Initial experience of percutaneous vertebroplasty using single-plane C-arm fluoroscopy for guidance.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) using single-plane C-arm fluoroscopy.

Materials And Methods: Lesions in the present study all comprised compression fractures with intact pedicles. A polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) mixture was injected by the transpedicular approach under C-arm fluoroscopy using a lateral projection.

[Effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ligands on monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats].

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, which regulates transcription of target genes in a ligand-dependent manner. Ligands for PPARgamma have been shown to attenuate proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, and to induce apoptosis in several cell lines in vitro. Since monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats is characterized by proliferation of pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells, we hypothesized that PPARgamma ligands may reduce MCT-induced pulmonary hypertension.

Proteasomal degradation of Kir6.2 channel protein and its inhibition by a Na+ channel blocker aprindine.

ATP-sensitive K+ channels (K(ATP):SUR2A+Kir6.2) play a pivotal role in cardiac protection against ischemia and reperfusion injury. When expressed in COS cells, Kir6.

[Pilot study of concomitant TS-1/CDGP radiotherapy for esophageal cancer].

Although surgery is treatment of choice for esophageal cancer, radiochemotherapy is being employed throughout Japan for the purpose of improving patient QOL. The results of this therapy are reported to be comparable to those associated with surgical treatment. However, since concomitant 5-FU/CDDP radiotherapy, currently the treatment of choice when implementing radiochemotherapy, is associated with a comparatively high incidence of gastrointestinal disorders and requires continuous intravenous infusion for 24 hours, it lowers the level of patient QOL.

[Perioperative lung injury: acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and acute interstitial pneumonia after pulmonary resection].

The mortality rate after surgical resection for lung cancer has been reported to range between 1% and 3%, with 30% caused by acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP). Approximately 20% of patients with IPF have lung cancer, while 2% to 4% of lung cancer patients have IPF. The incidence of postoperative acute exacerbation of IPF is about 20%.

Anti-allergic agent tranilast decreases development of obliterative airway disease in rat model of heterotopic tracheal transplantation.

Background: Tranilast is an anti-allergic agent known to inhibit the release of histamine, interleukin-1beta, transforming growth factor beta1, and platelet-derived growth factor from various cells and currently is used to treat allergic diseases, keloids, and hypertrophic scars. We evaluated the ability of tranilast to inhibit the development of obliterative airway disease (OAD) in a rat model of heterotopic tracheal transplantation.

Methods: We transplanted tracheal segments from donor rats (Brown Norway) into subcutaneous pouches in major histocompatibility complex-incompatible recipient rats (Lewis).

Paclitaxel prevents loss of pulmonary endothelial barrier integrity during cold preservation.

Background: Cold preservation is the most practical method to maintain the viability of isolated lungs. However, rapid cooling may affect pulmonary endothelial function. We examined the effects of microtubule stabilization with paclitaxel on pulmonary endothelial barrier integrity under cold temperature.

Effects of carbenoxolone on alveolar fluid clearance and lung inflammation in the rat.

Objectives: 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD2), which requires oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as a cofactor, metabolizes endogenous glucocorticoids. Since 11beta-HSD2 has been detected in lung epithelial cells, we examined whether carbenoxolone, a potent inhibitor of 11beta-HSD, would enhance endogenous glucocorticoid action on lung fluid balance and inflammation.

Design: Controlled laboratory study.

State-dependent blocking actions of azimilide dihydrochlo-ride (NE-10064) on human cardiac Na(+) channels.

Background: Azimilide reportedly blocks Na(+) channels, although its mechanism remains unclear.

Methods And Results: The kinetic properties of the azimilide block of the wild-type human Na(+) channels (WT: hH1) and mutant DeltaKPQ Na(+) channels (DeltaKPQ) expressed in COS7 cells were investigated using the whole-cell patch clamp technique and a Markovian state model. Azimilide induced tonic block of WT currents by shifting the h infinity curve in the hyperpolarizing direction and caused phasic block of WT currents with intermediate recovery time constant.

Activation of the CKI-CDK-Rb-E2F pathway in full genome hepatitis C virus-expressing cells.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes persistent infection in hepatocytes, and this infection is, in turn, strongly associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. To clarify the mechanisms underlying these effects, we established a Cre/loxP conditional expression system for the precisely self-trimmed HCV genome in human liver cells. Passage of hepatocytes expressing replicable full-length HCV (HCR6-Rz) RNA caused up-regulation of anchorage-independent growth after 44 days.

