Treatment with antibodies against primary group A streptococcal peritonitis: A case report and a review of the literature.

RATIONALE: Several reports describe severe group A streptococcal (GAS) infections causing septic shock, soft-tissue necrosis, and multiple organ failure known as streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). However, primary peritonitis with GAS is rare and most of them were undertaken surgical procedure. PATIENT CONCERNS: We herein reported the case of 26-year-old healthy woman with sudden severe abdominal pain and hypotension. Computed tomography (CT) showed that large amount of free fluid in the peritoneal cavity consist with peritonitis, and no free air. DIAGNOSES: Primary peritonitis with GAS. INTERVENTIONS: Proper antibiotic therapy according to blood culture results. OUTCOMES: After antibiotic therapy, the patient recovered well without complications. LESSONS: An appropriate diagnostic approach and prompt antibiotic therapy is essential in GAS primary peritonitis.

Intratumoral administration of methotrexate bound to activated carbon particles: antitumor effectiveness against human colon carcinoma xenografts and acute toxicity in mice.

We previously developed a new formulation of methotrexate (MTX) that is adsorbed onto a suspension of activated carbon particles (MTX-CH) and reported the usefulness of local administration in murine tumors. The present study examines the effects of human colon carcinoma (LoVo) xenografts and the acute toxicity of MTX-CH compared with MTX aqueous solution (MTX-AQ) in mice. In therapeutic experiments, LoVo cells were implanted into the backs of BALB/c nude mice. When the cells had developed into tumors, we performed an intratumoral administration of a weekly dose of 30 mg/kg. The MTX concentration in the tumor was compared between the MTX-CH group and MTX-AQ group. In experiments on acute toxicity, MTX-CH and MTX-AQ were injected subcutaneously in BDF1 mice, and intoxication symptoms, changes in body weight, and date of death were recorded. In the therapeutic experiments, intratumoral administration of MTX-CH was much more effective in suppressing the tumor growth compared with MTX-AQ. In experiments of acute toxicity, the death time of the MTX-CH group was delayed to a greater extent, and the 50% lethal dose (LD(50)) values of MTX-CH were lower than those of MTX-AQ. The LD(50) values of MTX-CH are 75 times higher than the efficacious dose of 30 mg/kg. The present results suggest that intratumoral administration of MTX-CH is useful for local therapy and the therapeutic dose of MTX-CH can be safely injected subcutaneously.

[Analysis of effect of dextran sulfate on cancer cells].

Peritoneal recurrence is one of the critical problems that occurs after surgery for gastrointestinal cancers. Since no curative treatment has been established for peritoneal recurrence, many efforts have been made to develop an effective method for preventing such recurrence. We focused on dextran sulfate, an anti-cell-adherence agent, to prevent peritoneal metastasis. Our previous studies in vitro and in vivo clarified that dextran sulfate prevents cancer cells from adhering to plastic flasks and the abdominal wall. In this study, we investigated the effects of dextran sulfate on cancer cells from the viewpoint of the cell cycle. Changes in gene expression caused by dextran sulfate were analyzed by cDNA microarrays. Analysis by cDNA microarray revealed the decreased expression of the genes essential to the progression of G1 and S phases. Our results indicate that dextran sulfate suppresses progression of the cell cycle as well as cell adhesion, suggesting that dextran sulfate could be used as an antimetastatic agent. Anti-cell-adherence agents with such mechanisms of action could be effective drugs for treatment during and after operation to prevent peritoneal metastases induced by surgical operation.