This paper reports experimental results of the effect of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the phase behavior of the system made of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (Aerosol OT)/water/isooctane. ...Although the microemulsions and the lamellar phases still exist when pure water is replaced with aqueous solutions of PEG, their stability is significantly affected. It has been found that (1) large amounts of polymer can be solubilized in the lamellar and microemulsions phases, up to 17% in weight of water can be replaced by polymer, (2) the solubility of PEG in the water-in-oil droplets depends on the relative sizes of the water core (R W) and the polymer (R G) and on temperature; (3) at high R W/R G ratios, PEG enhances the solubilization of water in oil, and (4) PEG changes the sign of the spontaneous curvature of the surfactant film and induces an inversion of microemulsion type from oil-in-water to water-in-oil. This effect is similar to that produced by addition of NaCl. Interestingly enough, there exists a PEG concentration range, where the hydrophile−lipophile property of AOT is just balanced at T = 25 °C. Finally electrical conductivity and light scattering data indicate that the presence of PEG in the water core of inverse micelles leads to a decrease of the attractions between the micelles.
Tumor infiltrate, predominantly constituted by lymphocytes, may represent an important prognostic factor in bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC), in addition to tumor extension and histological type. ...In the present study, we determined the presence, the origin, and the prognostic importance of neutrophils that also participate in leukocyte infiltrates of BAC. Neutrophil alveolitis was determined immunohistochemically in both lung biopsies and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples from 29 patients with histologically proved BAC. The local expression of interleukin (IL)-8 was determined by immunohistochemical and immunoenzymatic techniques. Neutrophil counts were analyzed in relation to the clinical outcome of patients by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox's univariate and stepwise multivariate models. Lymphocytes and neutrophils dominated the inflammatory cell population in the lower respiratory tract of patients with BAC. Neutrophils were located mainly in the alveolar lumen and seldom in alveolar wall whereas lymphocytes were exclusively present in alveolar wall. A relationship was observed between the number of neutrophils and the level of IL-8 in BAL fluid suggesting the involvement of that chemokine in neutrophil recruitment. The tumor cells were the predominant cells that appeared to express IL-8 by immunolocalization. The presence of increased numbers of neutrophils was significantly associated with a poorer outcome in patients with BAC (P = 0.02). In a multivariate analysis, the neutrophil percentage in BAL fluid was an independent predictor of clinical outcome. The risk of death was increased substantially (rate ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 24.7) among patients with BAL neutrophil percentage of > or = 39% (median of the distribution) as compared with the others. In BAC, neutrophils accumulate in the alveolar lumen. Elaboration of IL-8 by tumor cells may be responsible for this event, which is associated with a significantly higher risk of death.
In hypertension, angiotensin (Ang) II is a critical mediator of cardiovascular remodeling, whose prominent features include myocardial and vascular media hypertrophy, perivascular inflammation, and ...fibrosis. The signaling pathways responsible for these alterations are not completely understood. Here, we investigated the importance of calpains, calcium-dependent cysteine proteases. We generated transgenic mice constitutively expressing high levels of calpastatin, a calpain-specific inhibitor. Chronic infusion of Ang II led to similar increases in systolic blood pressure in wild-type and transgenic mice. In contrast, compared with wild-type mice, transgenic mice displayed a marked blunting of Ang II–induced hypertrophy of left ventricle. Ang II–dependent vascular remodeling, ie, media hypertrophy and perivascular inflammation and fibrosis, was also limited in both large arteries (aorta) and small kidney arteries from transgenic mice as compared with wild type. In vitro experiments using vascular smooth muscle cells showed that calpastatin transgene expression blunted calpain activation by Ang II through epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation. In vivo and in vitro models of inflammation showed that impaired recruitment of mononuclear cells in transgenic mice was attributable to a decrease in both the release of and the chemotactic response to monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. Finally, results from collagen synthesis assay and zymography suggested that limited fibrogenesis was attributable to a decrease in collagen deposition rather than an increase in collagen degradation. These results indicate a critical role for calpains as downstream mediators in Ang II–induced cardiovascular remodeling and, thus, highlight an attractive therapeutic target.
In this paper, we examine the effect of adjunction of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the phase behavior of water−dodecane−hexanol−sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions. At a high water/oil ratio, the ...polymer is dissolved in the aqueous solvent, and at a low water/oil ratio it is incorporated into water-swollen bilayers or reversed droplets. With the solvent-doped mixtures, we found at intermediate polymer and bilayer concentrations a closed-loop lamellar−lamellar phase separation. In reverse systems (water/oil < 1), added polymer never enters the sponge phase L3, even at extremely low concentrations. In contrast, it is present over a large concentration range in the lamellar Lα and the microemulsion L2 phases. More interestingly, PEG induces the formation of a sponge phase, denoted L5, lying between L2 and Lα and thereby generates a new sequence of phases. When the alcohol content is increased, the sequence lamellar−sponge−micelle (Lα−L5−L2) is obtained instead of sponge−lamellar−micelle (L3−Lα−L2) as observed in the polymer-free system. X-ray studies show that the incorporation of PEG in the inverse lamellar phase has no effect on the thickness of the bilayer whatever the polymer size and concentration. Perturbations of inverse droplets by solubilization of PEG were characterized by using small-angle neutron scattering and light scattering. Upon addition of PEG, the average radius of the droplet remains constant and the size polydispersity increases. Besides, PEG introduces an attraction between droplets which leads to a second-order phase separation between two microemulsions.
The presence of increased numbers of tumor-infiltrating neutrophils is associated with poorer outcome in patients with adenocarcinoma of the bronchioloalveolar (BAC) subtype. We evaluated the role of ...inflammatory environment on C-X-C chemokine tumor production.
Bronchoalveolar lavage from 31 consecutive patients with adenocarcinoma of the BAC subtype as well as tumor and normal pulmonary tissue samples. A549 BAC cell line. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and alveolar macrophages (AM).
Elisa measurements and immunohistochemical studies of ENA-78, IL-8, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha. RNA isolation, reverse transcription, and PCR amplification of ENA-78 and IL-8.
C-X-C peptides were expressed by tumor cells of all the tumor specimens tested. ENA-78 and IL-8 were also expressed by AM. To better understand the regulation of the C-X-C production, BAC cell line was cultured alone or with inflammatory cells. PBMC upregulated both tumor ENA-78 and IL-8 mRNA expression and protein release whereas AM only upregulated ENA-78 mRNA expression and protein release; PMN had no effect. Anti-human IL-1beta antibodies (ab) inhibited the A549 ENA-78 and IL-8 production stimulated by PBMC-CM. Anti-human TNF-alpha ab inhibited A549 ENA-78 production stimulated by AM-CM. IL-1beta and TNF-alpha were expressed in vivo by inflammatory cells, although TNF-alpha was also expressed by tumor cells.
This work emphasizes the role of the host inflammatory response in promoting tumor growth in vivo.
The effect of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) on the phase behaviour of oil-rich sodium dodecyl sulphate, hexanol, water and dodecane mixtures has been investigated. PEG causes the disappearance of the ...'sponge' phase and induces the formation of a new isotropic phase, labelled L5 , located between the microemulsion, L2 , and the lamellar, Lα , phases. Small angle neutron scattering and electrical conductivity results show that at local scales the L5 phase consists of inverted bilayers, connected at larger scales. These features suggest a sponge-like structure for the L5 phase, a hypothesis which is further supported by a static and dynamic light scattering study.
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