Utility of erector spinae plane block in thoracic surgery.

Background: Thoracic surgeons have been incorporating enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols into their practices, not only to reduce narcotic usage but also to improve complication rates and decrease lengths of stay. Here, we describe the utility of a regional block technique that can be used for patients undergoing urgent or elective thoracic surgical procedures or suffering from rib fractures.

Methods: We report our initial one-year experience with these erector spinae plane (ESP) blocks.

CEBS--Chemical Effects in Biological Systems: a public data repository integrating study design and toxicity data with microarray and proteomics data.

CEBS (Chemical Effects in Biological Systems) is an integrated public repository for toxicogenomics data, including the study design and timeline, clinical chemistry and histopathology findings and microarray and proteomics data. CEBS contains data derived from studies of chemicals and of genetic alterations, and is compatible with clinical and environmental studies. CEBS is designed to permit the user to query the data using the study conditions, the subject responses and then, having identified an appropriate set of subjects, to move to the microarray module of CEBS to carry out gene signature and pathway analysis.

Chemical effects in biological systems (CEBS) object model for toxicology data, SysTox-OM: design and application.

Motivation: The CEBS data repository is being developed to promote a systems biology approach to understand the biological effects of environmental stressors. CEBS will house data from multiple gene expression platforms (transcriptomics), protein expression and protein-protein interaction (proteomics), and changes in low molecular weight metabolite levels (metabolomics) aligned by their detailed toxicological context. The system will accommodate extensive complex querying in a user-friendly manner.

CEBS object model for systems biology data, SysBio-OM.

Motivation: To promote a systems biology approach to understanding the biological effects of environmental stressors, the Chemical Effects in Biological Systems (CEBS) knowledge base is being developed to house data from multiple complex data streams in a systems friendly manner that will accommodate extensive querying from users. Unified data representation via a single object model will greatly aid in integrating data storage and management, and facilitate reuse of software to analyze and display data resulting from diverse differential expression or differential profile technologies. Data streams include, but are not limited to, gene expression analysis (transcriptomics), protein expression and protein-protein interaction analysis (proteomics) and changes in low molecular weight metabolite levels (metabolomics).

Systems toxicology and the Chemical Effects in Biological Systems (CEBS) knowledge base.

The National Center for Toxicogenomics is developing the first public toxicogenomics knowledge base that combines molecular expression data sets from transcriptomics, proteomics, metabonomics, and conventional toxicology with metabolic, toxicologcal pathway, and gene regulatory network information relevant to environmental toxicology and human disease. It is called the Chemical Effects in Biological Systems (CEBS) knowledge base and is designed to meet the information needs of "systems toxicology," involving the study of perturbation by chemicals and stressors, monitoring changes in molecular expression and conventional toxicological parameters, and iteratively integrating biological response data to describe the functioning organism. Based upon functional genomics approaches used successfully in analyzing yeast gene expression data sets, relational and descriptive compendia will be assembled for toxicologically important genes, groups of genes, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and mutant and knockout phenotypes.

The Tg.AC (v-Ha-ras) transgenic mouse: nature of the model.

The Tg.AC (v-Ha-ras) transgenic mouse model provides a reporter phenotype of skin papillomas in response to either genotoxic or nongenotoxic carcinogens. In common with the conventional bioassay, the Tg.

Statistical analysis of skin tumor data from Tg.AC mouse bioassays.

New strategies for identifying chemical carcinogens and assessing risk have been proposed based on the Tg.AC (zetaglobin promoted v-Ha-ras) transgenic mouse. Preliminary studies suggest that the Tg.

Responses of transgenic mouse lines p53(+/-) and Tg.AC to agents tested in conventional carcinogenicity bioassays.

The haplo-insufficient p53 knockout (p53+/-) and zetaglobin v-Ha-ras (Tg.AC) transgenic mouse models were compared to the conventional two rodent species carcinogen bioassay by prospectively testing nine chemicals. Seven of the chemicals classified as carcinogens in the conventional bioassay induced tumors in the liver or kidneys of B6C3F1 mice, and one (pentachlorophenol) also induced tumors in other tissues.

Phenolphthalein induces thymic lymphomas accompanied by loss of the p53 wild type allele in heterozygous p53-deficient (+/-) mice.

Epidemiology studies have indicated that many human cancers are influenced by environmental factors. Genetically altered mouse model systems offer us the opportunity to study the interaction of chemicals with genetic predisposition to cancer. Using the heterozygous p53-deficient (+/-) mouse, an animal model carrying one wild type p53 gene and one p53 null allele, we studied the effects of phenolphthalein on tumor induction and p53 gene alterations.

Prediction of the outcome of rodent carcinogenicity bioassays currently being conducted on 44 chemicals by the National Toxicology Program.

