Post-transplant changes of segment 4 after living related liver transplantation

Cocaine-induced thrombosis has been reported in the literature; however, its mechanism is not fully understood. Most cases are of small caliber vessels, such as the coronaries and cerebral vasculature. We report a case of a 36-year-old man with signs and symptoms of acute arterial insufficiency in his right lower extremity. At angiography, the right common iliac artery and the popliteal artery were occluded. The patient was successfully treated with thrombolytic therapy. Cocaine-induced thrombosis should be suspected in a patient with history of cocaine abuse who presents with acute arterial insufficiency in an extremity, without an identifiable source.     

In vitro and in vivo growth inhibition of cancer cells by adamantylmaleimide derivatives

We have previously found that adamantylmaleimide derivatives inhibited the growth of several cancer cell lines in vitro. In this study we examined the effect of adamantylmaleimide derivatives on the in vivo and in vitro growth of human gastric cancer cells. Experimental results showed that N-1-adamantylmaleimide (AMI) and N-1-(3,5-dimethyladamantyl)maleimide (DMAMI) exert modest growth inhibitory activities in vitro against five different cancer cell lines. In contrast, N-1-(3,5-dimethyl-adamantyl)maleamic acid (DMAMA), N-1-adamantylmaleamic acid (AMA) and N-1-adamantylsuccinimide (ASI) were virtually inactive. These results suggest that the double bond of N-substituted maleimide plays a prominent role in their antitumor activities. Further analysis with flow cytometry showed an accumulation of apoptotic SC-M1 cells after treatment with 3-10 microM AMI or 5-20 microM DMAMI for up to 72 h. DNA fragmentation by gel electrophoresis confirmed that AMI- and DMAMI- induced cytotoxicity led to cell apoptosis. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that treating cells with AMI (> or = 10 microM) for 24 h, significantly changed the morphology of SC-M1 cells, i.e. they had an irregular flat shape and the cell membrane was porous. The AMI-induced morphological changes of the cell membrane may lead to apoptosis of SC-M1 cells. AMI-induced growth inhibition was observed in vivo using SCID mice bearing SC-M1 tumors. The AMI-induced growth inhibition of SC-M1 tumor was dose-dependent.     

Somatomedin-C in infantile nutritional assessment with comparison with prealbumin, insulin and growth hormone

Long-term effects of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are not at all satisfactory. Therefore combinations of different substances have long been studied. But no convincing recommendations could be derived from those results. Some combinations seem to be more effective than the single substances, but often have more side-effects. First of all, those types of rheumatoid arthritis must be defined which require an aggressive therapy. These may profit from combinations with sulfasalazine, methotrexate or azathioprine. But such questions may only be answered by long-term studies which can be statistically evaluated.     

Hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine by hepatic lipase in discoidal and spheroidal recombinant high-density lipoprotein

Hepatic lipase (HL) hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) was studied in recombinant high-density lipoprotein particles (r-HDL). r-HDL were made from cholate mixed micelles that contained PC, apo AI, and, in some cases, unesterified cholesterol. r-HDL were characterized using chemical composition, nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. The r-HDL were found to be discoidal and in the size range of native HDL. Upon treatment of cholesterol-containing r-HDL with lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), to form cholesteryl ester, the discoidal r-HDL became spheroidal. The effects of r-HDL morphology and size on HL activity were studied on r-HDL made of palmitoyloleoyl-PC, unesterified cholesterol, cholesteryl ester, and apolipoprotein AI. Spheroidal r-HDL were hydrolyzed at a faster rate than discoidal r-HDL. Protein-poor r-HDL were hydrolyzed by HL at a faster rate than protein rich r-HDL. Unesterified cholesterol had no apparent effect on particle PC hydrolysis. The hydrolysis of different species of PC [dipalmitoyl (DPPC), dioleoyl(DOPC), palmitoylarachidonoyl (PAPC), and palmitoyloleoyl (POPC)] in r-HDL was also investigated. In discoidal r-HDL, we found that POPC >/= DOPC = PAPC/DPPC. However, in LCAT-treated spheroidal r-HDL, POPC = DOPC > PAPC/DPPC. In both discoidal and spheroidal rHDL, DPPC containing r-HDL were not hydrolyzed to a significant extent. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that the physico-chemical properties of particles (such as phospholipid packing and phospholipid acyl composition) play a significant role in hydrolysis of HDL phospholipid by HL and, therefore, in reverse cholesterol transport.     

