Biomedical subjects

J K Mohindra

Publications and source records attributed to J K Mohindra.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

14CO2-in-air sampling with passive diffusion samplers.

Passive diffusion samplers designed for measuring HTO-in-air have been evaluated for measuring 14CO2-in-air. Controlled exposures to HTO-in-air, 14CO2-in-air, and a combination of the two gases were carried out. The sampling rate of the 14CO2-in-air was found to be approximately 0.7 that of HTO-in-air. This value is consistent with the calculated relative sampling rates based on the diffusion coefficients of the gases. Passive diffusion samplers currently used for sampling HTO-in-air at CANDU facilities have been shown to be suitable for also measuring 14CO2-in-air and HTO-in-air simultaneously when prepared with the appropriate sampling solution.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗

PubMed1983

Activity of mitomycin C for aerobic and hypoxic cells in vitro and in vivo.

We have observed the selective toxicity of mitomycin C toward hypoxic as compared to aerobic cells in vitro for three established cell lines (Chinese hamster ovary, Chinese hamster V-79, and human HeLa) and for cells from the transplantable KHT murine tumor. The magnitude of the selective toxicity was cell line dependent. We have studied the in vivo effects of mitomycin C against aerobic and hypoxic cells of two transplantable murine tumors: the KHT fibrosarcoma and the 16/C mammary carcinoma. Either mitomycin C was given with radiation to kill most of the aerobic cells, or it was given alone. Endpoints of response were cell survival assessed by lung colony assay for the KHT tumor, and growth delay for the 16/C tumor. In some experiments, mitomycin C appeared more effective when used with radiation than when used alone, but the results of combined treatment fell just within the range of additivity as defined by isobologram analysis. The effects of combined treatment were independent of the order in which drug and radiation were given. Mitomycin C was also used in combination with Adriamycin to treat the 16/C tumor, since we have found previously that Adriamycin spares hypoxic cells in this tumor. In three of four experiments, combined drug effects were slightly greater than predicted by an additive relationship. We conclude that mitomycin C is active against hypoxic cells in two murine tumors, but that it has at most minor specificity for hypoxic as compared to aerobic cells in vivo.

Aerobiosis↗

PubMed1981

Selective toxicity of 5-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno)imidazole-4-carboxamide toward hypoxic mammalian cells.

The chemotherapeutic agent 5-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno)-imidazole-4-carboxamide (DTIC) is used in the treatment of malignant melanoma where response rates of 15 to 30% have been reported. Some current interest exists in combining DTIC chemotherapy with localized high-dose (800 rads)-per-fraction radiotherapy in the treatment of unresectable metastatic melanoma. The present work investigates the radiosensitizing and chemotherapeutic properties of DTIC in an in vitro system using Chinese hamster ovary or HeLa cells and in vivo, using the KHT transplantable murine tumor. No evidence of a radiosensitizing effect of DTIC was found towards hypoxic or aerobic cells either in vitro in vivo. In vitro, high drug concentrations (1 mg/ml) were approximately 5 times more effective in killing hypoxic Chinese hamster ovary or HeLa cells than in killing aerobic cells over exposure times of 0 to 12 hr. The degree of toxicity was drug dose and temperature dependent but was not highly dependent on cell number or cell type. In vivo plasma levels of DTIC were measured with high-pressure liquid chromatography after i.p. injection of drug into C3H mice. At the highest drug doses tested, near the 50% lethal dose in mice for DTIC (0.5 mg/g), the drug was toxic to both aerobic and hypoxic tumor cells with some evidence of increased toxicity towards hypoxic cells. The present work suggests that DTIC may be more efficiently activated under hypoxic conditions as compared to aerobic conditions. The increased toxicity of DTIC under hypoxic versus aerobic conditions may prove to be a feature of this drug that can be exploited in its clinical use and in the design of new analogs of DTIC.

Animals↗

PubMed1976

Increased cell killing by metronidazole and nitrofurazone of hypoxic compared to aerobic mammalian cells.

Nitromidazole and nitrofuran derivatives comprise a large family of compounds, some of which have been shown to be hypoxic cell specific radiosensitizers in vivo and in vitro. The effects of metronidazole (2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole-1-ethanol) and nitrofurazone (5-nitro-2-furaldehyde semicarbazone) were studied on cell viability in vitro in the presence of air or nitrogen in the absence of radiation. Exponential-phase Chinese hamster ovary cells were placed in suspension culture in complete medium in the presence of air, made hypoxic by flowing nitrogen (less then 0.001% oxygen), and exposed to various concentrations of these drugs. As a function of time, aliquots were removed and plated to determine cell viability. After 8 hr of incubation of Chinese hamster ovary cells in 29 mM metronidazole or 500 muM nitrofurazone, the absolute plating efficiency remains relatively constant (80 to 40%) in the presence of air. In contrast, under hypoxic conditions the plating efficiency of the cells dropped to 1% after 6 hr of incubation in 29 mM metronidazole or 500 muM nitrofurazone. This phenomenon of hypoxic cell specific toxicity was found to be dependent upon cell type, concentration of drug, temperature of incubation, and oxygen concentration. The results of these experiments indicate an increased toxicity of these drugs under hypoxic conditions and suggest that further investigation into the mechanism and specificity of these effects is warranted.

Air↗

PubMed1976

Hypoxia-dependent reduction of 1-(2-nitro-1-imidazolyl)-3-methoxy-2-propanol by Chinese hamster ovary cells and KHT tumor cells in vitro and in vivo.

Incubation of Chinese hamster ovary cells and KHT murine fibrosarcoma tumor cells in the absence of oxygen with 1-[2-14C]nitro-1-imidazolyl)-3-methoxy-2-propanol, one of the most effective radiation sensitizers of hypoxic cells, results in the preferential reduction of 1-[2-14C]nitro-1-imidazolyl)-3-methoxy-2-propanol. The radioactivity associated with the acid-insoluble precipitate from cells incubated in nitrogen is about four times higher than that of cells incubated in air. When aqueous extracts of tissues of a C3H mouse bearing the KHT tumor, after i.p. injection with 1-[2-14C]nitro-1-imidazolyl)-3-methoxy-2-propanol, are analyzed, a reduction product is found in relatively higher yields in the tumor than in normal tissues. The relative radioactivity in the pellet from the tumor homogenate is also high in comparison with those of most normal tissues. These results provide suggestive evidence for a higher degree of hypoxic in the tumor than in most normal tissues. The formation of reduction products and their subsequent binding to macromolecules may explain the preferential toxicity of nitro compounds to mammalian cells under hypoxia conditions. These results suggest that some nitro compounds may be useful for the treatment of tumors having a high fraction of hypoxic cells even in the absence of radiation.

Animals↗