Objective To assess the feasibility of a novel 99Tcm labelled polypeptide analogue for interleukin-11 receptor ( IL11R) imaging in a bone metastases model for prostate cancer. Methods A novel circular polypeptide analogue of IL11 ( c( CGRRAGGSC ) ) was indirectly labeled with 99Tcm and the product was named as 99Tcm-DTPA-IL11 RR. The labeling efficiency, radiochemical purity and stability of the product were measured with paper chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The biodistribution of 99Tcm-DTPA-IL11RR was investigated in 28 ICR normal mice. The organ radioactivity was measured as percentage activity of injection dose per gram of tissue ( %ID/g). The models of bone metastases from prostate cancer were established at the tibias of BALB/c nude mice bearing human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. The tumor bearing ( n= 5 ) and standard closed fracture nude mice models underwent both 99Tcm-DTPA-IL11RR and 99Tcm-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) scintigraphy study. The images were acquired at 0.5, 1,2, 4, 6, 8, 24 h after intravenous injection of the tracers. The competitive inhibition imaging was perfomed in three tumor bearing mice. One-way variance analysis was used. Results The labeling efficiency was 90.7%. The radiochemical purity of 99Tcm-DTPA-IL11RR in normal saline solution was (99.57 ±0.09)%, (99.29 ±0.18)%, (98.95 ±0.78)%, (98.67 ±0.11)%, (96.53 ±0.91)%, (95.20±0.70)%, (88.38 ±0.22)% and (36.17±1.29)% at room temperature after0, 1,2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 24 h, respectively. The tracer radiochemical purity in the blood of ICR mice remained over 90% at 37 C for 6 h. The labeling compounds were excreted mainly through kidney. The peak uptake of bone ( ( 1.910 ±0.109) %ID/g) and liver ( (0.366 ±0.030) %ID/g) was at 4 h after injection. In the tumor bearing mice, the uptake of spine marrow and large joints of extremities was mild. The highest uptake at tumor region was at 4 h and persistent at 6-8 h after injection. The tumor to non-tumor ratios (T/NT) were 1.17 ±0.17, 2.20 ±0.29, 3.20 ±0.15, 3.67 ±0.23, 13.61±0.85, 9.45 ±0.37 and 3.33 ±0.30 at 0.5,1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 24 h, respectively (F=621.54, P＜0.05). In the standard closed fracture models,high uptake of 99Tcm-MDP was shown at the fracture site, with no increased 99Tcm-DTPA-IL11RR uptake noted. The tumor uptake was significantly depressed after a pre-injection of the unlabeled polypeptide analogue. Conclusions The synthesis of 99Tcm-DTPA-IL11RR is stable and the labeling efficiency is high. It may be a potential molecular probe in metastatic bone imaging for prostate cancer.

Objective To investigate the direct inhibitory effects of 153Sm- DTPA-c (Cys-Gly-Arg-Arg-Ala-Gly-Gly-Ser-Cys) NH2 ( 153 Sm-DTPA-c (CGRRAGGSC)) on human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Methods 153Sm-DTPA-c(CGRRAGGSC) was synthesized by the reaction of 153SmCl3 with DTPA-c(CGRRAGGSC) using indirect synthesis method. PC-3 cells in vitro culture were divided into four study groups, groug A ( the control, with PBS only), group B with 1.5 mg/L c ( CGRRAGGSC), group C with 370 kBq 153 SmCl3 and group D with 370 kBq 153Sm-DTPA-c(CGRRAGGSC). PC-3 cell growth was assayed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl ) -2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. Cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression changes of interleukin 11 (IL11 ) and IL11 receptor (IL1 1 R) in PC-3 cells were examined by Western Blot. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and paired-t test were applied for statistic analysis. Results The labeling yield of 153Sm-DTPA-c (CGRRAGGSC) was 85% and the radiochemical purity was 95.8%. The specific activity of 153Sm-DTPA-c(CGRRAGGSC) was 1.32 × 105 MBq/μmol. Significant inhibitory effects on the growth of PC-3 cells were found in both group C and D, with a time-dependent manner. However, no obvious inhibition was found either in group A or in group B. After 48 h,significant differences of sub-G1 peak area were found among groups, (0. 98 ± 0. 18)%, (0. 35 ±0. 10)%, (4.05 ±0.28)% and (13.38 ±0. 89)% for group A, B, C and D, respectively. Furthermore,sexpression of ILl 1R in group D was significantly lower than that in group B and C with absorbance values 0. 339 ~ 0.014, 0.338 ~ 0.019, 0.226 ~ 0. 015 for group B, C and D, respectively. Absorbance values in groups B and C were not significantly different after treatment, compared with those before treatment; however, there was difference between absorbance values after and before treatment in group D ( t = 0. 405,1. 163,135.989,P>0.05 >0.05, <0.05). Conchluion 153Sm-DTPA-c(CGRRAGGSC) can directly in hibit the cell growth and expression of human prostate cancer cells PC-3.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the resistance index (RI) of the renal artery and serum creatinine (Cr) level in patients early (within one month) after renal transplantation.

