PURPOSE Complete or partial loss of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) function has been described in cancer patients with intolerance to fluoropyrimidine drugs like 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or Xeloda. The intention of this population study is to assess and to evaluate gene variations in the entire coding region of the dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase gene (DPYD), which could be implicated in DP...

Purpose:Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency is critical in the predisposition to 5-fluorouracil dose-related toxicity. We recently characterized the phenotypic [2-C]uracil breath test (UraBT) with 96% specificity and100% sensitivity for identification of DPD deficiency. In the present study, we characterize the relationships among UraBT-associated breath CO2 metabolite formation, p...

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the mitial, rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolism of 5-fluorou. racil, one of the most widely used cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Previous studies have demonstrated the clinical importance of determination of DPD in cancer patients, suggesting that the efficacy and toxicity of 5-fluorouracil may directly relate to the DPD activity in both tumor and hos...

Expression of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) displays a regular daily oscillation in nonmalignant cells. In colorectal cancer cells, the expression of this 5-fluorouracil-metabolizing enzyme is decreased, but the reason remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) the expression of DPD and of members of the cellular oscillation machinery, pe...

BACKGROUND Depersonalization disorder (DPD) is characterized by a subjective sense of unreality, disembodiment, emotional numbing and reduced psychogenic (sudomotor) sympathoexcitation. AIMS Three related experiments utilized escalating physical and emotional challenges in 14 DPD participants and 16 controls aimed to elucidate (i) whether the cardiovascular sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathet...

PURPOSE Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD)-deficient cancer patients have been shown to develop severe toxicity after administration of 5-fluorouracil. Routine determination of DPD activity is limited by time-consuming and labor-intensive methods. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple and rapid 2-(13)C-uracil breath test, which could be applied in most clinical settings to detect...

We investigated a therapeutic strategy for recurrent malignant gliomas using mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), expressing cytosine deaminase (CD), and prodrug 5-Fluorocytosine (5-FC) as a more specific and less toxic option. MSCs are emerging as a novel cell therapeutic agent with a cancer-targeting property, and CD is considered a promising enzyme in cancer gene therapy which can convert non-toxic...

Quorum sensing is a process of chemical communication that bacteria use to assess cell population density and synchronize behavior on a community-wide scale. Communication is mediated by signal molecules called autoinducers. The LuxS autoinducer synthase produces 4,5-dihydroxy-2,3-pentanedione (DPD), the precursor to a set of interconverting molecules that are generically called autoinducer-2 (...

BACKGROUND Disembodiment is a core feature of depersonalization disorder (DPD). Given the narratives of DPD patients about their disembodiment and emotional numbing and neurobiological findings of an inhibition of insular activity, DPD may be considered as a mental disorder with specific impairments of interoceptive awareness and body perception. METHODS We investigated cardioceptive accuracy...

BACKGROUND Statins have been effective medications in lowering serum total cholesterol (TC) concentrations across populations over time. The aim of this study was to estimate national and provincial trends in atorvastatin sales in Iran, to systematically quantify its relationship with socioeconomic indicators, and changes in TC level. METHODS In this retrospective ecological study, conducted ...