Determination of the reticulocyte hemoglobin content (CHr) provides an early measure of functional iron deficiency because reticulocytes are the earliest erythrocytes released into blood and circulate for only 1 to 2 days. The CHr in 78 patients undergoing bone marrow examination was measured to assess its clinical utility for the diagnosis of iron deficiency. Twenty-eight patients were iron deficient, based on the lack of stainable iron in the aspirate. The diagnostic power of CHr is limited in patients with high mean cellular volume (MCV) or red cell disorders such as thalassemia. However, when patients with MCV more than 100 fL are excluded, receiver operator curve analysis of CHr, ferritin, transferrin saturation, and MCV demonstrates that CHr has the highest overall sensitivity and specificity of these peripheral blood tests for predicting the absence of bone marrow iron stores. (Blood. 2002; 99:1489-1491)

These findings can improve knowledge about the characteristics of patients with fatal outcomes and the use of antiviral drug for SFTS.

Purpose: Cytokeratin 10 (CK10) was found to be expressed differently in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines with different metastatic potentials in our previous research.The aim of this study was to assess the value of CK10 alone or in combination with cytokeratin 19 (CK19) in predicting tumor recurrence after curative resection in HCC patients. Experimental Design: CK10 expression in stepwise metastatic HCC cell lines and tumor tissues from 50 HCC patients was investigated using immunofluorescence assay, quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR, and Western blot analyses. Tumor tissue microarrays of 300 HCC patients who underwent curative resection between 1997 and 2000 were used to detect the expressions of CK10 and CK19. Clinicopathologic data for these patients were evaluated. The prognostic significance was assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and log-rank tests. Results: CK10 was overexpressed in the high metastatic HCC cell line and in tumor tissues of recurrent patients. Both univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that CK10 was a significant predictor for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival, and that CK19 was a significant predictor for OS. CK10 expression was correlated with poor prognosis regardless of a-fetoprotein, tumor-node-metastasis stage, and vascular invasion. The 7-year OS and diseasefree survival rates in CK10 + and/or CK19 + patients were 30.0% and 37.6%, respectively, which were significantly lower than that of CK10 -/CK19 -patients (56.1% and 60.0%, respectively;Conclusion: CK10 is associated with HCC invasiveness. CK10 alone, or in combination with CK19, can be a novel predictor for poor prognosis of HCC patients after curative resection.Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent tumor types; its incidence and mortality rates have increased in recent years (1).The high rate of recurrence or metastases after curative resection has hindered improvements in HCC survival (2, 3). Molecular signatures that define the risk of recurrence and metastatic potential of HCC have been difficult to identify. Such markers would allow appropriate therapeutic regimens to be applied earlier in the disease course. Although several prognostic biomarkers in HCC have been reported recently (4 -7), there still remains a lack of ideal biomarkers available that can be widely used in clinical settings (8, 9). Cytokeratins are typical epithelial cell markers expressed in a tissue-specific and differentiation-dependent manner. It has been reported that cytokeratins were extensively present in many malignant epithelial cells (10 -13) and tended to be altered in association with increases in metastatic ability and malignancy (14). Several cytokeratins were proven to be present in HCC (15,16) and relate with poor prognosis and metastatic potential (17 -22).In our previous research, cytokeratin 10 (CK10) expression was detected by in vitro phage display and proteomics technology in MHCC97-H but not in MHCC97-L, two human HCC cell lines created at ...

Using an ethnobotanical approach in combination with in vivo-guided fractionation as a means for lead discovery, cryptolepine was isolated as an antihyperglycemic component of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta. Two syntheses of cryptolepine, including an unambiguous synthesis, are reported. The hydroiodide, hydrochloride, and hydrotrifluoromethanesulfonate (hydrotriflate) salts of cryptolepine were synthesized, and a comparison of their spectral properties and their in vitro activities in a 3T3-L1 glucose transport assay is made. Cryptolepine and its salt forms lower blood glucose in rodent models of type II diabetes. While a number of bioactivities have been reported for cryptolepine, this is the first report that cryptolepine possesses antihyperglycemic properties.

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