Recently it was discovered that a transient activation of transcription factor NF-κB can give cells properties essential for invasiveness and cancer initiating potential. In contrast, most oncogenes to date were characterized on the basis of mutations or by their constitutive overexpression. Study of NF-κB actually leads to a far more dynamic perspective on cancer: tumors caused by diverse oncogenes apparently evolve into cancer after loss of feedback regulation for NF-κB. This event alters the cellular phenotype and the expression of hormonal mediators, modifying signals between diverse cell types in a tissue. The result is a disruption of stem cell hierarchy in the tissue, and pervasive changes in the microenvironment and immune response to the malignant cells.

No abstract

After intravenous and oral administration of theophylline to four healthy subjects, the plasma concentration-time curve of theophylline could be described by linear pharmacokinetics, although total clearance in all subjects decreased when the dose was increased; the doses were theophylline 193.2 mg and 386.4 mg i.v. and 161 mg and 322 mg p.o. Total clearance was 65.5 +/- 11.3 ml/min. Renal clearance changed from 15.2 +/- 9.5 ml/min in the first two hours after administration to 4.9 +/- 5.5 ml/min between 16 and 24 h (p less than 0.001). 1,3-dimethyluric acid (DMU), the major metabolite of theophylline, was determined in urine and in plasma. The renal clearance of DMU was constant at 496.7 +/- 180 ml/min. There was some evidence that at high plasma concentrations of theophylline the formation of DMU might be a zero-order process. The renal excretion rate of 1-methyluric acid (1-MU) paralleled that of DMU, which is in accordance with the assumption that DMU is demethylated to 1-MU. 3-methylxanthine (3-MX) was excreted in urine at a constant rate over 10 h, the rate being equivalent to the dose, which is contrary to the assumption of Michaelis-Menten-kinetics. 3-methyluric acid was found to be a minor metabolite of theophylline and 1-methylxanthine (1-MX) could not be detected. The cumulative amounts excreted in urine, expressed as a percentage of the dose and corrected for molecular weight, were theophylline 16.6 +/- 6.5%, DMU 44.3 +/- 7.0%, 1-MU 24.3 +/- 4.8%, 3-MX 12.9 +/- 3.4% and 3-MU 2.2 +/- 1.8%.

No abstract

We report a procedure for determining nicotine and cotinine in plasma. Nicotine is extracted from 1 ml of plasma with diethyl ether, back extracted, and analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography with a nitrogen/phosphorus detector. Nicotine and its internal standard, modaline, had retention times of 1.9 and 2.9 min, respectively. Cotinine is then extracted from the same plasma with dichloromethane and similarly analyzed. Cotinine and its internal standard, lidocaine, had retention times of 3.8 and 4.9 min. Day-to-day reproducibilities (CV) within 14% for nicotine and within 6% for cotinine are attainable for the respective concentration ranges 1-100 microgram/liter and 1-200 microgram/liter. Nornicotine and related alkaloids do not interfere. The sensitivity was such that less than 0.1 microgram (0.62 nmol) of nicotine and 0.1 microgram (0.62 nmol) of nicotine and 0.1 microgram (0.57 nmol) of cotinine could be detected per liter.

No abstract

We report a liquid-chromatographic procedure for determining free nicotinic acid and a metabolite, nicotinuric acid, in plasma and urine. Five-tenths milliliter of urine or deproteinized plasma is evaporated and the residue analyzed isocratically by reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography, with measurement of the eluted nicotinic acid and nicotinuric acid at 254 nm. Nicotinic acid, nicotinuric acid, and the internal standard (isonicotinic acid) have retention times of 7.8, 8.4, and 6.8 min, respectively, in plasma, and 12.3, 13.1, and 10.8 min in urine, because of double column length. Day-to-day reproducibilities (CV) for nicotinic acid and nicotinuric acid within 7.5% are attainable for the concentration ranges 0.1--20 mg/liter, equivalent to 0.81--162 micromol of nicotinic acid and 0.55--11 micromol of nicotinuric acid per liter for plasma; in urine for the range 0.5--100 mg/liter, equivalent to 4--810 micromol of nicotinic acid and 2.8--555 micromol of nicotinuric acid per liter. Metabolites of nicotinic acid such as nicotinamide, N-methylnicotinamide, 2-hydroxypyridine-5-carboxylic acid, and other structurally related substances do not interfere.

Organic cationic transporter 3 (OCT3, SLS22A3) has only recently emerged as one of the regulators of monoaminergic neurotransmission, which plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of depression and is a potential new antidepressant drug target. OCT3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been investigated for their association with psychiatric disorders such as methamphetamine use disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents, but not depression. This study was designed to evaluate the allele frequencies of seven OCT3 SNPs in a US Caucasian depressed population and compare these frequencies with a control group of nondepressed subjects. Informed consent and a DNA sample were obtained from 157 subjects and analysis was performed using real-time PCR. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared using a t-test and the Pearson chi-square analysis, respectively. There were no significant differences in OCT3 allele or genotype frequencies between the depressed and non-depressed groups for all seven SNPs evaluated.