The present study describes the application of several chemiluminescent (CL) methods for evaluation of antioxidant and immunomodulation effects of psychotropic drugs upon phagocytes: KO2-induced luminal-dependent CL for detection of superoxide anion radicals in a pure chemical system; PMA- and A23187-induced CL of peritoneal macrophages for detection of free radicals in cell suspension; and CL, produced by the luciferase-catalyzed luciferin + ATP reaction, for evaluation of cell viability before and after drug application. These methods provide also a way to investigate the location of drug action. It was found that the psychotropic drugs in fluence the 'oxidative burst' of macrophages through two mechanisms: by expression of drug antioxidant properties and/or by a direct immunomodulation effect.

Amitriptyline↗

PubMedDate not supplied

High-resolution separation of PCR product and gene diagnosis by capillary gel electrophoresis.

High-resolution separation of a PCR product from a mixture of DNA restriction fragments was achieved using capillary gel electrophoresis. The capillary gel electrophoretic separation gives an excellent resolution of two fragments of the 500-bp PCR product and the 506-bp DNA fragment, which differs by only 6 bp, and the complete separation of a broader chain length range of DNA afragments up to 12 kbp within 20 min. The plate number of gel-filled capillary was achieved to be 2 million plates per meter. Capillary gel electrophoresis is applied to the gene diagnosis for heart disease through apolipoprotein E genotyping. The advantages and limitations of capillary gel electrophoresis in the application to PCR analysis and DNA diagnosis are discussed.

Apolipoproteins E↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnosis of fatty liver with MR imaging.

The diagnosis of fatty liver with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was evaluated in experimental rat models of simple fatty infiltration and fatty liver with hepatocellular injury. T1 and T2 were measured ex vivo and correlated with the histologic degree of fatty infiltration. Enhancement of fatty liver with four different cells-specific contrast agents was studied with ex vivo relaxometry and in vivo MR imaging. Quantitative analysis of conventional and chemical shift MR images was correlated with biochemically determined fat content of the liver. Diet-induced simple fatty infiltration of the liver caused a decrease in T1 of 15%, whereas the T1 of L-ethionine-induced fatty liver with hepatocellular injury increased by 12%. T2 showed a positive correlation with the degree of fatty infiltration in both models. Cell-specific hepatobiliary contrast agents showed the same liver uptake and relaxation enhancement in fatty livers as in normal livers. Conventional T1-weighted images and chemical shift images showed good correlation (r = .83 and .80, respectively) between signal intensity and the degree of fatty infiltration. However, only chemical shift imaging was reliable in the diagnosis of fatty liver.

Acetates↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Enhancement of tumor-liver contrast-to-noise ratio with gadobenate dimeglumine in MR imaging of rats.

The efficacy for tumor detection of the hepatocyte-specific contrast agent gadobenate dimeglumine (gadolinium-BOPTA/Dimeg) was evaluated in four different experimental tumor models in rats. Histologic findings were correlated with quantitative data derived from ex vivo relaxometry and in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Noninfiltrating tumors showed maximal enhancement of liver parenchyma 5-10 minutes after contrast agent administration, with a plateau over the next 30 minutes. In contrast, infiltrating tumors, which caused hepatocellular injury and inflammatory changes, delayed maximal enhancement of tumor-free parenchyma by 15-20 minutes. Nonspecific tumor enhancement depended on tumor vascularity and occurred in the early phase after contrast agent administration. Despite differences in specific enhancement of tumor-free parenchyma and nonspecific tumor enhancement, tumor-liver contrast-to-noise ratios increased 96%-248% in all tumor models 30 minutes after intravenous administration of 75 mmol/kg Gd-BOPTA/Dimeg. Gd-BOPTA/Dimeg enhanced tumor conspicuity independently of the histologic characteristics of the tumor.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of hepatocyte-specific paramagnetic contrast media for MR imaging of hepatitis.

