The effectiveness of endoscopic ultrasonography findings to distinguish benign and malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Accurate evaluation of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) is necessary to inform clinical decision-making. But it is still difficult to distinguish benign and malignant IPMN preoperatively. This study aims to evaluate the utility of EUS to predict the pathology of IPMN. METHODS: Patients with IPMN who underwent endoscopic ultrasound within 3 months before surgery were collected from six centers. Logistic regression model and random forest model were used to determine risk factors associated with malignant IPMN. In both models, 70% and 30% of patients were randomly assigned to the exploratory group and validation group, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, and ROC were used in model assessment. RESULTS: Of the 115 patients, 56 (48.7%) had low-grade dysplasia (LGD), 25 (21.7%) had high-grade dysplasia (HGD), and 34 (29.6%) had invasive cancer (IC). Smoking history (OR = 6.95, 95%CI: 1.98-24.44, p = 0.002), lymphadenopathy (OR = 7.91, 95%CI: 1.60-39.07, p = 0.011), MPD > 7 mm (OR = 4.75, 95%CI: 1.56-14.47, p = 0.006) and mural nodules > 5 mm (OR = 8.79, 95%CI: 2.40-32.24, p = 0.001) were independent risk factors predicting malignant IPMN according to the logistic regression model. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC were 0.895, 0.571, and 0.795 in the validation group. In the random forest model, the sensitivity, specificity, and AUC were 0.722, 0.823, and 0.773, respectively. In patients with mural nodules, random forest model could reach a sensitivity of 0.905 and a specificity of 0.900. CONCLUSIONS: Using random forest model based on EUS data is effective to differentiate benign and malignant IPMN in this cohort, especially in patients with mural nodules.

Chest wall muscle mass depletion is related to certain pulmonary functions and diseases in patients with bronchiectasis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Many bronchiectasis patients suffer dyspnea, decreased exercise tolerance, and low body mass index. Chest wall muscles play a special role in respiratory movement and make up parts of skeletal muscles. This study aimed to examine the chest wall muscle thickness and their relationship with disease severity in bronchiectasis. METHODS: We retrospectively included 166 patients with bronchiectasis and 62 patients with pneumonia as comparators. The thickness of chest wall muscle as determined in chest CT, pulmonary function, and Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI) score were recorded. We compared the thickness of the chest wall muscle in two groups and assessed the relationships among chest wall muscle thickness, pulmonary function, and BSI score. RESULTS: Chest wall muscle thickness of the anterior midclavicular line and posterior exterior scapula were thinner in bronchiectasis patients than comparators both above the aortic arch level and at the aortic arch window level. Muscle thickness of the posterior interior scapula above the aortic arch level was significantly thinner in bronchiectasis patients. Chest wall muscle thickness at the anterior midclavicular line both the above aortic arch level and at the level of the aortic arch window were related to diffuse capacity in bronchiectasis patients. Anterior chest wall muscle thickness above the aortic arch was found to be a risk factor of disease severity. CONCLUSION: Anterior chest wall muscles in the upper and middle chest were thinner in bronchiectasis patients than in comparators, and had relationship with spirometry and diffuse compacity factors. We provide another method to conveniently assess bronchiectasis severity.

Ginsenoside Rb 1: A novel therapeutic agent in Staphylococcusaureus-induced Acute Lung Injury with special reference to Oxidative stress and Apoptosis.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is considered as an uncontrolled inflammatory response that can leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which limits the therapeutic strategies. Ginsenosides Rb1 (Rb1), an active ingredient obtained from Panax ginseng, possesses a broad range of pharmacological and medicinal properties, comprising the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-tumor activities. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of Rb1 against S. aureus-induced (ALI) through regulation of Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic pathways in mice (in-vivo), and RAW264.7 cells (in-vitro). For that purpose, forty Kunming mice were randomly assigned into four treatment groups; (1) Control group (phosphate buffer saline (PBS); (2) S. aureus group; (3) S. aureus + Rb1 (20 mg/kg) group; and (4) Rb1 (20 mg/kg) group. The 20 µg/mL dose of Rb1 was used in RAW264.7 cells. In the present study, we found that Rb1 treatment reduced ALI-induced oxidative stress via suppressing the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) and increase the antioxidant enzyme activities of superoxidase dismutase 1 (SOD1), Catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase 1 (Gpx1). Similarly, Rb1 markedly increased messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of antioxidant genes (SOD1, CAT and Gpx1) in comparison with ALI group. The histopathological results showed that Rb1 treatment ameliorated ALI-induced hemorrhages, hyperemia, perivascular edema and neutrophilic infiltration in the lungs of mice. Furthermore, Rb1 enhanced the antioxidant defense system through activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Our findings showed that Rb1 treated group significantly up-regulated mRNA and protein expression of Nrf2 and its downstream associated genes down-regulated by ALI in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, ALI significantly increased the both mRNA and protein expression of mitochondrial-apoptosis-related genes (Bax, caspase-3, caspase-9, cytochrome c and p53), while decreased the Bcl-2. In addition, Rb1 therapy significantly reversed the mRNA and protein expression of these mitochondrial-apoptosis-related genes, as compared to the ALI group in vivo and in vitro. Taken together, Rb1 alleviates ALI-induced oxidative injury and apoptosis by modulating the Nrf2 and mitochondrial signaling pathways in the lungs of mice.

An Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Integrated Resources Portal (IBDIRP).

IBD, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is a chronic and debilitating gastrointestinal disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Research on IBD has generated massive amounts of data, including literature, metagenomics, metabolomics, bioresources and databases. We aim to create an IBD Integrated Resources Portal (IBDIRP) that provides the most comprehensive resources for IBD. An integrated platform was developed that provides information on different aspects of IBD research resources, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genes, transcriptome, microbiota, metabolomics, single cells and other resources. Valuable and comprehensive IBD-related data were collected from PubMed, Google, GMrepo, gutMega, gutMDisorder, Single Cell Portal and other sources. Then, the data were systematically sorted, and these resources were manually curated. We systematically sorted and cataloged more than 320 unique risk SNPs associated with IBD in the SNP section. We presented over 289 IBD-related genes based on the database collection in the gene section. We also obtained 153 manually curated IBD transcriptomics data, including 12 388 samples, on the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The sorted IBD-related microbiota data from three primary microbiome databases (GMrepo, gutMega and gutMDisorder) were available for download. We selected 23 149 IBD-related taxonomic records from these databases. Additionally, we collected 24 IBD metabolomics studies with 2896 participants in the metabolomics section. We introduced two interactive single-cell data plug-in units that provided data visualization based on cells and genes. Finally, we listed 18 significant IBD web resources, such as the official European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation and International Organization for the Study of IBD websites, IBD scoring tools, IBD genetic and multi-omics resources, IBD biobanks and other useful research resources. The IBDIRP website is the first integrated resource for global IBD researchers. This portal will help researchers by providing comprehensive knowledge and enabling them to reinforce the multidimensional impression of IBD. The IBDIRP website is accessible via www.ibdirp.com Database URL: www.ibdirp.com.

Intratumoral delivery of a Tim-3 antibody-encoding oncolytic adenovirus engages an effective antitumor immune response in liver cancer.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The use of oncolytic viruses as a gene therapy vector is an area of active biomedical research, particularly in the context of cancer treatment. However, the actual therapeutic success of this approach to tumor elimination remains limited. As such, the present study was developed with the goal of simultaneously enhancing the antitumor efficacy of oncolytic viruses and the local immune response by combining the Ad-GD55 oncolytic adenovirus and an antibody specific for the TIM-3 immune checkpoint molecule (α-TIM-3). APPROACH AND KEY RESULTS: The results of Virus and cell-mediated cytotoxicity assay, qPCR, and Western immunoblotting showed that Ad-GD55-α-Tim-3 oncolytic adenovirus is capable of inducing α-TIM-3 expression within hepatoma cells upon infection, and Ad-GD55-α-TIM-3 exhibited inhibitory efficacy superior to that of Ad-GD55 when used to treat these tumor cells together with the induction of enhanced intracellular immunity. In vivo experiments revealed that Ad-GD55-α-TIM-3 administration was sufficient to inhibit tumor growth and engage in a more robust local immune response within the simulated tumor immune microenvironment. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: These results highlighted the promising therapeutic effects of Ad-GD55-α-TIM-3 oncolytic adenovirus against HCC in vitro and in vivo. As such, this Ad-GD55-α-TIM-3 oncolytic adenovirus may represent a viable approach to the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis C among pregnant women in China: a cross-sectional study.

