Evolution of Pulmonary Contusions in Patients With Severe Rib Fractures: Cause for Concern?

Introduction: The progression of pulmonary contusions remains poorly understood. This study aimed to measure the radiographic change in pulmonary contusions over time and evaluate the association of the radiographic change with clinical outcomes and surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included adults admitted with three or more displaced rib fractures or flail segment on trauma CT and when a chest CT was repeated within one week after trauma.

Rib fixation in patients with severe rib fractures and pulmonary contusions: Is it safe?

Background: Pulmonary contusion has been considered a contraindication to surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRFs). This study aimed to evaluate the association between pulmonary contusion severity and outcomes after SSRF. We hypothesized that outcomes would be worse in patients who undergo SSRF compared with nonoperative management, in presence of varying severity of pulmonary contusions.

Chronic Stress Exposure Suppresses Mammary Tumor Growth and Reduces Circulating Exosome TGF-β Content via β-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in MMTV-PyMT Mice.

Preclinical models of breast cancer have established mechanistic links between psychological stress and cancer progression. However, epidemiological evidence linking stress and cancer is equivocal. We tested the impact of stress exposure in female mice expressing the mouse mammary tumor virus polyoma middle-T antigen (MMTV-PyMT), a spontaneous model of mammary adenocarcinoma that mimics metastatic hormone receptor-positive human breast cancer development.

Chemotherapeutic drug-specific alteration of microvascular blood flow in murine breast cancer as measured by diffuse correlation spectroscopy.

The non-invasive, measurement of microvascular blood flow has the potential to enhance breast cancer therapy monitoring. Here, longitudinal blood flow of 4T1 murine breast cancer (N=125) under chemotherapy was quantified with diffuse correlation spectroscopy based on layer models. Six different treatment regimens involving doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel at clinically relevant doses were investigated.

Sympathetic neural-immune interactions regulate hematopoiesis, thermoregulation and inflammation in mammals.

This review will highlight recently discovered mechanisms underlying sympathetic nervous system (SNS) regulation of the immune system in hematopoiesis, thermogenesis, and inflammation. This work in mammals illuminates potential mechanisms by which the nervous and immune systems may interact in invertebrate and early vertebrate species and allow diverse organisms to thrive under varying and extreme conditions and ultimately improve survival.

Sympathetic innervation, norepinephrine content, and norepinephrine turnover in orthotopic and spontaneous models of breast cancer.

Activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) drives breast cancer progression in preclinical breast cancer models, but it has yet to be established if neoplastic and stromal cells residing in the tumor are directly targeted by locally released norepinephrine (NE). In murine orthotopic and spontaneous mammary tumors, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)+ sympathetic nerves were limited to the periphery of the tumor. No TH+ staining was detected deeper within these tumors, even in regions with a high density of blood vessels.

The antidepressant desipramine and α2-adrenergic receptor activation promote breast tumor progression in association with altered collagen structure.

Emotional stress activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and release of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine to promote breast tumor pathogenesis. We demonstrate here that the metastatic mammary adenocarcinoma cell line 4T1 does not express functional adrenergic receptors (AR), the receptors activated by norepinephrine, yet stimulation of adrenergic receptor in vivo altered 4T1 tumor progression in vivo. Chronic treatment with the antidepressant desipramine (DMI) to inhibit norepinephrine reuptake increased 4T1 tumor growth but not metastasis.

Tumor-associated macrophages and stromal TNF-α regulate collagen structure in a breast tumor model as visualized by second harmonic generation.

Collagen fibers can be imaged with second harmonic generation (SHG) and are associated with efficient tumor cell locomotion. Preferential locomotion along these fibers correlates with a more aggressively metastatic phenotype, and changes in SHG emission properties accompany changes in metastatic outcome. We therefore attempted to elucidate the cellular and molecular machinery that influences SHG in order to understand how the microstructure of tumor collagen fibers is regulated.

Brain tumor imaging: imaging brain metastasis using a brain-metastasizing breast adenocarcinoma.