METHODSA total of 123 patients receiving renal transplantation underwent examinations by color Doppler ultrasound for measurement of the RI of the renal artery within one month after the operation. According to the results of RI measurement, the patients were divided into RI≥0.75 and RI<0.75 groups for analyzing the correlation between RI and serum Cr level measured at the same time points.

RESULTSThe RI and Cr levels in patients with RI≥0.75 showed a significant positive correlation (P<0.05), whereas they showed an inverse correlation in patients with RI<0.75 (P<0.05). The patients with RI≥0.75 had significantly lower RI of the renal artery and Cr level than those with RI≥0.75.

CONCLUSIONRI is significantly correlated to Cr, and may serve as an indicator for predicting renal graft function after transplantation.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Creatinine ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Renal Artery ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Ultrasonography, Doppler ; Vascular Resistance ; Young Adult

Objective:To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) of three different frequencies (2 Hz,80 Hz and 2 Hz/80 Hz) on the free radicals in hippocampus of vascular dementia (VD) model mice.Methods:A total of 100 Kunming mice were randomly divided into a sham operation group,a model group,a 2 Hz EA group,an 80 Hz EA group and a 2 Hz/80 Hz EA group,with 20 mice in each group.The ischemia-reperfusion VD model was established by repeated blockade of bilateral common carotid arteries.Mice in EA groups began EA treatment on the 4th day after the operation.Baihui (GV 20),Dazhui (GV 14),Geshu (BL 17) and Zusanli (ST 36) were punctured and then connected to EA instrument,with different waves of 2 Hz,80 Hz or 2 Hz/80 Hz (10 min/time) applied accordingly,once a day.During the jumping stand experiment,the learning performance,memory performance and hippocampal calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP),nitric oxide synthase (NOS),malondialdehyde (MDA),changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and true choline esterase (TChE) were observed.In hippocampus,the CGRP level was determined by radioimmunoassay;the MDA level was determined by thiobarbituric acid colorimetric method;the activities of NOS and TChE were determined by spectrophotometry;the activity of SOD was determined by xanthine oxidase method.Results:Compared with the sham operation group,the performances of learning and memory decreased significantly in the model group (P＜0.01);in hippocampus,the CGRP level decreased,the MDA level increased,the activities of NOS and TChE increased,and the activity of SOD decreased in the model group.Compared with the model group,the learning and memory performances of the EA groups were significantly improved (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01);in hippocampus,the CGRP level increased,the MDA level decreased,the NOS and TChE activities decreased,and the SOD activity increased (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Among EA groups,the 2 Hz/80 Hz EA group was superior to the 2 Hz EA group and the 80 Hz EA group (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Conclusion:EA can improve the cognitive impairment of mice with ischemia-reperfusion VD.The mechanism may be related to the improvement of cerebral blood circulation,regulation of the central neurotransmitters,fighting lipid peroxidation and promoting nerve cell repair.The therapeutic effects of EA with different frequencies were different,and the intervention effect by EA at 2 Hz/80Hz is the most significant.

OBJECTIVETo compare therapeutic effects of warm needle moxibustion and medication on osteoporosis and to study the mechanism.

METHODSForty cases were randomly divided into an acupuncture group and a medication group, 20 cases in each group. The acupuncture group was treated by warm needle moxibustion at Dazhu (BL 11), Ganshu (BL 18), Shenshu (BL 23), Zusanli (ST 36), Yanglingquan (GB 34) etc. once other day, for 3 months; and the medication group was treated by oral administration of tablet Caltrate with Vit D2 for 3 months. The changes of bone mass density (BMD), estradiol (E2), osteocalcin (bone growth protein, BGP), urine calcium/creatinine (Ca/Cr) in the two groups before and after treatment and therapeutic effects were investigated.

