Cell Differentiation ; Humans ; Stem Cells ; Urine ; cytology

AIMTo compare the results of bladder tumor associated antigen (BTA TRAK), nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP 22) and voided urine cytology (VUC) in detecting bladder cancer.

METHODSA total of 135 elderly male and 50 healthy volunteers enrolled in this study were classified into three groups: (i) 93 patients with bladder cancer; (ii) 42 patients with urinary benign conditions; and (iii) 50 healthy volunteers. BTA TRAK and NMP 22 kits were used to detect bladder cancer. Voided urine cytology was used to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the screening tests.

RESULTSThe sensitivity and specificity of cytology, BTA TRAK and NMP 22 were 24% and 97%, 51% and 73%, 78% and 73%, respectively. The level of NMP 22 increased with tumor grading. The BTA TRAK kit has the lowest sensitivity among the screening tests. The NMP 22 with the best sensitivity can be an adjunct to cytology for evaluating bladder cancer.

CONCLUSIONThe NMP 22 test has a better correlation with the grading of the bladder cancer than BTA TRAK. As cytology units are typically not available in hospitals or in outpatient clinics, NMP 22 might be a promising tool for screening bladder cancer.

Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Nuclear Proteins ; urine ; Taiwan ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; urine ; Urine ; cytology

OBJECTIVE To generate hemophilia A (HA) patient-specific inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and induce endothelial differentiation. METHODS Tubular epithelial cells were isolated and cultured from the urine of HA patients. The iPSCs were generated by forced expression of Yamanaka factors (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4) using retroviruses and characterized by cell morphology, pluripotent marker staining and in vivo differentiation through teratoma formation. Induced endothelial differentiation of the iPSCs was achieved with the OP9 cell co-culture method. RESULTS Patient-specific iPSCs were generated from urine cells of the HA patients, which could be identified by cell morphology, pluripotent stem cell surface marker staining and in vivo differentiation of three germ layers. The teratoma experiment has confirmed that such cells could differentiate into endothelial cells expressing the endothelial-specific markers CD144, CD31 and vWF. CONCLUSION HA patient-specific iPSCs could be generated from urine cells and can differentiate into endothelial cells. This has provided a new HA disease modeling approach and may serve as an applicable autologous cell source for gene correction and cell therapy studies for HA.
Cell Differentiation ; Hemophilia A ; pathology ; therapy ; urine ; Humans ; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells ; cytology ; transplantation ; Urine ; cytology

The research of bone tissue engineering bases on three basic directions of seed cells, scaffold materials and growth information. Stem cells have been widely studied as seed cells. Human urine-derived stem cell (hUSC) is extracted from urine and described to be adhesion growth, cloning, expression of the majority of mesenchymal stem cell markers and peripheral cell markers, multi-potential and no tumor but stable karyotype with passaging many times. Some researches proposed that hUSC might be a new source of seed cells in tissue engineering because of their invasive and convenient obtention, stable culture and multiple differentiation potential.
Bone and Bones ; Cell Differentiation ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; Tissue Engineering ; Urine ; cytology

BACKGROUND: Screening of high-risk patients using bladder tumor markers can offer an advantage of early detection and saving medical costs. For these purpose many tumor markers have been developed to supplement invasive cystoscopy. Our study evaluated the NMP22 point-of-care test (NMP22 POCT), which is one of the tumor makers, comparing with the standard urine cytology for the diagnosis of bladder cancer. METHODS: From January to September 2005, 232 patients who had undergone a cystoscopy due to bladder cancer associated symptoms including hematuria and dysuria were enrolled in this study. Urine specimens were collected for NMP22 POCT and cytology. NMP22 POCT and urine cytology were compared for sensitivity and specificity. In addition, we evaluated urine stick test and microscopy to explain some false-positive results in NMP22 POCT. RESULTS: Superficial transitional cell carcinoma was diagnosed in 10 patients. The sensitivity of NMP22 test was 60% (95% confidence interval [CI], 26.2-87.8%), whereas that of cytology was 33.3% (95% CI, 7.5-70.1%); however, the difference was not significant. The specificity of NMP22 test was 69.8% (95% CI, 63.3-75.8%), compared with 99.0% (95% CI, 96.5-99.9%) for cytology (P<0.001). The presence of microscopic RBCs in urine specimen was significantly associated with the lower specificity of NMP22 POCT (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: NMP22 POCT was significantly less specific than urine cytology. To be useful as a bladder cancer screening test, the NMP22 test should have a higher specificity.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nuclear Proteins/*urine ; Point-of-Care Systems ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*urine ; Urinary Bladder/pathology ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/*diagnosis/urine ; Urine/cytology

BACKGROUND: Microscopic examination of urine sediment is one of the most commonly performed tests in the clinical laboratory. However, manual microscopic sediment examination is labor-intensive, time-consuming and imprecise. In this study, we evaluated the analytical performance and clinical usefulness of a recently introduced image-based automated urinalysis system, Iris iQ200 (Iris Diagnostics, USA). METHODS: We assessed the iQ200 for linearity, precision and carryover rate using patient's samples and quality control materials. On 337 urine samples, urine sediment analyses performed by the iQ200 were compared with manual microscopy results. RESULTS: The iQ200 showed a good linearity (r2>0.99) for all cellular components analyzed. Within-run and total CVs on urine specimens and quality control samples were less than 10% except for within-run CV for the samples with low concentration of the squamous epithelial cells. The carryover rates were 0.21% for RBCs and 1.92% for WBCs. The agreement rates within one grade between the iQ200 and manual microscopy for RBCs, WBCs, and squamous epithelial cells were 93.8%, 94.2% and 96.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Since the iQ200 showed a reliable analytical performance and good concordance with manual microscopy, it could be useful in the clinical practice as a screening procedure.
Autoanalysis/methods ; Humans ; Quality Control ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Urinalysis/*instrumentation ; Urine/*cytology/microbiology

