Screening for upper digestive tract cancer with an occult blood bead detector. Investigation of a normal north China population

Screening of the general population for cancer of the upper digestive tract using an occult blood bead detector supplemented by fibergastroscopy was able to detect 126 cancers of the esophagus, gastric cardia, and stomach. This screening was carried out in two of the high-risk areas, Yangzhong and Wun counties, located in central eastern and north China. The occult blood bead detector, swallowed and retained in the stomach for 3 minutes, was able to sort out the suspected persons by its coloration from sky blue (+) to dark blue ( ) on removal. The subsequent fibergastroscopy could make a definite diagnosis by biopsy specimen. A preliminary trial performed on patients with established cancers was 100% (18 of 18) positive for stomach cancer and 81% (13 of 16) positive for esophageal cancer. A public survey of the high-risk areas, screening 38,073 normal persons ranging in age from 35 to 70 years, showed positive results in 9204 (24.2%) persons. Subsequent fibergastroscopy carried out in 4023 occult blood bead detector positive persons showed 126 cancers (41 of the esophagus, 46 of the gastric cardia, and 39 of the stomach). Factors influencing the cancer detection rate were sex, age, and degree of positivity of the occult blood bead detector test. Seventy per cent (89 of 126) of the cancers discovered were in an early stage. The occult blood bead detector costs the primary screened person only 30 cents and may be practical for the large-scale screening of cancer of the upper digestive tract in developing areas.

Screening for upper digestive tract cancer with an occult blood bead detector. Investigation of a normal north China population

Screening of the general population for cancer of the upper digestive tract using an occult blood bead detector supplemented by fibergastroscopy was able to detect 126 cancers of the esophagus, gastric cardia, and stomach. This screening was carried out in two of the high-risk areas, Yangzhong and Wun counties, located in central eastern and north China. The occult blood bead detector, swallowed and retained in the stomach for 3 minutes, was able to sort out the suspected persons by its coloration from sky blue (+) to dark blue ( ) on removal. The subsequent fibergastroscopy could make a definite diagnosis by biopsy specimen. A preliminary trial performed on patients with established cancers was 100% (18 of 18) positive for stomach cancer and 81% (13 of 16) positive for esophageal cancer. A public survey of the high-risk areas, screening 38,073 normal persons ranging in age from 35 to 70 years, showed positive results in 9204 (24.2%) persons. Subsequent fibergastroscopy carried out in 4023 occult blood bead detector positive persons showed 126 cancers (41 of the esophagus, 46 of the gastric cardia, and 39 of the stomach). Factors influencing the cancer detection rate were sex, age, and degree of positivity of the occult blood bead detector test. Seventy per cent (89 of 126) of the cancers discovered were in an early stage. The occult blood bead detector costs the primary screened person only 30 cents and may be practical for the large-scale screening of cancer of the upper digestive tract in developing areas.

Purification and characterization of phosphatidylinositol kinase from porcine liver microsomes

Phosphatidylinositol kinase was solubilized and purified from porcine liver microsomes to apparent homogeneity. The purification procedure includes: solubilization of microsomes by 2% Triton X-100, ammonium sulfate precipitation (20-35% saturation), Reactive blue agarose chromatography, DEAE-Sephacel chromatography and two consecutive hydroxyapatite chromatographies. A total of 4900-fold purification with 8% recovery of enzyme activity was achieved. The molecular weight of the enzyme as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was 55000. The enzyme is stimulated in a decreasing order by Mg2+, Fe2+, Mn2+, Fe3+ and Co2+. Ca2+ inhibited Mg2+-stimulated activity with an I50 of 0.4 mM. Apparent Km values for phosphatidylinositol and ATP are 120 and 60 microM, respectively. The enzyme is inhibited by adenosine (I50 = 70 microM), ADP (I50 = 120 microM) and quercetin (I50 = 100 microM). The enzyme is also sensitive to sulfhydryl inhibitors. Using the purified enzyme as an immunogen, we have successfully prepared antibodies for phosphatidylinositol kinase in rabbits. The antibodies appear to recognize an antigen of Mr 55000 on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis from various porcine tissues in Western blot analysis.

