Effects of upregulated indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 by interferon γ gene transfer on interferon γ-mediated antitumor activity.

Interferon γ (IFN-γ), an anticancer agent, is a strong inducer of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), which is a tryptophan-metabolizing enzyme involved in the induction of tumor immune tolerance. In this study, we investigated the IDO1 expression in organs after IFN-γ gene transfer to mice. IFN-γ gene transfer greatly increased the mRNA expression of IDO1 in many tissues with the highest in the liver.

Right ventricular (18)F-FDG uptake is an important indicator for cardiac involvement in patients with suspected cardiac sarcoidosis.

Purpose: Cardiac sarcoidosis is most commonly found in the left ventricular (LV) free wall. Presence in the right ventricle (RV) is less common but might be useful for detecting cardiac involvement of sarcoidosis. (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET has been used to detect LV regions with cardiac sarcoidosis.

Peroxiredoxin 2 expression is increased in neutrophils of patients with refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are heterogeneous clonal disorders characterized by cytopenias that arise due to ineffective haematopoiesis and morphological dysplasia and carry an increased risk of incident acute myeloid leukaemia. The pathogenesis of marrow dysfunction in MDS is multifactorial and consistent with a multistep model and may lead to heterogeneity of MDS. We investigated the proteome profile of circulating neutrophils purified from patients with refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD) to identify proteins that have a role in the pathogenesis.

Z-100, an immunomodulatory extract of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain Aoyama B, prevents spontaneous lymphatic metastasis of B16-BL6 melanoma.

Lymphatic metastasis is common in advanced-stage carcinoma and is associated with a poor prognosis. However, few effective treatments to inhibit it are available. Z-100 is an immunomodulatory extract of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain Aoyama B that contains polysaccharides such as arabinomannan and mannan.

Characterization of cis- and trans-octadecenoic acid positional isomers in edible fat and oil using gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector equipped with highly polar ionic liquid capillary column.

In this study, the characterisation of all cis- and trans-octadecenoic acid (C18:1) positional isomers in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO) and milk fat, which contain several cis- and trans-C18:1 positional isomers, was achieved by gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector equipped with a highly polar ionic liquid capillary column (SLB-IL111). Prior to analysis, the cis- and trans-C18:1 fractions in PHVO and milk fat were separated using a silver-ion cartridge. The resolution of all cis-C18:1 positional isomers was successfully accomplished at the optimal isothermal column temperature of 120 °C.

Progesterone and its downstream molecules as blastocyst implantation essential factors.

This review is to update the previous review (Am J Reprod Immunol, 63, 2010 and 413) on the research on blastocyst implantation essential factors (BIEFs). Focus of the current review is on progesterone and its downstream molecules in the process of blastocyst implantation. To understand the process of implantation, we need to know where and when the BIEFs are expressed and what they do.

1p3/2 proton-hole state in 132Sn and the shell structure along N = 82.

A low-lying state in 131In82, the one-proton hole nucleus with respect to double magic 132Sn, was observed by its γ decay to the Iπ=1/2- β-emitting isomer. We identify the new state at an excitation energy of Ex=1353  keV, which was populated both in the β decay of 131Cd83 and after β-delayed neutron emission from 132Cd84, as the previously unknown πp3/2 single-hole state with respect to the 132Sn core. Exploiting this crucial new experimental information, shell-model calculations were performed to study the structure of experimentally inaccessible N=82 isotones below 132Sn.

Prognostic markers for immunochemotherapy using tegafur -uracil (UFT) and protein-bound polysaccharide K (PSK).

Aim/background: We previously reported that PSK-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis reaction (PSK-stimulation index; PSK-SI) may be a prognostic marker for immunochemotherapy using PSK in gastrointestinal cancer patients. In this study we evaluated the usefulness of PSK-SI as a prognostic marker for PSK therapy at higher and lower serum immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) levels.

Patients And Methods: 98 gastric and 135 colorectal cancer patients were analyzed.

Attenuated right ventricular energetics evaluated using ¹¹C-acetate PET in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Purpose: The right ventricle (RV) has a high capacity to adapt to pressure or volume overload before failing. However, the mechanisms of RV adaptation, in particular RV energetics, in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) are still not well understood. We aimed to evaluate RV energetics including RV oxidative metabolism, power and efficiency to adapt to increasing pressure overload in patients with PH using (11)C-acetate PET.

CEA/CA72-4 levels in peritoneal lavage fluid are predictive factors in patients with gastric carcinoma.

Purpose: Increased levels of tumor marker in intra-operative peritoneal lavage are associated with an earlier detection of recurrent peritoneal dissemination.

Method: Intra-operative peritoneal lavage samples from 193 patients with gastric cancer were obtained to determine the levels of the tumor markers, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer-related antigen 72-4 (CA72-4) using a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay.

Results: The peritoneal lavage CEA (CY-CEA), CA72-4 (CY-CA72-4) and serosal invasion were independent factors predicting the peritoneal dissemination including CY(+).

Lung uptake on I-131 therapy and short-term outcome in patients with lung metastasis from differentiated thyroid cancer.

Objective: It is sometimes difficult to assess I-131 lung uptake at the initial I-131 therapy because of strong artifacts from I-131 uptake in the thyroid bed. The aim of this study was to analyze the lung uptake at the second I-131 therapy for lung metastasis in patients who did not have lung uptake at the initial therapy from differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Then, we also analyzed the relationship between the initial lung uptake and short-term outcome after I-131 therapies.

Electrocardiographically gated ¹¹C-hydroxyephedrine PET for the simultaneous assessment of cardiac sympathetic and contractile functions.

