Carl-Jørgen Arum

Is gastrin partially responsible for body weight reduction after gastric bypass

Background: The rationale for bariatric surgery is to reduce food intake by gastric restriction and/or malabsorption by intestinal bypass. Unlike ghrelin, gastrin is released in response to food intake. Here we studied the possible role of gastrin in the reduction of body weight after gastric bypass surgery. Methods: Rats were divided into four experimental groups and were subjected to different treatments: sham operation, gastric bypass, sham operation + gastrin infusion, and gastric bypass + gastrin infusion. The gastric bypass was done by anastomosing the esophagus to the duodenal bulb without bypassing the intestine. Gastrin-17 was infused continuously for 2 months via subcutaneously implanted osmotic minipumps. Body weights were recorded; serum gastrin and ghrelin levels were measured, and the stomachs were analyzed morphologically. Results: Gastric bypass resulted in reducing the body weight, stomach weight, thickness of the oxyntic mucosa, serum gastrin concentration, and activity of the ECL cells. Gastrin infusion prevented mucosal atrophy and ECL cell inactivation, and attenuated the body weight reduction that occurred following gastric bypass. Circulating ghrelin and ghrelin-producing A-like cells in stomachs that had undergone gastric bypass were unchanged with or without gastrin infusion and are thus unlikely to be responsible for the reduced body weight. Conclusion:We suggest that hypogastrinemia and impaired ECL cell function in the oxyntic mucosa of the stomach might be partially responsible for the reduction in body weight that occurs after gastric bypass.

Monitoring of hexyl 5-aminolevulinate-induced photodynamic therapy in rat bladder cancer by optical spectroscopy

Monitoring of the tissue response to photodynamic therapy (PDT) can provide important information to help optimize treatment variables such as drug and light dose, and possibly predict treatment outcome. A urinary bladder cancer cell line (AY-27) was used to induce orthotopic transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) in female Fischer rats, and hexyl 5-aminolevulinate (HAL, 8 mM, 1 h)-induced PDT was performed on day 14 after instillation of the cancer cells (20 J/cm(2) fluence at 635 nm). In vivo optical reflectance and fluorescence spectra were recorded from bladders before and after laser treatment with a fiberoptic probe. Calculated fluorescence bleaching and oxygen saturation in the bladder wall were examined and correlated to histology results. Reflectance spectra were analyzed using a three-layer optical photon transport model. Animals with TCC treated with PDT showed a clear treatment response; decreased tissue oxygenation and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescence photobleaching were observed. Histology demonstrated that 3 of 6 animals with treatment had no sign of the tumor 7 days after PDT treatment. The other 3 animals had significantly reduced the tumor size. The most treatment-responsive animals had the highest PpIX fluorescence prior to light irradiation. Thus, optical spectroscopy can provide useful information for PDT. The model has proved to be very suitable for bladder cancer studies.

Gene Expression Profiling and Pathway Analysis of Superficial Bladder Cancer in Rats

OBJECTIVES To reveal the gene expression profile and pathways involved in host-tumor interactions in a rat orthotopic syngeneic bladder cancer model. METHODS Rat bladder cancer cells (AY-27 cell line) were inoculated intravesically into female Fischer rats. The bladders were analyzed at 7, 14, and 28 days by histologic examination and at 14 days with Affymetrix GeneChip with a newly developed bioinformatics program for the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). RESULTS The cancer had developed into Stage Ta and carcinoma in situ (Tis) after 7 days, Stage T1 after 14 days, and Stage T3 after 28 days in the bladder. At 14 days, >4000 genes were found to be differentially expressed and 20 KEGG pathways were actively involved in the bladder. The molecular pathway for (human) bladder cancer development was activated, and, at the same time, pathways in connection with the host immune responses were altered, including antigen processing and presentation, the T-cell receptor signaling pathway, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and the B-cell receptor signaling pathway. Moreover, the cell adhesion molecules associated with the immune system were upregulated, but those associated with the neural system were downregulated. CONCLUSIONS The bladder cancer developed aggressively despite active host immune responses. Conceivably, the cancer immunoediting process is associated with the progression of bladder cancer in this model.

