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Biomedical subjects

V Montpetit

Publications and source records attributed to V Montpetit.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Human central nervous system and plasma pharmacology of mitoxantrone.

Mitoxantrone 5-6 mg/m2 was administered IV to 10 consenting patients prior to surgical resection of an intracerebral tumor. Plasma pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated and concentration of mitoxantrone in intracerebral tumors was determined. Concentrations of mitoxantrone were also determined in autopsy tissues of one of the patients who expired 192 days after receiving the drug. The plasma pharmacokinetics were best described by a 3 compartment model, with a tl/2 gamma of 4.74 +/- 5.53 h. Mitoxantrone concentrations in the intracerebral tumors were potentially cytotoxic and ranged from 4 to 322 ng/g. In all but one case, mitoxantrone concentration was higher in tumor than in concurrent plasma samples. There was no obvious relation between tumor mitoxantrone concentration and peak plasma mitoxantrone concentration or time from mitoxantrone administration to tumor removal. Low grade gliomas and viable tumors tended to have lower mitoxantrone concentrations than did other tumor types and necrotic tumors. In the patient undergoing autopsy, highest mitoxantrone concentrations were found in liver, thyroid and heart.

Adult↗

Platinum concentrations in human autopsy tumor samples.

Platinum concentrations were determined in autopsy tumor samples obtained from 27 patients who had received cisplatin 40-1,029 mg/m2 from 0 to 240 days antemortem. Liver metastases had significantly higher platinum concentrations than did tumors in other sites (p less than 0.005). Platinum concentrations in liver metastases were similar to platinum concentrations in normal liver. Platinum concentrations in gliomas and brain metastases were similar to platinum concentrations in other extrahepatic tumors. Platinum concentration generally decreased with increasing distance into brain from tumor. By multiple stepwise linear regression analysis, the factors that were independently most closely associated with tumor platinum concentration were time from last cisplatin treatment, cumulative lifetime dose of cisplatin, route of cisplatin administration (intraarterial vs. other), and site of tumor deposit (liver vs. other) (r = 0.69, p less than 0.001). Patients whose tumors had responded to cisplatin-containing regimens had mean tumor platinum concentrations that were higher than the mean tumor platinum concentrations in patients whose tumors had not responded to cisplatin (p less than 0.05).

Autopsy↗

Intracarotid infusion of PCNU (NSC: 95466): preclinical toxicological study in dogs.

The prognosis of patients with unresectable intracerebral primary and metastatic tumours that recur following cranial irradiation is poor. Chemotherapy agents have been of limited value. PCNU--a new nitrosourea, has been shown to have the optimum log P for treatment of murine intracerebral tumours. We conducted a preclinical toxicological study of intracarotid injection of PCNU in dogs. Our results show that there was no major neurological or retinal toxicity from the drug, suggesting that PCNU may be less toxic than the presently available BCNU.

Alkylating Agents↗

Human autopsy tissue concentrations of mitoxantrone.

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method was used to measure mitoxantrone in autopsy tissue samples of 11 patients who had received the drug iv 10-272 days antemortem. Mitoxantrone was readily detectable in tissues from all patients. Tissue concentrations were proportional to lifetime cumulative dose of mitoxantrone, and decreased very slowly with time. The thyroid and the liver had the highest mitoxantrone concentrations, followed by the heart. These high cardiac concentrations of mitoxantrone could be partially responsible for the occasional case of cardiotoxicity seen with mitoxantrone. The brain had the lowest mitoxantrone concentrations. Organ mitoxantrone concentrations did not conform to a flow-limited model. Tumor mitoxantrone concentrations varied quite markedly from one site to another in the same patient. Tumors generally had lower mitoxantrone concentrations than did surrounding normal tissues. Mitoxantrone concentrations were consistently highest in intrahepatic tumors and lowest in intracerebral tumors. It is unclear whether the low concentrations in brain tumors were due to a partially intact blood-brain barrier or to the fact that most brain tumors had been irradiated prior to mitoxantrone administration. Further studies are warranted to more fully explore the relationship between human tissue mitoxantrone concentrations and efficacy and toxicity.

Autopsy↗

Substructure of 20 nm filaments of progressive supranuclear palsy.

