TNFRSF1B A1466G genotype is predictive of clinical efficacy after treatment with a definitive 5-fluorouracil/cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy in Japanese patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Currently definitive 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/cisplatin (CDDP) -based chemotherapy is recognized as one of the most promising treatments for esophageal cancer. A series of studies performed found genetic polymorphisms and the plasma concentration of 5-FU to be predictive of acute severe toxicities and clinical response. Genetic polymorphisms of <it>tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α </it>and its surface receptors, <it>TNFRSF1A </it>and <it>TNFRSF1B </it>have been examined in terms of susceptibility to various cancers. In this study, genetic polymorphisms of <it>TNFRSF1B </it>gene were evaluated Japanese esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients treated with the definitive 5-FU/CDDP-based chemoradiotherapy and their predictive values of prognosis or severe acute toxicities were assessed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Forty-six patients with ESCC were treated with the definitive 5-FU/CDDP-based chemoradiotherapy, one course of which consisted of the continuous infusion of 5-FU for days 1-5 and 8-12, the infusion of CDDP on days 1 and 8, and the radiation at 2 Gy/day on days 1-5, 8-12, and 15-19, with a second course repeated after 2-week interval. Genetic polymorphisms of a TNF-α receptor <it>TNFRSF1B </it>gene were determined by a TaqMan^®MGB probe-based polymerase chain reaction.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The genotype of <it>TNFSR1B </it>A1466G, but not M196R/T587G or C1493T, was found to be predictive of clinical response, i.e., a complete response or not (p = 0.040). Clinical response was predicted by tumor size (p = 0,002), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.007), distant metastasis (p = 0.001) and disease stage (p < 0.001), but <it>TNFRSF1B </it>A1466G genotype was independent of these factors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Genetic polymorphism of <it>TNFRSF1B </it>A1466G was found to be predictive response in Japanese ESCC patients with a definitive 5-FU/CDDP-based chemoradiotherapy. Further clinical investigation with a large number of patients or experiments in vitro should be performed to assess the predictive value of <it>TNFRSF1B </it>A1466G genotype after chemoradiotherapy.</p

An Improved Convenient Molecular Weight-determination Method for Active Stainable-Enzyme after SDS Electrophoresis

An improved method to determine the molecular weight of alcohol dehydrogenase after sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE) has been developed. This method was based on the finding that on a gel, which was washed with a buffer to remove SDS after SDS-PAGE, stained with an enzymatic activity staining mixture and then stained with coomassie blue, there appeared two active stained bands with apparent molecular weights of 148,000(tetramer)and 35,000(monomer)on the SDS-PAGE gel. The method developed here may be applicable to a wide range of active stainable-enzymes as a rapid and simple molecular weight determination method after SDS-PAGE

An Improved Convenient Molecular Weight-determination Method of Subunit for Active Stainable-Enzyme after SDS Electrophoresis

An improved method to determine the molecular weight of the subunit of lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase after sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) has been developed. This method was based on the finding that on a gel, which was washed with a buffer to remove SDS after SDS-PAGE, stained with an enzymatic activity staining mixture and then stained with coomassie blue, there appeared one active stained band with apparent molecular weights of 35,500 (monomer) (lactate dehydrogenase) and 31,000 (monomer) (malate dehydrogenase) on the SDS-PAGE gel. The method developed here may be applicable to a wide range of active stainable-enzymes as a rapid and simple molecular weight determination method of the subunit after SDS-PAGE

ソバ種実から得られる低分子性タンパク質のキチン結合活性ならびに抗真菌活性

The low molecular weight proteins which had affinity for chitin were purified in two types of crystalline forms from buckwheat seeds and named as buckwheat chitin-binding proteins I and II, BCP I and II. respectively. To elucidate biological properties of BCP II of them, chitin-binding and antifungal activities of the protein were examined in detail. BCP II possessed the binding specificity for β-1, 4-linked N-acetylglucosamine polysaccharide, chitin, and bound to chitin, reversibly. It was found that the incubation of the protein with chitin at 30℃ and pH 8.0 for 20min was most suitable for the chitin-binding. The equilibrium absorption constant, Ka, and maximum amount of the bound protein, [PC]max, values for binding of BCP II with chitin were estimated to be 0.03 1/μmol and 18.2/μmol/g, respectively. This [PC]max value indicates that approximately 87.3mg of the protein utilizes 1g of chitin for binding. BCP II also showed the growth inhibition against fungi, Saccharomyces, Candida, Aspergillus and Penicillum tested, though the growth of bacteria was not inhibited by the protein, suggesting that the protein may play a important role as defense protein against invasion of plant pathogenic fungi into seeds

担子菌による線溶活性物質生産の培養条件

Cultivation condition of production of fibrinolytic active substance derived from Basidiomycetes was investigated. Basidiomycetes used were 11 strains of commercial product and 30 strains isolated from nature. Fibrinolytic activities were found in Tamogitake of commercial product and 5 strains of Isolants from nature. Isolant W510 strain showed almost the same fibrinolytic activity with Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus natto and Streptomyces griseus. Production of fibrinolytic active substance by W510 strain was high on the glucose media containing potato dextrose, malt extract or cornsteep liqure, but low on the glucose media of yeast extract, soybeen meal digest or polypeptone. Sucrose and corn starch were better carbon sources than glucose. No urea was used for nitrogen source

Performance of in-hospital mortality prediction models for acute hospitalization: Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>In-hospital mortality is an important performance measure for quality improvement, although it requires proper risk adjustment. We set out to develop in-hospital mortality prediction models for acute hospitalization using a nation-wide electronic administrative record system in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Administrative records of 224,207 patients (patients discharged from 82 hospitals in Japan between July 1, 2002 and October 31, 2002) were randomly split into preliminary (179,156 records) and test (45,051 records) groups. Study variables included Major Diagnostic Category, age, gender, ambulance use, admission status, length of hospital stay, comorbidity, and in-hospital mortality. ICD-10 codes were converted to calculate comorbidity scores based on Quan's methodology. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was then performed using in-hospital mortality as a dependent variable. C-indexes were calculated across risk groups in order to evaluate model performances.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In-hospital mortality rates were 2.68% and 2.76% for the preliminary and test datasets, respectively. C-index values were 0.869 for the model that excluded length of stay and 0.841 for the model that included length of stay.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Risk models developed in this study included a set of variables easily accessible from administrative data, and still successfully exhibited a high degree of prediction accuracy. These models can be used to estimate in-hospital mortality rates of various diagnoses and procedures.</p