Comparison of Hepatitis B Virus DNA, RNA, and Core Related Antigen as Predictors of Lamivudine Resistance in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

The clinical usefulness of hepatitis B virus (HBV)DNA, RNA, and core related antigen (HBcrAg)assays for predicting the appearance of HBV DNA breakthrough was evaluated and compared in patients with chronic hepatitis B undergoing lamivudine therapy.Methods :Thirty six patients with chronic hepatitis B who received lamivudine therapy for more than 1 year were enrolled. HBV RNA was measured simultaneously with HBV DNA (HBV RNA/DNA) using a real-time detection polymerase chain reaction assay with a preceding step of reverse-transcription. HBV DNA was measured by an HBV AMPLICOR monitor kit. HBcrAg was measured using a chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay. Results : Sixteen patients (44%) developed HBV DNA breakthrough during the median observation period of 48.4 months (range 7.4-87.8 months). Afterwards, HBV DNA breakthrough was prospected using the three parameters taken 6 months after starting lamivudine therapy. The cut-offlevels for predictions were determined by receiver operating characteristic curves, and were 2.6 log copies/ml for HBV DNA, 3.8 log U/ml for HBV RNA/DNA, and 4.0 log U/ml for HBcrAg.Sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy for predicting HBV DNA breakthrough were 25%, 100%,and 67% respectively for HBV DNA.Similarly,they were 50%,90%,and 72% for HBV RNA/DNA, and 100%, 40%, and 67% for HBcrAg. Conclusion : Our findings confirm that HBV DNA is useful for identifying patients who are at high risk for HBV breakthrough.HBcrAg is useful for isolating those who are at low risk, and HBV RNA/DNA showed predictive characteristics similar to HBV DNA with higher sensitivity and the highest accuracyArticle信州医学雑誌, 58(4):153-162 (2010)departmental bulletin pape

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor in a Patient with Neurofibromatosis: Abscess Formation in the Tumor Leading to Bacteremia and Seizure

A 66-year-old woman with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) was brought to the emergency room with seizures and high-grade fever. Seizure in adult NF1 patients raises concern for intracranial lesions. However, neurological examination and central nervous system imaging failed to detect any causative intracranial lesions for her seizure. Gram-positive cocci, Streptococcus anginosus, were detected by blood cultures. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a well-defined round mass 7 cm in diameter, which was found to be a small intestinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) containing an abscess. There was fistula formation between the intestinal lumen and the abscess, in which there were numerous Gram-positive cocci. The seizure may have been caused by hypoosmolality (hyponatremia and hypoproteinemia), which may result from decreased food intake associated with high-grade fever and general malaise. In this case GIST originating from the small intestine was invaded by S. anginosus through a fistula, leading to abscess formation, bacteremia, high-grade fever, and seizure, which was the first clinical manifestation

Electron spectra of xenon clusters irradiated with a laser-driven plasma soft-x-ray laser pulse

Xenon clusters were irradiated with plasma soft-x-ray laser pulses (having a wavelength of 13.9 nm, time duration of 7 ps, and intensities of up to 10 GW/cm2). The laser photon energy was high enough to photoionize 4d core electrons. The cross section is large due to a giant resonance. The interaction was investigated by measuring the electron energy spectra. The photoelectron spectra for small clusters indicate that the spectral width due to the 4d hole significantly broadens with increasing cluster size. For larger clusters, the electron energy spectra evolve into a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, as a strongly coupled cluster nanoplasma is generated

Decoupling and lepton flavor violation in extra dimension

We discuss the fermion mass hierarchy and the flavor mixings in the fat brane scenario of five dimensional SUSY theory. The decoupling solution of the sfermion mass spectrum can be realized by introducing the vector-like mirror fields in an extra dimension. In this scenario, both the left- and right-handed sleptons can have sizable flavor mixings. We point out that this sizable flavor mixings can induce the suitable magnitude of the muon anomalous magnetic moment ($g_\mu -2$) within the experimental bounds of lepton flavor violating processes.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

