LC-1000 flow cytometry system complements intraoperative peritoneal cytology for pancreatic and biliary tract cancer.

Background: The exfoliative cell analyzer, LC-1000, is medical device that utilizes the principles of flow cytometry, and might provide digital diagnostic information for cytology using a different approach from conventional cytomorphology. In this study, wae examined the usefulness of the LC-1000 as a diagnostic support system for intraoperative peritoneal lavage cytology and its prognostic impact for pancreatic (PC) and biliary tract cancer (BTC).

Methods: Patients with PC and BTC who underwent surgical treatment were included.

Spatial epidemiological analysis of bovine encephalomyelitis outbreaks caused by Akabane virus infection in western Japan in 2011.

Akabane disease, which is distributed in temperate and tropical regions in the world, is a vector-borne disease of ruminants caused by the Akabane virus, transmitted by Culicoides biting midges. In 2011, outbreaks of Akabane viral encephalomyelitis occurred in the Shimane Prefecture in western Japan. In this study, a spatial epidemiological analysis was conducted to understand environmental factors associated with the spread of Akabane disease.

Determinants for in vivo antitumor effect of angiogenesis inhibitor SU5416 formulated in PEGylated emulsion.

Angiogenesis, the sprouting of capillaries from preexisting ones, is essential for the sustained growth of solid tumors. In this study, we used SU5416, a hydrophobic molecule with potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor of type 2 receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as PEGylated emulsion (SU5416-PE), and evaluated the antitumor potency of this formulation in Lewis lung cancer (LLC), Colon-26 (C26), and B16BL6 melanoma (B16) tumor-bearing mice. Intravenous injection of SU5416-PE into tumor-bearing mice significantly suppressed the growth of C26 and B16 tumors, but had no effect on the growth of LLC tumors.

A rapid and high-throughput quantitation assay of the nuclear factor κB activity using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in the setting of clinical laboratories.

Background: Transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) plays a key role in the regulation of immune responses to inflammation. However, convenient assay systems to quantitate the NF-κB activity level in a timely manner are not available in the setting of clinical laboratories. Therefore, we developed a novel and high-throughput quantitative assay based on fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to detect the NF-κB activity level in cellular nuclear extracts and evaluated the performance of this method.

Deeper penetration into tumor tissues and enhanced in vivo antitumor activity of liposomal paclitaxel by pretreatment with angiogenesis inhibitor SU5416.

The recently emerged concept of "vessel normalization" implies that judicious blockade of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling may transiently "normalize" the tumor vasculature, making it more suitable for tumor disposition of subsequently administered drugs. In this study, therefore, the effect of pretreatment with SU5416, a selective VEGF receptor-2 inhibitor, on tumor disposition and in vivo antitumor activity of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified liposomal paclitaxel (PL-PTX) was evaluated in Colon-26 solid tumor-bearing mice. To improve the solubility and in vivo disposition characteristics of SU5416, the inhibitor was formulated in PEGylated O/W emulsion (PE-SU5416).

Antioxidant properties of 2-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid.

The antioxidant activity of a provitamin C agent, 2-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2betaG), was compared to that of 2-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2G) and ascorbic acid (AA) using four in vitro methods, 1,1-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging assay, 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical cation (ABTS(*+))-scavenging assay, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, and 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)-induced erythrocyte hemolysis inhibition assay. AA-2betaG slowly and continuously scavenged DPPH radicals and ABTS(*+) in roughly the same reaction profiles as AA-2G, whereas AA quenched these radicals immediately. In the ORAC assay and the hemolysis inhibition assay, AA-2betaG showed similar overall activities to AA-2G and to AA, although the reactivity of AA-2betaG against the peroxyl radical generated in both assays was lower than that of AA-2G and AA.