-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute-phase constituent that has been measured for more than 70 years in the diagnosis and monitoring of active infection and inflammation 1 because it is one of the most fundamental and earliest host responses to inflammatory injury. It is mainly regulated by the CRP gene, located on the long arm of chromosome 1, induced at the transcriptional level by interleukin-6 (IL-6), and its major synthetic site is the heptocyte. 2,3 In fact, it is released into the circulation with equal distribution in the vascular compartment without substantial tissue sequestration at the site of inflammation. However, the clinical importance of CRP has been limited for many decades because of its large intra-individual variation and methods of measurement that were not thoroughly sensitive and accurate. Now, a method of detecting highsensitive CRP (hs-CRP) is available 4 and many study results demonstrate its greater value, especially as a potential risk marker for cardiac diseases. 5-9 However, as stated before, there is a large intra-individual variation and thus a need for regional studies of CRP. 10 Several factors influence the concentration of CRP: [11][12][13][14] (1) different ethnology, (2) different types of specimens (eg, clotted sample, citrated sample etc) and (3) different physical factors and lifestyle (eg, diet, exercise, stress, hygiene, and environment). Hence, the reference value and distribution pattern of hs-CRP are needed as the basic background knowledge for further studies in each region of the world. For this reason, Circulation Journal Vol.69, March 2005the authors designed the present study to determine a reference value of hs-CRP in a healthy Thai population, and to examine the effect of time, gender and age. Methods PopulationThis investigation was a multicenter study formed by the collaboration of 4 centers with the aim of covering all the regions (center, north, south, and northeast) of Thailand. The 4 centers were (1) the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalonkorn University, located in the center of Thailand, (2) the Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, located in the north, (3) the Department of Pathology, Maharaj Nakhonsithammarat Hospital, located in the south, and (4) the Department of Clinical Pathology, Maharaj Nakornrajsima Hospital, located in the northeast. The study protocol complied with the requirements of the Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and was agreed to by all collaborating centers. The volunteers from each center were randomized from private and governmental employees who attended the annual check-up program during July 2003 to June 2004. They were given a physical examination by a doctor and underwent laboratory screening. Any individuals with abnormal vital signs or abnormal blood pressure were excluded from this study, as were those with a history of chest pain or antihypertensive medication. Only subjects with a n...

Our main purpose was to identify tumor suppressor gene loci on chromosome 13 responsible for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) development by analyzing loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and RB protein expression in paraffin embedded tissues. Normal and tumor DNA were extracted from microdissected samples, and their whole genomes were amplified using degenerate oligonucleotide primers. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were analyzed by repeated amplification using primers derived from 16 microsatellite regions spanning the long arm of this chromosome. Among 50 informative cases, LOH was observed in 44 tumors. Thirty-one tumors displayed partial loss and provided an informative basis for detailed deletion mapping. Three minimal regions of loss were delineated; the first flanked by D13S120 and D13S219, the second by D13S126 and D13S119, and the third by D13S137 and 13qter. These 3 regions were linked to BRCA2 on 13q12, RB1 on 13q14, and 13q14.3-ter, respectively. Seven and 4 cases showed LOH either on 13q12 or 13q14, respectively. Nineteen cases showed LOH of both loci separately. One NPC displayed 13q12 and 13q14.3-ter LOH. RB protein expression was detectable in 76% of the cases. Ten out of 15 cases with the allelic losses limited to 13q14 showed RB protein expression. Contrasting that, 6 out of 7 cases devoid of RB protein expressions showed 13q14LOH. In conclusion, 13qLOH, involving 3 tumor suppressor gene loci, appears to be a frequent genetic event occurring during NPC development. However, other tumor suppressor genes besides RB1, may be responsible for the majority of 13q14LOH. Int. J. Cancer 83:210-214, 1999. Wiley-Liss, Inc.Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is one of the most common cancers in Asia, especially in Southern China and Southeast Asia (Fandi et al., 1994;Voravud, 1990). The development of this type of cancer appears to be caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection with subsequent multiple genetic alterations in the nasopharyngeal epithelium (Liebowitz, 1994;Mutirangura et al., 1997). Frequently, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) has been observed on chromosomes 3, 9, 11, 13 and 14, suggesting a potential location for essential tumor suppressor genes (Mutirangura et al., 1997). Several previous studies have defined the locations of the allelic losses on chromosomes 3, 9, 11 and 14 Huang et al., 1994;Hui et al., 1996;Mutirangura et al., 1998). The main objective of our study has been to analyze LOH loci on chromosome 13 in NPC tissues. Since the majority of NPC tissues exhibit either massive lymphocyte infiltration or contamination with normal tissue, we performed the microsatellite analysis from microdissected paraffin embedded NPC tissues.LOH on chromosome 13q has frequently been observed in primary cancers of the lung (Tamura et al., 1997), prostate (Cooney et al., 1996;Li et al., 1998), skin (Sikkink et al., 1997, breast (Hamann et al., 1996), head and neck (Maestro et al., 1996;Nawroz-Danish et al., 1998), oral cavity (Ogawara et al., 1998) and liver (Kuroki et al., 1995). This may be due to the loc...

Combination of the detection of serum p53 antigen and antibodies by ELISA may represent a suitable noninvasive investigation in assessing the clinical implications and prognoses of patients with HCC.

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Our study suggested that the baseline ratio of EPO/ret.count should be used as an indicator for a favourable response to rhEPO therapy.