Plasma S100A12 Levels and Peripheral Arterial Disease in End-Stage Renal Disease

Background: S100A12 is an endogenous ligand of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). Plasma S100A12 levels are high in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is common in HD patients and is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates in this population. To date, however, no study has specifically assessed the relationship between plasma S100A12 and PAD in HD patients. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 152 HD patients in our affiliated hospital. We investigated PAD history and patient characteristics and quantified plasma S100A12 levels in all participants. Results: HD patients with PAD (n = 26; 21.9 [13.6–33.4] ng/ml) showed significantly higher plasma S100A12 levels than HD patients without PAD (n = 126; 11.8 [7.5–17.6]ng/ml; p Conclusion: These results suggest that plasma S100A12 levels are strongly associated with PAD prevalence in ESRD patients undergoing HD

Long-Term Persistent GBV-B Infection and Development of a Chronic and Progressive Hepatitis C-Like Disease in Marmosets

It has been shown that infection of GB virus B (GBV-B), which is closely related to hepatitis C virus, develops acute self-resolving hepatitis in tamarins. In this study we sought to examine longitudinally the dynamics of viral and immunological status following GBV-B infection of marmosets and tamarins. Surprisingly, two of four marmosets but not tamarins experimentally challenged with GBV-B developed long-term chronic infection with fluctuated viremia, recurrent increase of alanine aminotransferase and plateaued titers of the antiviral antibodies, which was comparable to chronic hepatitis C in humans. Moreover, one of the chronically infected marmosets developed an acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis as revealed by biochemical, histological, and immunopathological analyses. Of note, periodical analyses of the viral genomes in these marmosets indicated frequent and selective non-synonymous mutations, suggesting efficient evasion of the virus from antiviral immune pressure. These results demonstrated for the first time that GBV-B could induce chronic hepatitis C-like disease in marmosets and that the outcome of the viral infection and disease progression may depend on the differences between species and individuals

An open-label, phase 1 study evaluating safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of linifanib (ABT-869) in Japanese patients with solid tumors

PURPOSE: This phase 1 study assessed the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary antitumor activity of linifanib in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors. METHODS: Patients were assigned to one of four sequential cohorts (0.05, 0.10, 0.20, or 0.25 mg/kg) of oral, once-daily linifanib on a 21-day cycle. Adverse events (AEs) were assessed per common terminology criteria for adverse events v3.0; tumor responses were assessed by response evaluation criteria in solid tumors. RESULTS: Eighteen patients were enrolled. Eleven (61%) received ≥3 prior therapies. Dose-limiting toxicities were Grade 3 ALT increase (0.10 mg/kg linifanib) and Grade 1 T-wave inversion (0.25 mg/kg linifanib) requiring dose interruption for >7 days and discontinuation on day 29. The most common linifanib-related AE was hypertension. Other significant treatment-related AEs included proteinuria, fatigue, and palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia. Linifanib pharmacokinetics were dose-proportional across 0.10–0.25 mg/kg. Two patients (11.1%) had confirmed partial responses, 12 had a best response of stable disease (11 had stable disease for ≥12 weeks), and four patients were not evaluable due to incomplete data. Four patients (lung cancer, breast cancer, thymic cancer, sarcoma) have continued linifanib for ≥48 weeks (range, 48–96+ weeks). CONCLUSION: Linifanib was well tolerated with promising preliminary clinical activity in Japanese patients. Later-phase global studies examining linifanib efficacy will include Japanese patients

Current Performance and On-Going Improvements of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope

An overview of the current status of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope constructed and operated at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is presented. The basic design concept and the verified performance of the telescope system are described. Also given are the status of the instrument package offered to the astronomical community, the status of operation, and some of the future plans. The status of the telescope reported in a number of SPIE papers as of the summer of 2002 are incorporated with some updates included as of 2004 February. However, readers are encouraged to check the most updated status of the telescope through the home page, http://subarutelescope.org/index.html, and/or the direct contact with the observatory staff.Comment: 18 pages (17 pages in published version), 29 figures (GIF format), This is the version before the galley proo