RESULTSAfter treatment, BMD significantly increased (P<0.05, P<0.01) in the acupuncture group and did not signifi cantly changed in the medication group (P>0.05) with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). After treatment E2 level significantly increased as compared with before treatment in both of groups (P<0.01); after treatment BGP significantly decreased as compared with before treatment in both of groups (P<0.01); after treatment Ca/Cr significantly decreased as compared with before treatment in the acupuncture group (P<0.05) ; af ter treatment, there were significant differences in BGP and Ca/Cr between the two groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The clinically controlled rate in the acupuncture group and in the medication group were 35.0%, 5.0%, respectively, the therapeutic effect of the acupuncture group being better than that of the medication group (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe therapeutic effect of warm needle moxibustion on osteoporosis is better than that of oral administration of tablet Caltrate with Vit D2 and it can increase levels of hormones and delay bone loss. It is an effective method for preventing and treating postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Acupuncture Points ; Aged ; Bone Density ; Bone and Bones ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Calcium ; urine ; Creatinine ; urine ; Estradiol ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Osteocalcin ; metabolism ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo investigate effect of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) on memory CD8T cell subpopulation differentiation in mice with autoimmune diabetes.

METHODSCultured splenic CD8T cells from pre-diabetic NOD mice isolated with magnetic beads were treated with 30 µg/mL ox-LDL and 10 U/mL interleukin-2 (IL-2) for 24 h and the control cells were treated with IL-2 only. Flow cytometry was used to determine the percentage of splenic CD8IFN-γT cells, expressions of CD8, CD44 and CD62L on the T cells, and the activation of T cell factor-1 (TCF-1) and STAT-3. The CD127memory T cells were purified and transplanted into the pre-diabetic NOD mice via the tail vein, and the blood glucose was recorded weekly and survival time of the mice was monitored.

RESULTSTreatment with ox-LDL significantly reduced islet β cell-specific cytotoxic CD8T cells as compared with the control group [(0.7∓0.03)% vs (2.7∓0.14)%, P<0.01]. The percentage of effector memory CD8T cells (Tem) in the total memory CD8T cells was reduced [(10.3∓0.71)% vs (30.3∓1.36)%, P<0.01] and that of stem cell-like memory T cells was significantly increased [(72.3∓3.8)% vs (55.1∓2.61)%, P<0.05] following ox-LDL treatment, which also resulted in significantly decreased activation of TCF-1 [(14.5∓0.82)% vs (34.2∓1.23)%, P<0.01] and pSTAT-3 [(3.3∓0.12)% vs (22.1∓1.1)%, P<0.01]. Transplantation of ox-LDL-treated memory T cells in pre-diabetic NOD mice obviously inhibited the increase of blood glucose and prolonged the survival time of the mice (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONOx-LDL decreases the activation of transcriptional factors TCF-1 and phosphorylation of STAT-3, inhibits the formation of effector memory CD8T cells with long-term cytotoxicity, but promote the generation of stem cell-like memory CD8T cells, which result in suppression of islet β cell-specific effector cytotoxic CD8T cell differentiation to lessen autoimmune injury to the islet β cells.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of topoisomerase IIalpha (TOP2A) and HER2/neu genes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas of Chinese patients, and to determine their roles during carcinogenesis and tumor progression.

METHODSExpressions of TOP2A and HER2/neu proteins were detected by using immunohistochemistry, while gene amplifications of TOP2A and HER2/neu were assessed by using multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). All the samples were of paraffin embedded and 10% formalin fixed tissue, including 26 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas with adjacent non-neoplastic pancreatic tissues, 10 cases of chronic panreatitis, and 10 cases of normal pancreas. The correlation between TOP2A and HER2/neu gene status was analyzed.

