Antigen-specific free immunoglobulin light-chain antibodies: could it be a new diagnostic marker for patients with allergy?

Objectives: Human free immunoglobulin light chains (FLCs) have long been considered as nonmeaningful spillover remnants from the process of immunoglobulin production; however, recent findings suggest that the antibody activity of FLCs may be involved in the pathology of allergic responses. We therefore assessed the antigen-binding ability of FLCs to evaluate their usefulness as diagnostic markers for patients with allergy.

Design And Methods: FLCs were separated from the serum samples of patients seropositive against cedar pollen and mice immunized with bovine serum albumin and 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene by ultrafiltration and protein G absorption.

A patient with Werner syndrome and adiponectin gene mutation.

Werner syndrome is a premature aging disease characterized by genomic instability and increased cancer risk. Here, we report a 45-year-old diabetic man as the first Werner syndrome patient found to have an adiponectin gene mutation. Showing graying and loss of hair, skin atrophy, and juvenile cataract, he was diagnosed with Werner syndrome type 4 by molecular analysis.

Surgical outcomes of noninvasive and minimally invasive intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas.

Background: Noninvasive and minimally invasive intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) have a favorable surgical outcome. However, cases of recurrent noninvasive or minimally invasive IPMN are sometimes encountered, and the patterns of the recurrence of those tumors have not yet been fully clarified. In this study, we evaluated the surgical outcome of noninvasive and minimally invasive IPMNs, concentrating particularly on the pattern of recurrences.

Immunochemical quantification of free immunoglobulin light chains from an analytical perspective.

Immunoglobulin light chains are components of antibodies, but some exist in a free form in serum and urine as a result of their excess production over heavy chains. Free light chain (FLC) levels are of the order of milligram per liter in normal serum and urine, but marked increases have been observed in various disease conditions. It has now been established that the measurement of FLC levels contributes to diagnosis and clinical management in monoclonal gammopathies.

Randomized phase II trial comparing nitroglycerin plus vinorelbine and cisplatin with vinorelbine and cisplatin alone in previously untreated stage IIIB/IV non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of nitroglycerin plus vinorelbine and cisplatin in patients with previously untreated stage IIIB/IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as the experimental arm for the next phase III trial.

Patients And Methods: One hundred twenty patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC were randomly assigned to vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 and cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 1, with transdermally applied nitroglycerin (25 mg/patient daily for 5 days; arm A) or with placebo patch (arm B) every 3 weeks for a maximum of four cycles in a double-blind and controlled trial. Primary efficacy end points were the best confirmed response rate and time to disease progression (TTP).

Discovery and SAR study of novel dihydroquinoline containing glucocorticoid receptor ligands.

We report the discovery of a novel class of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) ligands based on 1,2-dihydroquinoline molecular scaffold. The compounds exhibit good GR binding affinity and selectivity profile against other nuclear hormone receptors.

Living-donor liver transplantation with renoportal anastomosis for patients with large spontaneous splenorenal shunts.

Background: End-stage liver disease is often accompanied by large spontaneous splenorenal shunts and thrombosed portal vein. Renoportal anastomosis for spontaneous splenorenal shunts in living-donor liver transplantations is one of the solutions for the treatment of these patients. However, the long-term outcome, portal venous hemodynamics after liver transplantation, and the effects of altering the renal venous drainage remained unknown.

Light-induced gene transfer from packaged DNA enveloped in a dendrimeric photosensitizer.

The control of gene transfection in the body is a core issue in gene therapy. Photochemical internalization is a technology that allows light-induced delivery of DNA, drugs or other biological factors directly inside cells. Usually it requires that a photosensitizer be added to the drug-delivery system to photochemically destabilize the endosomal membrane.

IL-17 enhances the net angiogenic activity and in vivo growth of human non-small cell lung cancer in SCID mice through promoting CXCR-2-dependent angiogenesis.

In this study, we examined the biological action of IL-17 on human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although IL-17 had no direct effect on the in vitro growth rate of NSCLC, IL-17 selectively augmented the secretion of an array of angiogenic CXC chemokines, including CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL6, and CXCL8 but not angiostatic chemokines, by three different NSCLC lines. Endothelial cell chemotactic activity (as a measure of net angiogenic potential) was increased in response to conditioned medium from NSCLC stimulated with IL-17 compared with those from unstimulated NSCLC.

Suppression of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization by oral administration of SA3443 in mice.

The effect of a synthetic cyclic disulfide compound, SA3443, on neovascularization was investigated. In vitro, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and RT-PCR demonstrated that SA3443 suppressed the expression of the hypoxia-induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at both protein and mRNA levels in ARPE-19 cells. In vivo, the administration of SA3443 to mice with laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) suppressed the leakage from the lesions and reduced their size.

