Racial and Gender Differences in Arterial Anatomy of the Arm.

Prior studies have shown racial and gender differences with respect to maturation of arteriovenous fistulas. Women and minorities have lower maturation rates for unclear reasons. Small arterial diameter and high brachial artery bifurcation (HBB) are also implicated in reduced maturation rates. We sought to correlate differences in upper extremity arterial anatomy to race and gender. All upper extremity vascular mapping ultrasounds from 2013 to 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 509 arms in 284 patients were evaluated. Men had significantly higher mean arterial diameters than women at the elbow brachial (4.7 vs 3.9 mm, P < 0.01) and wrist radial arteries (2.1 vs 1.9 mm, P = 0.03). There were 20 (7%) patients with HBB of at least one arm, and 7 (2.5%) patients with bilateral HBB. African-American patients had significantly higher rates of both unilateral HBB (15.9% vs 5.4%, P = 0.02) and bilateral HBBs (9.1% vs 1.3%, P = 0.01). In conclusion, men had significantly larger arteries than women, and African-Americans had a higher rate of HBB than non-African-Americans. Consideration should be given for routine preoperative ultrasound to assess arterial anatomy before arteriovenous fistulas creation, particularly in women and in African-Americans.

Selective anticancer activity of neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium on non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the second leading cause of mortality among men and women in the U.S. Among different varieties of lung cancer, the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has the highest frequency comprising about 85% of cases. We evaluated 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP(+)) for cytotoxicity against human lung adenocarcinoma A549, human normal lung and rat normal liver cells after a 48-h treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vitro cytotoxicity was evaluated by the crystal-violet method, mitochondrial respiratory status by calorimetric reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, mitochondrial membrane potential by rhodamine 123 fluorometric assay and glutathione levels by 5,5-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid. RESULTS: MPP(+) caused a significant dose-dependent death of A549 cells. In human normal lung and rat normal liver cells, MPP(+) did not cause severe cytotoxicity, which was reflected with a selectivity index (SI) of greater than 7. Further studies revealed that, in addition to its interaction with mitochondria, MPP(+) significantly depleted total glutathione levels in A549 cells. CONCLUSION: MPP(+) possesses highly selective, potent anticancer activity against lung adenocarcinoma.