Early Administration of Glutamine Protects Cardiomyocytes from Post-Cardiac Arrest Acidosis

Postcardiac arrest acidosis can decrease survival. Effective medications without adverse side effects are still not well characterized. We aimed to analyze whether early administration of glutamine could improve survival and protect cardiomyocytes from postcardiac arrest acidosis using animal and cell models. Forty Wistar rats with postcardiac arrest acidosis (blood pH < 7.2) were included. They were divided into study (500 mg/kg L-alanyl-L-glutamine, = 20) and control (normal saline, = 20) groups. Each of the rats received resuscitation. The outcomes were compared between the two groups. In addition, cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells were exposed to HBSS with different pH levels (7.3 or 6.5) or to culture medium (control). Apoptosis-related markers and beating function were analyzed. We found that the duration of survival was significantly longer in the study group ( < 0.05). In addition, in pH 6.5 or pH 7.3 HBSS buffer, the expression levels of cell stress (p53) and apoptosis (caspase-3, Bcl-xL) markers were significantly lower in cardiomyocytes treated with 50 mM L-glutamine than those without Lglutamine (RT-PCR). L-glutamine also increased the beating function of cardiomyocytes, especially at the lower pH level (6.5). More importantly, glutamine decreased cardiomyocyte apoptosis and increased these cells' beating function at a low pH level

Simulation of Receptivity and Induced Transition From Discrete Roughness Elements

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10494-015-9636-yDordrecht Simulations have been carried out to predict the receptivity and growth of crossflow vortices created by Discrete Roughness Elements (DREs) The final transition to turbulence has also been examined, including the effect of DRE spacing and freestream turbulence. Measurements by Hunt and Saric (2011) of perturbation mode shape at various locations were used to validate the code in particular for the receptivity region. The WALE sub-grid stress (SGS) model was adopted for application to transitional flows, since it allows the SGS viscosity to vanish in laminar regions and in the innermost region of the boundary layer when transition begins. Simulations were carried out for two spanwise wavelengths: λ= 12mm (critical) and λ= 6mm (control) and for roughness heights (k) from 12 μm to 42 μm. The base flow considered was an ASU (67)-0315 aerofoil with 45 ⁰ sweep at -2.9 ⁰ incidence and with onset flow at a chord-based Reynolds number Re <inf>c</inf>= 2.4x10 ⁶. For λ= 12mm results showed, in accord with the experimental data, that the disturbance amplitude growth rate was linear for k = 12 μm and 24 μm, but the growth rate was decreased for k = 36 μm Receptivity to λ= 6mm roughness showed equally good agreement with experiments, indicating that this mode disappeared after a short distance to be replaced by a critical wavelength mode. Analysis of the development of modal disturbance amplitudes with downstream distance showed regions of linear, non-linear, saturation, and secondary instability behaviour. Examination of breakdown to turbulence revealed two possible routes: the first was 2D-like transition (probably Tollmien-Schlichting waves even in the presence of crossflow vortices) when transition occurred beyond the pressure minimum; the second was a classical crossflow vortex secondary instability, leading to the formation of a turbulent wedge

Treatment of Krukenberg tumor with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy: A report of three cases

We report three cases of Krukenberg tumor (KT): two were synchronous and one metachronous. At presentation, the first synchronous KT patient had a palpable umbilical mass, the second had a perforated peptic ulcer, and the metachronous KT patient had an ovarian lesion, detected postoperatively. As we know, KT has a quite poor prognosis. According to some papers, surgery with chemotherapy increases survival more than 12 months. Consequently, our two synchronous KT patients received cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intra-abdominal chemotherapy and our metachronous KT patient received laparoscopic bilateral oophorectomy. No recurrences have so far been detected in any patient. Our patient with metachronous KT will undergo laparoscopy and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and our patients with synchronous KT will continue to be followed up to determine their final outcomes

HLA Class I (ABC) Upregulation on Peripheral Blood CD3+/CD8+ T Lymphocyte Surface is a Potential Predictor of Acute Rejection in Renal Transplantation

BACKGROUND: Renal transplantation is currently the prevalent therapy for most patients with end-stage renal disease. No clinical markers for such rejection have been universally accepted. We aimed to investigate the possibility of use of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I (ABC) on peripheral blood CD3+/CD8+ T lymphocytes as a marker of acute rejection. METHODS: For recipients undergoing renal transplantation from September 2007 to November 2008, peripheral blood samples were obtained pretransplantation and at days 3 and 7 posttransplantation when the patients were still hospitalized and at weeks 2 and 3 and months 1, 2, 3, and 6 posttransplantation. For patients with fever, lumbodynia, gross hematuria, or oliguria after transplantation, blood samples were collected immediately before and at days 3 and 7 after the administration of anti-inflammatory regents. The level of HLA class I (ABC) on peripheral-blood CD3+/CD8+ T lymphocytes was measured on flow cytometry. RESULTS: For the 79 transplant recipients, the level of HLA class I (ABC) on peripheral-blood CD3+/CD8+ T lymphocytes was consistently elevated during the first 3 weeks after transplantation, declined gradually to pretransplantation levels, then tapered off and remained stable. Patients experiencing acute rejection (AR) or not after transplantation did not differ in level of HLA class I (ABC) up to 6-month follow-up, except at days 14 and 21 after transplantation, when the level was higher for patients experiencing AR (P\u3c0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Upregulation of HLA class I (ABC) on peripheral-blood CD3+/CD8+ T lymphocytes could be used as an accurate and reliable predictor of AR after renal transplantation

Early Administration of Glutamine Protects Cardiomyocytes from Post-Cardiac Arrest Acidosis

Postcardiac arrest acidosis can decrease survival. Effective medications without adverse side effects are still not well characterized. We aimed to analyze whether early administration of glutamine could improve survival and protect cardiomyocytes from postcardiac arrest acidosis using animal and cell models. Forty Wistar rats with postcardiac arrest acidosis (blood pH < 7.2) were included. They were divided into study (500 mg/kg L-alanyl-L-glutamine, n=20) and control (normal saline, n=20) groups. Each of the rats received resuscitation. The outcomes were compared between the two groups. In addition, cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells were exposed to HBSS with different pH levels (7.3 or 6.5) or to culture medium (control). Apoptosis-related markers and beating function were analyzed. We found that the duration of survival was significantly longer in the study group (p<0.05). In addition, in pH 6.5 or pH 7.3 HBSS buffer, the expression levels of cell stress (p53) and apoptosis (caspase-3, Bcl-xL) markers were significantly lower in cardiomyocytes treated with 50 mM L-glutamine than those without L-glutamine (RT-PCR). L-glutamine also increased the beating function of cardiomyocytes, especially at the lower pH level (6.5). More importantly, glutamine decreased cardiomyocyte apoptosis and increased these cells’ beating function at a low pH level