Neuroendocrine pancreatic carcinoma causing sinistral portal hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Non-functioning neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors are usually connected with non-specific syndromes. CASE REPORT: This case history presents the diagnosis and treatment of a non-functioning neuroendocrine pancreatic tumor causing sinistral portal hypertension and gastrointestinal bleeding in a 36-year-old man. RESULTS: A peripheral resection of the pancreas with splenectomy was performed. Intraoperative examination of the specimen revealed a malignant neoplasm, probably neuroendocrinal carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral resection of the pancreas with splenectomy treats not only the symptoms of segmental portal hypertension caused by pathology of this organ, but also allows the etiology of the disease to be determined.

[The modified laparostomy with the use of ultrasound dissector and garamycin sponge in the treatment of complicated acute pancreatitis]. / Zmodyfikowana laparostomia z zastosowaniem dyssektora ultradzwiekowego i gabki garamycynowej w leczeniu powiklan ostrego zapalenia trzustki.

In the report a new modified technique of complicated pancreatitis treatment by laparostomy was showed. In included the use of ultrasound dissector for removing necrotic tissues and locating of garamycin sponge which should protect against secondary infection. Between January and May 1998 12 patients were treated using this method. In 8 cases (66%) we obtained rapid improvement of patients' general condition. One patient died and in 6 cases postoperative complications occurred. The use of ultrasound dissector shortens time of necrotic demarcation in pancreas and peripancreatic tissues. Garamycin sponge is effective protection from late infections concerning laparostomic wound. Modified laparostomy decreases about 50% number of secondary re-laparostomies, period of hospitalization and cost of complications treatment in acute pancreatitis in comparison with conventional method.

Immunological grouping of 53 antibodies against prostate-specific antigen.

Microtiter immunoassays were used to determine whether a panel of 53 monoclonal antibodies submitted to the ISOBM TD-3 PSA Workshop could form assay combinations with free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and the PSA complex with alpha1-antichymotrypsin. A panel of 6 known anti-PSA antibodies (H117, H50, H179, H164, 2E9 and 5A10) was used as labelled tracers. Epitope groups were proposed based on the ability of the Workshop antibodies to form good assay combinations with these 6 known anti-PSA antibodies. Nine of the TD-3 Workshop antibodies were found to react only with free PSA. Two additional epitope clusters were identified with 8 antibodies showing similar reactivity to antibody H117, while 11 antibodies formed a different cluster showing similar reactivity to antibody H50. Defining the nature of these immunodominant regions will be valuable in the development of more appropriate immunoassays for PSA.

Development of the Abbott AxSYM Free PSA assay: performance characteristics and preliminary clinical evaluation.

The AxSYM Free PSA assay was demonstrated to have good analytical sensitivity and reproducibility. The F/T ratio determinations for 385 men tested during the Prostate Awareness Week who had biopsies due to an elevated total PSA value and/or a suspicious DRE demonstrated that the percentage of free PSA was lower in patients found to have prostate cancer than those that were biopsy negative for the overall group and for all patient categories examined. The optimal strategy for combining PSA values, F/T ratios, DRE and other clinical and diagnostic parameters to improve the early detection of prostate cancer requires additional clinical studies.

[Experimental evaluation of vascularization by various methods of forming a synthetic stomal pseudosphincter]. / Doswiadczalna ocena unaczynienia róznie wytworzonego sztucznego zwieracza przetoki kalowej.

Authors presents the own method of formation of the stomal pseudosphincter using a pedunculated intestinal flap devoid of mucosa. The experimental and clinical evaluation of blood supply of the sphincter was carried out by means of the doppler and fluorescence method. The study revealed no impairment of the blood supply of the sphincter and it's connect function.

Deletion derivatives of pAgK84 and their use in the analysis of Agrobacterium plasmid functions.

The 47.7-kb plasmid pAgK84, present in Agrobacterium radiobacter strain K84, confers production of a novel, highly specific, antiagrobacterial antibiotic called agrocin 84. Strain K84 is used commercially to biocontrol crown gall caused by agrocin 84-susceptible strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Efficient biocontrol is dependent upon production of agrocin 84 by strain K84. Starting with a derivative of pAgK84 containing a Tn5 insertion, a series of deletion derivatives of the plasmid were isolated. The smallest of these, pJS500, contains about 8 kb of the original agrocin plasmid and localized the replication functions to between 4 and 6 o'clock on the physical map. A smaller derivative, produced by clonal rescue of a Tn5 insertion in the 4 o'clock region, further localized the minimal replication functions to a 1.5-kb region mapping between coordinates 18.1 and 19.6. Analysis of plasmid stability indicated that functions required for maintenance of the plasmid under nonselective conditions are tightly linked to the minimal replication region. This region also encodes incompatibility functions; the deletion derivatives were all incompatible with the wild-type pAgK84. The stability/replication locus of pAgK84 maps just anticlockwise from the Tra region. This region is retained fully in pAgK1026, the directed Tra- derivative of pAgK84 which is now in use as the primary crown gall biocontrol agent in Australia. One of the deletion derivatives, the 15-kb pJS400, was used as a vector to clone the KpnI fragments of an octopine-type Ti plasmid. Traits known to be encoded on these fragments were expressed and properly regulated in Agrobacterium hosts. One clone, encoding the Ti plasmid replication/incompatibility region, was used to cure IncRh1 Ti plasmids from their hosts. This clone also was found to be incompatible with pAtK84b, a large plasmid encoding opine catabolism present in A. radiobacter strain K84. This indicates that the opine catabolic plasmid is closely related to the IncRh1 Ti plasmids.

