Physicochemical and Biological Study of 99mTc and 68Ga Radiolabelled Ciprofloxacin and Evaluation of [99mTc]Tc-CIP as Potential Diagnostic Radiopharmaceutical for Diabetic Foot Syndrome Imaging.

This paper presents the application of ciprofloxacin as a biologically active molecule (vector) for delivering diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals to the sites of bacterial infection. Ciprofloxacin-based radioconjugates containing technetium-99m or gallium-68 radionuclides were synthesised, and their physicochemical (stability, lipophilicity) and biological (binding study to Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) properties were investigated. Both the tested radiopreparations met the requirements for radiopharmaceuticals, and technetium-99m-labelled ciprofloxacin turned out to be a good radiotracer for the tomography of diabetic foot syndrome using SPECT.

The usefulness of flow cytometric analysis of cytokines in peripheral blood and bone marrow plasma.

INTRODUCTION: Recently attention has been paid to the role of cytokines in clinical pathology, since they can mediate a wide variety of biological effects. For these reasons multiplex methods have been developed to simultaneously measure numerous cytokines in individual small volume specimens. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of flow cytometric analysis of cytokines in peripheral blood and bone marrow plasma with Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) kits. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 59 children. Tests were performed in peripheral blood and bone marrow plasma. Human Inflammatory Cytokine Kit (IL-8, -1ß, -6, -10, TNF, -12p70) and Human Th1/Th2/Th17 Cytokine Kit (IL-2, -4, -6, -10, TNF, INF-γ, -17A) (BD Bioscience) were used. Samples were analyzed on a Cytomics FC500 flow cytometer (Beckman Coulter). RESULTS: In patients diagnosed for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) (n=10) and for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n=12) Human Inflammatory Cytokine Kit was used. In almost all samples individual cytokines were detected in a wide range of concentrations (0.47 - 653.74 pg/ml). In samples from patients suffering from allergy (n=12) and in healthy children (n=25) Human Th1/Th2/Th17 Cytokine Kit was used. Detection of individual cytokines was much lower: concentration range 0.09-30.17 pg/ml. DISCUSSION: Based on our analysis the CBA test is suitable for analysis of several cytokines in small volumes of samples. A simple flow cytometer can be used for this test. The CBA test is more suitable for samples with expected increased levels of cytokines. When the levels of cytokines are low, the sensitivity of the CBA test can be too low.

Th1, Th2, Th17, and regulatory cytokines in children with different clinical forms of allergy.

In addition to Th2 cells, other T cell subsets, like Th1, Th17, and regulatory T cells are also involved in the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis, food allergy, and other allergic diseases. The aim of the study was to evaluate a wide profile of cytokines in the plasma from children with pollen/dust and cow milk allergy with the use of a multiplex Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) test. Twenty children with allergy: 11 with pollen/dust and 9 with cow milk allergy were enrolled into the study. For the analysis of INFγ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, and TNFα levels, a flow cytometric test was used. TGFß concentration was measured using an ELISA test. Concentrations of almost all of the detected cytokines in the patient's plasma were below 1 pg/ml, with no significant difference between the groups examined. The level of IL-17A was higher in pollen/dust allergy group (median 12.73 pg/ml; 25th percentile-Q1/75th percentile-Q3; 9.28/15.83) in comparison to cow milk allergy group (median 7.86 pg/ml - Q1/Q3; 7.86/14.37). Children with cow milk allergy had a slightly higher concentration of TGFß than children with pollen/dust allergy (median 28.7 ng/ml - Q1/Q3; 19.77/33.00 vs. 17.84 ng/ml - Q1/Q3; 11.21/23.75, respectively); the difference did not reach statistical significance. We conclude that plasma concentration of Th1, Th2, and Th17 regulatory cytokines are relatively low in allergic children. The CBA test, which could be useful in pediatric practice as it requires a relatively small plasma sample volume, is not sensitive enough to measure low cytokine levels, since its detection limit and the standard curve are not appropriate for the concentrations of these mediators expected in clinical samples.