Carbon, oxygen and strontium isotope geochemistry of metacarbonate rocks in the Highland

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OG] 地圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ

Petrogenesis of incipient charnockite at Ginikarawa in the Wanni Complex, Sri Lanka: new insights from phase equilibrium modeling

第7回極域科学シンポジウム:[OG] 地圏11月29日（火）国立極地研究所 1階 交流アトリウ

Cordierite gneiss from the Wanni Complex, Sri Lanka: Petrology, phase equilibria modeling and U-Pb zircon geochronology

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OG] Polar Geosciences, Wed. 4 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor), National Institute of Polar Researc

Detrital zircon geochronology of the Highland and Lützow-Holm Complexes: Implications for the regional correlation of Sri Lanka and East Antarctica

第7回極域科学シンポジウム:[OG] 地圏11月29日（火）国立極地研究所 1階 交流アトリウ

Comparison of serum concentrations of interleukin-8 and carcinoembryonic antigen in a south Asian cohort of patients with colorectal cancer

OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer type in the world. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is widely used as a marker for CRCs. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine noticeably up-regulated in CRCs. Research have been conducted in different populations to investigate the CEA and IL-8 levels in CRCs and to elucidate their correlation with clinical findings. However, data on Sri Lankan CRC patients are sparse; none reports the CEA or IL-8 levels or their correlations with clinical findings. The objective of this study was to compare the CEA and IL-8 levels in a cohort of CRC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Blood samples from forty patients with CRCs and thirty-five healthy volunteers were obtained after informed consent. Their clinical findings and CEA values were recorded. The concentrations of IL-8 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mean values of IL-8 levels in patients and the control group were compared and the data were analysed to evaluate if there is a correlation between CEA and IL8 levels. RESULTS: At the time of diagnosis, most of the tumors were moderately differentiated (83%) and the average tumor length was 4.4 cm. The tumor location was mostly left-sided (88.7%). Mean CEA level was 21.3 ng/dl at the diagnosis. Mean [IL-8] in patients was 38.16 pg/ml and was higher than that of controls (33.67 pg/ml). However, the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Additionaly, a strong positive correlation between [CEA] and [IL8] was not observed (r=0.19). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that most of the CRCs are diagnosed at moderately differentiated stage with high CEA values. The results of this study are in favor of using CEA as a diagnostic marker. It provided no evidence of a correlation between high CEA and IL-8. Even though not significantly different from that of controls, elevated IL-8 could be a potential marker for CRCs which needs further validation by higher sample numbers

Short term effects on liver and renal functions following chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer patients in oncology clinic, university hospital Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka

Background: Breast cancer tops the global cancer incidence rates, having the highest rate of death among women. The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of standard chemotherapy treatment dose adjusted for the Sri Lankan population, on hepatic and kidney function of breast cancer patients. Methods: The study conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective and prospective analysis of 75 breast cancer patients who received doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel chemotherapy regimen with normal liver and renal function at baseline at UHKDU oncology clinic. The study population had a mean age and BMI of 54.04±11.33 years and 26.7±3.89, respectively. Prior to starting the 16-cycle chemotherapy treatment, mean serum SGOT, SGPT, Creatinine, and eGFR values were 27.57 U/l, 31.32 U/l, 0.71 mg/dl, and 99.07 ml/minute/1.73 m2 respectively. Results: During the treatment, there was a statistically significant increase in the mean values of SGOT and SGPT (p<0.05), whereas there was no significant variation in the mean values of creatinine and eGFR (p>0.05) compared to the baseline results. The study identified a significant positive correlation in SGOT (r=0.793) and SGPT (r=0.872) values, while there was a noteworthy negative correlation (r=-0.757) between eGFR and chemotherapy cycle. Furthermore, there was a positive significant correlation between serum creatinine levels and chemotherapy cycle (r=0.579). Conclusions: The dosed adjusted chemotherapy regimen had a significant impact on hepatic function but had no statistically significant impact on renal function among the study population. Further research is recommended to evaluate the long-term effects of standard chemotherapy treatment on liver and kidney functions

The influence of melt infiltration on the Li and Mg isotopic composition of the Horoman Peridotite Massif

We have analysed the Li and Mg isotope ratios of a suite of samples from the Horoman peridotite massif. Our results show that most Li and all Mg isotopic compositions of the Horoman peridotites are constant over 100 metres of continuous outcrop, yielding values for pristine mantle of δ7Li = 3.8 ± 1.4 ‰ (2SD, n = 9), δ25Mg = -0.12 ± 0.02 ‰ and δ26Mg = -0.23 ± 0.04 ‰ (2SD, n = 17), in keeping with values for undisturbed mantle xenoliths. However, there are also some anomalously low δ7Li values (-0.2 to 1.6 ‰), which coincide with locations that show enrichment of incompatible elements, indicative of the prior passage of small degree melts. We suggest Li diffused from the infiltrating melts with high [Li] into the low [Li] minerals and kinetically fractionated 7Li/6Li as a result. Continued diffusion after the melt flow had ceased would have resulted in the disappearance of this isotopically light signature in less than 15 Ma. In order to preserve this feature, the melt infiltration must have been a late stage event and the massif must have subsequently cooled over a maximum of ∼0.3 Ma from peak temperature (950°C, assuming the melts are hydrous) to Li closure temperature (700°C), likely during emplacement. The constant δ26Mg values of Horoman peridotites suggest that chemical potential gradients caused by melt infiltration were insufficient to drive associated δ26Mg fractionation greater than our external precision of 0.03 ‰

PTEN transcript variants caused by illegitimate splicing in “aged” blood samples and EBV-transformed cell lines

PTEN is one of the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor genes in human cancers. Mutations occur in either heritable or sporadic fashion. Sequencing of cDNA from patients and normal individuals often reveals splicing variants (SVs) of PTEN, some of which are non-mutation related. To investigate whether these SVs were the result of illegitimate splicing (a general decrease of fidelity in splicing site selection in “aged” samples), we tested “aged” blood from individuals who had normal PTEN transcripts in their “fresh” mononuclear cells. Blood from 20 normal individuals was collected and split into two aliquots. Total RNA and DNA were extracted immediately (“fresh”) and 48 h later (“aged”), respectively. Using RT-PCR, subcloning and sequencing, we found seven types of SVs. No mutation was detected in the related intron–exon flanking region in genomic DNA in either “fresh” or “aged” samples. Some of the SVs were also consistently present in both the “fresh” and “aged” EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells from six normal individuals. Western blot data indicated that the PTEN protein level (in full length) was not altered in the “fresh” EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells with SVs. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that PTEN illegitimate splicing often occurs in “aged” blood and EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cells. Therefore, it is critical to note the time point of RNA extraction when investigating for PTEN aberrant transcripts. We hope that our data will increase awareness about the sample status, because gene expression data may be potentially flawed from “aged” samples, particularly when dealing with clinical samples