Breast Anthropometry: Values and Application in Breast Surgery for Vietnamese Women.

OBJECTIVES: Breast surgery requires a high aesthetic outcome and should be individualized according to anthropometric breast and body characteristics. This study aimed to measure the anthropometric parameters and volume of Vietnamese female breasts and their application in breast surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study enrolled 240 women treated at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital aged 18 to 78 years old. The measurements were obtained with the patient sitting upright in the anatomic position based on key landmarks and breast volume was also assessed. Differences in breast anthropometric measurements and breast volume were compared between groups of age, BMI, and the number of children. The correlation between breast volume calculated by anthropometric method and surgical specimen volume was evaluated to determine the accuracy of this method. RESULTS: The mean values of the right and left breast volumes are less statistically different. Mean breast volume of the right breast and left breast were 396.1±182.3ml and 399.4±182.2ml, respectively. The proportion of breast ptosis increased with age (p=0.027), Body mass index (p<0.0001), and the number of children (p=0.004). The most important factor affecting the size and shape of the breast was body mass index (BMI). Mastectomy specimen volume and breast volume calculated by the anthropometric method are highly correlated with r=0.966. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study should be applied in clinical practice in breast surgery for Vietnamese women.
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Cell-free Biochemical Fluorometric Enzymatic Assay for High-throughput Measurement of Lipid Peroxidation in High Density Lipoprotein.

Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are one of the most powerful independent negative predictors of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). The structure and function of HDL rather than HDL-C may more accurately predict atherosclerosis. Several HDL protein and lipid compositional changes that impair HDL function occur in inflammatory states such as atherosclerosis. HDL function is usually determined by cell based assays such as cholesterol efflux assay but these assays have numerous drawbacks lack of standardization. Cell-free assays may give more robust measures of HDL function compared to cell-based assays. HDL oxidation impairs HDL function. HDL has a major role in lipid peroxide transport and high amount of lipid peroxides is related to abnormal HDL function. Lipid-probe interactions should be considered when interpreting the results of non-enzymatic fluorescence assays for measuring the lipid oxidative state. This motivated us to develop a cell-free biochemical enzymatic method to assess HDL lipid peroxide content (HDLox) that contributes to HDL dysfunction. This method is based on the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and the fluorochrome Amplex Red that can quantify (without cholesterol oxidase) the lipid peroxide content per mg of HDL-C. Here a protocol is describedfor determination of HDL-lipid peroxidation using the fluorochrome reagent. Assay variability can be reduced by strict standardization of experimental conditions. Higher HDLox values are associated with reduced HDL antioxidant function. The readout of this assay is associated with readouts of validated cell-based assays, surrogate measures of cardiovascular disease, systemic inflammation, immune dysfunction, and associated cardiovascular and metabolic risk phenotypes. This technical approach is a robust method to assess HDL function in human disease where systemic inflammation, oxidative stress and oxidized lipids have a key role (such as atherosclerosis).

A novel rapid and reproducible flow cytometric method for optimization of transfection efficiency in cells.

Transfection is one of the most frequently used techniques in molecular biology that is also applicable for gene therapy studies in humans. One of the biggest challenges to investigate the protein function and interaction in gene therapy studies is to have reliable monospecific detection reagents, particularly antibodies, for all human gene products. Thus, a reliable method that can optimize transfection efficiency based on not only expression of the target protein of interest but also the uptake of the nucleic acid plasmid, can be an important tool in molecular biology. Here, we present a simple, rapid and robust flow cytometric method that can be used as a tool to optimize transfection efficiency at the single cell level while overcoming limitations of prior established methods that quantify transfection efficiency. By using optimized ratios of transfection reagent and a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) vector directly labeled with a fluorochrome, this method can be used as a tool to simultaneously quantify cellular toxicity of different transfection reagents, the amount of nucleic acid plasmid that cells have taken up during transfection as well as the amount of the encoded expressed protein. Finally, we demonstrate that this method is reproducible, can be standardized and can reliably and rapidly quantify transfection efficiency, reducing assay costs and increasing throughput while increasing data robustness.