Methotrexate in the treatment of psoriasis.

Methotrexate is an important drug in the armamentarium available to physicians to treat patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. The drug has a 40-year track record and has proven to be effective in cases in psoriasis that are refractory to other intense forms of treatment. While it has proven efficacy, methotrexate also has the potential for both acute and chronic toxicity.

Recognition of a shared human prostate cancer-associated antigen by nonclassical MHC-restricted CD8+ T cells.

To identify prostate cancer-associated Ags, tumor-reactive T lymphocytes were generated using iterative stimulations of PBMC from a prostate cancer patient with an autologous IFN-gamma-treated carcinoma cell line in the presence of IL-2. A CD8+ T cell line and TCR alphabeta+ T cell clone were isolated that secreted IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in response to autologous prostate cancer cells but not to autologous fibroblasts or lymphoblastoid cells. However, these T cells recognized several normal and malignant prostate epithelial cell lines without evidence of shared classical HLA molecules.

The use of colonic irrigation to control fecal incontinence in dogs with colostomies.

Objective: To determine if once-daily colonic irrigation results in fecal continence for a 24-hour period in dogs with colostomies and if colonic volume increased in response to the irrigation.

Study Design: A prospective controlled experimental study.

Animals: Four intact male and one intact female mixed breed dogs.

VEGF and VEGF type C play an important role in angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in human malignant mesothelioma tumours.

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family is a novel regulator of endothelial cell proliferation. We assessed the mRNA expression of VEGF, VEGF type C (VEGF-C) and their receptors together with the microvessel density (VD) and microlymphatic vessel density (LVD) in pursuit of their connection and prognostic value in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). We used four human MPM cell lines, 54 MPM tumours and five normal pleural tissues.

Isochromosome 8q formation is associated with 8p loss of heterozygosity in a prostate cancer cell line.

Background: In advanced prostate cancer, loss of chromosomal regions on 8p is frequently associated with gain of 8q. We studied the gross chromosomal abnormalities associated with 8p loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the prostate tumor cell line 1542 CP3Tx. The cell line was previously established from a primary prostatic adenocarcinoma by immortalization with a recombinant retrovirus carrying the E6 and E7 genes of human papilloma virus type 16.

Thrombospondin-1 expression and clinical implications in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Background: The role of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) in tumor angiogenesis and progression is controversial. The authors assessed the impact of TSP-1 as a prognostic indicator in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).

Methods: TSP-1 expression was assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using 5 normal pleural samples, 78 MPM tumors, and 43 surrounding normal lung samples.

Comparison of simian virus 40 large T antigen recombinant protein and DNA immunization in the induction of protective immunity from experimental pulmonary metastasis.

In this report we examine the ability of a recombinant tumor antigen preparation to prevent the establishment of experimental pulmonary metastasis. Baculovirus-derived recombinant simian virus 40 (SV40) large tumor antigen (T-Ag) was injected into BALB/c mice followed by challenge with an intravenous injection of syngeneic SV40-transformed tumorigenic cells. The experimental murine pulmonary metastasis model allows for the accurate measurement of metastatic lessions in the lungs at various times after the challenge, using computer-assisted video image analysis.

Functional diversity of vertebrate ARNT proteins: identification of ARNT2 as the predominant form of ARNT in the marine teleost, Fundulus heteroclitus.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) is a member of the bHLH/PAS protein superfamily. ARNT dimerizes with several PAS superfamily members, including the ligand-activated aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), forming a complex that alters transcription by binding specific elements within the promoters of target genes. Two genes encode different forms of the protein in rodents: ARNT1, which is widely expressed, and ARNT2, which is limited to the brain and kidneys of adults and specific neural and branchial tissues of embryos.

Immunotherapy of SV40 induced tumours in mice: a model for vaccine development.

Various vaccination strategies were compared for their ability to elicit antigen-specific tumour immunity, using the SV40-BALB/c murine tumour system. Specifically, mice were injected with baculovirus-derived recombinant SV40 Tag (rTag), synthetic peptides corresponding to B cell epitopes on SV40 Tag or a plasmid DNA construct encoding the gene for SV40 Tag. In vivo tumour immunity was determined by a lethal tumour challenge with syngeneic SV40-transformed tumour cells.

Long-term outcome of medical and surgical treatment of hiatal hernias in dogs and cats: 27 cases (1978-1996).

Objective: To determine long-term outcome of medical and surgical treatment of hiatal hernia (HH) in dogs and cats.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: 22 dogs and 5 cats.

Short-term hemodynamic evaluation of circumferential mitral annuloplasty for correction of mitral valve regurgitation in dogs.