The hepatocyte-specific paramagnetic magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents manganese-DPDP [N,N'-dipyridoxylethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetate 5,5'bis-(phosphate)] and gadobenate dimeglumine were used for diagnosing chemically induced hepatitis in rats. Ex vivo liver tissue relaxation times and in vivo MR image signal-to-noise ratios were compared before and after contrast agent administration. Ex vivo relaxometry and in vivo MR imaging showed that Mn-DPDP enhanced normal and diseased livers to the same degree at all time points from 5 to 120 minutes. Gadobenate dimeglumine showed reduced T1 and T2 enhancements in hepatitis relative to those of normal liver, in the early phase (5-30 minutes). However, these effects are offsetting, and as a result, MR imaging failed to allow distinction of diseased from normal livers. This surprising result observed in vivo was in fact predicted by applying the Bloch equation to our ex vivo data. Our results show that detection and quantitation of hepatitis with MR imaging enhanced with paramagnetic cell-specific contrast agents will be more difficult than anticipated.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Enhanced tumor detection in the presence of fatty liver disease: cell-specific contrast agents.

It is assumed that hepatobiliary, cell-specific contrast agents will be adversely affected by the presence of diffuse liver disease. The diagnostic efficacy for tumor detection in the presence of fatty liver disease was experimentally studied at contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with manganese-DPDP (N,N'-dipyridoxylethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetate 5,5'-bis[phosphate]) and gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA/dimeg) and compared with conventional and chemical shift imaging. Carcinosarcoma was implanted into the liver of rats, and fatty liver was induced with L-ethionine. Without contrast agents, the tumor-fatty liver contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N) was increased on T1-weighted and decreased on T2-weighted MR images relative to tumor-bearing control rats without fatty liver. Chemical shift imaging (phase-contrast method) increased the tumor-fatty liver C/N from 2.3 +/- 1.0 to 6.1 +/- 1.7 (P < .001). Mn-DPDP and Gd-BOPTA/dimeg increased the tumor-fatty liver C/N from -5.4 +/- 1.6 to -11.0 +/- 1.9 and -9.8 +/- 3.4, respectively (P < .001). The hepatobiliary, cell-specific contrast agents were equally effective in both fatty and non-fatty liver and outperformed both chemical shift and conventional MR imaging in detecting liver tumors.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Time after excision and temperature alter ex vivo tissue relaxation time measurements.

Previously unreported effects of tissue storage were recently observed in the authors' experimental magnetic resonance (MR) studies. To evaluate the effect of elapsed time after excision and storage temperature on tissue relaxation time measurements, tissue samples from the liver, pancreas, kidney, testis, spleen, and brain were obtained in rats. T1 and T2 were first measured within 5 minutes of excision, and between subsequent measurements, tubes were kept in a water bath at 40 degrees C, at room temperature (28 degrees C), or in an ice bath (4 degrees C). Cellular and organellar integrity was assessed with electron microscopy and correlated with the MR findings. At 40 degrees C (20-MHz spectrometer), the T1 of liver decreased from 280 msec +/- 8 to 212 msec +/- 10 during the first 60 minutes; the T1 of pancreas decreased from 276 msec +/- 3 to 208 msec +/- 2. Other tissues showed less than a 5% decrease in T1. T2 changes were smaller than T1 changes in all tissues. Electron microscopy of pancreatic acinar cells showed postmortem changes in mitochondria evolving over the first 60 minutes after death. Manganese loading experiments implicated mitochondrial manganese stores in the observed enhanced postmortem decrease in T1. This study calls into question reported relaxation time data for liver and pancreas. MR studies of excised tissues must account for time and temperature to prevent systematic experimental errors.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnosis of the invasive depth of gastric cancer.

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Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Small cystic insulinoma: value of arterial stimulation venous sampling.

Cystic insulinomas are rare, with only three cases having been reported in the literature. It is not difficult to determine the site of such neoplasms, as cystic insulinomas are usually 4-10 cm in diameter. We report a patient with a histologically confirmed cystic insulinoma. This case is unique because of the small size (1.3 cm) of the tumor. Arterial stimulation venous sampling was useful for localizing and distinguishing this tumor from other pancreatic lesions.

Calcium Gluconate↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Left renal vein aneurysm: imaging findings.

A renal vein aneurysm is a rare vascular disease. To our knowledge, only six cases have been reported. We describe a 57-year-old woman with a left renal vein aneurysm diagnosed by a combination of ultrasonography, color Doppler ultrasonography, contrast-enhanced computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Aneurysm↗