Coccidioides immitis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound.

The use of endoscopic ultrasound in staging non-small cell lung cancer is well known. Its role in diagnosing non-malignant conditions that cause mediastinal adenopathy is still not well established. We diagnosed Coccidioides immitis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis in two patients using endoscopic ultrasound.

Serotonin-2 (5-HT2) receptor-mediated signal transduction in human ciliary muscle cells: role in ocular hypotension.

Purpose And Methods: The aim of this study was to characterize the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) receptors that mediate phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis and intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) mobilization in isolated cells of human ciliary muscle (h-CM) from multiple donors using a variety of agonists and antagonists. An additional aim was to visualize the mRNAs and receptor binding sites for 5-HT2 receptors in human ciliary body (h-CB), CM, and other tissues by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and quantitative autoradiography techniques, respectively, and to correlate with ocular hypotensive activity of such compounds.

Results: CBs isolated from several donor eyes revealed the presence of 5-HT(2A2C) receptor mRNAs.

Ocular hypotensive DP-class prostaglandin receptor affinities determined by quantitative autoradiography on human eye sections.

The aim of this study was to define the localization and pharmacology of DP-prostaglandin receptors in human eye sections using a novel DP-antagonist radioligand ([3H]-BWA868C), using various intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering DP-prostaglandins and the technique of quantitative autoradiography on 20-microm sections of frozen human eyes. [3H]BWA868C yielded well-defined autoradiograms of DP-receptors in human eyes with up to 82% specific binding. High densities of DP-receptors were associated with the ciliary epithelium/process, iris, choroid, longitudinal and circular ciliary muscles, and retina.

Molecular pharmacology of the DP/EP2 class prostaglandin AL-6598 and quantitative autoradiographic visualization of DP and EP2 receptor sites in human eyes.

DP-class prostaglandins and prostaglandin analogs (collectively, prostaglandins or PGs) such as PGD2, BW245C, ZK110841, and ZK118182, lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in animal models of ocular hypertension. A new analog of ZK118182 (AL-6556; 13,14-dihydro-ZK118182) was synthesized, and the isopropyl ester of AL-6556 (AL-6598) was shown recently to lower IOP in the ocular hypertensive cynomolgus monkey model of glaucoma and in human subjects. AL-6556 and AL-6598 had an affinity (Ki) of 2.

Cloned human EP1 prostanoid receptor pharmacology characterized using radioligand binding techniques.

Prostaglandins such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) interact with EP-class prostanoid receptors including EP1, EP2, EP3 and EP4 subtypes. We have conducted a detailed pharmacological characterization of the binding of [3H]-PGE2 to recombinant human EP1 prostanoid receptors expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells using a broad panel of natural and synthetic prostanoids. The receptor displayed high affinity (Kd = 16.