Objective: To determine the short-term hemodynamic effects associated with circumferential mitral annuloplasty (CMA) in dogs with mitral regurgitation.

Study Design: Prospective experimental study. Animals-Seven healthy adult mongrel dogs.

Complications associated with the implantation of polypropylene mesh in dogs and cats: a retrospective study of 21 cases (1984-1996).

Complications associated with implantation of polypropylene mesh in dogs and cats were evaluated retrospectively. Immediate postoperative complications were common (in 10 of 20 cases) but predominantly involved seroma formation which resolved with treatment. The only long-term (i.

Acute correction and distraction osteogenesis for the malaligned and shortened lower extremity.

In limbs with combined shortening with angulation or malrotation, deformity may be quickly or slowly corrected before lengthening with external fixation. We examined a series of 35 patients with 40 limbs that underwent acute deformity correction and subsequent gradual lengthening. The average deformity corrected was 19 degrees, with subsequent average lengthening of 4.

Determination of proximal femoral epiphyseal depth for repair of physeal fractures in immature dogs.

Objective: To determine the depth that implants may be safely placed for repair of proximal femoral physeal fractures.

Study Design: Relationships were determined between the depth of the proximal femoral epiphysis (PFE) and the contralateral PFE, and the PFE and pubic bone width.

Animals Or Sample Population: 20 immature dog cadavers.

Determination of safe depth of pin penetration for repair of distal femoral physeal fractures in immature dogs: a comparison of normograde and retrograde pin placement.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the depth that implants may be safely placed into the distal femoral epiphysis (DFE) for the repair of distal femoral physeal fractures.

Study Design: The depth of the DFE was related to the radiographic thickness of the patella in this experimental study.

Animals Or Sample Population: Twenty immature canine cadavers.

Generation and genetic characterization of immortal human prostate epithelial cell lines derived from primary cancer specimens.

Difficulty in establishing long-term human prostate epithelial cell lines has impeded efforts to understand prostate tumorigenesis and to develop alternative therapies for prostate cancer. In the current study, we describe a method that was successful in generating 14 immortal benign or malignant prostate epithelial cell cultures from primary adenocarcinomas of the prostate resected from six successive patients. Immortalization with the E6 and E7 transforming proteins of human papilloma virus serotype 16 was necessary to establish long-term cultures.

Nitric oxide inhibits serotonin-induced calcium release in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent endothelium-derived pulmonary vasodilator. Serotonin (5-HT; 10-50 microM) constricts pulmonary artery (PA) by releasing Ca2+ from intracellular stores and promoting Ca2+ influx through Ca2+ channels in PA smooth muscle cells (PASMC). The effect of NO on 5-HT-induced increase in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in rat PASMC was investigated to elucidate whether inhibition of agonist-mediated Ca2+ rise is involved in the NO-mediated pulmonary vasodilation.

Gradual occlusion of extrahepatic portosystemic shunts in dogs and cats using the ameroid constrictor.

Gradual occlusion of the splenic vein, using a specialized device (ameroid constrictor), was evaluated experimentally in three normal beagle dogs. Splenoportograms were used to verify that total occlusion of the splenic vein had occurred in all dogs within 4 to 5 weeks after application of the device. The ameroid constrictor (AC) was also evaluated as a method of gradual vascular occlusion in 12 dogs and two cats with single, extrahepatic, portosystemic shunts (PSS).

Myoblast gene therapy in canine mucopolysaccharidosis. I: Abrogation by an immune response to alpha-L-iduronidase.

Three dogs with deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-L-iduronidase were treated by gene replacement therapy targeted at muscle. Direct intramuscular injections of plasmid encoding the alpha-L-iduronidase gene cDNA resulted in no detectable enzyme production, but may have resulted in immunologic sensitization to iduronidase protein, which the dogs lack totally. Myoblasts were grown from skeletal muscle biopsies and transduced with a retroviral vector containing the canine gene under control of the muscle creatine kinase enhancer.

Reported complications of silicone gel breast implants: an epidemiologic review.

Purpose: To review the range of local and systemic complications attributed to silicone breast implants and to evaluate the epidemiologic literature on these complications.

Data Sources: Epidemiologic studies of the potential risks of silicone breast implants identified by MEDLINE search and literature review.

Study Selection: Epidemiologic studies with cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional designs.

Protection against a lethal challenge with SV40-transformed cells by the direct injection of DNA-encoding SV40 large tumor antigen.

Plasmid DNA encoding the large tumor antigen (T- ag) of SV40 was used to actively immunize mice to assess the induction of SV40 T-ag-specific immunity. Mice were injected with the naked DNA i.m.