Prognostic significance of DNA flow cytometric analysis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a prevalent malignant tumor among Southern Chinese. Previously, the authors described the prognostic significance of a serum antibody assay to a recombinant Epstein-Barr virus Bam HI-Z replication activator protein (ZEBRA) in NPC patients with long term follow-up. In this study, the authors further reported the use of DNA flow cytometry (DNA-FCM) as an additional technique for determining the prognosis of NPC patients in the same series. METHODS: One hundred and forty-three archival biopsies from 110 NPC patients were deparaffinized and subjected to DNA-FCM analysis. DNA ploidy state and various proliferative indices (PI) of the tumors were correlated with patient survival and frequency of recurrence. RESULTS: Among the biopsies analyzed, 119 were histologically positive NPC and 24 were negative. Fifty-one tumor biopsies that fulfilled the guideline criteria of the DNA Cytometry Consensus Conference were correlated with the clinical manifestations of the patients. Among them, 43 tumors (84%) were DNA diploid and 8 (16%) were aneuploid. Two PI, S-phase fraction (SPF) and proliferation fraction (PF), appear to be potentially useful prognostic indicators. For example, PF in patients who developed locoregional recurrence (15.1%) and distant recurrence (16.4%) after radiation therapy both were significantly higher than PF in patients who were in complete remission (8.2%) (P = 0.0005 and P = 0.004, respectively). Significant differences in SPF between patients with distant recurrence (10.6%) and those in remission (5.7%) also was found (P = 0.005). Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, patients with high PF, high SPF, and aneuploid tumors had significantly poorer 12-year survival rates (35%, 26%, and 28%, respectively) than those patients with low PF, low SPF, and diploid tumors (77%, 67%, and 59%, respectively) (P < 0.0009, P < 0.004, and P < 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Determination of tumor PI and DNA ploidy state by DNA-FCM at diagnosis of NPC can be potentially useful in selecting a poor prognostic subgroup of NPC patients. These parameters may enable oncologists to plan for more stringent treatment strategies such as hyperfractionated and accelerated radiation therapy or concomitant chemoradiotherapy for these patients.     

A population-based study of tractor-related injuries: Regional Rural Injury Study-I (RRIS-I)

Although tractors account for the majority of fatal farming-related injuries, little is known about the magnitude of this problem. The study population in this article was obtained from the five state Regional Rural Injury Study-I (RRIS-I) database that included 3939 farm households and 13,144 persons interviewed during 1990. Rates were calculated for sociodemographic variables and various exposures; logistic regression was used to calculate the relative risks and respective confidence intervals. Among the total farming-related injury events (n = 764), 65 (8.4%) were related to regular tractor (> or = 20 horsepower) use (495 injured persons per 100,000 persons per year). The rates increased incrementally for those persons working between 20 to 39 and 60 to 79 hours per week (range, 529 to 1430 per 100,000 persons). Among the 12 rollover events, there were only three injuries. The majority of injury events occurred while persons were mounting or dismounting the tractor (42%). Although only 7% of the cases were hospitalized, 83% required some type of health care. Among all injured persons, 43% were restricted from regular activities for 1 week or more and 20% were restricted for 1 month or more; 28% continued to have persistent problems. The finding of the large proportion of events associated with activities of mounting and dismounting suggests a need to investigate specific design characteristics of the tractors associated with these events and, in general, the tractors to which the population is exposed.     

