PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness of frequency doubling technology (FDT) in detecting abnormalities in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). METHODS: Twenty-nine POAG patients (29 eyes) and 27 NTG patients (27 eyes) were studied. All subjects underwent testing with program C-20 of FDT with appropriate corrective lenses. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed between the two groups in mean age, mean deviation (MD), and pattern standard deviation (PSD) measured by the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA). The correlation between MD values determined by HFA (x) and FDT (y) is represented by y = 0.60x - 2.7 (r = 0.78, P <.01) in the POAG group and y = 0.59x + 0.6 (r = 0.81, P <.001) in the NTG group. Although the average MD measured by FDT was significantly lower in the POAG group than in the NTG group (P <.05), no significant difference was found in average PSD between the two groups. In early glaucoma cases (MD > or = -5 dB by HFA), a larger proportion of cases in the POAG group than in the NTG group had lower significance level of MD determined by FDT than by HFA (P <.02). At many test points on the temporal periphery in the FDT, the mean sensitivity was lower in the POAG group than in the NTG group; whereas no significant differences among HFA test points were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Frequency doubling technology detected visual field abnormalities in POAG cases more sensitively than in NTG cases. This finding indicates that the pathogenesis of My-cell damage is rather different in POAG and NTG.

Glaucoma, Open-Angle↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparative study of incadronate and elcatonin in patients with malignancy-associated hypercalcaemia.

The clinical usefulness of incadronate was compared with elcatonin in 26 patients with malignancy-associated hypercalcaemia. Data from 21 and 24 patients could be used to assess efficacy and safety, respectively. Eleven patients were given a single 10-mg intravenous infusion of incadronate and 10 received twice-daily intramuscular injections of 40 IU of elcatonin for 7 consecutive days. After treatment, corrected serum calcium levels decreased significantly in both groups. The anti-hypercalcaemic effect of elcatonin was characterized by its rapid onset, with serum calcium levels reduced 1 day after administration. In contrast, the anti-hypercalcaemic effect of incadronate was more sustained but only became apparent a few days after infusion. Evaluation of symptoms revealed significantly greater improvement rates in the incadronate group compared with the elcatonin group. Adverse drug reactions were observed in three patients in the incadronate group, i.e. mild and transient fever in two cases and exacerbation of disturbance of consciousness in one case. These findings suggest that incadronate produces more marked and sustained hypocalcaemic effects than elcatonin, and that co-administration of these two drugs may yield both rapid and sustained control of malignancy-associated hypercalcaemia.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Detection and quantitation of thymidylate synthase mRNA in human colon adenocarcinoma cell line resistant to 5-fluorouracil by competitive PCR.

BACKGROUND: Thymldylate synthase (TS) is an important target of cancer chemotherapeutic agents, such as 5-fluorouracil (FU). To investigate mechanisms of resistance to FU, we tried to detect TS mRNA in the human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SNU-C1 (C1) and its FU-resistant cell line, SNU-C1/FU (C1/FU) were used for this study. Total RNA was isolated by the AGPC method, then competitive PCR and northern blot were done to detect TS mRNA. RESULTS: Using sets of primers covering the 3'-untranslated region of TS mRNA, PCR products were amplified from cDNA prepared from both C1 and C1/FU in their logarithmic growth phases. However, only cDNA prepared from C1/FU was amplified in the stationary phase. The amount of mRNA was quantified by competitive PCR technique in both cell lines, using another set of primer to amplify the product in the stationary phase. The amount of TS mRNA in C1/FU was found to be four times more than that found in C1. In addition, TS catalytic activity of C1/FU was approximately 2-times higher than that of C1. Southern blot analysis revealed that no TS gene amplification or rearrangement in genomic DNA was detected in these cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: This PCR technique is applicable for detecting TS mRNA, and the TS mRNA level was found to be increased 1.5-fold (as detected by northern blot analysis) and 4-fold (measured by competitive PCR), leading to enhanced TS catalytic activity in C1/FU in contrast to its parent cell line, C1; thus accounting for one possible resistant mechanism to FU.

Adenocarcinoma↗