Immunostaining technique for rapid detection of glycosphingolipids with enzymatically labeled probes.

Rapid detection of antibody binding to glycolipid is achieved using an enzymatically labeled probe followed by blotting substrate onto the high-performance thin-layer chromatogram.

Genetic analysis of agrocin 84 production and immunity in Agrobacterium spp.

Mutations affecting agrocin production on the 48-kilobase (kb) plasmid, pAgK84, can be complemented in trans with cloned portions of the plasmid. Five complementation groups ranging in minimum size from 1.2 to 5.6 kb were identified within a 14-kb segment. Plasmid pAgK84-encoded immunity to agrocin 84 was located to two separate regions of the plasmid. Either region alone was sufficient to protect sensitive strains, and both loci mapped to the agrocin 84 biosynthesis region. One region is located within complementation group I, while the other forms a part of complementation group IV. Production of agrocin 84 was unaffected by nopaline, agrocinopine A, acetosyringone, or low or high levels of ferric iron. Agrocin 84 production was greatly suppressed when the strain also contained a Ti plasmid nutritionally or mutationally derepressed for agrocinopine A catabolism. RNA dot-blot analysis indicated that decreased agrocin 84 production by such strains was not due to transcriptional repression of agrocin 84 biosynthetic loci. In strains also harboring pAtK84b, the opine catabolic plasmid of Agrobacterium radiobacter K84, induction of the agrocinopine A catabolic locus of this plasmid had no such effect on agrocin 84 production.

Tn5 insertions in the agrocin 84 plasmid: the conjugal nature of pAgK84 and the locations of determinants for transfer and agrocin 84 production.

The kanamycin-resistance transposon Tn5 was randomly introduced into pAgK84, a 47.7-kb plasmid coding for agrocin 84 production in Agrobacterium. Using such marked plasmids, pAgK84 was found to be conjugal. It could be transferred to several Agrobacterium strains including those harboring octopine- or nopaline-type Ti plasmids. Its presence has no effect on Ti plasmid functions such as opine utilization and tumorigenicity, but it does confer agrocin 84 immunity upon previously sensitive strains. The plasmid could also be conjugally transferred to a Nod+ Fix+ strain of Rhizobium meliloti. The production of agrocin 84 is expressed in all Agrobacterium and Rhizobium transconjugants tested. The agrocin plasmid could not be introduced into restrictionless Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa recipients by conjugation or transformation. The sites of 92 independent Tn5 insertions were mapped on pAgK84. These insertions are dispersed over the entire length of the plasmid. Analysis of the sites and effects of the Tn5 insertions has allowed us to construct a functional map of pAgK84. Forty-three of these insertions, spanning a 20-kb segment of the plasmid, abolished or greatly reduced the production of agrocin 84. The presence of two insertions within this segment having an effect on agrocin production suggests that at least three regions of the plasmid are involved in agrocin 84 biosynthesis. Fourteen of the Tn5 insertion derivatives are no longer conjugally transferable. These insertions all map to a single region of the plasmid and define about 3.5-kb as being associated with transfer functions.

Fibronectin and anchorage-independent and anchorage-dependent growth of benign and malignant cell lines.

The presence of fibronectin in three "malignant" (AU-471, AU-436, LT-2) and two "benign" (BHK-21, WI-38) cell lines was demonstrated with a fluorescent antibody technique; two malignant (AU-471, AU-436) cell lines were fibronectin-negative and one (LT-2) retained fibronectin expression. One "benign" cell line (WI-38) expressed fibronectin, the other (BHK-21) did not. Anchorage-independent soft agar (AISA) growth correlated better with loss of fibronectin than with malignant potential. All three fibronectin-negative cell lines (benign and malignant) grew anchorage-independently (AU-471, AU-436, BHK-21), and both fibronectin-positive cell lines were anchorage-dependent (LT-2, WI-38). Surprisingly, the addition of Clg to anchorage-independent cells increased their anchorage-independent soft-agar cloning efficiency, but had no effect on anchorage-dependent cell lines. Anti-Clg antibodies decreased AISA growth. The effect of Clg on anchorage-independent growth varied with the concentration, and also between cell lines, and a variation in effect was noted between anchorage-independent (AISA) and anchorage-dependent (in flasks) growth even in the same cell line.

Distinction of the phenotypes of in vitro anchorage-independent soft-agar growth and in vivo tumorigenicity in the nude mouse.

The growth characteristics of LT-2 cells, an epithelial squamous cell carcinoma, clearly separate the phenotypes of anchorage-independent growth in soft agar and tumor formation in vivo. LT-2 readily grows and forms tumor nodules in the nude mouse but does not proliferate anchorage independently in soft agar. This distinction is confirmed by the observation that cells explanted from nude mouse tumor nodules and cultured in vitro still do not clone in soft agar. The human origin of tumor nodule cells was confirmed by karyotyping. LT-2 cells have an aneuploid karyotype which has persisted for 4.5 years in culture with considerable variation in chromosomal number. Passage through the nude mouse did not select for any "tumor" clone since marked chromosomal variation was still noted by cells explanted from tumor nodules. Tumor cells formed a well-differentiated skin with keratin formation in the nude mouse despite wide karotypic variations of cells and years of in vitro culture. Strict monolayer growth was noted by LT-2 cells when grown in culture flasks and also by cells explanted from tumor nodules, indicating that monolayer growth and nude mouse tumorigenicity are also separate phenotypes.