 2 days prior to admission. Serum amylase and lipase levels were elevated and computed tomography revealed focal low-attenuation lesions with peripancreatic infiltrations in the pancreatic tail and multiple collateral vessels around the low-attenuation lesions. He was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and pancreatic AVM. Although he had stopped drinking after the first attack of acute pancreatitis, his pancreatitis recurred twice within 3 months. He underwent a distal pancreatectomy after the third attack of acute pancreatitis. He was free of symptoms for 2 years after the pancreatectomy.
Amylases ; Arteriovenous Malformations ; Drinking ; Humans ; Lipase ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatitis

PURPOSE: Radioiodine (I-131) therapy is an effective modality to reduce both recurrence and mortality rates in differentiated thyroid cancer. Whether higher doses shows higher therapeutic responses was still debatable. The purpose of this study was to validate curve-fitting (CF) method measuring maximum permissible dose (MPD) by a biological dosimetry using metaphase analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Therapeutic effects of MPD was evaluated in 58 patients (49 females and 9 males, mean age 50+/-11 years) of papillary thyroid cancer. Among them 43 patients were treated with < or =7.4 GBq, while 15 patients with > or =9.25 GBq. The former was defined as low-dose group, and the latter high-dose group. Therapeutic response was defined as complete response when complete disappearance of lesions on follow-up I-131 scan and undetectable serum thyroglobulin levels were found. Statistical comparison between groups were done using chi-square test. P value less than 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. RESULTS: MPD measured by CF method using tracer and therapeutic doses were 13.3+/-1.9 and 13.8+/-2.1 GBq, respectively (p=0.20). They showed a significant correlation (r=0.8, p< 0.0001). Exposed doses to blood measured by CF and biological methods were 1.54+/-0.03 and 1.78+/-0.03 Gy (p=0.01). They also showed a significant correlation (r=0.86, p=0.01). High-dose group showed a significantly higher rate of complete response (12/15, 80%) as compared to the low-dose group (22/43, 51.2%) (p=0.05). While occurrence of side effects was not different between two groups (40% vs. 30.2%, p=0.46). CONCLUSION: Measurement of MPD using CF method is reliable, and the high-dose I-131 therapy using MPD gains significantly higher therapeutic effects as compared with low-dose therapy.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Metaphase ; Mortality ; Recurrence ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*