Brain metastases from primary or secondary breast tumors are difficult to model in the mouse. When metastatic breast cancer cell lines are injected directly into the arterial circulation, only a small fraction of cells enter the brain to form metastatic foci. To study the molecular and cellular mechanisms of brain metastasis, we have transfected MB-231BR, a brain-homing derivative of a human breast adenocarcinoma line MDA-MB-231, with the yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) variant Venus.

Brain tumor imaging: live imaging of glioma by two-photon microscopy.

Glioblastoma is a highly invasive and aggressive brain tumor that is very difficult to treat. The rat glioma cell line CNS-1 is a widely used, well-characterized model of infiltrative glioma. We have used CNS-1 to study tumors that initiate within the brain parenchyma.

L-Deprenyl reverses age-associated decline in splenic norepinephrine, interleukin-2 and interferon-γ production in old female F344 rats.

Unlabelled: Aging in female rats is associated with cessation of reproductive cycles, development of mammary cancer, and increased incidence of autoimmune diseases. Previously, we demonstrated an age-related decline in sympathetic noradrenergic (NA) innervation in the spleen and lymph nodes of female F344 rats accompanied by significantly reduced natural killer cell activity, interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)-γ production, and T- and B-cell proliferation, suggesting possible links between sympathetic activity and immunosenescence.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of L-(-)-deprenyl, a monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor, on the sympathetic nervous system and cell-mediated immune responses in old female rats.

Early impact of social isolation and breast tumor progression in mice.

Evidence from cancer patients and animal models of cancer indicates that exposure to psychosocial stress can promote tumor growth and metastasis, but the pathways underlying stress-induced cancer pathogenesis are not fully understood. Social isolation has been shown to promote tumor progression. We examined the impact of social isolation on breast cancer pathogenesis in adult female severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice using the human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, a high β-adrenergic receptor (AR) expressing line.

β-Adrenergic receptors (β-AR) regulate VEGF and IL-6 production by divergent pathways in high β-AR-expressing breast cancer cell lines.

Activation of β-adrenergic receptors (β-AR) drives proangiogenic factor production in several types of cancers. To examine β-AR regulation of breast cancer pathogenesis, β-AR density, signaling capacity, and functional responses to β-AR stimulation were studied in four human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines. β-AR density ranged from very low in MCF7 and MB-361 to very high in MB-231 and in a brain-seeking variant of MB-231, MB-231BR.

Age-associated alterations in sympathetic noradrenergic innervation of primary and secondary lymphoid organs in female Fischer 344 rats.

Normal aging processes, as well as, psychological stress affect the immune system; each can act alone, or interact with each other, to cause dysregulation of immune function substantially altering physical and mental health. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), a major mediator of stress effects on immune function, is significantly affected by normal aging process, and stress can affect aging of the SNS. Previously, we have shown age-associated changes in sympathetic noradrenergic (NA) innervation of lymphoid organs in male rodents that affect immune regulation.

Aging and sympathetic modulation of immune function in Fischer 344 rats: effects of chemical sympathectomy on primary antibody response.

In aged Fischer 344 (F334) rats, sympathetic innervation of the spleen is markedly diminished compared with young rats. To determine if this diminished noradrenergic (NA) innervation maintains a functional connection with the immune system, 3- and 17-month-old male F344 rats were treated with the NA-selective neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), to ablate peripheral NA nerve fibers. In sympathectomized rats immunized with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), a T-dependent protein antigen, anti-KLH IgM, IgG, IgG1, IgG2b antibody titers were increased in young and old rats 14 days after immunization compared to vehicle controls.

Age effects on macrophage function vary by tissue site, nature of stimulant, and exercise behavior.

We explored the effects of aging on macrophage function in male BALB/c mice from three age groups: young (2 months), middle-aged (12 months), and old (21 months). Macrophages were collected from alveoli, peritonea, and spleens of each age group. Cells were cultured in vitro with LPS or LPS+IFN-gamma and assayed for production of IL-1, IL-12, NO, and TNF-alpha.