Pregnant women infected with HCV should be given attention due to their special physiological stage and the effect on offspring health. To examine the prevalence of HCV infection among pregnant women in part of China and explore relevant factors during pregnancy, a cross-sectional study was conducted in four maternal and children health care institutions (MCHC) in Guangdong, Hunan and Chongqing. Pregnant women who were delivered, induced or spontaneous abortion were included and relevant information was collected through the Hospital Information System. Results showed that the prevalence of HCV among pregnant women in four MCHCs was 0.11% (95% CI 0.09-0.13%). Age, occupations, regions, syphilis-infection, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), and placenta previa were significant factors (all P < 0.05). Age and syphilis-infection were positively correlated with HCV infection (Z = 3.41, P = 0.0006; OR = 18.16, 95% CI 9.34-35.29). HCV and HBV infection were risk factors of ICP (OR = 4.18, 95% CI 2.18-8.04; OR = 2.59, 95% CI 2.31-2.89). Our study indicates that the prevalence of HCV among pregnant women in the three provinces(city) was low compared with the general population in China. Older age and syphilis-infection increased the risk of HCV infection during pregnancy. HCV infection was a risk factor of ICP. Generally, we need keep a watchful eye on HCV infection and relevant factors mentioned above during pregnancy in clinic, especially those also infected with syphilis. HCV testing based on risk factors is recommended in antenatal care and obstetrics.

Usefulness of (13)N-NH (3) PET in the evaluation of brain lesions that are hypometabolic on (18)F-FDG PET.

We investigated the usefulness of (13)N-NH(3) PET in characterizing brain lesions which show hypometabolism on (18)F-FDG PET. (13)N-NH(3) PET was performed in 18 patients with brain lesions (in 14 for initial diagnosis and in 4 for detection of astrocytoma recurrence) that showed hypometabolism compared with normal brain tissue on (18)F-FDG PET. The diagnoses were ten gliomas, one metastatic tumor, one dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT), and six non-neoplastic lesions (including three cases of radiation necrosis, two cases of encephalitic foci, and one ischemic lesion). Diagnosis was verified by histopathological examination in 13 patients or was established by clinical follow-up and additional investigations in the remainder. Seven of 12 brain tumors (58%, sensitivity) showed increased (13)N-NH(3) uptake despite hypometabolism on (18)F-FDG PET. The three low-grade gliomas, one metastatic tumor, and one DNT showed decreased (13)N-NH(3) uptake. The mean (±SD) uptake ratio of (13)N-NH(3) was significantly higher than that of (18)F-FDG (1.24 ± 0.57 vs. 0.67 ± 0.21, P < 0.01) in the tumors. By contrast, all six non-neoplastic lesions showed decreased (13)N-NH(3) uptake (100% specificity). The mean (±SD) uptake ratio of (18)F-FDG and (13)N-NH(3) in the non-neoplastic lesions was 0.68 ± 0.15 and 0.70 ± 0.19, respectively, and there was no significant difference between them (P > 0.05). The mean (±SD) uptake ratio of (13)N-NH(3) in the tumors was significantly higher than that in the non-neoplastic lesions (1.24 ± 0.53 vs. 0.70 ± 0.19, P < 0.05). The preliminary results of this study suggest that (13)N-NH(3) PET may be helpful to detect and differentiate brain tumors which show hypometabolism on (18)F-FDG PET from non-neoplastic lesions with high specificity, especially for cerebral astrocytomas, but the sensitivity is relatively limited.

Impact of critical source area on AnnAGNPS simulation.

The objective of this paper is to study the impact of critical source area (CSA) within an Annualized AGricultural Non-Point Source pollution models (AnnAGNPS) simulation at medium- large watershed scale. The impact of CSA on terrain attributes is examined by comparing six sets of CSA (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 km(2)). The accuracy of AnnAGNPS stimulation on runoff, sediment and nutrient loads on these sets of CSA is further suggested in this paper. The results are as followed: (1) CSA has little effect on watershed area, and terrain altitude. The number of cell and reach decreases with the increase of CSA in power function regression curve. (2) The variation of CSA will lead to the uncertainty of average slope which increase the generalization of land characteristics. At the CSA range of 0.5-1 km(2), there is little impact of CSA on slope. (3) Runoff amount does not vary so much with the variation of CSA whereas soil erosion and total nitrogen (TN) load change prominently. An increase of sediment yield is observed firstly then a decrease following later. There is evident decrease of TN load, especially when CSA is bigger than 6 km(2). Total phosphorus load has little variation with the change of CSA. Results for Dage watershed show that CSA of 1 km(2) is desired to avoid large underestimates of loads. Increasing the CSA beyond this threshold will affect the computed runoff flux but generate prediction errors for nitrogen yields. So the appropriate CSA will control error and make simulation at acceptable level.