Adipose tissue stem cells (ADSCs) would be an attractive autologous cell source. However, ADSCs require invasive procedures, and has potential complications. Recently, urine stem cells (USCs) have been proposed as an alternative stem cell source. In this study, we compared USCs and ADSCs collected from the same patients on stem cell characteristics and capacity to differentiate into various cell lineages to provide a useful guideline for selecting the appropriate type of cell source for use in clinical application. The urine samples were collected via urethral catheterization, and adipose tissue was obtained from subcutaneous fat tissue during elective laparoscopic kidney surgery from the same patient (n = 10). Both cells were plated for primary culture. Cell proliferation, colony formation, cell surface markers, immune modulation, chromosome stability and multi-lineage differentiation were analyzed for each USCs and ADSCs at cell passage 3, 5, and 7. USCs showed high cell proliferation rate, enhanced colony forming ability, strong positive for stem cell markers expression, high efficiency for inhibition of immune cell activation compared to ADSCs at cell passage 3, 5, and 7. In chromosome stability analysis, both cells showed normal karyotype through all passages. In analysis of multi-lineage capability, USCs showed higher myogenic, neurogenic, and endogenic differentiation rate, and lower osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation rate compared to ADSCs. Therefore, we expect that USC can be an alternative autologous stem cell source for muscle, neuron and endothelial tissue reconstruction instead of ADSCs.
Adult Stem Cells/*cytology/*immunology/transplantation ; Biomarkers/metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Lineage ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Separation ; Chromosomal Instability ; Colony-Forming Units Assay ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Multipotent Stem Cells/cytology/immunology/transplantation ; Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal/*cytology ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Urine/*cytology

This experiment was designed to investigate the feasibility of transplanatation of using porous PHB as cell carrier for the transplanatation of adrenocortical cells. Adrenocortical cells from rat adrenal gland were separated and cultured in vitro. The effect of PHB on the proliferation and secretory function of adrenocortical cells were evaluated by MTT and RIA methods. Then adrenocortical cells were seeded into porous PHB. After the cells were cultured in vitro for about seven days, they were implanted into the rats having undergone bilateral adrenalectomy. The changes of blood corticosterone and aldosterone and the local histological changes in these rats were observed. Adrenocortical cells were able to grow and survive on PHB. No effect on the proliferation and secretory function of adrenocortical cells were observed. Most bilateral adrenalectomized rats bearing the transplanted adrenocortical cells within PHB (study group) survived longer than did the adrenalectomized rats in control group. The blood corticosterone level and aldosterone level of study group were higher than those of control group. It was found that PHB has no effects on the survival, proliferation and secretory function of adrenocortical cells. Adrenocortical cells within PHB can survive a period of time and can secrete corticosterone and aldosterone which can meet the needs of the adrenalectomized rats. PHB can degrade slowly in vivo. It is feasible to perform transplantation of adrenocortical cells using porous PHB as cell carrier.
Adrenal Cortex ; cytology ; Aldosterone ; blood ; urine ; Animals ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Transplantation ; Cells, Cultured ; Coculture Techniques ; Corticosterone ; blood ; urine ; Hydroxybutyrates ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Male ; Polyesters ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo assess the severity and reversibility of the chronic toxicity of a novel recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSFa) in rats and the dose-effect relationship.

METHODSA total of 100 Sprague-Dawley rats (equal numbers of male and female) were randomly divided into five groups (20 rats in each group): four groups were treated with rhG-CSFa at 500, 100, 10, 1 µg/kg, respectively, and one group was treated with vehicle only to serve as the control. The rats were received subcutaneous injections of rhG-CSFa or vehicle daily for 13 weeks. During the course of the chronic toxicity study, the physical status, body weight, and food consumption were monitored. Half of the rats in each group (n = 10) were sacrificed after the last rhG-CSFa administration, and the other half were sacrificed at five weeks after the last rhG-CSFa administration. Urinalyses, blood biochemistry, hematological analysis, histopathological examination, and immunological tests were performed for each of the rats.

RESULTSThe hematological analyses revealed that the mean white blood cells count, neutrophils count, and neutrophils percentage were increased in male rats at the dose of 10 µg/kg or higher, and these were related with the biological activity of rhG-CSFa. Some small abnormalities were observed in the spleen of a few rats when used highest dose (500 µg/kg, a dosage of 200 folds higher than the normal clinical dosage), but these abnormalities were recovered within 5-week recovery period. No other rhG-CSFa-related abnormalities were observed in this chronic toxicity study.

CONCLUSIONNo significant toxicity and immunogenicity are observed with rhG-CSFa administration to rats in the chronic toxicity studies.

Animals ; Bilirubin ; urine ; Blood Chemical Analysis ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; genetics ; toxicity ; Humans ; Lung ; cytology ; drug effects ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recombinant Proteins ; Spleen ; cytology ; drug effects ; Trachea ; cytology ; drug effects

We report on a 51-yr-old woman who developed intravascular hemolytic anemia caused by arsenic after long-term ingestion of a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Twelve years before the admission, she was diagnosed as neurocysticercosis. She has ingested a TCM for about 12 yr instead of undergoing medical therapy for the disease. She was presented with a severe Coombs'-negative hemolytic anemia with hemosiderinuria. The urine arsenic level was elevated suggesting the arsenic intoxication as a cause of the anemia. She was treated successfully with therapeutic red cell exchange without any sequelae.
Anemia, Hemolytic/*diagnosis ; Arsenic/*toxicity/urine ; *Arsenic Poisoning ; Erythrocytes/*cytology ; Female ; Human ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/*adverse effects ; Middle Aged ; Time Factors