In contrast to the ultrastructure of Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), which has been well characterized as accumulations of paired helical 10-nm filaments (PHF) with 80-nm regular constrictions, the morphology of the neurofibrillary changes of PSP remains ill-defined. Until recently, the fine structure of PSP tangles was generally accepted as 15-nm straight filaments or tubules, although many reports describing different electron-microscopic findings have appeared in the literature. In this report, we present morphological data indicating a protofilamentous substructure present in straight filaments of PSP which has some points of similarity with the protofilamentous architectures which have been reported for paired helical filaments of Alzheimer's disease. The straight filaments were found to be composed of six or more helically symmetric 2-5-nm protofilaments. We conclude that despite the varied morphology of filaments in neurofibrillary tangles observed in PSP there may be some underlying identity at the molecular level with the PHF of neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease.

Aged↗

Penetration of VP-16 (etoposide) into human intracerebral and extracerebral tumors.

VP-16 100 mg/m2 was given intravenously to 10 patients undergoing surgical resection of intracerebral tumors, and the drug was assayed in resected tumor using high pressure liquid chromatography. VP-16 concentrations varied from undetectable (less than .1 microgram/g) to 5.9 micrograms/g (mean, 1.4 microgram/g). VP-16 concentrations in tumors were lower than concurrent plasma concentrations. In addition, intracerebral tumors had a lower concentration of VP-16 than did extracerebral tumors (mean VP-16 concentration, 3.9 micrograms/g) from 7 patients receiving VP-16 50-100 mg/m2 intravenously. Plasma pharmacokinetics of VP-16 were different in our patients with intracerebral tumors than in previously studied patients with extracerebral tumors and it is unclear what role this may played in variability of tumor VP-16 concentrations. VP-16 concentrations were similar in glioblastomas and brain metastases. Specimens from patients with small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the lung had the highest VP-16 concentrations. A patient who had both viable and necrotic tumor resected during an occipital lobectomy had a higher drug concentration in the necrotic than in the viable area of tumor. In addition, VP-16 concentration decreased as a function of distance into brain from the tumor. Based on our data, VP-16 might be expected to have less activity against intracerebral than against extracerebral human tumors.

Brain Neoplasms↗

Penetration of teniposide (VM-26) into human intracerebral tumors. Preliminary observations on the effect of tumor type, rate of drug infusion and prior treatment with amphotericin B or oral glycerol.

Thirty-four consenting patients received VM-26 50-100 mg/m2 I.V. before surgical resection of intracerebral tumor, and drug was measured using a high pressure liquid chromatographic technique. Sufficient tumor for analysis was obtained from 29 patients. Brain metastases (13 patients) had higher concentrations of VM-26 than did gliomas (13 patients). Concentrations were comparable in brain metastases and meningiomas (3 patients). Prolonged (24 h) infusion of VM-26 did not appear to result in higher tumor drug concentrations in 5 patients than did rapid (1 h) infusion in 24 patients. Pretreatment with Amphotericin-B 10 mg/m2 12 h and 1 h before VM-26 did not appear to have any effect on VM-26 uptake into 4 intracerebral tumors, although data were limited, and VM-26 concentrations were very high in 1 metastasis. Pretreatment with oral glycerol 500 mg/kg 18 h, 12 h, 6 h, and immediately before I.V. VM-26 may have resulted in increased penetration of VM-26 into 9 tumors, although confirmation is required. Amphotericin-B, glycerol, and operative conditions did not appear to alter VM-26 plasma pharmacokinetics.

Amphotericin B↗

Organization of the neurofilamentous network.

The neurofilamentous network of the normal rabbit brain (lateral vestibular nucleus) and of biopsies of human patients (cerebral cortex, sural nerve) was investigated electron microscopically. Thin sections of samples prepared by standard techniques and unfixed spreads of freshly isolated perikarya were utilized. The neurofilaments are assembled into a three-dimensional network associated with the axolemma, microtubules, mitochondria and polyribosomes. The elements of this network demonstrate helicity at several levels of organization. It is proposed that they are in a dynamic state of equilibrium between ordered lattice and open network paracrystalline states. Reversible phase transitions in the subunit proteins of the neurofilaments may lead to coiling and uncoiling of the filaments and induce alterations in the network structure of the neuroplasm. Giant axonal swellings in biopsies of the sural nerve are interpreted as accumulations of cytoskeletal elements in the absence of the orienting effect of microtubules. In cortical neurons of patients with Alzheimer's disease parts of the neurofilamentous network are in altered paracrystalline states; virus-like particles occur within this modified network. These concepts of cytoskeletal organization - network, helicity, phase transitions, and paracrystallinity - are useful for the interpretation of pathological alterations of the cytoskeleton and for an understanding of cytoskeletal organization in general.

Alzheimer Disease↗