Intrapleural hypotonic cisplatin treatment for malignant pleural effusion in 80 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: a multi-institutional phase II trial

To assess the effect and toxicity of hypotonic cisplatin treatment (HPT) consisting of the intrapleural administration of cisplatin in distilled water for malignant pleural effusion in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Non-small-cell lung cancer patients with cytologically proven and previously untreated malignant pleural effusion were enrolled into this study. Firstly, the lung was fully re-expanded by a tube thoracostomy, and then 25 mg cisplatin in 500 ml of distilled water was instilled through a chest tube and then the tube was clamped. After 1 h, the tube was declamped and allowed to drain. The chest tube was removed when the pleural effusion volume decreased to 200 ml or less per day. A complete response (CR) was considered to occur when the pleural effusion disappeared. A partial response (PR) was determined to occur when the volume of pleural effusion remained under ¼ of hemithorax. The response at 4 weeks was evaluated by an extramural review. Out of 84 patients enrolled from February 1998 to August 2002, 80 patients were eligible and analysed in the present study. The toxicity of HPT was acceptable. Neither a haematological toxicity of any grade nor grade 4 nonhaematological toxicity was observed. Grade 3 nonhaematological toxicities were observed, including nausea (4%), vomiting (3%), pyothorax (1%) and dyspnoea (1%). The median time of drainage from HTP was 4 days. Twenty-seven (34%) and 39 (49%) patients achieved CR and PR, respectively, for an overall response rate of 83% (95% confidence interval, 74–91%). The median duration of the response was 206 days. The median survival time of all patients was 239 days. Hypotonic cisplatin treatment for malignant pleural effusion of NSCLC is therefore considered to be feasible and effective. A phase III study of HPT is thus warranted

Exposure to bisphenol A enhanced lung eosinophilia in adult male mice

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is useful in many manufacturing processes and is also found in commonly used consumer products. Previous experimental studies have reported that perinatal exposure to BPA promotes the development of allergic lung inflammation in childhood and even into adulthood. In this study, the effects of BPA on allergic lung inflammation in adults were investigated in murine lungs. Methods: CD-1 mice were orally administrated with 1 mg of BPA/mouse four times at one-week intervals with or without ovalbumin (OVA). The pathologic changes in the airways, cytological alterations in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), levels of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines in BALF, and OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 antibodies in serum were measured in the treated CD-1 mice. In vitro study using RAW264.7 cells, which are macrophage-like cells derived from BALB/c male mice, was conducted. The gene expression of cytokines and chemokines were measured. Results: BPA enhanced eosinophil recruitment induced by OVA in the alveoli and in the submucosa of the airway, which has a goblet cell proliferation in the bronchial epithelium. BPA increased Th2 cytokines-interleukin-13 (IL-13), eosinophil-relevant cytokines and chemokines, such as IL-5, and CCL2 induced by OVA, in BALF. BPA induced adjuvant effects on OVA-specific IgG1 production. In the in vitro study using RAW264.7 cells, BPA increased the mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, CCL2 and CCL3 compared with the control and OVA groups. Conclusions: These results suggest that (1) the exposure of BPA could synergize with an OVA challenge to aggravate the severity of lung eosinophilia in adult mice, possibly by promoting a Th2-biased immune response and (2) the activation of macrophages and inflammatory cytokines released from these cells by BPA could be participating in this phenomenon

Diazoxide attenuates autoimmune encephalomyelitis and modulates lymphocyte proliferation and dendritic cell functionality

Activation of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels is postulated as an effective mechanism to confer cardio and neuroprotection, especially in situations associated to oxidative stress. Pharmacological activation of these channels inhibits glia-mediated neuroinflammation. In this way, diazoxide, an old-known mitochondrial KATP channel opener, has been proposed as an effective and safe treatment for different neurodegenerative diseases, demonstrating efficacy in different animal models, including the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for Multiple Sclerosis. Although neuroprotection and modulation of glial reactivity could alone explain the positive effects of diazoxide administration in EAE mice, little is known of its effects on the immune system and the autoimmune reaction that triggers the EAE pathology. The aim of the present work was to study the effects of diazoxide in autoimmune key processes related with EAE, such as antigen presentation and lymphocyte activation and proliferation. Results show that, although diazoxide treatment inhibited in vitro and ex-vivo lymphocyte proliferation from whole splenocytes it had no effect in isolated CD4(+) T cells. In any case, treatment had no impact in lymphocyte activation. Diazoxide can also slightly decrease CD83, CD80, CD86 and major histocompatibility complex class II expression in cultured dendritic cells, demonstrating a possible role in modulating antigen presentation. Taken together, our results indicate that diazoxide treatment attenuates autoimmune encephalomyelitis pathology without immunosuppressive effect

