Establishment of cell line with NK/NKT phenotype from myeloid NK cell acute leukemia.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the most common malignancy in adults with a 5-year survival rate of 27% of the total affected population. For effective treatment and new drug discovery, cell lines are considered as a very important tool. Here we report an establishment of a continuous human cell line AML-004 with a hypo-diploid chromosome 44 and presence of both NK/NKT phenotypes. The cell line was isolated from the blood sample of myeloid NK cell acute leukemia patients and extensively characterized by flow cytometery, morphology, and cytogentic analysis. Cytotoxicity by standard chemotherapeutic drugs was also examined. As characterized by Giemsa staining, the predominant cell type in the culture had high nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio. Cytogenetic analysis revealed high chromosome instability and structural abnormalities confirming the source of cell line from a patient with AML. The karyotype of the isolated cells did not alter up to around 40 passages. These AML-004 cells lacked specific markers for B and T lymphoid cells, but expressed surface receptors for lymphoid/NK cells. Cells also lacked the presence of early progenitors. The proliferation of the isolated cells was inversely proportional to the IL-2 concentration confirming presence of NK phenotype. AML-004 was resistant against standard chemotherapeutic drugs excluding cisplatin. Thus, AML-004 cells provide a continuous source of human cells for designing novel therapies for patients with T-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma.

A randomized trial of TLR-2 agonist CADI-05 targeting desmocollin-3 for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Randomized controlled trial to evaluate synergy between taxane plus platinum chemotherapy and CADI-05, a Toll like receptor-2 agonist targeting desmocollin-3 as a first-line therapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and methods: Patients with advanced NSCLC (stage IIIB or IV) were randomized to cisplatin-paclitaxel (chemotherapy group, N = 112) or cisplatin-paclitaxel plus CADI-05 (chemoimmunotherapy group, N = 109). CADI-05 was administered a week before chemotherapy and on days 8 and 15 of each cycle and every month subsequently for 12 months or disease progression. Overall survival was compared using a log-rank test. Computed tomography was carried out at baseline, end of two cycles and four cycles. Response rate was evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria by an independent radiologist. Results: As per intention-to-treat analysis, no survival benefit was observed between two groups [208 versus 196 days; hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63-1.19; P = 0.3804]. In a subgroup analysis, improvement in median survival by 127 days was observed in squamous NSCC with chemoimmunotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% CI 0.32-0.95; P = 0.046). In patients receiving planned four cycles of chemotherapy, there was improved median overall survival by 66 days (299 versus 233 days; hazard ratio, 0.64; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.98; P = 0.04) in the chemoimmunotherapy group compared with the chemotherapy group. This was associated with the improved survival by 17.48% at the end of 1 year, in the chemoimmunotherapy group. Systemic adverse events were identical in both the groups. Conclusion: There was no survival benefit with the addition of CADI-05 to the combination of cisplatin-paclitaxel in patients with advanced NSCLC; however, the squamous cell subset did demonstrate a survival advantage.

A prospective evaluation of posterior capsule opacification in eyes with diabetes mellitus: a case-control study.

AIM: To compare the development of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) between eyes with and without diabetes mellitus after single-piece hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lens implantation 4 years postoperatively. METHODS: In this prospective, observational case-control study carried out at Iladevi Cataract and IOL Research Centre, Ahmedabad, India, 75 consecutive eyes with diabetes mellitus (cases) were compared with 75 age-matched eyes with age-related cataract (controls). A detailed, preoperative and posterior segment evaluation was carried out in eyes with diabetes mellitus to detect the presence or absence of diabetic retinopathy (DR). The Mann-Whitney U-test was applied to compare the differences in the development of PCO between the two groups. RESULTS: There was no difference in median PCO between cases and controls at 1 month (2.0 vs 1.50, P<0.068), but cases had a higher median PCO at 12 months (2.95 vs 1.30, P<0.001). At 4 years, there was no significant difference in median PCO between cases and controls (3.75 vs 2.25, P=0.273). The duration of diabetes increased the incidence of PCO at 4 years (P=0.02). Severity of DR had no influence on the progress of PCO at 4 years (P=0.69). CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus did not increase the incidence of PCO at 4 years. The duration of diabetes increased the risk of PCO. The severity of retinopathy did not influence the development of PCO.

First report of evaluation of K-M media: a new corneal preservation medium.

PURPOSE: To analyze the outcome of keratoplasty performed using Kalevar-Majumdar (K-M) media, a new synthetic viscous medium for preservation of the cornea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The K-M media-preserved donor eye balls were kept in a bottle in a refrigerator at 4 degrees C till the corneas were used. Forty-eight consecutive keratoplasty cases of pseudophakic bullous keratopathy with vision less than counting fingers at one meter and operated by a single surgeon have been analyzed. Corneal donor button of 7.5 mm was used on the 7.0 mm recipient bed in all cases. Surgery was done with a standard technique. All the cases were examined daily for the first week and at the end of one month for graft clarity, epithelial defect and stromal edema. RESULTS: The K-M media-preserved corneal grafts remained clear at the end of the first week in 95.8% (46 of 48) cases and at the end of one month in 93.7% (45 of 48) cases. Donor epithelial haze cleared in 24 h in all cases. The stromal edema got cleared in the majority (91.7%, 44 of 48) within 24 h. Epithelial defect was seen in only 10.4% (five cases). There was no primary graft failure. CONCLUSION: K-M medium, a new viscous, synthetic corneal preservation medium, is a safe (no primary donor failure) alternative to conventional liquid corneal preservation media. K-M media-preserved eyes appear to have better preserved corneal epithelium with faster achievement of graft clarity postoperatively.

New standardized visual acuity charts in Hindi and Gujarati.

Conventional Snellen visual acuity chart has unequal difficulty score and irregular progression in letter size causing jumping effect at different visual acuity levels. There is also increase in number of letters from above downwards. Consequently one or two mistakes per line has different meaning of visual acuity at different levels. We designed a new visual acuity chart of fourteen lines in Hindi and Gujarati to facilitate standardization in visual acuity measurement. These charts are designed for use at six meter distance, and the illumination is provided from front. These charts provide a standardized way of measuring visual acuity using local languages.

Anomalous kinetic visual fields found in family members of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

Three visual manifestations of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (TS), a neuropsychiatric disorder, have been previously reported. In this paper we report anomalies in the measured kinetic paracentral visual field of TS patients and their family members. We found that 96% of TS patients exhibited paracentral kinetic visual field defects (nasal and temporal steps, enlargement, "ringing," and/or baring of the blind spot). Ninety-three percent of fathers of TS children and, surprisingly, about 80% of mothers exhibit these characteristic visual field anomalies. Sample data and examples of family studies are reported.

Dopamine and myopia.

Dopamine may play a role in form-deprivation myopia in chickens. Anomalies of the dopaminergic system are believed to be responsible for manifestations of symptoms in Tourette Syndrome (TS), a neuropsychiatric disorder. Visual anomalies have been identified in TS. In this paper, refractive error in people suffering from TS is compared with available population studies. Refractive errors in TS are found to be similar to those in the normal population.