A Giant Pseudoaneurysm of the Gluteal Artery

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Inhibition of NF-kB activity potentiates ionizing radiation and cisplatin induced cell killing of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cells AACR Meeting Abstracts, Apr 2006; 2006: 1038.

Aim: Nuclear factor kB (NF-kB ) is a transcriptional factor found to be involved in inflammatory response regulation, apoptosis and carcinogenesis. Recently NF-kB activity has been implicated in drug and ionizing radiation resistance of different types of cancer cells. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is an aggressive neoplasm, usually refractory to conventional treatment and fatal, in which activation of NF-kB has been shown. Aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of NF-kB activity inhibition on sensitivity to ionizing radiation (IR) and cisplatin (CDDP) of FRO cell line, an in vitro model of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Materials and Methods: FRO cells were transfected with pcDNA3-flag-IkBaM vector in order to select a clone overexpressing a mutant super repressor ligand of NF-kB, IkBaM, to generate a cell line with constitutively suppressed NF-kB activity. The FRO wild type and the clone 14 of the cells overexpressing IkBaM, FRO14, were exposed to different doses of IR (1, 2 and 4Gy) and CDDP (1, 10 and 20 mcM) either in the presence or not of a 5 mcM concentration of curcumin, a natural compound showed to have NF-kB inhibitor property. Survival was assessed by clonogenic assay for the IR exposure and by MTT assay for CDDP treatment. The difference in sensitivity was evaluated for the end point of a growth inhibition of 50% by a gaining factor representing the ratio between the dose to obtain 50% survival inhibition (I.D.50) in FRO cell line and the dose to obtain the same end point in FRO14. Evaluation of cell cycle perturbation and apoptosis was assessed by cytofluorimetric evaluation. Results: The I.D.50 in the IR experiments resulted 2.4 Gy for FRO and 1.8 Gy for FRO14 with a gaining factor of 1.3 in the sensitivity of FRO14. The I.D.50 in the CDDP experiments resulted 17 mcM for FRO and 7 mcM for FRO14 with a gaining factor of 2.4 in the sensitivity of FRO14. Curcumin augmented IR and CDDP toxicity in both cell lines. No change was detected in the rate of apoptosis in the different cell lines. Accumulation in the fase S of the cell cycle was showed by radiation and curcumin treatment in the FRO 14 cell line. Conclusion: Constitutive inhibition of NF-kB activity resulted in augmentation of cell killing by both IR and CDDP that does not seem to be linked to change in apoptotic rate. Treatment with curcumin augments cytotoxicity of IR and CDDP in both the cell lines. The data of our experiments suggest that NF-kB targeting may be a useful clinical strategy to augment the effectiveness of conventional anticancer treatments in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Moreover there is a strong suggestion that curcumin may be a suitable complement to conventional anticancer therapies

Magnetic resonance imaging of nail unit in psoriatic arthritis.

The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has modified the imaging strategies of inflammatory arthritides. In psoriatic arthritis (PsA), MRI study of the nail unit identifies nail involvement that appears as the initial lesion for induction of distal phalanx damage and consequently of distal interphalangeal joint arthritis. All psoriatic patients, also in the absence of a clinically evident onychopathy, show characteristic MRI changes of the nail. This evidence could have practical diagnostic value because MRI study of the nail could document diagnosis in patients with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathies who have barely evident psoriasis. We discuss the advantages and problems related to the use of low- and high-field MRI in the study of the nail unit of patients with PsA