RESUMO
PURPOSE: Paclitaxel is an effective treatment for some of the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, prediction of the outcome of paclitaxel treatment at the early stage of the chemotherapy is difficult. M30 and M65 are circulating fragments of cytokeratin 18 released during apoptosis or necrosis, respectively, and have been used as markers to evaluate chemotherapy in some cancers. Here, we aimed to examine M30 and M65 values for predicting the therapeutic outcome of paclitaxel treatment of NSCLC. METHODS: The serum levels of M30 and M65 before and after paclitaxel treatment in advance-stage NSCLC patients were analyzed, and compared to those in healthy controls. The importance of the M30 and M65 levels to the outcome of chemotherapy was analyzed. RESULT: We found that the serum M30 and M65 levels were higher in patients with NSCLC (n = 44) than in control healthy subjects (n = 56) (p < 0.001). Two days after paclitaxel treatment, the serum levels of both M30 and M65 significantly increased in NSCLC patients (p < 0.001). Neither marker alone significantly correlated with overall patient survival, but the ratio of M30 vs M65 appeared to be an important prognostic factor for the overall survival of the patients (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the serum M30/M65 ratio may be a prognostic factor for the outcome of paclitaxel treatment in NSCLC.
Assuntos
Biomarcadores Tumorais/sangue , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/tratamento farmacológico , Queratina-18/sangue , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamento farmacológico , Paclitaxel/uso terapêutico , Fragmentos de Peptídeos/sangue , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Antineoplásicos Fitogênicos/uso terapêutico , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/sangue , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/patologia , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/sangue , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patologia , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Necrose , Estadiamento de Neoplasias , Prognóstico , Taxa de SobrevidaRESUMO
Cytogenetic studies were performed on three species of eyelid-less microteiids, Procellosaurinus erythrocerus, P. tetradactylus, and Vanzosaura rubricauda (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae), all with a diploid number of 2n = 40. The specimens were collected in the palaeoquartenary dune fields of the middle Rio São Francisco in the State of Bahia, Brazil. Chromosomes from fibroblast cultures were studied after routine Giemsa staining, CBG-and RBG-banding, and Ag-NOR staining. Despite similarities in chromosome number and morphology, each species can be differentiated by the position and amount of C-heterochromatin. Our cytogenetic and DNA content data indicate that there are more similarities between the two species of Procellosaurinus than exist between either species and V. rubricauda, reinforcing the importance of banding techniques for the characterization of reptilian species.
Assuntos
Bandeamento Cromossômico , Lagartos/genética , Animais , Brasil , DNA/análise , Pálpebras , Feminino , Heterocromatina , Cariotipagem , MasculinoRESUMO
To explain the low cross-hybridization between kinetoplast DNA maxicircles of Leishmania parasites that show DNA amplification and those of parasites without DNA amplification, we isolated and cloned two maxicircle fragments, one specific to each group of parasites. The cloned fragment from wildtype L. m. amazonensis (MbpW94) and that from an arsenite-resistant variant with DNA amplification (MpbA29) hybridized only to maxicircles from parasites of the group from which the fragment was originally derived. Both fragments were A+T-rich, tandemly repeated, and lacked long conserved open reading frames and transcriptional products. MpbW94 (685 bp) was harbored in a segment of roughly 12 kb in maxicircles of wildtype parasites and of an arsenite-resistant variant without DNA amplification, while MbpA29 (1121 bp) occupied a 6- to 7-kb segment of maxicircle DNA in arsenite- and tunicamycin-resistant variants with DNA amplification. These maxicircle DNA segments appear to resemble previously described maxicircle divergent regions of other kinetoplastids. The presence of these specific sequences allows differentiation between maxicircles of drug-resistant L. m. amazonensis with DNA amplification and those of parasites without DNA amplification and helps explain the low cross-hybridization between maxicircles of the two parasite groups. Furthermore, these sequences allow the study of the kinetics of the changeover of A+T-rich regions of maxicircles during the transition period from one maxicircle type to the other.
Assuntos
DNA de Cinetoplasto/química , Leishmania mexicana/genética , Sequências Repetitivas de Ácido Nucleico , Animais , Arsenitos/farmacologia , Sequência de Bases , Clonagem Molecular , Resistência a Medicamentos , Amplificação de Genes , Leishmania mexicana/efeitos dos fármacos , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Hibridização de Ácido Nucleico , Fases de Leitura Aberta , Tunicamicina/farmacologiaRESUMO
A deficiência da proteína Distrofina (locvalizada na membrana das fibras musculares) foi descrita recentemente como provável causa da distrofia muscular tipo Duchenne (DMD). No presente trabalho, foi feita uma reaçäo imuno-histoquímica para a detecçäo da distrofina em cortes histológicos de congelaçäo, obtidos a partir de biópsias musculares. Foram estudadas 56 indivíduos: Em quatro biópsias de musculo normal, ocorreu uma marcaçäo nítida e homogênea em todo o sarcolema das fibras musculares. No musculo de 20 pacientes com DMD, näo se observou marcaçäo na membrana da maioria das fibras, embora em muitos casos tenha ocorrido uma marcaçäo parcial de algumas delas (entre 4% e 30%). Em 10 afetados pela distrofia tipo Becker (DMB), 8 apresentaram marcaçäo normal em todo o sarcolema das fibras e 2 mostraram uma reaçäo aparentemente mais fraca. Nos quatro afetados por distrofia tipo Cinturas (DMC), apesar das alteraçöes histopatológicos típicas de afecçäo muscular primária, a membrana de todas as fibras mostrou-se com forte padräo imuno-reativo. Foram estudadas também 11 heterozigotas certas quanto ao gene da DMD (8 com atividade de enzimas séricas elevadas e 3 com enzimas normais), 4 filhas de heterozigotas certas com enzimas muito elevadas e 3 heterozigotas para o gene da DMB (todas com enzimas normais). Em todas elas observou-se marcaçäo total e homogênea em todas as fibras musculares. estes resultados säo muito importantes para a padronizaçäo de uma metodologia que possibilite um diagnóstico diferencial entre alguns tipos de distrofia, bem como tentar aprimorar a taxa de detecçäo de portadores, para fins de Aconselhamento Genético