VERAPAMIL TESTS FOR ASSESSMENT OF DRUG-RESISTANCE OF LEUKEMIA BLASTS

To determine prognostically unfavourable groups of acute leukemia patients, the authors studied the in vitro accumulation of H-3-vincristine (Vcr) and adriamycin (ADR) as well as inclusion of H-3-cytosar (Ara-C) into marrow blast DNA from patients showing different effects of treatment. It was found that H-3-Vcr accumulation in the blasts of some patients resistent to induction chemotherapy increases with verapamil addition to culture medium (Vrp+cells). ADR inclusion into Vrp+cells was the same as that into Vrp-cells. The inclusion of H-3-Ara-C into S-phase cell DNA in the cells Vrp+ was 3 time that in the cells Vrp-. All the responders to cytosar treatment had Vrp- blasts. It is evident that evaluation of Vrp effect on H-3-Ver accumulation under short-term culturing is able to indicate groups of patients with low probability of achieving complete remissions in response to standard regimens of Vcr, Ara-C and anthracyclines treatment

Vincristine and adriamycin accumulation in vitro and cytosar inclusion into leukemia blasts DNA in patients with diverse chemotherapy effects

[No abstract available

Deregulation of the Kallikrein Protease Family in the Salivary Glands of the Sjögren’s Syndrome ERdj5 Knockout Mouse Model

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify differentially expressed proteins in salivary glands of the ERdj5 knockout mouse model for Sjögren’s syndrome and to elucidate possible mechanisms for the morbid phenotype development. At the same time, we describe for the first time the sexual dimorphism of the murine submandibular salivary gland at the proteome level. Methods: We performed Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry in salivary gland tissues from both sexes of ERdj5 knockout and 129SV wildtype mice. The resulting list of proteins was evaluated with bioinformatic analysis and selected proteins were validated by western blot and immunohistochemistry and further analyzed at the transcription level by qRT-PCR. Results: We identified 88 deregulated proteins in females, and 55 in males in wildtype vs knockout comparisons. In both sexes, Kallikrein 1b22 was highly upregulated (fold change>25, ANOVA p<0.0001), while all other proteases of this family were either downregulated or not significantly affected by the genotype. Bioinformatic analysis revealed a possible connection with the downregulated NGF that was further validated by independent methods. Concurrently, we identified 416 proteins that were significantly different in the salivary gland proteome of wildtype female vs male mice and highlighted pathways that could be driving the strong female bias of the pathology. Conclusion: Our research provides a list of novel targets and supports the involvement of an NGF-mediating proteolytic deregulation pathway as a focus point towards the better understanding of the underlying mechanism of Sjögren’s syndrome. © Copyright © 2021 Moustardas, Yamada-Fowler, Apostolou, Tzioufas, Turkina and Spyrou

Vincristine and adriamycin accumulation in vitro and cytosar inclusion into leukemia blasts DNA in patients with diverse chemotherapy effects

[No abstract available

VERAPAMIL TESTS FOR ASSESSMENT OF DRUG-RESISTANCE OF LEUKEMIA BLASTS

To determine prognostically unfavourable groups of acute leukemia patients, the authors studied the in vitro accumulation of H-3-vincristine (Vcr) and adriamycin (ADR) as well as inclusion of H-3-cytosar (Ara-C) into marrow blast DNA from patients showing different effects of treatment. It was found that H-3-Vcr accumulation in the blasts of some patients resistent to induction chemotherapy increases with verapamil addition to culture medium (Vrp+cells). ADR inclusion into Vrp+cells was the same as that into Vrp-cells. The inclusion of H-3-Ara-C into S-phase cell DNA in the cells Vrp+ was 3 time that in the cells Vrp-. All the responders to cytosar treatment had Vrp- blasts. It is evident that evaluation of Vrp effect on H-3-Ver accumulation under short-term culturing is able to indicate groups of patients with low probability of achieving complete remissions in response to standard regimens of Vcr, Ara-C and anthracyclines treatment

Quality of life of hematologists in the Russian federation according to the rand sf-36 questionnaire [Качество жизни врачей-гематологов Российской Федерации по данным опросника RAND SF-36]

Medical profession is notable for its enormous social value and associated with no less responsibility. At the same time, society's requirements for doctors constantly increase. The regulation of medical activities in various disciplines becomes more and more stringent. The aim of the present article was to study the quality of life of 104 hematologists working in different regions of the Russian Federation. For this purpose, the Russian-language version of RAND SF-36 health survey questionnaire was used. Young doctors aged 35-44 years showed lowest scores on mental health inventory which may indicate negative emotional status and a low level of positive emotions. Compared to relatively healthy respondents, hematologists show a low level of emotional role functioning that may also indicate negative emotional status which in turn negatively affects the quality of health care delivery and appears to be a contributing factor in burnout syndrome. Compared to relatively healthy respondents, hematologists show higher pain scores which may indicate a specific attitude of doctors to pain due to their professional approach. Similar quality of life indicators indirectly suggest that hematologists in different regions of the Russian Federation regard their professional activities as a priority, and it affects their quality of life. Both the results obtained and the literature review prove the relevance of the study of human resources and development of programs aimed at continuity of personnel in the health care system. The quality of life of doctors in different disciplines should become the object of comprehensive sociological, clinical, and sanitation studies which will permit to design a program to improve the quality of life of the medical professionals. © 2020 Practical Medicine Publishing House. All rights reserved

The EUTOS population-based registry: incidence and clinical characteristics of 2904 CML patients in 20 European Countries

This population-based registry was designed to provide robust and updated information on the characteristics and the epidemiology of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). All cases of newly diagnosed Philadelphia positive, BCR-ABL1+ CML that occurred in a sample of 92.5 million adults living in 20 European countries, were registered over a median period of 39 months. 94.3% of the 2904 CML patients were diagnosed in chronic phase (CP). Median age was 56 years. 55.5% of patients had comorbidities, mainly cardiovascular (41.9%). High-risk patients were 24.7% by Sokal, 10.8% by EURO, and 11.8% by EUTOS risk scores. The raw incidence increased with age from 0.39/100,000/year in people 20-29 years old to 1.52 in those >70 years old, and showed a maximum of 1.39 in Italy and a minimum of 0.69 in Poland (all countries together: 0.99). The proportion of Sokal and Euro score high-risk patients seen in many countries indicates that trial patients were not a positive selection. Thus from a clinical point of view the results of most trials can be generalized to most countries. The incidences observed among European countries did not differ substantially. The estimated number of new CML cases per year in Europe is about 6370