RESULTSBy immunohistochemistry, the nuclear positive index of TOP2A in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas varied from 0.5% to 70%, and the positive rate of HER2/neu in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas was 46.2% (12/26). By FISH, 9/10 TOP2A amplified adenocarcinomas showed TOP2A and HER2/neu gene coamplification, while one case with HER2/neu gene amplification adenocarcinoma showed no TOP2A amplification. No expression of TOP2A, HER2/neu proteins and no amplification of TOP2A and HER2/neu gene were detected in adjacent non-neoplastic pancreatic tissues, chronic pancreatitis tissues and normal pancreas. No relationship was found between protein expression and gene amplification of TOP2A and HER2/neu (P > 0.05). TOP2A gene amplification was significantly correlated with HER2/neu gene amplification (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSProtein expression of TOP2A and HER2/neu are not associated with the gene amplification. There is a significant correlation between TOP2A amplification and HER2/neu gene amplification. Co-amplification of TOP2A and HER2/neu may play an important role in the carcinogenesis and progression of pancreatic carcinoma. Evaluation of the status of TOP2A and HER2/neu may be helpful to achieve target therapy of pancreatic carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; secondary ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; genetics ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; secondary ; DNA Topoisomerases, Type II ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Amplification ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; secondary ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; genetics ; metabolism

Myxoid adrenocortical neoplasms are rare. Surgical resection of the mass is the first-line therapy. Here we reported a total of four patients, aged 44–66 years, diagnosed with myxoid adrenocortical tumor. The clinical characteristics and immunohistochemical features of the tumor are discussed in the current literature.
Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate 18q21 LOH in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas and chronic pancreatitis by fluorescence in-situ hybrydization (FISH) technique, and to analyze the relationship between 18q21 LOH and clinicopathologic characteristics.

METHODSRP11-729G3 and RP11-850A17, the regions on 18q21, were selected as the target fragments, the region RP11-621L6, close to the centromere of chromosome 18, was selected as the reference fragment. The specific BAC clones were used to isolate and purify the corresponding genomic DNA, which were labeled with biotin or DIG by nick translation into dual color probes. 18q21 LOH was assessed by dual-color FISH in 30 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and 10 cases of chronic pancreatitis. All samples were 10% formalin fixed and paraffin embedded. The relationship between 18q21 LOH and clinicopathologic characteristics was analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 30 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 25 cases showed LOH at the region RP11-729G3 (83.3%), and 26 cases showed LOH at the region RP11-850A17 (86.6%). Among these, 25 cases with LOH at both regions, 1 case showed LOH only at the region of RP11-850A17. No LOH was found in 10 cases of chronic pancreatitis.

CONCLUSIONS18q21 LOH is a high-frequency event in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. LOH at the regions RP11-729G3 and RP11-850A17 demonstrates a high concordance. 18q21 may play an important role during pancreatic carcinogenesis and tumor progression. 18q21 LOH may be used as a diagnostic marker for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma ; classification ; genetics ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal ; classification ; genetics ; Chromosome Mapping ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18 ; Female ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; methods ; Loss of Heterozygosity ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; classification ; genetics ; Pancreatitis, Chronic ; classification ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of 0.9-ms 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser alone or combined with itraconazole for treatment of toenail onychomycosis.

METHODSA total of 37 patients with onychomycosis (178 toenails) were randomly assigned to groups A and B, and each group was further divided into different subgroups according to the Scoring Clinical Index of Onychomycosis (SCIO) and Onychomycosis Severity Index (OSI) scoring. All the patients were treated with 0.9-ms Nd:YAG laser once a week for 8 times. The patients in group A were treated with laser alone, and those in group B were treated with laser combined with itraconazole. The clinical effect, clinical scores, appearance of the toenails and adverse reactions in the two groups were analyzed, and the patients' satisfaction rate was also investigated.

RESULTSAt the 12th months of follow-up, the clinical response rate and mycological cure rate in group A were 31.33% and 30.00%, respectively, similar to the rates in group B (35.79% and 41.18%, respectively) (P>0.05). After the treatments, the SCIO and OSI scores showed no significant changes in group A (P>0.05) but both increased significantly in group B (P<0.05). The response rates did not differ significantly among the subgroups with SCIO<12 or with OSI<16 (P>0.05), but showed significant differences among the subgroups with SCIO≥12 or with OSI≥16 (P<0.05). Of the total of 178 toenails, 33.71%, 74.72% and 70.79% toenails showed improvements in terms of clear nail growth, shape and color, respectively. The overall patients' satisfaction rate was 62.16%, and no adverse reactions related with the therapy were recorded in these patients.

CONCLUSIONFor treatment of toenail onychomycosis, 0.9-ms 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser can effectively improve the aesthetic appearance of the toenails, and a combined treatment with Nd:YAG laser and itraconazole can be better option in severe cases of onychomycosis.