Increased Anticancer Efficacy of Intravesical Mitomycin C Therapy when Combined with a PCNA Targeting Peptide

Non–muscle-invasive bladder cancers (NMIBCs) are tumors confined to the mucosa or the mucosa/submucosa. An important challenge in treatment of NMIBC is both high recurrence and high progression rates. Consequently, more efficacious intravesical treatment regimes are in demand. Inhibition of the cell’s DNA repair systems is a new promising strategy to improve cancer therapy, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a new promising target. PCNA is an essential scaffold protein in multiple cellular processes including DNA replication and repair. More than 200 proteins, many involved in stress responses, interact with PCNA through the AlkB homologue 2 PCNA-interacting motif (APIM), including several proteins directly or indirectly involved in repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). In this study, we targeted PCNA with a novel peptide drug containing the APIM sequence, ATX-101, to inhibit repair of the DNA damage introduced by the chemotherapeutics. A bladder cancer cell panel and two different orthotopic models of bladder cancer in rats, the AY-27 implantation model and the dietary BBN induction model, were applied. ATX-101 increased the anticancer efficacy of the ICL-inducing drug mitomycin C (MMC), as well as bleomycin and gemcitabine in all bladder cancer cell lines tested. Furthermore, we found that ATX-101 given intravesically in combination with MMC penetrated the bladder wall and further reduced the tumor growth in both the slow growing endogenously induced and the rapidly growing transplanted tumors. These results suggest that ATX-101 has the potential to improve the efficacy of current MMC treatment in NMIBC.

2-year followup pressure flow studies of prostate photoselective vaporization using local anesthesia with sedation.

PURPOSE We report 2-year pressure flow studies and other clinical outcomes of photoselective prostate vaporization with the patient under general or spinal anesthesia vs local anesthesia with sedation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included 150 unselected patients with an average age of 73 years (range 51 to 92) and a mean American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 2.4 (median 2.0), of whom 33% were medicated with acetylsalicylic acid and 5% were on anticoagulation with warfarin. Photoselective prostate vaporization was performed under general or spinal anesthesia in the first 67 patients and under local anesthesia with light sedation in the remaining 83. RESULTS No patient who received local anesthesia required conversion to general anesthesia. The median preoperative to postoperative decrease in hemoglobin was 0.55 gm/dl and no patient required blood transfusion. The median postoperative catheterization requirement was 2 hours after local anesthesia and 9 hours after general or spinal anesthesia. Median time from operation to hospital discharge was 12 hours in the local anesthesia group and 24 hours in the general or spinal anesthesia group (p <0.001). At 12 and 24 months postoperatively significant and stable improvements were found in certain measures, including prostate specific antigen, transrectal ultrasound measurement, post-void residual urine volume, International Prostate Symptom Score, quality of life score, maximum and average flow, and the bladder outlet obstruction index. CONCLUSIONS Photoselective prostate vaporization using local anesthesia with sedation provides excellent intraoperative safety and expedient postoperative recovery. Compared to photoselective prostate vaporization performed with the patient under general or spinal anesthesia it leads to equally significant symptom relief and stable improvement in pressure flow outcomes at 1 and 2 years of followup.

Acid secretion in urinary bladder of rats subjected to gastrocystoplasty

Urinary bladder augmentation with a segment of the stomach, i.e., gastrocystoplasty, has been used to improve capacity and compliance in patients with bladder dysfunction. In the present study, rats were subjected to gastrocystoplasty (using the oxyntic segment) with or without fundectomy (removal of the oxyntic part of stomach), and the acid secretion in the augmented bladder was measured. In freely fed rats, the pH values were neutral and not significantly decreased in the rats subjected to gastrocystoplasty with or without fundectomy compared to controls (no operation or sham operation). In response to food intake after being fasted, the rats subjected to gastocystoplasty + fundectomy produced significant amounts of acid. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that the ECL cells and parietal cells seemed to be normal in rats with gastrocystoplasty alone, and that micronodules of ECL appeared to develop in rats with gastrocystoplasty + fundectomy. We suggest that the rats subjected to gastrocystoplasty + fundectomy are capable of producing acid secretion in the bladder, probably due to the secretagogue and trophic effects of gastrin on the ECL cells in the segment of the oxyntic mucosal segment of the bladder.

Clinical Research Office of the Endourological Society Global GreenLight Laser Study: Outcomes from a contemporary series of 713 patients

To evaluate the outcome in patients undergoing photoselective vaporization of the prostate for benign prostatic obstruction as part of the Clinical Research Office of the Endourological Society Global GreenLight Laser Study.

