Loss of heterozygosity of BRCA1, TP53 and TCRD markers analysed in sporadic endometrial cancer.

Genetic alterations of tumour suppressor genes, for which loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is one mechanism of gene inactivation, are important steps in the development of endometrial cancer. To investigate the clinical relevance of LOH of BRCA1 (17q21), TP53 (17p13) and TCRD (14q11) in endometrial cancer, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based fluorescent DNA technology for the detection of microsatellite polymorphisms was applied. One hundred and thirteen archival endometrial cancer samples with matched normal tissues were examined. Allele loss at three loci were correlated with age, tumour size, lymph node status, metastases, stage, histological types, grade, expression of oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR), family history of cancer, previous history of cancer or precursor lesions, and previous history of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). LOH for BRCA1 was detected in 18.1%, of TP53 in 26.9%, and of TCRD in 26.3% of informative cases. LOH of BRCA1 correlated with medium grade, positive ER status, and family history of cancer; LOH of TP53 correlated with younger age, high grade, positive PgR status, and with tumours from patients without HRT; LOH of TCRD correlated only with family history of cancer. LOH at all three loci correlated only with grade and positive family history. Allele loss of one of the three tumour suppressor loci did not correlate with disease-free survival (DFS), but LOH of BRCA1 correlated significantly with decreased overall survival (OS). The latter, together with the correlation of LOH of BRCA1 locus with steroid hormone receptor expression, might give a hint to the potential involvement of the co-localised 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) gene in the development of endometrial cancer.

Nitric oxide production in peritoneal macrophages from peritoneal dialysis patients with bacterial peritonitis.

Nitric oxide (NO) is produced by various cell types, and it is an important mediator in many biological processes, including macrophage-mediated cellular host defense. The relevance and amount of NO production in peritonitis during peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment is still not clear. We studied whether human peritoneal macrophages (PMphi) isolated from healthy PD patients or PD patients with peritonitis showed different spontaneous or lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/interferon gamma (IFN-gamma)-induced NO production (LPS, 1 ng/mL-10 microg/mL; IFN-gamma, 10-1000 U/mL; incubation between 6-48 hours; measured by Griess reagent). Results were compared with human blood monocytes (HBM) isolated from buffy coats. Inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) mRNA expression was looked for in PMphi by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, plasma (P) and peritoneal dialysate effluent (D) nitrite concentrations were measured in vivo. The dialysate-to-plasma ratio (D/P) of nitrite concentration was inverse in the case of peritonitis compared to infection-free patients (peritonitis D/P = 1.3, non peritonitis D/P = 0.4; p < 0.01). PMphi from peritonitis patients produced higher amounts of NO than did those from infection-free patients (0.040+/-0.044 nmol per microgram cell protein versus 0.018+/-0.015 nmol per microgram cell protein, p < 0.05). NO release could not be further enhanced by stimulation with LPS plus IFN-gamma (1 ng/mL, 250 U/mL, respectively). However, NO production in PMphi from infection-free patients increased during in vitro stimulation (0.044+/-0.031 nmol per microgram cell protein versus 0.018+/-0.015 nmol per microgram cell protein, p < 0.01). An increase of iNOS mRNA expression could be demonstrated by RT-PCR. Blood monocytes from healthy donors also increased NO release during cytokine stimulation (0.032+/-0.015 nmol per microgram cell protein versus 0.019+/-0.009 nmol per microgram cell protein, p < 0.05). Our results indicate that significant amounts of NO are released intraperitoneally in the case of bacterial peritonitis. PMphi represent a site of NO production, though the absolute amounts released in vitro are only moderate. NO production can be induced in PMphi and HBM by LPS/IFN-gamma stimulation in vitro.

Effect of alternative peritoneal dialysis solutions on cell viability, apoptosis/necrosis and cytokine expression in human monocytes.

BACKGROUND: Cellular function, cell viability and the cytokine network of human monocytes are influenced by the specific composition of peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids. In an in vitro study using isolated human blood monocytes, we investigated the effect of peritoneal dialysates containing amino acids (Amino) or glucose polymer (Glu-poly) instead of glucose (Glu) as the osmotic agent, and bicarbonate (Bic) or PBS instead of lactate (Lac) as a buffer. METHODS: The following parameters were studied: mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity (using the MTT assay), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 release (ELISA) and cellular IL-6 mRNA expression after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation (using RT-PCR). FACS flow cytometry with annexin V and propidium iodide as markers and fluorescence microscopic methods were used to study the effects of the test fluids on cell necrosis and apoptosis. RESULTS: Glu/Lac pH 5.5 and Glu-poly/PBS pH 7.4 both significantly reduced mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity by more than 50% after 60 minutes of incubation (30.5 +/- 7.6%, 42.5 +/- 6.5%, referred to RPMI 1640 as 100%). Amino/Bic and Glu/Bic were both superior (Mtt assay > 63%). The rate of necrotic cells after 15 minutes of incubation measured by FACS was mostly increased with Glu/Lac pH 5.5 (29.9 +/- 4.0%). The rate of apoptotic cells, however, was not significantly different between the test solutions. The concentration of IL-6 in the supernatant of stimulated monocytes was highest with Glu/Bic (1023 +/- 278 pg/ml) and Amino/Bic (776 +/- 296 pg/ml) an lowest with Glu/lac pH 5.5 (46 +/- 22 pg/ml) and Glu-poly/PBS (32 +/- 13 pg/ml). IL-8 release from stimulated monocytes showed a similar pattern. Glu-poly/PBS showed a suppressive effect on IL-6 mRNA expression (ratio IL-6/beta-Actin, 0.4 +/- 0.25 vs. RPMI 1.5 +/- 3.6). CONCLUSIONS: Bicarbonate buffered solutions both with glucose or amino acids as osmotic agents were superior when regarding cell metabolism, viability and cytokine release, while lactate buffered solutions and Glu-poly/PBS showed some reduced biocompatibility pattern for monocytes in vitro.

