Quantitative Investigation into the influence of intravenous fluids on human immune and cancer cell lines.

The effect of intravenous fluids (IVF) has been investigated clinically through the assessment of post-treatment reactions. However, the responses to IVF vary from patient-to-patient. It is important to understand the response of IVF treatment to be able to provide optimal IVF care. Herein, we investigated the impact of commonly used IVFs, Dextrose, NaCl and Ringer on different human cancer (HepG2 (liver hepatocellular carcinoma) and MCF7 (breast adenocarcinoma)) and immune cell lines (U937 (lymphoma) monocyte and macrophages). The effect of IVF exposure on single cells was characterized using hemocytometer, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Quantitative data on the viability and morphology of the cells were obtained. Our results emphasize that different IVFs demonstrate important differences in how they influence distinct cell lines. Particularly, we observed that the lactated ringer and dextrose solutions altered the viability and nuclear size of cancer and immune cells differently. Our findings present valuable information to the knowledge of cellular-level IVF effects for further investigations in IVF usage on diverse patient populations and support the importance and necessity of developing optimal diluents not only for drug stability but also for patient benefits.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Real-Time Imaging in Brachypodium Roots and Osmotic Stress Analysis.

To elucidate dynamic developmental processes in plants, live tissues and organs must be visualised frequently and for extended periods. The development of roots is studied at a cellular resolution not only to comprehend the basic processes fundamental to maintenance and pattern formation but also study stress tolerance adaptation in plants. Despite technological advancements, maintaining continuous access to samples and simultaneously preserving their morphological structures and physiological conditions without causing damage presents hindrances in the measurement, visualisation and analyses of growing organs including plant roots. We propose a preliminary system which integrates the optical real-time visualisation through light microscopy with a liquid culture which enables us to image at the tissue and cellular level horizontally growing Brachypodium roots every few minutes and up to 24 h. We describe a simple setup which can be used to track the growth of the root as it grows including the root tip growth and osmotic stress dynamics. We demonstrate the system's capability to scale down the PEG-mediated osmotic stress analysis and collected data on gene expression under osmotic stress.