Cognitive effectiveness of high-intensity interval training for individuals with methamphetamine dependence: a study protocol for randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive deficit is a common syndrome of methamphetamine (MA) dependence. It is related to decision-making, control ability, and social functioning. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a training technique that requires people to work out at full intensity during a short period. Many studies have already shown the potential effects of HIIT on cognitive functions. The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the cognitive effects of HIIT on individuals with MA dependence. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A total of 240 individuals with MA dependence will be randomly assigned to the HIIT group, moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) group and control (CON) group. HIIT will consist of a 24-min HIIT exercise on a treadmill. MICT will consist of a 1-h body-mind exercise. CON will be their traditional intervention. The experimental period will be 12 months with 3 interventions weekly for the first 6 months and follow-up for the next 6 months. All subjects will be given cognitive tests at baseline, after intervention and at follow-up. Cognitive performances will be compared by a mixed-model analysis for repeated measures. DISCUSSION: HIIT training may reduce illicit drug cravings amongst individuals with MA dependence; hence, HIIT may have a good effect on the cognitive functions, such as memory and executive function, of individuals with MA dependence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000032492 . Registered on April 30, 2020 ( http://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=52127&htm=4 ).

Mechanism of Graft Damage Caused by NTPDase1-activated Macrophages in Acute Antibody-Mediated Rejection.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect and mechanism of macrophage activation and graft damage caused by nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 1 (NTPDase1) in acute antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). METHODS: Acute AMR was induced in different skin-grafted nude mouse models with wild-type NTPDase1 expression, transgene-enhanced NTPDase1 expression, or NTPDase1 gene knockout. Several methods (eg, real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, high-performance liquid chromatography [HPLC], immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and luciferin/luciferase assays) were used to study (at the histologic and molecular levels) the extracellular adenosine diphosphate (ADP) concentration, macrophage proliferation, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigen expression on the surface of macrophages, B-cell activating factor (BAFF) expression in the peripheral blood serum, and the total number of SmIg-positive B cells during acute AMR. The relative activity of NTPDase1 in B cells and epithelial cells, pathologic changes, and the incidence of positive C4d deposition around the capillaries of skin grafts on the different nude mice were studied. RESULTS: Macrophages proliferated significantly when acute AMR occurred. The higher the NTPDase1 expression level, the lower the extracellular ADP concentration, the expression of MHC class II antigens on the surface of macrophages, the expression of BAFF in the peripheral blood serum, and the total number of SmIg-positive B cells, indicating negative correlations. The relative activity of NTPDase1 in B cells and epithelial cells of the skin graft was different among the different mice. The higher the NTPDase1 expression level, the lower the degree of pathologic damage to the skin graft. CONCLUSIONS: Imbalance in extracellular ADP degradation by NTPDase1 may promote macrophage activation, and activated macrophages may be an important cause of graft damage.

Mental health consequences of infections by coronaviruses including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and stress like mental illnesses are the common outcomes of viral epidemics and pandemics. Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in Wuhan, China, and then spread all over the world in a short time. OBJECTIVES: To highlight and discuss the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental or psychological health. METHOD: Literature search and collection of the information were performed using PubMed, the reports from the World health organization, and the Center for disease control and prevention. RESULTS: COVID-19 infection has already been declared as a global pandemic, which in association with infodemic has increased the risk of psychiatric/psychological disorders. A large population of the world is prone to develop anxiety, depressive disorders, and other mental abnormalities. Therefore, timely psychological interventions and preventive strategies are required. Moreover, the infection has been reported to be linked with cerebrovascular conditions; therefore, patients with underlying cerebrovascular diseases should be given attention. CONCLUSION: COVID-19-mediated mental health complications and cerebrovascular conditions may cause a huge burden on healthcare communities in the future. Therefore, timely intervention and the development or application of preventive strategies are required to decrease the risk of neurological consequences.

