Whole body hyperthermia by extracorporeal circulation in spontaneously breathing sarcoma patients: hemodynamics and oxygen metabolism.

Purpose: This phase I study was performed to evaluate the feasibility and toxicity of a new method of extracorporeal perfusion-induced whole body hyperthermia (WBHT) in patients with advanced sarcoma avoiding the need of intubation and general anesthesia.

Methods: One double-lumen femoral venous access was inserted by Seldinger's technique to obtain WBHT (41.8°C for 120 minutes) via an extracorporeal circuit.

Prevalence of osteoporosis in men in a VA rehabilitation center.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of previously unrecognized osteoporosis in men admitted for long-term rehabilitation nursing home care.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: A total of 1179 consecutive admissions to a VA rehabilitation center were reviewed.

Differential neuroendocrine expression of multiple brain-derived neurotrophic factor transcripts.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin with important growth-promoting properties. We report here the first characterization of a BDNF gene in an amphibian, Xenopus laevis, and demonstrate that environmental factors can activate this gene in a promoter-specific fashion. The Xenopus BDNF gene contains six promoter-specific 5'-exons and one 3'-protein-encoding exon.

Both 5' and 3' flanks regulate Zebrafish brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene expression.

Background: Precise control of developmental and cell-specific expression of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is essential for normal neuronal development and the diverse functions of BDNF in the adult organism. We previously showed that the zebrafish BDNF gene has multiple promoters. The complexity of the promoter structure and the mechanisms that mediate developmental and cell-specific expression are still incompletely understood.

Insert-containing neurotrophins in teleost fish and their relationship to nerve growth factor.

Some teleost species express neurotrophins not known in other vertebrates, namely neurotrophin-6 (NT-6) and neurotrophin-7 (NT-7). Mature proteins of both genes are closely related to nerve growth factor (NGF). We have cloned zebrafish NGF (zNGF) and show that genomic organization and transcript structure of zNGF, zNT-7, and mouse NGF are highly similar.

A novel BDNF gene promoter directs expression to skeletal muscle.

Background: Cell-specific expression of the gene that encodes brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is required for the normal development of peripheral sensory neurons and efficient synaptic transmission in the mature central and peripheral nervous system. The control of BDNF gene expression involves multiple tissue and cell-specific promoters that are differentially regulated. The molecular mechanisms that are responsible for tissue and cell-specific expression of these promoters are still incompletely understood.