Prediction of glucose concentration in post-cardiothoracic surgery patients using continuous glucose monitoring.

Objective: This study evaluated the predictive capability of simple linear extrapolation of continuous glucose data in postsurgical patients undergoing intensive care.

Methods: Twenty patients, both with or without an established diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, scheduled to undergo cardiothoracic surgery were included. Glucose was continuously monitored in the intensive care unit with a microdialysis-based subcutaneous glucose monitoring system.

Lipid-heparin infusion suppresses the IL-10 response to trauma in subcutaneous adipose tissue in humans.

An imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine productions in adipose tissue is thought to contribute to chronic, systemic, low-grade inflammation and consequently to an increased risk of cardiovascular complications in obese and type 2 diabetic patients. Nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), whose serum levels are elevated in such patients, have been shown to interfere with cytokine production in vitro. In order to evaluate the effects of elevated NEFA levels on cytokine production in adipose tissue in vivo we used an 18-gauge open-flow microperfusion (OFM) catheter to induce local inflammation in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of healthy volunteers and to sample interstitial fluid (IF) specifically from the inflamed tissue.

Size-dependent effects of nanoparticles on the activity of cytochrome P450 isoenzymes.

Nanoparticles are known to be able to interfere with cellular metabolism and to cause cytotoxicity and moreover may interfere with specific cellular functions. Serious effects on the latter include changes in liver cell function. The cytochrome P450 system is expressed in many cells but is especially important in hepatocytes and hormone-producing cells.

Kinetic and structural characterisation of Escherichia coli nitroreductase mutants showing improved efficacy for the prodrug substrate CB1954.

Escherichia coli nitroreductase (NTR) is a flavoprotein that reduces a variety of quinone and nitroaromatic substrates. Among these substrates is the prodrug 5-[aziridin-1-yl]-2,4-dinitrobenzamide (CB1954) that is activated by NTR to form two products, one of which is highly cytotoxic. NTR in combination with CB1954 has entered clinical trials for virus-directed enzyme-prodrug therapy of cancer.

Transcriptionally targeted nonviral gene transfer using a beta-catenin/TCF-dependent promoter in a series of different human low passage colon cancer cells.

Nonviral transfections of six low passage human colon cancer cell lines using the artificial beta-catenin/TCF-dependent promoter CTP4 demonstrated a high promoter activity which was 1000- to 70000-fold higher than in HeLa control cells. Luciferase gene expression levels obtained with CTP4 in epithelial-like tumor cell cultures were only slightly lower than with the strong viral CMV promoter/enhancer, whereas in less differentiated tumor cultures CTP4 expression levels exceeded the CMV expression levels up to 28-fold. Three cell lines representing different morphology typical of the original tumors, more differentiated epithelial-like (COGA-5), piled-up (COGA-12), and poorly differentiated rounded-up (COGA-3), were selected for further investigation.