“Two hits - one stone”; increased efficacy of cisplatin-based therapies by targeting PCNA’s role in both DNA repair and cellular signaling

Low response rate and rapid development of resistance against commonly used chemotherapeutic regimes demand new multi-targeting anti-cancer strategies. In this study, we target the stress-related roles of the scaffold protein PCNA with a cell-penetrating peptide containing the PCNA-interacting motif APIM. The APIM-peptide increased the efficacy of cisplatin-based therapies in a muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) solid tumor model in rat and in bladder cancer (BC) cell lines. By combining multiple omics-levels, from gene expression to proteome/kinome and metabolome, we revealed a unique downregulation of the EGFR/ERBB2 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathways in the APIM-peptide-cisplatin combination treated cells. Additionally, the combination treatment reduced the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins and proteins involved in development of resistance to cisplatin. Concurrently, we observed increased levels of DNA breaks in combination treated cells, suggesting that the APIM-peptide impaired PCNA - DNA repair protein interactions and reduced the efficacy of repair. This was also seen in cisplatin-resistant cells, which notably was re-sensitized to cisplatin by the APIM-peptide. Our data indicate that the increased efficacy of cisplatin treatment is mediated both via downregulation of known oncogenic signaling pathways and inhibition of DNA repair/translesion synthesis (TLS), thus the APIM-peptide hits both nuclear and cytosolic functions of PCNA. The novel multi-targeting strategy of the APIM-peptide could potentially improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutic regiments for treatment of MIBC, and likely other solid tumors.

Experimental gastrocystoplasty in rats: Risk of developing ECLoma

OBJECTIVE There are no clinical reports on the risk of carcinoids in the gastric segment following gastrocystoplasty. The aim of the present study was to examine whether gastric carcinoids could develop in a rat model of gastrocystoplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rats were subjected to gastrocystoplasty in which 10% of the oxyntic part of the stomach was removed (i.e. 10% fundectomy), gastrocystoplasty with 90% fundectomy (known to induce hypergastrinemia), sham operation, or no operation, and were followed up for 6 months. Tissue specimens of bladder and stomach were analyzed by means of pathology and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS Atrophy of gastric glands in the augmented bladders was found after gastrocystoplasty with either 10% or 90% fundectomy. Gastrocystoplasty with 90% fundectomy resulted in hyperplasia of the oxyntic mucosa, enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cell hyperplasia and ECLoma in the remnant stomach, and atrophy of the oxyntic mucosa and ECLoma in the gastric segment of the bladder. CONCLUSIONS ECLoma could develop in the gastric segment of the bladder after gastrocystoplasty, particularly in the setting of hypergastrinemia. The tumorigenesis of ECLoma seems to follow the same pathological pathway regardless of whether the oxyntic mucosa is located in the stomach or the bladder.

Responses to hexyl 5-aminolevulinate-induced photodynamic treatment in rat bladder cancer model

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we evaluated histologically the effects of hexyl 5-aminolevulinateinduced photodynamic treatment in the AY-27 tumor cell induced rat bladder cancer model. MATERIAL & METHODS: The animals (fischer-344 female rats) were divided into 2 groups, half of which were orthotopically implanted with 400,000 syngeniec AY-27 urothelia1 rat bladder cancer cells and half sham implanted. 14 days post implantation 6 rats from each group were treated with hexyl 5-aminolevulinate-induced photodynamic treatment (8mM HAL and light fluence of 20 J/cm2). Additional groups of animals were only given HAL instillation, only light treatment, or no treatment. All animals were sacrificed 7 days after the PDT/only HAL/only light or no treatment. Each bladder was removed, embedded in paraffin and stained with hematoxylin, eosin, and saferin for histological evaluation at high magnification for features of tissue damage by a pathologist blinded to the sample source. RESULTS: In all animals that were AY-27 implanted and not given complete PDT treatment, viable tumors were found in the bladder mucosa and wall. In the animals treated with complete HAL-PDT only 3 of 6 animals had viable tumor. In the 3 animals with viable tumor it was significantly reduced in volume compared to the untreated animals. It was also noted that in the PDT treated animals there was a significantly increased inflammatory response (lymphocytic and mononuclear cell infiltration) in the peri-tumor area compared to implanted animals without complete HAL-PDT. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that hexyl 5-aminolevulinate-induced photodynamic treatment in a rat bladder cancer model involves both direct effects on cell death (necrosis and apoptosis) and indirect effects to evoke the host immune-response, together contributing to tumor eradication.