Effects of nano particles on antigen-related airway inflammation in mice

BACKGROUND: Particulate matter (PM) can exacerbate allergic airway diseases. Although health effects of PM with a diameter of less than 100 nm have been focused, few studies have elucidated the correlation between the sizes of particles and aggravation of allergic diseases. We investigated the effects of nano particles with a diameter of 14 nm or 56 nm on antigen-related airway inflammation. METHODS: ICR mice were divided into six experimental groups. Vehicle, two sizes of carbon nano particles, ovalbumin (OVA), and OVA + nano particles were administered intratracheally. Cellular profile of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, lung histology, expression of cytokines, chemokines, and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and immunoglobulin production were studied. RESULTS: Nano particles with a diameter of 14 nm or 56 nm aggravated antigen-related airway inflammation characterized by infiltration of eosinophils, neutrophils, and mononuclear cells, and by an increase in the number of goblet cells in the bronchial epithelium. Nano particles with antigen increased protein levels of interleukin (IL)-5, IL-6, and IL-13, eotaxin, macrophage chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, and regulated on activation and normal T cells expressed and secreted (RANTES) in the lung as compared with antigen alone. The formation of 8-OHdG, a proper marker of oxidative stress, was moderately induced by nano particles or antigen alone, and was markedly enhanced by antigen plus nano particles as compared with nano particles or antigen alone. The aggravation was more prominent with 14 nm of nano particles than with 56 nm of particles in overall trend. Particles with a diameter of 14 nm exhibited adjuvant activity for total IgE and antigen-specific IgG(1 )and IgE. CONCLUSION: Nano particles can aggravate antigen-related airway inflammation and immunoglobulin production, which is more prominent with smaller particles. The enhancement may be mediated, at least partly, by the increased local expression of IL-5 and eotaxin, and also by the modulated expression of IL-13, RANTES, MCP-1, and IL-6

Inhibition decorrelates visual feature representations in the inner retina

The retina extracts visual features for transmission to the brain. Different types of bipolar cell split the photoreceptor input into parallel channels and provide the excitatory drive for downstream visual circuits. Mouse bipolar cell types have been described at great anatomical and genetic detail, but a similarly deep understanding of their functional diversity is lacking. Here, by imaging light-driven glutamate release from more than 13,000 bipolar cell axon terminals in the intact retina, we show that bipolar cell functional diversity is generated by the interplay of dendritic excitatory inputs and axonal inhibitory inputs. The resulting centre and surround components of bipolar cell receptive fields interact to decorrelate bipolar cell output in the spatial and temporal domains. Our findings highlight the importance of inhibitory circuits in generating functionally diverse excitatory pathways and suggest that decorrelation of parallel visual pathways begins as early as the second synapse of the mouse visual system

Mouse models to unravel the role of inhaled pollutants on allergic sensitization and airway inflammation

Air pollutant exposure has been linked to a rise in wheezing illnesses. Clinical data highlight that exposure to mainstream tobacco smoke (MS) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as well as exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) could promote allergic sensitization or aggravate symptoms of asthma, suggesting a role for these inhaled pollutants in the pathogenesis of asthma. Mouse models are a valuable tool to study the potential effects of these pollutants in the pathogenesis of asthma, with the opportunity to investigate their impact during processes leading to sensitization, acute inflammation and chronic disease. Mice allow us to perform mechanistic studies and to evaluate the importance of specific cell types in asthma pathogenesis. In this review, the major clinical effects of tobacco smoke and diesel exhaust exposure regarding to asthma development and progression are described. Clinical data are compared with findings from murine models of asthma and inhalable pollutant exposure. Moreover, the potential mechanisms by which both pollutants could aggravate asthma are discussed

Seasonal climatic effects and feedbacks of anthropogenic heat release due to global energy consumption with CAM5

Anthropogenic heat release (AHR) is the heat generated in global energy consumption, which has not been considered in global climate models generally. The global high-resolution AHR from 1992 to 2013, which is estimated by using the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)/Operational Linescan System (OLS) satellite data, is implemented into the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). The seasonal climatic effects and possible feedbacks of AHR are examined in this study. The modeling results show that AHR increases the global annual mean surface temperature and land surface temperature by 0.02 ± 0.01 K (1σ uncertainty) and 0.05 ± 0.02 K (1σ uncertainty), respectively. The global climatic effect of AHR varies with season: with a stronger climatic effect in the boreal winter leading to global mean land surface temperature increases by 0.10 ± 0.01 K (1σ uncertainty). In the selected regions (40°N–60°N, 0°E–45°E) of Central and Western Europe the average surface temperature increases by 0.46 K in the boreal summer, and in the selected regions (45°N–75°N, 30°E–140°E) of northern Eurasia the average surface temperature increases by 0.83 K in the boreal winter. AHR changes the height and thermodynamic structure of the global planetary boundary layer, as well as the stability of the lower troposphere, which affects the global atmospheric circulation and low cloud fraction. In addition, at the surface both the shortwave radiation flux in the boreal summer and the down-welling longwave flux in the boreal winter change signifi- cantly, as a result of the change in low clouds caused by the effect of AHR. This study suggests a possible new mechanism of AHR effect on global climate through changing the global low-cloud fraction, which is crucial for global energy balance, by modifying the thermodynamic structure and stability of the lower troposphere. Thus this study improves our understanding of the global climate change caused by human activities

Botulinum Neurotoxin Devoid of Receptor Binding Domain Translocates Active Protease

Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) causes flaccid paralysis by disabling synaptic exocytosis. Intoxication requires the tri-modular protein to undergo conformational changes in response to pH and redox gradients across endosomes, leading to the formation of a protein-conducting channel. The ∼50 kDa light chain (LC) protease is translocated into the cytosol by the ∼100 kDa heavy chain (HC), which consists of two modules: the N-terminal translocation domain (TD) and the C-terminal Receptor Binding Domain (RBD). Here we exploited the BoNT modular design to identify the minimal requirements for channel activity and LC translocation in neurons. Using the combined detection of substrate proteolysis and single-channel currents, we showed that a di-modular protein consisting only of LC and TD was sufficient to translocate active protease into the cytosol of target cells. The RBD is dispensable for cell entry, channel activity, or LC translocation; however, it determined a pH threshold for channel formation. These findings indicate that, in addition to its individual functions, each module acts as a chaperone for the others, working in concert to achieve productive intoxication