Expression and regulation of tumor suppressor gene maspin in human bladder cancer.

Maspin is a member of serine protease inhibitor family with tumor suppressing activity for breast and prostate cancers, acting at the level of tumor invasion and metastasis. However, there have been no published data regarding the role of maspin in human bladder cancer. We evaluated maspin expression in 65 series of bladder cancer samples (22 transurethral resection (TUR) and 43 radical cystectomy) and studied the regulatory mechanism of maspin gene activation in bladder cancer cells.

Effects of antiplatelet agents on pulmonary haemodynamic response to fMLP in endotoxin primed rats.

Background: The interaction between neutrophils and platelets may be important in the modulation of pulmonary haemodynamics under systemic inflammatory conditions. A study was undertaken to examine whether antiplatelet agents inhibit platelet-neutrophil adherence and ameliorate the pulmonary haemodynamic response to fMLP by inhibiting thromboxane release in endotoxin primed lungs. fMLP stimulates neutrophils but not platelets; however, thromboxane synthesis in neutrophils is very low.

Pulmonary mucinous cystadenocarcinoma: report of a case and review of the literature.

A case of primary mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the lung is presented. The patient was a 42-year-old woman with a 5-cm left lung mass. Left lower lobectomy was performed and analysis of a frozen section revealed mucinous cystadenocarcinoma.

Hypoxia induces different genes in the lungs of rats compared with mice.

Different animal species have a varying response to hypoxia. Mice develop less pulmonary artery thickening after chronic hypoxia exposure than rats. We hypothesized that the lung tissue gene expression pattern displayed in hypoxic rats would differ from that of hypoxic mice.

[Clinical study of the combination of small amount of nedaplatin (CDGP)/5-FU with radiation for the treatment of esophageal cancer].

Recently chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer has been drawing public attention to the issue of quality of life maintenance for patients. Although the standard method of chemoradiotherapy is CDDP/5FU, it has been claimed that CDGP (a derivative of CDDP) alone is more effective than CDDP for the treatment of esophageal cancer due to its low nephro- and digestive toxicity. We used a small amount of CDGP/5-FU in combination with radiation instead of CDDP, for the treatment of esophageal cancer and performed clinical examination of patients.

Manipulation of pulmonary prostacyclin synthase expression prevents murine lung cancer.

Inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX) activity decreases eicosanoid production and prevents lung cancer in animal models. Prostaglandin (PG) I(2) (PGI(2), prostacyclin) is a PGH(2) metabolite with anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antimetastatic properties. The instability of PGI(2) has limited its evaluation in animal models of cancer.

[Metachronous lung cancer: indication and outcome].

Although lobectomy is the standard surgical treatment for primary lung cancer, it is unclear whether lobectomy will be benefit for patients with metachronous lung cancer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the difference of benefit between lobectomy and limited resection at second lung resection. Forty-eight patients, who had already undergone lobectomy due to primary lung cancer, undergoing second lobectomy (n = 30) or limited resection (n = 18) for metachronous lung cancer were investigated.

Evidence of lytic infection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in EBV-positive gastric carcinoma.

Twenty-one cases of gastric carcinoma were tested for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. EBV genome was detected in 3 (14%) of the 21 cases. In situ hybridization for EBV-encoded small RNA 1 showed that EBV genomes were present in almost all carcinoma cells of the 3 cases.

Genomic approaches to research in pulmonary hypertension.

Genomics, or the study of genes and their function, is a burgeoning field with many new technologies. In the present review, we explore the application of genomic approaches to the study of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Candidate genes, important to the pathobiology of the disease, have been investigated.

Prostacyclin receptor-dependent modulation of pulmonary vascular remodeling.

Prostacyclin (PGI(2)) reduces pulmonary vascular resistance and attenuates vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation through signal transduction following ligand binding to its receptor. Because patients with severe pulmonary hypertension have a reduced PGI(2) receptor (PGI-R) expression in the remodeled pulmonary arterial smooth muscle, we hypothesized that pulmonary vascular remodeling may be modified PGI-R dependently. To test this hypothesis, PGI-R knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice were subjected to a simulated altitude of 17,000 ft or Denver altitude for 3 wk, and right ventricular pressure and lung histology were assessed.