Modulation of the heme oxygenase HO-1 expression by hyperosmolarity and betaine in primary rat hepatocytes.

The influence of hyperosmotic shrinkage and the osmolyte betaine on heme oxygenase HO-1 expression was studied in cultured rat hepatocytes. Hyperosmolarity transiently suppressed HO-1 induction in response to hemin or medium addition at the levels of mRNA and protein expression. Pretreatment of the cells with betaine largely restored induction of both HO-1 mRNA and protein under hyperosmotic conditions. Exposure of HO-1-expressing hepatocytes to cycloheximide unraveled a hyperosmotic acceleration of HO-1 degradation which was counteracted by betaine and the proteolysis inhibitor MG-132. The HO-1 mRNA stability remained unaffected by hyperosmolarity and betaine as shown by application of the transcription inhibitor actinomycin D. The data suggest a modulation of HO-1 expression by hyperosmolarity and betaine at the transcriptional level and at the level of proteasomal degradation. Hyperosmotic suppression of HO-1 expression was accompanied by a moderate but significant loss of hepatocyte viability, which was prevented by betaine. The hyperosmotic impairment of hepatocyte viability was insensitive to betaine in presence of the heme oxygenase inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin IX. However, treatment of the hepatocytes with bilirubin or 8-Br-cGMP improved hepatocyte viability under hyperosmotic conditions to the control niveau. Thus, stabilizing HO-1 expression may contribute to hepatocyte protection against hyperosmotic stress by organic osmolytes.

Influence of uremia on cell viability and cytokine release of human peritoneal mesothelial cells.

INTRODUCTION: There is still no evidence whether human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC) from patients with end-stage renal failure are altered in cell viability or show a different pattern of the release of proinflammatory cytokines. Also the serum of patients with uremia may contain substances stimulating the cytokine release of HPMC. STUDY DESIGN: The IL-1beta-induced IL-6/IL-8 release of HPMC from healthy donors and from patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) were measured before the start of chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) and during PD therapy. Additionally the influence of uremic and non-uremic serum on IL-6 and IL-8 release of normal HPMC was studied. Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay and by the measurement of intracellular ATP (chemoluminescence assay). HPMC were obtained from the following patient groups: (1) non-uremic control patients (n = 7); (2) patients with ESRD undergoing PD catheter implantation for the first time (n = 7), and (3) patients on PD undergoing catheter exchange for noninfectious reasons (n = 6). Pooled human serum from PD patients and normal controls were used for stimulation experiments. HPMC from different donors were grown to confluence (second passage) and then stimulated with IL-1beta (1,000 pg/ml in M199) for 24 h. IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations were measured in the supernatant by ELISA. Additionally uremic and non-uremic sera were incubated with HPMC from normal donors for 24 h with a subsequent 24-hour IL-1beta stimulation. Mesothelial cell protein mass was determined by the Bradford reagent. RESULTS: Non-uremic patients and ESRD patients did not differ with regard to the global cell viability of HPMC according to MTT assay activity or the intracellular ATP concentration. However, HPMC from uremic patients produced more IL-8 on IL-1beta stimulation than the non-uremic controls (group 2, 53.5 +/- 15.7 pg/microg; group 3, 70.5 +/- 27.3 pg/microg vs. group 1, 24.0 +/- 11.8 pg/microg). HPMC from patients on chronic PD additionally released significantly more IL-6 (30.5 +/- 13.8 pg/microg) on IL-1beta stimulation than uremic patients before the onset of PD (6.2 +/- 2.6 pg/microg; p < 0.01). Incubation of normal HPMC with the serum from uremic donors produced an enhanced stimulated IL-8 release compared to the exposition with normal control serum (50.6 +/- 6.1 vs. 20.8 +/- 2.9 pg/microg; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: HPMC from uremic patients more readily release IL-8 on stimulation with IL-1beta. On chronic PD treatment IL-6 release was further enhanced. Not further classified serum components in uremia also enhance IL-6 and IL-8 release of HPMC.