The 2011 Medical Molecular Hydrogen Symposium: An inaugural symposium of the journal Medical Gas Research

This report summarizes a brief description/history of the Hydrogen Research Meetings as well as key presentations/oral abstracts delivered in the most recent symposium. Additionally, we introduced 38 diseases and physiological states for which hydrogen exhibits beneficial effects

Establishment of infectious HCV virion-producing cells with newly designed full-genome replicon RNA

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicon systems enable in-depth analysis of the life cycle of HCV. However, the previously reported full-genome replicon system is unable to produce authentic virions. On the basis of these results, we constructed newly designed full-genomic replicon RNA, which is composed of the intact 5′-terminal-half RNA extending to the NS2 region flanked by an extra selection marker gene. Huh-7 cells harboring this full-genomic RNA proliferated well under G418 selection and secreted virion-like particles into the supernatant. These particles, which were round and 50 nm in diameter when analyzed by electron microscopy, had a buoyant density of 1.08 g/mL that shifted to 1.19 g/mL after NP-40 treatment; these figures match the putative densities of intact virions and nucleocapsids without envelope. The particles also showed infectivity in a colony-forming assay. This system may offer another option for investigating the life cycle of HCV

Successful treatment of multiple lung metastases of hepatocellular carcinoma by combined chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin and tegafur/uracil

We report the successful treatment of multiple lung metastases after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with combined docetaxel, cisplatin (CDDP), and enteric-coated tegafur/uracil (UFT-E). A 68-year-old man was diagnosed with multiple lung metastases of HCC 7 mo after partial hepatectomy for HCC. Oral UFT-E was given daily and docetaxel and CDDP were given intra-arterially (administered just before the bronchial arteries) every 2 wk via a subcutaneous injection port. One month after starting chemotherapy, levels of tumor marker, protein induced by vitamin K absence II (PIVKA-II), decreased rapidly, and after a further month, chest X-ray and computed tomography revealed the complete disappearance of multiple liver metastases. Two years after the combined chemotherapy, HCC recurred in the liver and was treated but no pulmonary recurrence occurred. In the absence of a standardized highly effective therapy, this combined chemotherapy with docetaxel, CDDP and UFT-E may be an attractive option for multiple lung metastases of HCC

In vivo 3D analysis of systemic effects after local heavy-ion beam irradiation in an animal model

Radiotherapy is widely used in cancer treatment. In addition to inducing effects in the irradiated area, irradiation may induce effects on tissues close to and distant from the irradiated area. Japanese medaka, Oryzias latipes, is a small teleost fish and a model organism for evaluating the environmental effects of radiation. In this study, we applied low-energy carbon-ion (26.7 MeV/u) irradiation to adult medaka to a depth of approximately 2.2 mm from the body surface using an irradiation system at the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology. We histologically evaluated the systemic alterations induced by irradiation using serial sections of the whole body, and conducted a heart rate analysis. Tissues from the irradiated side showed signs of serious injury that corresponded with the radiation dose. A 3D reconstruction analysis of the kidney sections showed reductions in the kidney volume and blood cell mass along the irradiated area, reflecting the precise localization of the injuries caused by carbon-beam irradiation. Capillary aneurysms were observed in the gill in both ventrally and dorsally irradiated fish, suggesting systemic irradiation effects. The present study provides an in vivo model for further investigation of the effects of irradiation beyond the locally irradiated area