This paper was written to enable evaluation of the concept that knowledge about chemical structure combined with limited short-term genotoxicity and toxicity test results can be used to predict potential carcinogens. Previous attempts have been potentially biased by prior knowledge about the tumorigenicity of chemicals in animals or humans, but the 44 chemicals that are currently being bioassayed for carcinogenicity by the National Toxicology Program provide an opportunity prospectively to evaluate factors that may be predictive of chemical carcinogenicity. Predictions of rodent carcinogenicity for these 44 agents are presented as an example of what we believe is the best available approach at this time.

Classification according to chemical structure, mutagenicity to Salmonella and level of carcinogenicity of a further 42 chemicals tested for carcinogenicity by the U.S. National Toxicology Program.

This paper is an extension and update of an earlier review published in this journal (Ashby and Tennant, 1988). A summary of the rodent carcinogenicity bioassay data on a further 42 chemicals tested by the U.S.

Comparative evaluation of genetic toxicity patterns of carcinogens and noncarcinogens: strategies for predictive use of short-term assays.

The results of a recent comprehensive evaluation of the relationship between four measures of in vitro genetic toxicity and the capacity of the chemicals to induce neoplasia in rodents carry some important implications. The results showed that while the Salmonella mutagenesis assay detected only about half of the carcinogens as mutagens, the other three in vitro assays (mutagenesis in MOLY cells or induction of aberrations or SCEs in CHO cells) did not complement Salmonella since they failed to effectively discriminate between the carcinogens and noncarcinogens found negative in the Salmonella assay. The specificity of the Salmonella assay for this group of 73 chemicals was relatively high (only 4 of 29 noncarcinogens were positive).

Prediction of chemical carcinogenicity in rodents from in vitro genetic toxicity assays.

Four widely used in vitro assays for genetic toxicity were evaluated for their ability to predict the carcinogenicity of selected chemicals in rodents. These assays were mutagenesis in Salmonella and mouse lymphoma cells and chromosome aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Seventy-three chemicals recently tested in 2-year carcinogenicity studies conducted by the National Cancer Institute and the National Toxicology Program were used in this evaluation.

Comparison of multiple parameters of rodent carcinogenicity and in vitro genetic toxicity.

The relationship between chemically induced patterns of tumorigenesis in rodents and of in vitro genetic toxicity was evaluated for 73 substances. tumorigenicity patterns were defined according to sex and species effects, the induction of common or uncommon tumors, and benign or malignant tumors. These results and the genetic toxicity results derived from the testing of chemicals under code were compared.

Comparative evaluation of three mammalian cell transformation assay systems.

One cellular transformation assay system (Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) primary cells) and two viral mediated transformation systems (primary Syrian hamster embryo cells infected with Simian adenovirus type 7 (SHE/SA7), and a rat fibroblast cell line (2FR450) infected with Rauscher leukemia virus (Rat/RLV] were evaluated using a group of nine "model" and five coded chemicals. The purpose of the project was to establish the intra- and interlaboratory reproducibility of the assays and to provide a basis for objective comparisons between the systems. This is a preliminary evaluation of the assay systems using the results for these chemicals tested in eight collaborating laboratories under the auspices of the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

Chemicals showing no evidence of carcinogenicity in long-term, two-species rodent studies: the need for short-term test data.

Studies to determine the performance of short-term tests (STT) in predicting chemical carcinogenicity are frequently characterized by a poor representation of noncarcinogens among the test chemicals. As a result, the performance of several STT is well characterized with carcinogenic chemicals, but the ability of the tests to discriminate between carcinogens and noncarcinogens is largely unknown because of the shortage of test results for noncarcinogens. A list of 70 chemicals that have been tested by the National Cancer Institute or the National Toxicology Program in long-term rodent carcinogenicity studies and that have yielded no evidence of cancer induction in male and female rats and mice is presented.

Genetic effects of UV irradiation on excision-proficient and -deficient yeast during meiosis.

The lethal and recombinational responses to ultraviolet light irradiation (UV) by excision-proficient (RAD+) and deficient strains (rad1) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been examined in cells undergoing meiosis. Cells that exhibit high levels of meiotic synchrony were irradiated either at the beginning or at various times during meiosis and allowed to proceed through meiosis. Based on survival responses, the only excision repair mechanism for UV damage available during meiosis is that controlled by the RAD1 pathway.

Meiotic DNA metabolism in wild-type and excision-deficient yeast following UV exposure.

The effects of UV irradiation on DNA metabolism during meiosis have been examined in wild-type (RAD+) and mitotically defined excision-defective (rad1-1) strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that exhibit high levels of sporulation. The rad1-1 gene product is not required for normal meiosis: DNA synthesis, RNA synthesis, size of parental and newly synthesized DNA and sporulation are comparable in RAD+ and rad1-1 strains. Cells were UV irradiated at the beginning of meiosis, and the fate of UV-induced pyrimidine dimers as well as changes in DNA and DNA synthesis were followed during meiosis.