Protection of astrocytes by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and citrate ameliorates neuronal injury under hypoxic conditions

Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) protects astrocytes from hypoxic injury in vitro. To determine whether FBP and citrate (inhibitors of phosphofructokinase) ameliorate hypoxia-induced injury to neurons and, if they do, whether the protective effects are a direct result of their actions on neurons or a consequence of their actions on astrocytes, we added FBP or citrate to the media of normoxic and hypoxic 'pure', mixed and co-culture systems. FBP (3.5 mM) and citrate (10 microM-2 mM) decreased release of LDH from astrocytes following 24 h of hypoxia. Eight hours of hypoxia killed pure neuronal cultures and neither FBP nor citrate prevented this death. However, in mixed and co-culture systems, FBP and citrate increased neuronal viability (as determined by the ratio of live-to-total cells), even after 47 h of hypoxia. In co-culture, following 24 h of hypoxia, both FBP and citrate reduced neuronal release of LDH and neuronal death. Fluorocitrate, a suicidal-inhibitor of aconitase, also protected astrocytes, but not neurons, from hypoxia in 'pure' culture, presumably by increasing intracellular citrate concentrations through inhibition of the catalysis of citrate to isocitrate We conclude that FBP and citrate attenuate hypoxic neuronal injury through their effects on astrocytes.     

Origins of neural crest cell diversity

The effect of diets containing 50% of fat calories from butter, butter enriched with mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and margarines with and without trans fatty acids on the serum lipids of 38 healthy men in a free-living condition have been determined. Serum lipid responses to the high level of individual dietary fats were unexpectedly small. The butter diet produced a small, but significant rise (5%) in the total serum cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, relative to all other diets. Enrichment of butter with either olive oil (50/50) or sunflower oil (50/50) failed to reduce serum lipid levels below habitual diet values. Hard margarine, containing 29% trans fatty acids, caused a decrease in apolipoprotein A-I and B levels, but did not change total serum cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol levels, relative to habitual diet values. A soft margarine, high in linoleate, with no trans fatty acids reduced total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B significantly, relative to all diets. Soft margarine high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels remained unchanged, but apolipoprotein A-I values were decreased relative to habitual and butter diets. The quantities of saturated fatty acids and the sum of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids consumed on the hard and soft margarines were equal; therefore, the different response of serum cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol between these two diets is attributable to the trans fatty acids in the hard margarine. The data indicate that trans fatty acids are not metabolically equivalent to the natural cis isomers and that they affect the serum lipid profile adversely.     

Trends in hospitalizations and mortality due to medicinal or non-medicinal poisonings in Hong Kong

Previous epidemiologic studies of poisonings in Hong Kong are regional hospital-or poison information center-based and have focused on either adults or children. This paper reports on the territory-wide hospitalization and mortality rates, comparing medicinal and non-medicinal poisonings in the general population. Between 1980 and 1995, the figures for hospitalizations and mortality due to medicinal (ICD codes 960-977) or non-medicinal (ICD codes 980-989) poisonings were obtained from the Annual Reports of the Department of Health, Hong Kong Government. Rates of medicinal poisonings increased between 1980/81 (57.3/100,000) and 1987/88 (80.9/100,000), but then declined (59.1/100,000) in 1993/94. Rates of non-medicinal poisonings were rather static (49-53/100,000) between 1980/81 and 1988/89, but then declined (22.0/100,000) in 1994/95. Between 1980/81 and 1988/89, rates of fatal medicinal poisonings (0.73-1.31/100,000) were similar to those of fatal non-medicinal poisonings (0.98-1.70/100,000). However, from 1989/90, there was an increase in the rates of fatal medicinal poisonings (1.94-2.80/100,000), although rates for non-medicinal poisonings remained much the same (0.80-1.38/100,000). Hospitalizations due to poisonings are now less common in Hong Kong than before, due largely to a greater decline in non-medicinal poisonings.