Recent advances in photodynamic diagnosis of gastriccancer using 5-aminolevulinic acid

Photodynamic diagnosis based on 5-aminolevulinic acidinduced protoporphyrin IX has been clinically applied in many fields based upon its evidenced efficacy and adequate safety. In order to establish a personalized medicine approach for treating gastric cancer patients, rapid intraoperative detection of malignant lesions has become important. Feasibility of photodynamic diagnosis using 5-aminolevulinic acid for gastric cancer patients has been investigated, especially for the detection of peritoneal dissemination and lymph node metastasis. This method enables intraoperative realtime fluorescence detection of peritoneal dissemination, exhibiting higher sensitivity than white light observation without histopathological examination. The method also enables detection of metastatic foci within excised lymph nodes, exhibiting a diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of a current molecular diagnostics technique. Although several complicating issues still need to be resolved, such as the effect of tissue autofluorescence and the insufficient depth penetration of excitation light, this simple and rapid method has the potential to become a useful diagnostic tool for gastric cancer, as well as urinary bladder cancer and glioma.

Semaphorin 3A controls allergic and inflammatory responses in experimental allergic conjunctivitis

AIM: To assess the efficacy of topical Semaphorin 3A(SEMA3A) in the treatment of allergic conjunctivitis.METHODS: Experimental allergic conjunctivitis(EAC)mice model induced by short ragweed pollen(SRW) in 4-week-old of BALB/c mice, mice were evaluated using haematoxylin and eosin(H&E) staining, immunofluor-escence and light microscope photographs. Early phase took the samples in 24 h after instillation and late phase took the samples between 4 to 14 d after the start of treatment. The study use of topical SEMA3A(10 U, 100 U,1000 U) eye drops and subconjunctival injection of SEMA3 A with same concentration. For comparison, five types of allergy eyedrops were quantified using clinical characteristics.· RESULTS: Clinical score of composite ocular symptoms of the mice treated with SEMA3 A were significantly decreased both in the immediate phase and the late phase compared to those treated with commercial ophthalmic formulations and non-treatment mice. SEMA3 A treatment attenuates infiltration of eosinophils entering into conjunctiva in EAC mice. The score of eosinophil infiltration in the conjunctiva of SEMA3 A 1000 U-treated group were significantly lower than low-concentration of SEMA3 A treated groups and non-treated group. SEMA3 A treatment also suppressed T-cell proliferation in vitro and decreased serum total Ig E levels in EAC mice. Moreover, treatment of SEMA3 A suppressed Th2-related cytokines(IL-5, IL-13 and IL-4)and pro-inflammatory cytokines(IFN-γ, IL-17 and TNF-α)release, but increased regulatory cytokine IL-10 concentration in the conjunctiva of EAC mice.CONCLUSION: SEMA3 A as a biological agent, showed the beneficial activity in ocular allergic processes with the less damage to the intraocular tissue. It is expected that SEMA3 A may be contributed in patients with a more severe spectrum of refractory ocular allergic diseases including allergic conjunctivitis in the near future.

Smoking increases risk of tooth loss: A meta-analysis of the literature

AIM: To quantitatively evaluate the impact of smoking on tooth loss.METHODS: We performed a Pub Med search to identify published articles that investigated the risk of tooth loss by smoking, from which RRs and their variance with characteristics of each study were extracted. The random-effects models were used to derive a pooled effect across studies. Potential sources of heterogeneity on the characteristics of the study and their influence on the pooled effect size were investigated using metaregression models. RESULTS: We identified 24 studies containing a total of 95973 participants for analysis. The pooled RR of ever-smokers compared with never- smokers was 1.73(95%CI: 1.60-1.86, P < 0.001). In meta-regression analysis, only the mean age of participants alone was identified as a statistically significant source of heterogeneity. The effect of smoking on tooth loss was stronger when the mean age of study participants was higher, indicating possible enhancement of tooth loss due to aging by smoking. RR was significantly lower in former smokers(1.49, 95%CI: 1.32-1.69, P < 0.001) than in current smokers(2.10, 95%CI: 1.87-2.35, P < 0.001), indicating the substantial benefit of smoking cessation for reducing the risk of tooth loss.CONCLUSION: Smoking is an independent risk factor for tooth loss regardless of many other confounders. Smoking cessation may attenuate this effect.