Objective: Application of the electrocardiographically (ECG) gated positron emission tomography (PET) technique with (11)C-hydroxyephedrine (HED) would allow the simultaneous assessment of cardiac sympathetic and contractile functions. However, there are uncertainties regarding the diagnostic accuracy of left ventricular (LV) volume measurements using ECG-gated HED-PET. The purpose of this study was to clarify the minimal requirement of count statistics to measure LV volumes with ECG-gated HED-PET and to investigate the reliability of the measurements.

Actual ratios of triacylglycerol positional isomers and enantiomers comprising saturated fatty acids and highly unsaturated fatty acids in fishes and marine mammals.

It has been previously shown that the positional isomers of triacylglycerol (TAG) containing palmitic acid (P) and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) such as DHA (D) and EPA (E) vary between fishes and marine mammals. However, it has not yet been understood why in marine mammals HUFAs are located only at the α position when two palmitic acid chains combine, and not in fishes. In order to gain further understanding of the biosynthetic pathways involved in the formation of these asymmetric TAGs, we investigated whether the HUFA in the TAG of marine mammals exists predominantly at the sn-1 or sn-3 position.

Interdisciplinary collaborative team for blastocyst implantation research: inception and perspectives.

Implantation and the establishment of pregnancy in mammals involves an intricate interplay of hormones, cytokines, growth factors, proteins, lipids, ions and the extracellular matrix between the uterine epithelium, stroma, immune cells and the conceptus trophectoderm. The divergent nature of implantation in the mouse, human and pig provides not only an interesting contrast in the establishment of pregnancy and early embryonic development but also intriguing similarities with regard to early endometrial-conceptus signaling. An interesting pro-inflammatory cytokine expressed in a number of mammalian species during the period of implantation is interleukin-1β (IL1B).

Exposure to an atomic bomb explosion is a risk factor for in-hospital death after esophagectomy to treat esophageal cancer.

Esophagectomy, one of the most invasive of all gastrointestinal operations, is associated with a high frequency of postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether exposure to the atomic bomb explosion at Hiroshima in 1945 might be a preoperative risk factor for in-hospital mortality after esophagectomy in esophageal cancer patients. We thus reviewed the outcomes of esophagectomy in 31 atomic bomb survivors with esophageal cancer and 96 controls (also with cancer but without atomic bomb exposure).

L265P mutation of the MYD88 gene is frequent in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia and its absence in myeloma.

L265P mutation in the MYD88 gene has recently been reported in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia; however the incidence has been different according to the methods used. To determine the relevance and compare the incidence by different methods, we analyzed the L265P mutation in bone marrow mononuclear cells from lymphoid neoplasms. We first performed cloning and sequencing in 10 patients: 8 Waldenström's macroglobulinemia; 1 non-IgM-secreting lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma; and 1 low grade B-cell lymphoma with monoclonal IgG protein.

Ischaemic memory imaging using metabolic radiopharmaceuticals: overview of clinical settings and ongoing investigations.

"Ischaemic memory" is defined as a prolonged functional and/or biochemical alteration remaining after a particular episode of severe myocardial ischaemia. The biochemical alteration has been reported as metabolic stunning. Metabolic imaging has been used to detect the footprint left by previous ischaemic episodes evident due to delayed recovery of myocardial metabolism (persistent dominant glucose utilization with suppression of fatty acid oxidation).

Decreased expression of 14-3-3σ is predictive of poor prognosis for patients with human uterine papillary serous carcinoma.

Uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) morphologically resembles ovarian serous carcinoma and is categorized as a type II endometrial cancer. UPSC comprises about 10% of all types of endometrial cancer and has an aggressive clinical course and a poor prognosis. The 14-3-3σ gene was originally discovered as a p53-inducible gene; its expression is induced by DNA damage in a p53-dependent manner, which leads to G2 arrest and repair of damaged DNA.

Isomers in 128Pd and 126Pd: evidence for a robust shell closure at the neutron magic number 82 in exotic palladium isotopes.

The level structures of the very neutron-rich nuclei 128Pd and 126Pd have been investigated for the first time. In the r-process waiting-point nucleus 128Pd, a new isomer with a half-life of 5.8(8) μs is proposed to have a spin and parity of 8(+) and is associated with a maximally aligned configuration arising from the g(9/2) proton subshell with seniority υ=2.

Surgery after preoperative chemotherapy for patients with unresectable advanced gastric cancer.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of surgery after preoperative chemotherapy for unresectable advanced gastric cancer.

Method: Twenty patients with disappeared peritoneal dissemination or decreased lymph node metastasis by systemic chemotherapy underwent surgery (group S), while 14 with peritoneal dissemination or lymph nodes >N2 (group C) received continuous systemic chemotherapy. Among group S patients, 15 underwent a curative resection (group R0), while the other 5 did not microscopically undergo a curative resection (group R1).

Podoplanin is expressed at the invasive front of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and is involved in collective cell invasion.

The expression of podoplanin is reportedly involved in collective cell invasion, which is independent from the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We focused on the expression of podoplanin in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC) and investigated the correlation of podoplanin and EMT-related markers, and evaluated its prognostic significance. Five ESCC cell lines were subjected to western blot analysis for podoplanin and EMT markers.

Quantification of triacylglycerol molecular species in cocoa butter using high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with nano quantity analyte detector.

Triacylglycerol (TAG) molecular species were quantified through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a nano quantity analyte detector (NQAD). TAG standard compounds, i.e.

Resolution behavior of cis- and trans-octadecenoic acid isomers by AOCS official method using SP-2560 column.

The gas chromatography-flame ionization detector equipped with a higher polarity column (i.e., SP-2560) has often been used for the quantification of trans-fatty acids in food.