Neurotrophic factor in the treatment of Parkinson disease.

Object: Parkinson disease (PD) is a well-known degenerative disease resulting in the depletion of dopamine-producing neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. Adenoviral vector delivery of neurotrophic factors may provide a potential therapy for PD. The authors examined whether glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) delivered via adenoviral vector (Ad-GDNF) could promote functional recovery in a rat model of PD.

Combined therapy of cilazapril and losartan has no additive effects in ameliorating adriamycin-induced glomerulopathy.

Aims: Effects of the blockade of renin-angiotensin system (RAS), by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi), type 1 angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), or a combination of both, were evaluated in Adriamycin (ADR)-induced glomerulopathy.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (180-250 g) were induced of glomerulopathy by treatment with ADR (2 mg/kg, i.v.

Acquisition of anergic and suppressive activities in transforming growth factor-beta-costimulated CD4+CD25- T cells.

Regulatory T (Tr) cells have been shown to arise in the periphery during induction of peripheral tolerance. However, the mechanism involved remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated the potential role of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in the peripheral induction of regulatory phenotypes in the conventional CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells.

Surface normal overlap: a computer-aided detection algorithm with application to colonic polyps and lung nodules in helical CT.

We developed a novel computer-aided detection (CAD) algorithm called the surface normal overlap method that we applied to colonic polyp detection and lung nodule detection in helical computed tomography (CT) images. We demonstrate some of the theoretical aspects of this algorithm using a statistical shape model. The algorithm was then optimized on simulated CT data and evaluated using a per-lesion cross-validation on 8 CT colonography datasets and on 8 chest CT datasets.

Computed tomography colonography: feasibility of computer-aided polyp detection in a "first reader" paradigm.

Objective: : To determine the feasibility of a computer-aided detection (CAD) algorithm as the "first reader" in computed tomography colonography (CTC).

Methods: : In phase 1 of a 2-part blind trial, we measured the performance of 3 radiologists reading 41 CTC studies without CAD. In phase 2, readers interpreted the same cases using a CAD list of 30 potential polyps.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor MS-275 interacts synergistically with fludarabine to induce apoptosis in human leukemia cells.

Interactions between the novel benzamide histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor MS-275 and fludarabine were examined in lymphoid and myeloid human leukemia cells in relation to mitochondrial injury, signal transduction events, and apoptosis. Prior exposure of Jurkat lymphoblastic leukemia cells to a marginally toxic concentration of MS-275 (e.g.

Regulation of GRB2 and FLICE2 expression by TNF-alpha in rheumatoid synovium.

Chronic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the hyperplasia of synovial tissue, which results from dysregulation of proliferative and antiapoptotic signals transduced in the synovial cells by unknown mechanisms. To identify candidate factors involved in the regulation of synovial hyperplasia, the expression profile of 205 apoptosis-related genes was compared between tissues from patients with RA and osteoarthritis (OA) using a cDNA microarray. Upregulated genes in the RA synovium included TNFR2, FLICE2, and signaling molecules involved in a MAP kinase pathway (GRB2, MAPK p38).

CT colonography: does improved z resolution help computer-aided polyp detection?

Multislice helical CT offers several retrospective choices of longitudinal (z) resolution at a given detector collimation setting. We sought to determine the effect of z resolution on the performance of a computer-aided colonic polyp detector, since a human reader and a computer-aided polyp detector may have optimal performances at different z resolutions. We ran a computer-aided polyp detection algorithm on phantom data sets as well as data obtained from a single patient.

Erythropoietin reduces myocardial infarction and left ventricular functional decline after coronary artery ligation in rats.

Erythropoietin (EPO), well known for its role in stimulation of erythropoiesis, has recently been shown to have a dramatic neuroprotective effect in animal models of cerebral ischemia, mechanical trauma of the nervous system, and excitotoxins, mainly by reducing apoptosis. We studied the effect of single systemic administration of recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) on left ventricular (LV) size and function in rats during 8 weeks after the induction of a myocardial infarction (MI) by permanent ligation of the left descending coronary artery. We found that an i.

Early childhood caries: prevalence and risk factors in Seoul, Korea.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC), including noncavitated lesions (d1), in children 6-59 months of age in relation to socioeconomic factors, feeding practices, and oral health behaviors in Seoul, Korea.

Methods: The children attended child care facilities and were selected from 32 primary sampling units. Two dentists examined 470 children.

Beneficial effects of rosmarinic acid on suppression of collagen induced arthritis.

Objective: To assess the therapeutic potential of rosmarinic acid (RosA) in an inflammatory autoimmune arthritis model.

Methods: Collagen induced arthritis is established in male DBA/1 mice. Mice were administered daily with 50 mg/kg/day of RosA for 15 days from Day 21 post-immunization and inspected daily to determine the progression of arthritis.

Edge displacement field-based classification for improved detection of polyps in CT colonography.

Colorectal cancer can easily be prevented provided that the precursors to tumors, small colonic polyps, are detected and removed. Currently, the only definitive examination of the colon is fiber-optic colonoscopy, which is invasive and expensive. Computed tomographic colonography (CTC) is potentially a less costly and less invasive alternative to FOC.

Metallothionein suppresses collagen-induced arthritis via induction of TGF-beta and down-regulation of proinflammatory mediators.

