To evaluate the occurrence rate of temporal peritumoral enhancement associated with hepatic cavernous hemangiomas and to correlate that with the speed of intratumoral contrast enhancement and tumor ...volume.
Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 69 consecutive patients with 136 hemangiomas was reviewed for peritumoral enhancement. Tumor volume was estimated by the largest diameter on T2-weighted images. Speed of intratumoral contrast enhancement was determined by portal phase image and was categorized as rapid (>75% of tumor volume), intermediate (25%-75% of tumor volume), or slow (<25% of tumor volume).
Temporal peritumoral enhancement was found in 37 (26.6%) of 136 hemangiomas. It was more common in hemangiomas with rapid enhancement (30 of 67 cases 44.8%) than in those with intermediate (3 of 22 cases 13.6%) and slow (4 of 47 cases 8.5%) enhancement (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant relation between lesion size and presence of temporal peritumoral enhancement (P > 0.05).
Temporal peritumoral enhancement is not uncommonly seen in hepatic cavernous hemangiomas at dynamic MRI. It is most commonly encountered in rapidly enhancing small lesions. There is no statistically significant relation between temporal peritumoral enhancement and tumor volume, however.
Objective: To determine the safety and tolerability of intravesical resiniferatoxin (RTX) in interstitial cystitis (IC) patients. Materials and Methods: IC patients were instilled with 50 cc of test ...solution containing either placebo, 0.05 μM or 0.10 μM RTX in the bladder. Plasma concentration of RTX and its degradant resiniferonol 9-, 13-, 14-orthophenylacetate was measured. Immediate post-treatment blood sampling and cystoscopy were performed. Symptoms were evaluated before treatment, at 4- and at 12-week follow-ups, using VAS indicator for pain, voiding diary, and O'Leary's IC symptom/problem indices. Results: Among 22 patients observed (ten in 0.10 μM RTX, eight in 0.05 μM RTX, and four in placebo groups), the most commonly reported adverse event was pain during instillation (80.0%, 87.5%, and 25.0%). No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: Use of intravesical RTX in IC patients is associated with important tolerability issues but safe at 0.10 μM and 0.05 μM.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
To study the molecular mechanism of rat prostate atrophy induced by epristeride.
MTT test was used to determine the effect of epristeride on the growth of prostatic epithelial cell induced by ...exogenous epithelial growth factor (EGF) or insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). RT-PCR and flow cytometry were then used to quantitatively detect the mRNA and protein expressions of EGFR and IGF-I R of the epithelial cells treated or untreated with epristeride.
Epristeride attenuated growth of epithelial cells induced by exogenous EGF, IGF-I. Epristeride 360 nmol/L inhibited EGFR and IGF-I R expression at mRNA level, while epristeride 180 nmol/L had no marked effect on EGFR and IGF-I R mRNA expression. Both epristeride 180 nmol/L and 360 nmol/L could down regulate EGFR and IGF-I R protein levels.
The molecular mechanisms of prostatic epithelial cell atrophy induced by epristeride might be associated with alteration in the expression of growth factor receptors such as EGF and IGF-I.
Botanical products have been widely used for various illnesses and general well-being. However, quality control of botanical products is often not performed due to lack of standardization, resulting ...in inconsistent efficacies and sometimes serious toxicity. The goals of this study were to determine the correlation between chemical composition and biological activities and to establish a method to measure authenticity, chemical consistency, and biological potency of botanical products. A high-performance liquid chromatography method was used to analyze the authenticity and chemical composition of 10 different commercial extracts. The cell viability assay and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) enzyme immunoassay were used to analyze biological potency and consistency. Our results showed all extracts contained marker components (baicalein and/or baicalin), confirming their authenticity. However, significant product-to-product and batch-to-batch variation of these marker components was observed with 4 products containing no baicalin at all and baicalein concentration ranging from 0 to 52.3 microgram/mg. The 50% growth inhibition concentration of the extracts ranged from 0.18 to 2.0 mg/ml, more than an 11-fold variation. PGE2 levels varied from 19.5 to 111.1 pg/10(6) cells, more than a 5.7-fold difference. These results demonstrated significant variation in chemical composition and biological activities of the commercial extracts and that the amount of marker components may not reflect biological activity levels. Therefore, chemical analysis alone is inadequate for quality control, and biological assays must be included for botanical products to ensure chemical authenticity as well as pharmacological/biological potency and consistency.
Protein kinase C (PKC) is a multigene family of serine/threonine protein kinases involved in cell signaling pathways of proliferation and motility. PKC interacts with Rho GTPases in the regulation of ...the actin cytoskeleton. The PKC-alpha isozyme binds the Rho GTPase cdc42, and both are coordinated with the Rac-phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway in melanoma cell invasion and migration on extracellular matrix proteins. To further define the role of PKC-alpha in melanoma cell migration, we tested the effect of PDBu and Ca dependent activation of PKC-alpha as well as treatment with the PKC-alpha inhibitors calphostin C and Go6976. Furthermore, we transfected siRNA targeted against PKC-alpha into human melanoma cells and performed time-lapse analysis of cell migration followed by western immunoblotting. We found that significant enhancement of cell migration at 0.5 h after PDBu treatment directly correlated with Ca dependent activation of PKC-alpha and was inhibited by the PKC-alpha inhibitor calphostin C. PKC-alpha siRNA transfection nearly abrogated PKC-alpha expression and significantly reduced melanoma cell migration compared with siRNA controls. These findings provide further evidence that PKC-alpha plays an important role in melanoma cell migration and may have implications in therapies designed to disrupt melanoma cell motility by alteration of PKC-alpha signaling.
Phys. Rev. C 102, 054311 (2020) By using isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) at the experimental cooler
storage ring CSRe, masses of short-lived $^{44}$Cr, $^{46}$Mn, $^{48}$Fe,
$^{50}$Co and ...$^{52}$Ni were measured for the first time and the precision of
the mass of $^{40}$Ti was improved by a factor of about 2. Relative precisions
of $\delta m/m=(1-2)\times$10$^{-6}$ have been achieved. Details of the
measurements and data analysis are described. The obtained masses are compared
with the Atomic-Mass Evaluation 2016 (AME$^{\prime}$16) and with theoretical
model predictions. The new mass data enable us to extract the higher order
coefficients, $d$ and $e$, of the quartic form of the isobaric multiplet mass
equation (IMME) for the $fp$-shell isospin quintets. Unexpectedly large $d$-
and $e$-values for $A=44$ quintet are found. By re-visiting the previous
experimental data on $\beta$-delayed protons from $^{44}$Cr decay, it is
suggested that the observed anomaly could be due to the misidentification of
the $T=2$, $J^\pi=0^{+}$ isobaric analog state (IAS) in $^{44}$V.
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