Recent advances in arsenic trioxide encapsulated nanoparticles as drug delivery agents to solid cancers.

Since arsenic trioxide was first approved as the front line therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia 25 years ago, its anti-cancer properties for various malignancies have been under intense investigation. However, the clinical successes of arsenic trioxide in treating hematological cancers have not been translated to solid cancers. This is due to arsenic's rapid clearance by the body's immune system before reaching the tumor site. Several attempts have henceforth been made to increase its bioavailability toward solid cancers without increasing its dosage albeit without much success. This review summarizes the past and current utilization of arsenic trioxide in the medical field with primary focus on the implementation of nanotechnology for arsenic trioxide delivery to solid cancer cells. Different approaches that have been employed to increase arsenic's efficacy, specificity and bioavailability to solid cancer cells were evaluated and compared. The potential of combining different approaches or tailoring delivery vehicles to target specific types of solid cancers according to individual cancer characteristics and arsenic chemistry is proposed and discussed.

Chlorophyll content for millet leaf using hyperspectral imaging and an attention-convolutional neural network / Estimativa do teor de clorofila para folhas de milheto usando imagens hiperespectrais e uma rede neural atenção-convolucional

ABSTRACT: Chlorophyll is a major factor affecting photosynthesis; and consequently, crop growth and yield. In this study, we devised a chlorophyll-content detection model for millet leaves in different stages of growth based on hyperspectral data. The hyperspectral images of millet leaves were obtained under a wavelength range of 380-1000 nm using a hyperspectral imager. Threshold segmentation was performed with near-infrared (NIR) reflectance and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to intelligently acquire the regions of interest (ROI). Furthermore, raw spectral data were preprocessed using multivariate scatter correction (MSC). A correlation coefficient-successive projections algorithm (CC-SPA) was used to extract the characteristic wavelengths, and the characteristic parameters were extracted based on the spectral and image information. A partial least squares regression (PLSR) prediction model was established based on the single characteristic parameter and multi-characteristic parameter fusion. The determination coefficient (Rv 2) and the root-mean-square error (RMSEv) of the validation set for the multi-characteristic parameter fusion model were reported to be 0.813 and 1.766, respectively, which are higher than those obtained by the single characteristic parameter model. Based on the multi-characteristic parameter fusion, an attention-convolutional neural network (attention-CNN) (Rv 2 = 0.839, RMSEv = 1.451, RPD = 2.355) was established, which is more effective than the PLSR (Rv 2 = 0.813, RMSEv = 1.766, RPD = 2.167) and least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) models (Rv 2 = 0.806, RMSEv = 1.576, RPD = 2.061). These results indicated that the combination of hyperspectral imaging and attention-CNN is beneficial to the application of nutrient element monitoring of crops.

RESUMO: A clorofila é um fator importante que afeta a fotossíntese e, consequentemente, o crescimento e o rendimento das culturas. Neste estudo, um modelo de detecção de conteúdo de clorofila é construído para folhas de milheto em diferentes estágios de crescimento, com base em dados hiperespectrais. As imagens hiperespectrais dos diferentes estágios de crescimento das folhas de milheto foram obtidas para 380-1000 nm, utilizando um gerador de imagens hiperespectrais. Uma segmentação de limiar foi realizada com refletância no infravermelho próximo (NIR) e índice de vegetação com diferença normalizada (NDVI) para adquirir de forma inteligente as regiões de interesse (ROI). Além disso, os dados espectrais brutos foram pré-processados usando o método de correção de dispersão multivariada (MSC). Um algoritmo de projeção de coeficiente de correlação sucessivo (CC-SPA) foi utilizado para extrair os comprimentos de onda característicos, e os parâmetros característicos foram extraídos com base nas informações espectrais e de imagem. O modelo de previsão de regressão parcial dos mínimos quadrados (PLSR) foi estabelecido com base nos parâmetros de característica única e na fusão de parâmetros de característica múltipla. O coeficiente de determinação (Rv2) e o erro quadrático médio da raiz (RMSEv) do conjunto de validação para o modelo de fusão de parâmetros com várias características foram obtidos como 0,813 e 1,766, sendo melhores do que os do modelo de parâmetro de característica única. Com base na fusão de parâmetros com várias características, foi estabelecida uma rede neural atenção-convolucional (atenção-CNN) (Rv2 = 0,839, RMSEv = 1,451, RPD = 2,355) mais eficaz que o PLSR (Rv2 = 0,813, RMSEv = 1,766, RPD = 2,167) e mínimos quadrados que suportam modelos de máquina de vetores (LS-SVM) (Rv2 = 0,806, RMSEv = 1,576, RPD = 2,061). Estes resultados indicam que o modelo atenção-CNN atinge uma previsão efetiva do teor de clorofila nas folhas de milheto usando os dados hiperespectrais. Além disso, esta pesquisa demonstra que a combinação de imagens hiperespectrais e a atenção-CNN se mostra benéfica para a aplicação do monitoramento dos elementos nutricionais das culturas.

