No abstract

Melanoma cell oncolysate, prepared with Newcastle disease virus, was administered as an immunostimulant to 13 patients with metastatic melanoma. The oncolysate was well tolerated. Six treated patients evidenced a decrease in the size of skin nodules or diseased lymph nodes. Visceral lesions were not favorably influenced to any marked degree. One case of fulminating disease showed a change to slow progression and survived a year longer than was otherwise expected. Another patient, whose melanoma could not be controlled by surgery or chemotherapy, has been in complete remission for 2 years. It appears that viral oncolysate might be particularly helpful to patients with early disease.

Freshly isolated human lymphocytes from 11 healthy subjects had specific binding sites for dopamine which were dependent on time, temperature and sodium, and appeared to follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The apparent affinity constant (K_D) of human lymphocytes for dopamine and the maximal number of binding sites (B_max) were 109 ± 21 nM and 2.66 ± 1.75 pmol/107 cells, respectively. Dopamine binding was markedly affected by cocaine (IC50 = 150 nM) and other inhibitors of biogenic amine uptake. The relatively high potency of cocaine in competing for dopamine binding suggested that human lymphocytes may serve as a readily accessible model to detect changes in the neuronal uptake of dopamine and perhaps other monoamine neurotransmitters.

Primary explants of human malignant melanoma were utilized in the preparation of oncolysates by Newcastle disease virus. The concentrated lysate, administered parenterally, was employed in an effort to augment antitumor immunologic responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. Observed cellular changes suggested a benefit, but humoral antibody measurements were not impressive. Cancer 40:672–679, 1977.

The main objective of the present investigation was to determine whether the uptake of [³H]-dopamine in human lymphocytes is mediated through a serotonin transporter. This was examined by studying the effects of various monoamine uptake inhibitors on the uptake of [³H]-dopamine in human lymphocytes. Among the compounds tested, indatraline, imipramine and fluoxetine, selective inhibitors of neuronal serotonin transporter, were the most potent inhibitors of [³H]-dopamine uptake in lymphocytes. The 50% inhibiting concentration (IC50) for these inhibitors was in the range of 3.5-17 nmol/l. Bupropion, GBR 12909, nomifensine and xylamine, selective inhibitors of dopamine and norepinephrine transporters, had low affinity for the dopamine uptake system in human lymphocytes with IC50 values ranging between 1,000 and 40,000 nmol/l. These findings provide supportive evidence for the participation of a serotonin transporter in the uptake of [³H]-dopamine in human lymphocytes. The existence of a high affinity transport system for dopamine and serotonin in human lymphocytes may serve as a readily accessible model to detect changes in the neuronal uptake of dopamine and serotonin in addictive and psychiatric disorders.