Previous Demonstrations (previous + demonstration)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


IgE, allergy, and risk of glioma: Update from the San Francisco Bay Area Adult Glioma Study in the Temozolomide era

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 3 2009
Joseph L. Wiemels
Abstract The consistently observed inverse relationship of allergic conditions with glioma risk and our previous demonstration that immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels also were lower in glioma patients than controls suggest that atopic allergy may be related to a mechanism that inhibits or prevents glioma. We sought to extend these results with a new and larger series of patients (n = 535 with questionnaire data; 393 with IgE measures) and controls (n = 532 with questionnaire data; 470 with IgE measures). As expected, glioma cases were less likely than controls to report history of allergies [among self-reported cases, Odds ratios (OR) = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.41,0.85]. IgE levels also were lower in glioma cases versus controls (OR per unit log IgE = 0.89, 95% CI (0.82,0.98). However, this inverse relationship was only apparent among cases receiving temozolomide, a treatment which became part of the "standard of care" for glioblastoma patients during the study period. Among patients receiving temozolomide, IgE levels in cases whose blood samples were obtained within 30 days of diagnosis were slightly higher than controls, whereas IgE levels in cases whose blood sample was obtained >60 days after diagnosis were significantly lower than controls (OR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.71,0.89). Thus, although our results robustly confirm the inverse association between allergy and glioma, the results for IgE are affected by temozolomide treatments which may have influenced IgE levels. These results have implications for the study of immunologic factors in glioma as well as for immunotherapy protocols for treating glioma. © 2009 UICC [source]


Cytokine alterations in lichen sclerosus: an immunohistochemical study

BRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2006
A.M. Farrell
Summary Background, Although the histology of lichen sclerosus is characteristic, the precise nature of the inflammatory changes and the signals provoking them is uncertain. Objectives, To delineate the inflammatory changes in lichen sclerosus more accurately by studying cytokine changes. Methods, An immunohistochemical study of 12 specimens of genital lichen sclerosus and one specimen of extragenital lichen sclerosus was undertaken using monoclonal antibodies to interferon (IFN)- ,, IFN- , receptor, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)- ,, interleukin (IL)-1,, IL-2 receptor (CD25), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and its ligand CD11a. Control specimens were seven specimens of normal vulva obtained during gynaecological procedures, three specimens of normal skin, adjacent uninvolved thigh from three of the patients with lichen sclerosus, five specimens of nonvulval psoriasis, four specimens of nonvulval lichen planus and two specimens from chronic wounds. Results, The lichen sclerosus specimens demonstrated slightly increased staining for IFN- , within the epidermis compared with the normal vulva and nonvulval skin. There was increased dermal staining for IFN- , both within the pale zone of the upper dermis and within the inflammatory zone below this. We confirmed our previous demonstration that in lichen sclerosus HLA-DR immunostaining is increased in association with vascular endothelium, the inflammatory cell infiltrate and around the keratinocytes. The areas of the epidermis with the strongest immunostaining for HLA-DR generally also had the strongest staining for IFN- ,. In the lichen sclerosus specimens the zone of inflammation also demonstrated increased immunostaining for TNF- ,, IL-1,, IFN- , receptor, CD25, CD11a and ICAM-1 while the zone of sclerosus demonstrated a smaller increase in immunostaining for IFN- , receptor, TNF- ,, CD11a and ICAM-1, and the epidermis demonstrated increased staining for ICAM-1. Conclusions, The increased staining for IFN- ,, TNF- ,, IL-1,, IFN- , receptor, CD25, CD11a and ICAM-1 suggest that the cytokine response in lichen sclerosus shares characteristics of the cytokine response in lichen planus and chronic wounds. [source]


Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactivity in the human cerebellum: qualitative and quantitative analyses

JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 3 2009
Vincenzo Benagiano
Abstract Although autoradiographic, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated receptors for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in the cerebellum of various species, immunohistochemistry has never shown immunoreactivity for VIP within cerebellar neuronal bodies and processes. The present study aimed to ascertain whether VIP immunoreactivity really does exist in the human cerebellum by making a systematic analysis of samples removed post-mortem from all of the cerebellar lobes. The study was carried out using light microscopy immunohistochemical techniques based on a set of four different antibodies (three polyclonal and one monoclonal) against VIP, carefully selected on the basis of control tests performed on human colon. All of the antibodies used showed VIP-immunoreactive neuronal bodies and processes distributed in the cerebellar cortex and subjacent white matter of all of the cerebellum lobes, having similar qualitative patterns of distribution. Immunoreactive neurons included subpopulations of the main neuron types of the cortex. Statistical analysis of the quantitative data on the VIP immunoreactivity revealed by the different antibodies in the different cerebellar lobes did not demonstrate any significant differences. In conclusion, using four different anti-VIP antibodies, the first evidence of VIP immunoreactivity is herein supplied in the human post-mortem cerebellum, with similar qualitative/quantitative patterns of distribution among the different cerebellum lobes. Owing to the function performed by VIP as a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator, it is a candidate for a role in intrinsic and extrinsic (projective) circuits of the cerebellum, in agreement with previous demonstrations of receptors for VIP in the cerebellar cortex and nuclei. As VIP signalling pathways are implicated in the regulation of cognitive and psychic functions, cerebral blood flow and metabolism, processes of histomorphogenesis, differentiation and outgrowth of nervous tissues, the results of this study could be applied to clinical neurology and psychiatry, opening new perspectives for the interpretation of neurodevelopment disorders and development of new therapeutic strategies in cerebellar diseases. [source]


Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor PTK787/ZK 222584 inhibits both the induction and elicitation phases of contact hypersensitivity

THE JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2007
Aisaku YAMAMOTO
ABSTRACT Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its endothelial cell receptors (VEGFR) have been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of the contact hypersensitivity (CHS) reaction. Previous studies have demonstrated that anti-VEGFR-2 antibody significantly suppresses the elicitation phase of CHS but does not affect the induction phase. PTK787/ZK 222584 (1-[4-chloroanilino]-4-[4-pyridylmethyl] phthalazine succinate; PTK/ZK) is a potent inhibitor of VEGFR tyrosine kinases. To test the effect of PTK/ZK on the induction and elicitation phases of CHS separately, we used an established method of CHS assay-sensitization and challenge in BALB/c mice. Either 50 mg/kg/day PTK/ZK or vehicle serving as a control was administered orally in the induction or elicitation phases separately. In the afferent phase, flow cytometry of skin-draining lymph node cells revealed that the migration of Langerhans cells was suppressed in the mice treated with PTK/ZK at sensitization. The degrees of ear swelling at 24 and 48 h were significantly diminished in mice treated with PTK/ZK at sensitization (P < 0.05). In the efferent phase, the degrees of ear swelling at 24 h (P < 0.01) and 48 h (P < 0.05), ear blood flow at 24 and 48 h (P < 0.01), and production of VEGF in the epidermis at 24 h (P < 0.05) were significantly suppressed in mice treated with PTK/ZK at elicitation. These findings and previous demonstrations suggest that both VEGF R-1 and VEGF R-2 are needed during the induction phase, and that VEGFR-2 has a pivotal role in the elicitation phase of the CHS reaction. [source]


Very long-term recall and recognition of well-learned material

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
Tony Noice
Three experiments examined very long-term verbatim memory (from 4 months to 28 years) for lengthy, complex material. Experiments 1 and 2 found that recall (12 and 20 months after the material was last accessed) was at or near ceiling for many participants, and was significantly higher than free-choice recognition, with recognition failure for recallable words (RF) being observed. The magnitude of the effect corresponded to that predicted by the Tulving,Wiseman (1975) function. Experiment 3 found that recall was at or near ceiling for 3 years, then declined dramatically as the retention interval increased. However, given equal amounts of context as retrieval cues, forced-choice recognition remained relatively strong for as long as 28 years. These findings provide evidence of long-term memory for exact details of complex discourse far in excess of previous demonstrations, and, under certain circumstances, extend the RF phenomenon to lengthy, well-learned texts over long retention intervals. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]