Immune and stem cell compartments of acetabular and femoral bone marrow in hip osteoarthritis patients

OBJECTIVE

Hip osteoarthritis (OA) affects all components of the osteochondral unit, leading to bone marrow (BM) lesions, and unknown consequences on BM cell functionality. We analyzed the cellular composition in OA-affected acetabula compared to proximal femur shafts obtained of hip OA patients to reveal yet not explored immune and stem cell compartments.

DESIGN

Combining flow cytometry, cellular assays and transcription analyses, we performed extensive ex vivo phenotyping of acetabular BM cells from 18 hip OA patients, comparing them with their counterparts from patient-matched femoral shaft BM samples. Findings were related to differences in skeletal sites and age.

RESULTS

Acetabular BM had a greater frequency of T-lymphocytes, non-hematopoietic cells and colony-forming units fibroblastic potential than femoral BM. The incidence of acetabular CD45⁺CD3⁺ T-lymphocytes increased (95% CI: 0.1770 to 0.0.8416), while clonogenic hematopoietic progenitors declined (95% CI: -0.9023 to -0.2399) with age of patients. On the other side, in femoral BM, we observed higher B-lymphocyte, myeloid and erythroid cell frequencies. Acetabular mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) showed a senescent profile associated with the expression of survival and inflammation-related genes. Efficient osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation was detected in acetabular MSCs, while adipogenesis was more pronounced in their femoral counterparts.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that distinctions in BM cellular compartments and MSCs may be due to the influence of the OA-stressed microenvironment, but also acetabular vs femoral shaft-specific peculiarities cannot be excluded. These results bring new knowledge on acetabular BM cell populations and may be addressed as novel pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic targets in OA.

GE132+Natural: Novel promising dietetic supplement with antiproliferative influence on prostate, colon, and breast cancer cells

PURPOSE

Natural products have been investigated for promising new leads in pharmaceutical development. The purpose of this study was to analyze the biological effect of GE132+Natural, a novel supplement consisting of 5 compounds: Resveratrol, Ganoderma lucidum, Sulforaphane, Lycopene and Royal jelly.

METHODS

The antiproliferative activity of GE132+Natural was tested on 3 different human cancer cell lines: MCF7 (breast cancer cells), PC3 (prostate cancer cells), and SW480 (colon cancer cells), as well as on EA.hy 926 (normal human endothelial cell line). In addition, the cytotoxicity of GE132+- Natural on the proliferation of primary human mesenchymal stem cells isolated from dental pulp (DP=MSC), along with its in vitro impact on different peripheral blood parameters, was determined.

RESULTS

The results revealed high antiproliferative activity of GE132+Natural on all tested cancer cell lines (PC3, MCF7 and SW480), as well as on the EA.hy 926 endothelial cell line in a dose-dependent manner. However, applied in a wide range of concentrations GE132+Natural did not affect both the proliferation of primary mesenchymal stem cells and the peripheral blood cells counts.

CONCLUSION

The data obtained demonstrated that GE132+Natural is effective in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, indicating its potential beneficial health effects. In addition, the results pointed that adult mesenchymal stem cells might be valuable as a test system for evaluating the toxicity and efficacy of new medicines or chemicals.

Effects of IL-17 on erythroid progenitors growth: involvement of MAPKs and GATA transcription factors

Interleukin-17 is Th17 cell cytokine implicated in regulation of hematopoiesis and inflammation. Besides promoting granulopoiesis, we have previously shown that IL-17 also affects erythropoiesis stimulating the development of early erythroid progenitors, BFU-E, but suppressing, at least partly via p38 MAPK, the growth of late stage erythroid progenitors, CFU-E. The aim of the present study was to investigate the involvement of other MAPKs, JNK and ERK1/2, as well as GATA transcription factors, in IL-17-mediated effects on murine bone marrow erythroid progenitors. Data obtained by use of specific MAPKs inhibitors indicated that MEK1/2-ERK1/2 MAPK signaling mediates IL-17-induced CFU-E inhibition, as well as that JNK and/or MEK1/2-ERK1/2 MAPKs activation underlies IL-17-induced stimulation of BFU-E growth. Furthermore, Western blot analyses demonstrated no effect on early hematopoiesis transcription factor, GATA-2, and enhanced expression level of erythroid-specific factor GATA-1 in murine bone marrow cells after IL-17 stimulation, which in light of previous reports that GATA-1 overexpression inhibits erythroid differentiation, could be related to IL-17-mediated inhibition of CFU-E growth. Although, no contribution for p38, JNK and ERK MAPKs in IL-17-induced GATA-1 expression was shown, data obtained using specific inhibitors pointed to the role of JNK and MEK1/2-ERK1/2 in GATA-1 downregulation. Overall, obtained data gave an insight into the mechanisms by which IL-17 exerts its effects on erythropoiesis, implying the involvement of JNK and ERK MAPKs, as well as GATA-1, in IL-17-regulated growth of erythroid progentors.

QTc interval in advanced cancer patients

e20658

Background: The purpose is to identify prognostic factors that may have impact on survival in patients with advanced cancer. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients who had biopsy proven advanced solid cancer disease in stage IV and no history or evidence of any prior cardiac disease. Univariate and multivariate stepwise Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were performed to identify independent predictors of one year survival. Results: Between 1/01 and 9/05, 143 patients (83 male and 60 female) with advanced cancers were evaluated in our institution. The primary site of disease was lung (28%), pancreas (19%), colon (15%), rectum (13%), breast (12%), and other (13%). The median follow-up was 12,5 months, median overall survival (OS) was 8.1 months, and 1-year OS rate was 62%. Median age was 65 years. OS was significantly related to the following pre-treatment prognostic factors: Age ≥65 (years), anaemia (hemoglobin level <13.2 g/dl), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0–1, and prolonged QTc interval in electrocardiogram (ECG). However, multivariate analysis revealed only prolonged QTc as independent prognostic parameter with 1-y survival status. Using 440 ms as the cut off value, the QTc interval was prolonged in 32 patients (22%) with median survival of 45 days and normal in 111 patients (78%) with median survival of 280 days. During the one-year 25 patients (78%) died in group with prolonged QTc interval while in group with normal QTc interval died 63 patients (57%). Conclusions: The results of our study indicate that a prolonged QTc interval (> 440 ms) is an adverse prognostic sign in patients with advanced cancer and without cardiac disease which correlates with increased mortality rates within one year after the diagnosis. Our findings suggest that QTc prolongation may be a good adjunct in risk stratification of patients with advanced cancer who are being considered for aggressive treatment regimens.

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No significant financial relationships to disclose.