The obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii infects warm-blooded animals throughout the world and is an opportunistic pathogen of humans. As it invades a host cell, Toxoplasma forms a novel organelle, the parasitophorous vacuole, in which it resides during its intracellular development. The parasite modifies the parasitophorous vacuole and its host cell with numerous proteins delivered from rhoptries and dense granules, which are secretory organelles unique to the phylum Apicomplexa. For the majority of these proteins, little is known other than their localization. Here we show that the dense granule protein GRA7 is phosphorylated but only in the presence of host cells. Within 10 min of invasion, GRA7 is present in strand-like structures in the host cytosol that contain rhoptry proteins. GRA7 strands also contain GRA1 and GRA3. Independently of its phosphorylation state, GRA7 associates with the rhoptry proteins ROP2 and ROP4 in infected host cells. This is the first report of interactions between proteins secreted from rhoptries and dense granules.The single-celled eukaryote Toxoplasma gondii infects warmblooded animals throughout the world. Although the complex life cycle of this obligate intracellular parasite includes sexual and asexual stages, Toxoplasma can propagate asexually indefinitely because sexual reproduction is not required for transmission. The parasite has the capacity to invade any nucleated cell of its host and employs an array of proteins to facilitate invasion and to alter host cell physiology. These proteins are secreted from micronemes, rhoptries, and dense granules, which are specialized secretory organelles unique to organisms of the phylum Apicomplexa.
As part of an effort to develop a more effective and safe treatment for relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), we conducted a phase II study of the oxaliplatin, etoposide, and ifosfamide (IFETOx) regimen. Patients with relapsed or refractory NHL and a performance status of 0-2 were eligible. The IFETOx consisted of etoposide at 100 mg/m(2) on days 1-3, oxaliplatin at 130 mg/m(2) on day 2, and ifosfamide 5,000 mg/m(2) on day 2, every 21 days. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR) for IFETOx regimen. A total of 23 eligible patients were enrolled. The median age was 58 years (range 19-76 years), and the male-to-female ratio was 15:8. The disease status was as follows: 15 patients had relapsed and 8 patients were refractory to treatment. The ORR for IFETOx chemotherapy was 65.2 %. In the 15 patients who responded to the protocol treatment, five underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The 2-year probability of progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 51.4 and 56.1 %, respectively. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in 73.9 % of the patients. No significant renal impairment was observed. In conclusion, IFETOx chemotherapy shows a tolerable toxicity profile and efficacy as a salvage treatment regimen for relapsed or refractory NHL.
The National Forensic Hospital is the only forensic psychiatric hospital in Korea. As of January 2016, the average number of patients assigned to each psychiatrist is more than 120. In this situation, the role of psychopharmacologic treatment becomes very important. To investigate the prescription patterns of major psychotropic medications (i.e., antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and antidepressants), we reviewed the medical records of the patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder who were admitted in January 2016. The data from 418 patients (403 with schizophrenia and 15 with schizoaffective disorder) were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The average number of major psychotropic medications prescribed for each patient during hospitalization was as follows: antipsychotics, 3.5±1.8; mood stabilizers, 0.5±0.7; and antidepressants, 0.5±0.8. The three most frequently prescribed antipsychotics were risperidone (21.7%), olanzapine (15.5%), and quetiapine (14.4%). More than half of the patients (233, 55.9%) were prescribed an antipsychotic polypharmacy regimen. This study found that patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in forensic psychiatric hospital tend to be prescribed many psychotropic medications.
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