S100 protein expression distinguishes metanephric adenomas from other renal neoplasms.

Metanephric adenoma is a benign renal neoplasm with morphologic features similar to those of malignant renal neoplasms, such as papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and Wilms' tumor. Different methods have been used to distinguish between metanephric adenoma and papillary RCC and Wilms' tumor. However, some techniques are not always available, such as certain immunohistochemical stains, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, and electron microscopy.

Agreement between percentage pain reductions calculated from numeric rating scores of pain intensity and those reported by patients with acute or cancer pain.

The use of percentage pain reduction is increasingly used to evaluate the effectiveness of pain treatments, but the degree of agreement between calculated percentage pain reduction (CPPR) as calculated from pre- and post-treatment levels of pain intensity and those reported directly by patients is unknown. Lack of agreement between these two measures could lead to errors in the determination of treatment effectiveness. We aimed to determine the agreement between CPPR and patient-reported percentage pain reduction (PRPPR).

Cryosurgical ablation of the prostate: current technique and clinical outcomes.

In addition to established therapies such as radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy, a number of newer therapies have been suggested to be effective in treating patients with clinically localized prostate carcinoma (PCA). One of these is cryoablation, a procedure that infarcts the prostate by the in situ application of percutaneous cryoprobes. Although results with this approach were mixed when introduced initially in 1993, recent improvements in technique and understanding of the mechanisms of cryo-injury in the prostate have led to renewed interest in this treatment option for patients with PCA.

An approach to chronic fatigue syndrome in adults.

Background: The neurologist is often asked to evaluate patients with a chief complaint of fatigue. Many neurologists do not believe in the pathologically based disease known as chronic fatigue syndrome, yet as a group, neurologists are well suited to guide the diagnostic work up of such patients to pinpoint treatable disorders in the realm of neurology, general medicine, and psychiatry.

Review Summary: Every patient should be carefully evaluated for certain medical, psychiatric, and neurologic disease that can cause fatigue as the most prominent symptom.

Use of complementary and alternative therapies by patients with human immunodeficiency virus disease in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Complementary and alternative medical therapies (CAM) are popular with patients who are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive, despite effective drug treatments, potential drug interactions, and overlapping toxicities.

Objective: To determine rates and correlates of ingested and noningested CAM use, and to examine temporal changes in the rates of ingested CAM use during the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis with repeated measures from a cohort study, with the study visit as the unit of analysis.

Automated external defibrillator arrhythmia detection in a model of cardiac arrest due to commotio cordis.

Introduction: Cardiac arrest due to chest wall blows (commotio cordis) has been reported with increasing frequency in children, and only about 15% of victims survive. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have been shown to be life saving in adults with cardiac arrest, but data on their use in children are limited. In a swine model of commotio cordis designed to be most relevant to young children, we assessed the efficacy of a commercially available AED for recognition and termination of ventricular fibrillation.

Plasticity of pheochromocytoma cell lines from neurofibromatosis knockout mice.

Adrenergic mouse pheochromocytoma (MPC) cells from heterozygous neurofibromatosis knockout mice show little or no expression of the NGF receptor trk A and do not undergo neuronal differentiation in response to NGF. However, they express high levels of receptor tyrosine kinase, Ret, and GDNF family receptor alpha(1) (GFRalpha(1)) in vivo and in vitro and respond to glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). In addition, they form short processes in response to PACAP or cyclic AMP.

Chromaffin cells as models of endocrine cells and neurons.

Chromaffin cells have many functional similarities to amine- and peptide-producing endocrine cells throughout the body and to both peripheral and central neurons. The hypothesis of a shared, neural origin for chromaffin cells and most other endocrine cells is not tenable. However, chromaffin cells and their neoplastic counterparts, known as pheochromocytomas, are valuable models for studies of endocrine and neural properties.

Microsomal protein concentration modifies the apparent inhibitory potency of CYP3A inhibitors.

The effect of microsomal protein concentration on the inhibitory potency of a series of CYP3A inhibitors was assessed in vitro using diazepam 3-hydroxylation (yielding temazepam) as an index of CYP3A activity. With diazepam concentrations fixed at 100 micro M, inhibition of temazepam formation by fixed concentrations of ritonavir, ketoconazole, itraconazole, OH-itraconazole, norfluoxetine, and fluvoxamine decreased substantially as active protein concentrations increased from 0.0625 to 3.

Current approaches to analgesic drug delivery for chronic pain.

A growing number of governmental and professional guidelines internationally have supported aggressive treatment of acute (e.g., postsurgical), cancer, and noncancer pain.

Azelastine is more potent than olopatadine n inhibiting interleukin-6 and tryptase release from human umbilical cord blood-derived cultured mast cells.

Background: Mast cells are involved in early- and late-phase reactions by releasing vasoactive molecules, proteases, and cytokines. Certain histamine-1 receptor antagonists and other antiallergic drugs seem to inhibit the release of mediators from rat and human mast cells.

Objective: Azelastine and olopatadine are antiallergic agents present in the ophthalmic solutions azelastine hydrochloride (Optivar, Asta Medica/Muro Pharmaceuticals, Tewksbury, MA), and olopatadine hydrochloride (Patanol, Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, TX), respectively.

