Leukoregulin inhibits the growth of human glioblastoma in vitro

Tumor necrosis factor. Alpha and beta subtypes appear in circulation during onset of sepsis-induced lung injury

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) may be involved in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury (ALI) associated with septicemia. Therefore, we measured plasma TNF activity during sepsis and development of lung injury in a porcine model of ALI. Plasma samples were obtained from anesthetized saline-infused control pigs (n = 10) and those infused for 1 h with live Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10(8) organisms/ml, 0.3 ml/20 kg/min) (n = 16). TNF activity was measured in plasma using the L929 fibroblast cytolytic assay. L929 cytotoxicity caused by TNF-alpha or TNF-beta was determined in plasma by measuring the cytotoxicity neutralized by TNF antisera. No significant TNF activity was detected in control pig plasma. In septic pigs, TNF activity appeared in plasma 15 min after onset of septicemia and remained elevated throughout the experiment (6.1 +/- 10.2% to 80.0 +/- 5.0%, 15 and 300 min, respectively). The appearance of pulmonary arterial hypertension, increased lung water, decreased lung compliance, and deteriorating gas exchange was correlated with the rise in plasma TNF activity, which reached a peak at 90 to 120 min in septic pigs. Our results provide evidence that both TNF subtypes are present in plasma during septicemia. Anti-TNF-alpha and anti-TNF-beta neutralized TNF activity in whole septic plasma at 15, 30, and 45 min after onset of septicemia, and the antibodies blocked TNF activity in serially diluted septic plasma at all time points up to 210 min of sepsis. TNF activity in septic plasma at 210 to 300 min was not neutralized entirely by TNF antisera.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An isotope agarose assay for rapid testing of the sensitivity of glioma biopsies to chemotherapeutic drugs and biological response modifiers. Effects of BCNU, vincristine, lymphokines and the recombinant agents interferon alpha 2c, interferon gamma and tumour necrosis factor

A method based on growth of cells from glioma biopsies in a triple layer agarose system has been used to test the sensitivity of the tumour cells to different chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents. A special agarose that could be melted at 65 degrees C, enabled registration of proliferation by an easy and precise thymidine incorporation technique. The well known concept that agarose permits proliferation of malignant cells and inhibits growth of benign cells was confirmed in this assay by using the malignant glioma cell lines T-MG 1 and U 251 MG, and the benign glia cells T-BG 2 and T-BG 3. All of the 15 glioma biopsies grew exponentially during the first 7 days. The correlation between thymidine incorporation on day 7 and colony number on day 14 was very good for the glioma cell line (r = 0.96) and also for the glioma biopsies (r = 0.89), indicating that the sensitivity evaluation can be done as early as 7 days after the operation. Lymphokines, made by BCG-stimulated lymphocytes, had a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of some glioma biopsies, while others were only slightly inhibited or even stimulated. There was also a huge variation in the sensitivity of the biopsies to BCNU, but the sensitivity pattern was completely different for BCNU and lymphokines. rIF-A had a moderate inhibitory effect on growth of the biopsies, while rTNF had a weak inhibitory effect. The response to rIF-G varied from stimulation of some biopsies to strong inhibition of others. There was no similarity in the sensitivity pattern of the biopsies to rIF-A and rIF-G.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)