Dietary Intake and Serum Levels of Iron in Relation to Oxidative Stress in Breast Cancer Patients

Iron may induce oxidative stress via production of reactive oxygen species, facilitating mammary carcinogenesis. This study investigated the role of iron in relation to oxidative stress as a potential risk factor in the development of breast cancer (BC). BC patients (n = 121) and healthy age-matched controls (n = 149) were entered into the study. Iron and antioxidant vitamins intakes were estimated using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Thirty one subjects from each group provided blood samples for measurement of serum iron, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP). Total and non-heme iron intake of BC patients were lower than those of the controls. However, the serum iron level was significantly higher in BC patients. Plasma MDA levels were also significantly higher in BC patients whereas no significant difference in FRAP values were observed between the two groups. Log-transformed serum iron concentration showed no significant correlation with MDA or FRAP. These results suggest that serum iron overload may be a breast cancer risk factor possibly due to increased oxidative stress

Pathogen-inducible CaUGT1 is involved in resistance response against TMV infection by controlling salicylic acid accumulation

AbstractCapsicum annuum L. Bugang exhibits a hypersensitive response against Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) P0 infection. The C. annuum UDP-glucosyltransferase 1 (CaUGT1) gene was upregulated during resistance response to TMV and by salicylic acid, ethephon, methyl viologen, and sodium nitroprusside treatment. When the gene was downregulated by virus-induced gene silencing, a delayed HR was observed. In addition, free and total SA concentrations in the CaUGT1-downregulated hot pepper were decreased by 52% and 48% compared to that of the control plants, respectively. This suggested that the CaUGT1 gene was involved in resistance response against TMV infection by controlling the accumulation of SA

Incidental thyroid lesions detected by FDG-PET/CT: prevalence and risk of thyroid cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Incidentally found thyroid lesions are frequently detected in patients undergoing FDG-PET/CT. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of incidentally found thyroid lesions in patients undergoing FDG-PET/CT and determine the risk for thyroid cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>FDG-PET/CT was performed on 3,379 patients for evaluation of suspected or known cancer or cancer screening without any history of thyroid cancer between November 2003 and December 2005. Medical records related to the FDG-PET/CT findings including maximum SUV(SUV_max) and pattern of FDG uptake, US findings, FNA, histopathology received by operation were reviewed retrospectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred eighty five patients (8.4%) were identified to have FDG uptake on FDG-PET/CT. 99 patients with focal or diffuse FDG uptake underwent further evaluation. The cancer risk of incidentally found thyroid lesions on FDG-PET/CT was 23.2% (22/99) and the cancer risks associated with focal and diffuse FDG uptake were 30.9% and 6.4%. There was a significant difference in the SUV_maxbetween the benign and malignant nodules (3.35 ± 1.69 vs. 6.64 ± 4.12; P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the SUV_maxand the size of the cancer.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study suggest that incidentally found thyroid lesions by FDG-PET/CT, especially a focal FDG uptake and a high SUV, have a high risk of thyroid malignancy. Further diagnostic work-up is needed in these cases.</p

Adenoma of the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium presenting with recurrent iridocyclitis: unique expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein

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The Expression Patterns of FAM83H and PANX2 Are Associated With Shorter Survival of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients

FAM83H is primarily known for its role in amelogenesis; however, recent reports suggest FAM83H might be involved in tumorigenesis. Although the studies of FAM83H in kidney cancer are limited, a search of the public database shows a significant association between FAM83H and pannexin-2 (PANX2) in clear cell renal cell carcinomas (CCRCCs). Therefore, we evaluated the clinicopathological significance of the immunohistochemical expression of FAM83H and PANX2 in 199 CCRCC patients. The expression of FAM83H and PANX2 were significantly associated with each other. In univariate analysis, individual, and co-expression pattern of FAM83H and PANX2 was significantly associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) of CCRCC patients: nuclear expression of FAM83H (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P &lt; 0.001), cytoplasmic expression of FAM83H (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P &lt; 0.001), nuclear expression of PANX2 (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P &lt; 0.001), cytoplasmic expression of PANX2 (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P &lt; 0.001), co-expression pattern of nuclear FAM83H and nuclear PANX2 (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P &lt; 0.001). In multivariate analysis, nuclear expression of FAM83H (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P = 0.003) and the co-expression pattern of nuclear FAM83H and PANX2 (OS; P &lt; 0.001, RFS; P &lt; 0.001) were independent indicators of shorter survival of CCRCC patients. Cytoplasmic expression of FAM83H was associated with shorter RFS (P = 0.030) in multivariate analysis. In Caki-1 and Caki-2 CCRCC cells, knock-down of FAM83H decreased PANX2 expression and cell proliferation, and overexpression of FAM83H increased PANX2 expression and cell proliferation. These results suggest that FAM83H and PANX2 might be involved in the progression of CCRCC in a co-operative manner, and their expression might be used as novel prognostic indicators for CCRCC patients

Identification of Domains Directing Specificity of Coupling to G-proteins for the Melanocortin MC3 and MC4 Receptors

The melanocortin receptors, MC3R and MC4R, are G protein-coupled receptors that are involved in regulating energy homeostasis. Using a luciferase reporter gene under the transcriptional control of a cAMP-responsive element (CRE), the coupling efficiency of the MC4R and MC3R to G-proteins was previously shown to be different. MC4R exhibited only 30-50% of the maximum activity induced by MC3R. To assess the role of the different MC3R and MC4R domains in G-protein coupling, several chimeric MC3R/MC4R receptors were constructed. The relative luciferase activities, which were assessed after transfecting the chimeric receptors into HEK 293T cells, showed that the i3 (3rd intracellular) loop domain has an essential role in the differential signaling of MC3R and MC4R. To reveal which amino acid residue was involved in the MC4R-specific signaling in the i3 loop, a series of mutant MC4Rs was constructed. Reporter gene analysis showed that single mutations of Arg220 to Ala and Thr232 to either Val or Ala increased the relative luciferase activities, which suggests that these specific amino acids, Arg220 and Thr232, in the i3 loop of MC4R play crucial roles in G-protein coupling and the subtype-specific signaling pathways. An examination of the inositol phosphate (IP) levels in the cells transfected with either MC3R or MC4R after being exposed to the melanocortin peptides revealed significant stimulation of IP production by MC3R but no detectable increase in IP production was observed by MC4R. Furthermore, none of the MC4R mutants displayed melanocortin peptide-stimulated IP production. Overall, this study demonstrated that MC3R and MC4R have distinct signaling in either the cAMP- or the inositol phospholipid-mediated pathway with different conformational requirements

Reversible Pulmonary Hypertension in Adolescent with Left Atrial Myxoma

We report a patient of left atrial huge myxoma presenting with severe pulmonary hypertension in adolescents. A patient was a 14-year-old boy presented with sudden onset dyspnea. Transthoracic echocardiographic study revealed the presence of a nodular, 4.34 × 8.11 cm sized, mobile, hyperechoic mass in the left atrium and severe pulmonary hypertension with tricuspid insufficiency. After surgical therapy, tricuspid regurgitation and pulmonary hypertension was decreased and the patient was stabilized and had an uneventful clinical course

Round-robin test on thermal conductivity measurement of ZnO nanofluids and comparison of experimental results with theoretical bounds

Ethylene glycol (EG)-based zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofluids containing no surfactant have been manufactured by one-step pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method. Round-robin tests on thermal conductivity measurements of three samples of EG-based ZnO nanofluids have been conducted by five participating labs, four using accurate measurement apparatuses developed in house and one using a commercial device. The results have been compared with several theoretical bounds on the effective thermal conductivity of heterogeneous systems. This study convincingly demonstrates that the large enhancements in the thermal conductivities of EG-based ZnO nanofluids tested are beyond the lower and upper bounds calculated using the models of the Maxwell and Nan et al. with and without the interfacial thermal resistance