Use of a charged lidocaine derivative, tonicaine, for prolonged infiltration anesthesia.

Background And Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that the duration of cutaneous anesthesia elicited by the permanently charged compound N-phenylethyl lidocaine (tonicaine) would be longer than that elicited by its parent structure, lidocaine, and that it would be less affected by epinephrine (epi), after subcutaneous injection in rats, as a model for infiltration anesthesia.

Methods: Subcutaneous injections were performed on the shaved dorsal skin of rats with either tonicaine or lidocaine (0.1% or 0.

Azelastine's inhibition of histamine and tryptase release from human umbilical cord blood-derived cultured mast cells as well as rat skin mast cell-induced vascular permeability: comparison with olopatadine.

Mast cells are involved in early and late-phase reactions by releasing vasoactive molecules, proteases, and cytokines. Azelastine and olopatadine are histamine 1 receptor (H-1R) antagonists with antiallergic effects present in the ophthalmic solutions Optivar and Patanol, respectively. Because it is difficult to obtain animal or human conjunctival tissue, we first investigated the effect of these compounds on histamine and tryptase release from cultured human mast cells (CHMCs) grown out of human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ cells.

Pulmonary function testing in obesity, pregnancy, and extremes of body habitus.

Knowing the effect body habitus can have on pulmonary function is important when there is a concern of an underlying respiratory impairment. The pattern of PFT abnormaLities can help distinguish an underlying ventilatory defect as deriving from the body habitus or from a second process. There are limitations, however.

Identification of a translocation deficiency in cortical granule secretion in preovulatory mouse oocytes.

Preovulatory, germinal vesicle (GV)-stage mouse oocytes are unable to undergo normal cortical granule (CG) secretion. Full secretory competence is observed by metaphase II (MII) of meiosis and involves the development of calcium response mechanisms. To identify the deficient or inhibited step in CG secretion, preovulatory GV-stage oocytes were stimulated and tested for their ability to undergo translocation, docking, and/or fusion.

Relative contribution of CYP3A to amitriptyline clearance in humans: in vitro and in vivo studies.

The relative contribution of cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A) to the oral clearance of amitriptyline in humans has been assessed using a combination of in vitro approaches together with a clinical pharmacokinetic interaction study using the CYP3A-selective inhibitor ketoconazole. Lymphoblast-expressed CYPs were used to study amitriptyline N-demethylation and E-10 hydroxylation in vitro. The relative activity factor (RAF) approach was used to predict the relative contribution of each CYP isoform to the net hepatic intrinsic clearance (sum of N-demethylation and E-10 hydroxylation).

Recombinant adenovirus coexpressing covalent peptide/MHC class II complex and B7-1: in vitro and in vivo activation of myelin basic protein-specific T cells.

Previous studies have demonstrated that an MHC class II molecule with an antigenic peptide genetically fused to its beta-chain is capable of presenting this peptide to CD4(+) T cells. We hypothesized that covalent peptide/class II complex may direct the accessory molecules to exert their function specifically onto T cells in a TCR-guided fashion. To test this hypothesis, we generated several recombinant adenoviruses expressing covalent myelin basic protein peptide/I-A(u) complex (MBP(1-11)/I-A(u)) and the costimulatory molecule B7-1.

Mast cell involvement in interstitial cystitis: a review of human and experimental evidence.

Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a heterogeneous syndrome of unknown etiology. Altered bladder glycosaminoglycans lining and bladder mastocytosis have been documented in IC. The objective of this article is to critically examine the published data on bladder mastocytosis in clinical, experimental, and animal studies, with particular emphasis on morphologic evidence of mast cell increase and activation.

Prophylactic use of antibiotics for nonlaboring patients undergoing cesarean delivery with intact membranes: a meta-analysis.

Objective: We performed a meta-analysis to examine the role of antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing postoperative infections among nonlaboring women undergoing cesarean delivery with intact membranes.

Study Design: A computerized literature search was performed with MEDLINE. Studies were included if they contained data on patients undergoing cesarean delivery in the absence of labor and ruptured membranes.

A quality factor to compare the dosimetry of gamma knife radiosurgery and intensity-modulated radiation therapy quantitatively as a function of target volume and shape. Technical note.

The authors have developed a quality factor (QF) to compare gamma knife radiosurgery, linear accelerator radiosurgery, and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) dosimetry. This QF relates the percentage of target covered (PTC) by the prescription radiation isodose, target volume (V(T)), and enclosed tissue volume, which receives greater than a particular dose (V(X)): QF(X) = PTCxV(T)/V(X). The authors investigated target shape independent of volume in predicting radiosurgical complication rates.

Endogenous antipyretics.

Fever is the hallmark of the stereotyped host response to microbial infection, although it is just one of a number of high-risk strategies employed by the infected host to clear itself of invading pathogens. The febrile response is accompanied by activation of multiple endogenous antipyretic systems that serve to suppress its magnitude or duration. These include neuroactive substances of neural and humoral origin, some of which (e.