[Mortality rate of malignant tumors in Yangzhong County]

Complete and reliable data of mortality rate of malignant tumors from 1973 to 1982 in Yangzhong County, Jiangsu Province, China are reported. The annual mortality rate was 271.38/100,000 which is the highest of all counties in China. Among the malignant tumors, the mortality rates of esophageal, stomach, liver and intestinal cancers are 100.77/100,000, 90.25/100,000, 31.25/100,000 and 11.95/100,000, respectively. Moreover, the mortality rates of lung, cervical cancers and leukemia are also rather high. The mortality rate of esophageal cancer in the female is higher than that in the male. There have been no obvious changes in the mortality rates of some chief malignant tumors in the past ten years. For the high mortality rates of various malignancies in Yangzhong county, epidemiological factors should be further investigated.

Effect of subinhibitory doses of clindamycin on the virulence of Bacteroides fragilis: role of lipopolysaccharide

The capsular polysaccharide (CP) of Bacteroides fragilis is an important virulence factor in the formation of experimental intraabdominal abscesses. Incubation of this organism with subinhibitory doses of clindamycin induced morphological changes in the bacteria, including elongation and loss of CP, detected by ferritin-labeled antibody to capsule. Pretreatment of bacteria with subinhibitory doses of clindamycin, however, did not affect the ability of live or heat-killed organisms to produce intraabdominal abscesses in a mouse model of intraabdominal sepsis. Dose-response experiments with purified CP as well as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from B. fragilis ATCC strain 23745 mixed with sterile cecal contents as adjuvant revealed that both surface components of the organism were capable of causing abscesses in the mouse model. The dose of LPS required to induce abscesses was five times higher than the required dose of CP. Nevertheless, these studies suggested that B. fragilis LPS is another virulence factor in the formation of intraabdominal abscesses.

A study of selective adsorption of Na+ and other alkali-metal ions on isolated proteins: a test of the salt-linkage hypothesis

According to the salt-linkage hypothesis (a part of the association-induction hypothesis), the binding of alkali-metal ions on isolated proteins may be low as a result of the masking of cation-binding fixed anionic groups by the formation of "salt linkages" between them and fixed cationic groups. This hypothesis has been verified in a quantitative manner by the measurement of free and adsorbed Na+ in solutions of bovine hemoglobin titrated with increasing concentration of NaOH. In addition this communication presents data indicating (1) wide variability in the extent of Na+ adsorption among different isolated proteins and even among different samples of the same protein, (2) auto-cooperativity in the pH titration and Na+ adsorption, and (3) selectivity of the liberated fixed anionic groups for different alkali-metal ions in the rank order Na greater than Li greater than K greater than Rb, Cs.

Studies on the physical state of water in living cells and model systems. IV. Freezing and thawing point depression of water by gelatin, oxygen-containing polymers and urea-denatured proteins

Using a differential scanning calorimeter, we studied the freezing and thawing behavior of solutions of six globular proteins (hemoglobin, bovine serum albumin, gamma-globulin, beta-lactoglobulin, egg albumin, and protamine sulfate); gelatin; and three synthetic polymers (polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinylmethylether (PVME), and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)]. The native globular proteins in concentrations up to 50% produced no major change of the freezing temperature of the bulk phase water, or of the shape of the freezing peaks. In contrast, the synthetic polymers caused a lowering of the freezing temperature and a widening of the freezing peaks; the peaks disappeared at the highest macromolecular concentration and exothermic peaks appeared during subsequent warming (warming exothermic peak or WEX). Gelatin behaved like the three polymers and so did the globular proteins after denaturation with urea but not after denaturation with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). These different patterns of freezing and thawing of solutions of native globular proteins and of SDS-denatured globular proteins, on the one hand, and of gelatin, PVP, PVME, PEO, and urea-denatured globular proteins, on the other, parallels perfectly the different abilities of these groups of substances to reduce the solvency of the water for solutes, reported earlier. The major new conclusion from this study is that the presence of macromolecules to a concentration as high as 50% does not necessarily inhibit or even delay to any appreciable extent the freezing of the bulk phase water present. On the other hand, inhibition of ice-formation does occur in the presence of macromolecules (e.g., gelatin, PVP) that cause multilayer polarization of the bulk phase water. The findings allow new evidence to be derived that the bulk of water in living cells also exists in the state of polarized multilayers.