Age-related changes in the radiosensitivity of animals and critical cell systems. Survival of stem cells of the small intestine epithelium 4-5 days after death in mice of various ages

Mice of three strains exhibited similar changes in radiosensitivity tested with a reference to "intestinal" death: juvenile and old animals were more radiosensitive. No age-related changes were detected in radiosensitivity of stem cells of the small intestine epithelium estimated with a reference to average lethal dose D0.     

Comparative radiosensitivity of clonogenic tumor cells of the transplantable Ehrlich carcinoma in the ascitic and solid forms of growth

Survival of clonogenic cells of solid Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) exposed to 60Co-gamma-radiation in vitro under the oxygenation conditions was investigated and the clonogenic capacity and radiosensitivity of these cells and cells of the previously studied EAT ascitic form and Lewis solid tumor comparatively studied to elucidate how the efficiency of colony formation (ECF) would affect their radiosensitivity. ECF for solid EAT cells was 2.6 +/- 0.3%, which was lower, by about an order of magnitude, than that for ascitic form of this tumor and was nearly the same as that for Lewis tumor cells. A median cell lethal dose (D0) was practically the same for all tumors under study. It is suggested that the differences in ECF do not substantially influence the radiosensitivity of clonogenic cells of the studied tumors.     

The methods of irradiation dose fractionation and rate change used in studying the capacity for the postradiation repair of CFU-s forming splenic colonies after 8 and 12 days following bone marrow cell transplantation]

The method of dose fractionation and decreasing the dose-rate using "macro-" and "microcolonies" techniques was used to study the ability of CFU-S-8 and CFU-S-12 to repair sublethal radiation damages after irradiation thereof within the bodies of bone-marrow donors and recipients. A more committed CFU-S-8 population was found to surpass a younger and less committed CFU-S-12 population with respect to their repairability.     

First-dose analgesic effect of the cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitor lumiracoxib in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison with celecoxib [NCT00267215]

Cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitors are frequently used to manage osteoarthritis. We compared the analgesic efficacy of the novel cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitor lumiracoxib (Prexige) versus placebo and celecoxib in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This seven day, double-blind, placebo and active comparator controlled, parallel group study included 364 patients aged > or = 50 years with moderate-to-severe symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Patients received lumiracoxib 400 mg/day (four times the recommended chronic dose in osteoarthritis; n = 144), placebo (n = 75), or celecoxib 200 mg twice daily (n = 145). The primary variable was actual pain intensity difference (100 mm visual-analogue scale) between baseline and the mean of three hour and five hour assessments after the first dose. Actual pain intensity difference, average and worst pain, pain relief and functional status (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC]) were measured over seven days. Patients also completed a global evaluation of treatment effect at study end or premature discontinuation. For the primary variable, the superiority of lumiracoxib versus placebo, the noninferiority of lumiracoxib versus celecoxib, and the superiority of lumiracoxib versus celecoxib were assessed by closed test procedure adjusting for multiplicity, thereby maintaining the overall 5% significance level. In addition, celecoxib was assessed versus placebo in a predefined exploratory manner to assess trial sensitivity. Lumiracoxib provided better analgesia than placebo 3-5 hours after the first dose (P = 0.004) through to study end. The estimated difference between lumiracoxib and celecoxib 3-5 hours after the first dose was not significant (P = 0.185). Celecoxib was not significantly different from placebo in this analysis (P = 0.069). At study end 13.9% of lumiracoxib-treated patients reported complete pain relief versus 5.5% and 5.3% of celecoxib and placebo recipients, respectively. WOMAC total and subscales improved for both active treatments versus placebo except for difficulty in performing daily activities, for which celecoxib just failed to achieve significance (P = 0.056). In the patient's global evaluation of treatment effect, 58.1% of patients receiving lumiracoxib rated treatment as 'excellent' or 'good', versus 48.6% of celecoxib and 25.3% of placebo patients. Lumiracoxib was well tolerated. The overall incidence of adverse events was similar across treatment groups.     

Effect of radiation, thermal or combined radiation-thermal damage to a population of progenitor cells of the granulocyte-macrophage series in mouse bone marrow

The recovery of a population of granulopoietic-monocytic colony-forming units of mouse bone marrow was only slightly inhibited during the first two weeks after exposure to a mixture of radiation (4 Gy) and heat (burn of 10 per cent of the skin). In the interval between days 14 and 28 following the effect, their number reached the control level, then it decreased again.     

Radiosensitivity of cells-precursors of hemopoietic stroma (CFU-F) in the rat bone marrow under the effect of 60Co gamma irradiation in various conditions]

Conditions have been developed for cloning cells-precursors of rat bone marrow haemopoietic stroma, that form in culture dense and sparse fibroblast colonies (CFU-F) at a plating efficiency of 10(-4). Radiosensitivity of rat bone marrow CFU-F, with 60Co-gamma-irradiation in vitro, is characterized by the values of Do and n of 1.87 Gy and 1.4 respectively for all clones; 0.65 Gy and 6.7 for dense clones, and 4.27 Gy and 1.0 for sparse clones. This confirms the observed heterogeneity of CFU-F population consisting of highly radiosensitive and radioresistant subpopulations. The parameters of rat bone marrow CFU-F are nearly the same with irradiation both in vivo and in vitro; with in situ irradiation, the oxygen effect comes into play in a radiosensitive subpopulation of CFU-F; the OER values are 1.6, 2.6 and 0.9 for all, dense and sparse clones respectively.     

The effect of gas hypoxia (10% O2) and dextran sulfate on the radiosensitivity of the stem cells of the intestinal epithelium in mice]

Injection of dextran sulphate before irradiation was shown to protect jejunal epithelium stem cells (D0 increased from 1.13 to 1.82 Gy). The protective effect of a combination of dextran sulphate and gas hypoxic mixture (10% O2) did not exceed that of the administration of the gas hypoxic mixture (10% O2) alone.