Effects of a cyborg-type robot suit HAL on cardiopulmonary burden during exercise in normal subjects.

BACKGROUND: The hybrid assistive limb (HAL) is the world's first cyborg-type robot suit that provides motion assistance to physically challenged patients. HAL is expected to expand the possibilities of exercise therapy for severe cardiac patients who have difficulty in moving on their own legs. As a first step, we examined whether or not the motion assistance provided by HAL during exercise could effectively reduce the cardiopulmonary burden in healthy subjects. METHODS: A total of ten healthy male adults (35 ± 12 years) underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) on a cycle ergometer with or without assistance from HAL. The CPX protocol consisted of four 3-min stages performed in a continuous sequence: rest, 0 W, 40 W, and 80 W. The heart rate (HR), blood pressure, oxygen uptake (VO2), minute ventilation (VE), and gas exchange ratio (R) were monitored during the CPX. RESULTS: At 0 W, the HR, VO2, and VE were significantly higher when HAL was used. At 80 W, however, the HR (107 ± 14 vs 114 ± 14 beats/min, p < 0.01), systolic blood pressure (141 ± 15 vs 155 ± 20 mmHg, p < 0.01), VO2 (17.6 ± 2.4 vs 19.0 ± 2.5 mL/min/kg, p < 0.05), and R (0.88 ± 0.04 vs 0.95 ± 0.09, p < 0.05) were significantly lower when HAL was used. CONCLUSIONS: HAL has the potential to reduce cardiopulmonary burden during moderate-intensity exercise and can, therefore, be used as a support for exercise therapy. Further studies on cardiac patients are expected to contribute to the establishment of a new exercise therapy program using HAL.

Successful treatment of duodenal myeloid sarcoma with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and additional radiotherapy.

Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is a tumor consisting of myeloid blasts that occurs at an anatomical site other than the bone marrow. We report the case of a 38-year-old man with duodenal MS who underwent an allogeneic bone marrow transplant in a non-complete remission (CR) state. After the transplant, residual disease was suspected on a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/CT scan, and additional radiotherapy resulted in CR, which has been maintained for 21 months. FDG-PET/CT scanning is useful for evaluating residual myeloid sarcoma during the peritransplant period.

Signal of proteinase-activated receptor-2 contributes to highly malignant potential of human pancreatic cancer by up-regulation of interleukin-8 release.

Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) is expressed in various tissues, including cancer lesions. However, the functional consequences of PAR-2 expression in cancer cells, especially in pancreatic cancer cells, are poorly understood. To clarify the biological significance of PAR-2 signaling in pancreatic cancer, we examined the production of growth factors and cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-8, bFGF, TGF-beta1, and VEGF, by specific ELISAs. Two human pancreatic cancer cell lines, SUIT2 and MiaPaCa2, which have been shown to express PAR-2, were stimulated by trypsin and PAR-2 activating peptide (PAR-2AP: SLIGKV-NH2). After 24 h, the culture supernatants were collected and specific ELISAs were performed. Although no significant changes were observed in the release of IL-6, bFGF, TGF-beta1, or VEGF, that of IL-8 was significantly up-regulated by PAR-2 agonists in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, IL-8 receptor expression was found in pancreatic cancer cells and fibroblasts. These results suggest that the PAR-2 signal up-regulates IL-8 release from pancreatic cancer cells. This up-regulated IL-8 has an effect on the pancreatic cancer cells in an autocrine manner and on the fibroblasts in a paracrine manner. Thus, this signal might contribute to tumor progression and characteristic fibrosis in pancreatic cancer.