Steroid-free living-donor liver transplantation in adults.

To examine the benefits of steroid avoidance in adult living donor liver transplantation, we compared the clinical courses of nine recipients receiving basiliximab or daclizumab and 13 historical patients who received steroids. The 1-year patient and graft survival and the incidence of acute cellular rejection were similar in both groups. The side effects of immunosuppression tended to be more frequent in the steroid group.

A comparison of the effects of unfractionated heparin, dalteparin and danaparoid on vascular endothelial growth factor-induced tumour angiogenesis and heparanase activity.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is the most common complication of solid tumours. In this study, the effectiveness of three polysaccharide anticoagulants (PSAs), at therapeutic doses, at inhibiting solid tumour growth was investigated. Mice with tumour xenografts were subcutaneously injected with either unfractionated heparin (UFH; 200 units kg(-1) day(-1)), dalteparin (75 units kg(-1) day(-1)) or danaparoid (50 units kg(-1) day(-1)).

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor induces vascular endothelial growth factor production in skeletal muscle and promotes tumor angiogenesis.

Although M-CSF has been used for myelosuppression due to chemotherapy in patients with solid tumors, the effect of exogenous M-CSF on tumor angiogenesis has not been studied. In this study we showed that M-CSF has the ability to accelerate solid tumor growth by enhancing angiogenesis with a novel mechanism. M-CSF accelerated intratumoral vessel density in tumors inoculated into mice, although it did not accelerate the proliferation of malignant cells and cultured endothelial cells in vitro.

Capsaicin troche for swallowing dysfunction in older people.

Objectives: To determine whether oral capsaicin troche supplementation with every meal upregulates the impairment of upper respiratory protective reflexes such as the swallowing reflex and the cough reflex.

Design: Randomized, controlled study with recruitment through nursing homes.

Setting: Sendai, Japan, from September 2002 through December 2003.

Interleukin-17 enhances bFGF-, HGF- and VEGF-induced growth of vascular endothelial cells.

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a CD4 T cell-derived proinflammatry and proangiogenic cytokine. In this study, we investigated the effects of this cytokine on vascular endothelial cell growth induced by a well-known direct angiogenic factor bFGF, HGF, VEGF, CXCL5/ENA-78 or CXCL8/IL-8. While a wide range of doses of IL-17 alone did not show the ability to stimulate the growth of human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVECs), bFGF, HGF, VEGF, CXCL5 or CXCL8 significantly induced the growth of HMVECs in vitro.

[Recent changes in informed consent for cancer treatment].

"Truth telling" which was focused on just telling patients they have cancer, is gradually developing into "informed consent (IC)" which is focused on patients' understanding of their disease after careful explanation by their doctors. The major goal of IC is to respect the patients' self-determination and self-selection of the therapies they will receive and to establish close relationships between patients and doctors. Although truth telling about patients' prognosis is not yet fully established, providing such information to patients is basically unavoidable to obtain true IC.

Portal venous reconstruction in a living liver donor with an anomalous hepatic arterial and portal venous anatomy.

Hepatic arterial and portal venous anomalies in living liver donors are not uncommon. Modified surgical techniques may be required in such circumstances, although the safety of the living donor must always be given top priority. We describe here a successful portal venous reconstruction in a living donor with an anomalous hepatic arterial and portal venous anatomy in which the right anterior and posterior hepatic arteries encircled the main portal vein.

Multiplex PCR-identified cutaneous tuberculosis evoked by Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination in a healthy baby.

This is the first identified case of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-derived cutaneous tuberculosis that localizes at a place different from the vaccination site in hosts without immune deficiency. A healthy baby with a developing abscess is described. A multiplex PCR identified the abscess as originating from M.

Delayed expression of large conductance K+ channels reshaping agonist-induced currents in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.

Epithelial secretory cells display cell-specific mechanisms of fluid secretion and express large conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ (Maxi-K) channels that generate the membrane negativity for effective Cl- exit to the lumen. Rat and mouse pancreatic acinar cells had been thought to be peculiar in this sense because of the previously reported lack of Maxi-K channels. However, this view is not entirely correct as evidenced in the present paper.

[A case of successful treatment with combined 5-fluorouracil, adriamycin, cisplatin (FAP) therapy followed by Gemcitabine, UFT therapy and intra-arterial FAP therapy for unresectable advanced gallbladder cancer].

The prognosis of unresectable advanced gallbladder cancer is extremely poor. We presented a 61-year-old female with unresectable advanced gallbladder cancer who received FAP therapy, Gemcitabine + UFT therapy, and an intra-arterial FAP therapy that followed. She is still alive 18 months after the first diagnosis.