Metallothionein is a low molecular weight, cysteine-rich, stress response protein that can act as an antioxidant and as an immunosuppressive agent in instances of antigen-dependent adaptive immunity. In this context, we assessed the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of action of metallothionein in a collagen-induced arthritis model. Repeated administration of metallothionein-I + II during the course of disease dramatically reduced the incidence and severity of the disease.

Modification of cardiovascular responses to adenosine A1 receptor stimulation in the posterior hypothalamus of anaesthetized rats by cAMP and by GABA(B) receptor blockade.

1 Injection of N(6)-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA; 1, 5 and 10 nmol), an adenosine A1 receptor agonist, into the posterior hypothalamus of rats produced a dose-dependent decrease in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). 2 Pretreatment with 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dimethylxanthine (CPDX; 50 nmol), an adenosine A1 receptor antagonist, blocked the depressor and bradycardic effects of CHA (10 nmol). 3 Pretreatment with 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) (10 nmol), a cAMP analogue, attenuated the depressor and bradycardic effect of CHA (10 nmol); 8-bromo-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) (10 nmol), a cGMP analogue, did not modify those effects of CHA.

Improved renal clearance and tumor targeting of 99mTc-labeled anti-Tac monoclonal antibody Fab by chemical modifications.

This study was undertaken to improve the renal clearance and tumor targeting properties of 99mTc-labeled humanized anti-Tac (HuTac) monoclonal antibody Fab fragments using two chemical approaches: 1) labeling with a renal secretion agent 99mTc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) and 2) lowering its isoelectric point (pI) by acylation. HuTac Fab (3.3 mg/mL) was reacted with a trifluorophenyl ester (TFP) of 99mTc-MAG3 alone or was additionally reacted with TFP-glycolate to reduce the pI.

Carotid disease: automated analysis with cardiac-gated three-dimensional US technique and preliminary results.

Automatic analysis was performed of four-dimensional ultrasonographic (US) data in the carotid artery. The data, which were acquired in 31 subjects (eight healthy volunteers and 23 patients) by using a US scanner fitted with a special probe, were successfully processed. Acquisition time averaged 12 minutes.

Quantification of distention in CT colonography: development and validation of three computer algorithms.

Three bowel distention-measuring algorithms for use at computed tomographic (CT) colonography were developed, validated in phantoms, and applied to a human CT colonographic data set. The three algorithms are the cross-sectional area method, the moving spheres method, and the segmental volume method. Each algorithm effectively quantified distention, but accuracy varied between methods.

A statistical 3-D pattern processing method for computer-aided detection of polyps in CT colonography.

Adenomatous polyps in the colon are believed to be the precursor to colorectal carcinoma, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in United States. In this paper, we propose a new method for computer-aided detection of polyps in computed tomography (CT) colonography (virtual colonoscopy), a technique in which polyps are imaged along the wall of the air-inflated, cleansed colon with X-ray CT. Initial work with computer aided detection has shown high sensitivity, but at a cost of too many false positives.

The nitrite/collagen reaction: non-enzymatic nitration as a model system for age-related damage.

The effects of age seen in long-lived connective tissue proteins are thought to be the result of post-translational modifications by reactive molecules. One such molecule is the nitrite ion. Human nitrite exposure results predominately from endogenous production of nitric oxide as well as inhalation of cigarette smoke and ingestion of cured meats.

Prediction of aortoiliac stent-graft length: comparison of measurement methods.

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of helical computed tomography (CT), projectional angiography derived from CT angiography, and intravascular ultrasonographic withdrawal (IUW) length measurements for predicting appropriate aortoiliac stent-graft length.

Materials And Methods: Helical CT data from 33 patients were analyzed before and after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (Aneuryx graft, n = 31; Excluder graft, n = 2). The aortoiliac length of the median luminal centerline (MLC) and the shortest path (SP) that remained at least one common iliac arterial radius away from the vessel wall were calculated.

Requirement of de novo protein synthesis for aminopterin-induced apoptosis in a mouse myeloma cell line.

Cells synthesize nucleotides through de novo and salvage pathways that require the activities of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransfease (HGPRT), respectively. Aminopterin, an inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase, has been demonstrated to allow HGPRT(-) cells to be negatively selected. However, the pathway by which aminopterin leads to cell death remains to be clarified.

Differential effects of mitomycin C and doxorubicin on P-glycoprotein expression.

Previous studies have demonstrated that mitomycin C (MMC) and other DNA cross-linking agents can suppress MDR1 (multidrug resistance 1) gene expression and subsequent functional P-glycoprotein (Pgp) expression, whereas doxorubicin and other anthracyclines increase MDR1 gene expression. In the present study, with stably transfected Madin-Darby canine kidney C7 epithelial cells expressing a human Pgp tagged with green fluorescent protein under the proximal human MDR1 gene promoter, we demonstrated that MMC and doxorubicin have differential effects on Pgp expression and function. Doxorubicin caused a progressive increase in the cell-surface expression of Pgp and function.

Iliac arterial injuries after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms: correlation with iliac curvature and diameter.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between iliac arterial tortuosity and cross-sectional area and the occurrence of iliac arterial injuries following transfemoral delivery of endovascular prostheses for repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Materials And Methods: Iliac arterial curvature values and orthogonal cross-sectional areas were determined from helical computed tomographic (CT) data acquired in 42 patients prior to transfemoral delivery of aortic stent-grafts. The curvature and luminal cross-sectional area orthogonal to the median centerline were quantified every millimeter along the median centerline of the iliac arteries.