13N-NH3 versus F-18 FDG in detection of intracranial meningioma: initial report.

PURPOSE: Relatively high Tl-201 uptakes have been reported in all types of meningiomas, and it have been proposed that (201)TlCl SPECT could predict histologic types of meningiomas and differentiate the benign and aggressive meningiomas. Similar to Tl-201, (13)N-(13)NH(4)(+) is an analog of K(+) and could substitute K(+) in some cases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of PET with (13)N-NH(3) to discriminate meningioma from healthy tissue, and compare with F-18 FDG. METHODS: Eleven patients with the neuroradiologic diagnosis of meningiomas were studied with (13)N-NH(3), and 10 of them were performed with F-18 FDG PET within 3 days. Ten of them were histologically confirmed (6 grade I, 4 grade II), and another one was proved by radiologic (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) and clinical investigation.The PET images were evaluated by semiquantitative analysis using tumor-to-white matter ratio (T/W). RESULTS: (13)N-NH(3) uptake was obviously increased in all 11 meningiomas with a good contrast to the surrounding normal brain tissues. Conversely, F-18 FDG uptake was decreased in comparison with the contralateral side in all 7 patients with grade I meningiomas and moderately increased in the remaining patient with grade II meningioma. The T/W ratio of (13)N-NH(3) was higher than that of F-18 FDG (7.03 ± 1.62 vs. 1.44 ± 0.57, P < 0.005). T/W of (13)N-NH(3) uptake was not useful for differentiating benign (Grade I) from atypical (Grade II) meningiomas (P = 0.88), whereas the T/W ratio of F-18 FDG uptake was better than that of N-NH3 for differentiating benign from malignant meningiomas (P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that (13)N-NH(3) has relatively greater uptake in meningiomas in comparison with F-18 FDG. Clinical applications of (13)N-NH(3) PET for grading and follow-up of meningiomas need to be assessed in further studies.

Tripterygium hypoglaucum (level) Hutch induces aneuploidy of chromosome 8 in mouse bone marrow cells and sperm.

Aneuploidy of mouse chromosome 8 induced by a Chinese medicinal herb, Tripterygium hypoglaucum (level) Hutch (THH) was investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in vivo. Male mice were treated with THH (single i.p. injection) at doses of 120, 240 and 480 mg/kg. Colchicine (COL, 1.5 mg/kg i.p.) was used as a positive control. Bone marrow cells and epididymal sperm were collected 24 h and 22 days after treatment, respectively. Chromosome 8 aneuploidies induced by THH in bone marrow cells and sperm were determined by FISH with a biotin-16-dUTP labelled DNA probe corresponding to the centromeric region of chromosome 8. The hybridized probe was detected with avidin-FITC. The frequencies of trisomy 8 in bone marrow cells were 0.16% in the solvent control group, 0.39% in the COL-treated group and 0.33, 0.41 and 0.41% in the THH-treated groups, respectively. The frequencies of disomy 8 sperm were 0.11% in the solvent control group, 0.27% in the COL-treated group and 0.23, 0.27 and 0.27% in the THH-treated groups, respectively. The experiment showed that induced aneuploidy frequencies were higher in bone marrow cells than in sperm with COL and the two higher doses of THH (P < 0.05). All groups were significantly different from the corresponding solvent controls (P < 0.01-0.001), but there was no dose-related increase in either cell type. Considering the present results together with our previous studies, it appears that THH is a potent mammalian aneugen which may pose a genetic risk to human patients.