An inverse relationship between inhibin and follicle-stimulating hormone during the period of ovulation induced by human chorionic gonadotrophin in dioestrous rats

To investigate the mechanism of the selective surge of FSH during the period of ovulation induced by human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in dioestrous rats, inhibin activity in ovarian vein plasma was determined at varying time-intervals after treatment with hCG using the primary monolayer culture system of anterior pituitary cells. Inhibin activity in ovarian vein plasma had already decreased 6 h after injection of hCG, when concentrations of FSH in the plasma were still low in three of four animals. Inhibin activity further decreased 12-18 h after hCG, when a selective surge of FSH occurred. Inhibin activity increased to the level before hCG treatment 24 h after the treatment, when ovulation was completed and the FSH surge terminated. These results suggest that the selective surge of FSH occurs as a consequence of the decrease in inhibin secretion from the ovary, which is perhaps due to the ovulation dose of hCG altering the functional activity of the granulosa cells in the large Graafian follicles.

Short- and long-latency median somatosensory evoked potentials. Findings in patients with localized neurological lesions

Short- and long-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were elicited by stimulation of the median nerve in 43 patients with neurological disorders. Abnormalities of short-latency peaks, P9, N13, and P14, were seen in patients with lesions of the peripheral nerve, cervical spinal cord, and brain stem, respectively. Subsequent component, N18, was affected in patients with thalamic or hemispheric disease. In some patients with parietal lobe lesions, however, abnormalities were limited to later components, N32 or N63. Analysis of SEPs is helpful in localizing a lesion along the somatosensory pathway, although differentiation between thalamic and other subcortical or cortical involvement may not be possible with the present SEP technique. Both short- and long-latency SEPs should be studied for maximal clinical information. The latter can be most reliably evaluated by simultaneous bilateral stimulation.

Malignant lymphoma presenting as a parotid mass

Primary malignant lymphomas of the salivary glands are very rare. Three cases of diffuse B-cell malignant lymphomas, each developing as a parotid mass, were presented. The preoperative early diagnosis is essential in these cases to avoid an unnecessary radical procedure as well as to have a beneficial effect on the prognosis. If there were a possibility of malignant lymphoma, present authors stressed that an incisional biopsy should be performed for diagnosis. The usefulness of immunopathological diagnosis of these tumors has been discussed with regards to the prognosis.

Far-field somatosensory evoked potentials after stimulation of the tibial nerve

In 21 normal subjects, far-field somatosensory potentials were recorded from the scalp after stimulation of the tibial nerve at the ankle (tibial SEP). With the use of a knee reference contralateral to the side of stimulation, the tibial SEP consisted of three major positive peaks, P17, P24, and P31, and three additional but inconsistent components, P11, P21, and P27. Presumable generator sources of the tibial SEP are the popliteal fossa for P11, entry to the sacral plexus for P17, the cauda equina for P21, entry to the conus medullaris for P24, the rostral spinal cord for P27, and the brainstem for P31.

[Clinical evaluation of cefotiam chloride in the surgical field, with special reference to its intrathoracic distribution and prevention of postoperative infections following thoracic surgery]

There are few report about the concentration of antibiotics in the tissue of intrathoracic organs. At present, it was analized the concentration in serum and tissue of intrathoracic organ and urinary excretion for CTM, and clinical effect against postoperative infection and side effect of CTM were discussed. 1) The peak concentration in serum was 48.7 micrograms/ml and half lives of CTM was about 30 minutes in 1 hour drip infusion of CTM 1g. 2) The concentration of CTM in lung tissue was about 30--50% of serum level. The concentration of CTM to pulmonary lesion was relatively high. 3) The concentration of CTM to the secretion of normal bronchiole was high as well. 4) The concentration of CTM to the bone marrow of rib was less than lung tissue. 5) Urinary excretion of CTM was 50--77% of total dose by 6 hours after injection. 6) CTM has wide spectrum and is useful to prophylaxis of postoperative infection. 7) It may be ineffective for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection of lung.

Comparative Studies on S-Glycoproteins Purified from Different S-Genotypes in Self-Incompatible BRASSICA Species II. Immunological Specificities

Antisera were prepared by immunization of apparently purified S-glycoproteins; one from an S allele of Brassica campestris and two from S alleles of B. oleracea. Each antiserum was reactive not only with the homologous S-glycoprotein but also with the heterologous ones, i.e. with the S-glycoproteins of the other S alleles of the same locus. In double diffusion tests, a spur against the heterologous S-glycoproteins suggested heterogeneity of the glycoproteins. The heterogeneity appears to involve a component of the molecule in which the genotypic specificity of an S-glycoprotein resides, probably, for the recognition site. Some molecular components are common to all tested S-glycoproteins and in this respect are like the public antigens of the MHC locus of mammals. The common molecular components were recognized between the S-allele-specific glycoproteins within B. oleracea and also between them and those of B. campestris. No S-specific substances were detected in buffer soluble homogenates of style, ovary or anther. However, these homogenates contained substances that had structures similar to the corresponding common parts of the S-glycoproteins.

Defective estrogen receptor in uteri of rats treated neonatally with a high dose of estrogen

The female Sprague-Dawley rats were daily injected with 100 micrograms of estradiol-17beta from the day of birth to 10 days of age. All these neonatally estrogenized rats exhibited a state of persistent vaginal diestrus after attainment of puberty. When 3H-estradiol-17beta was administered, the radioactivity in the uteri of the estrogenized postpubertal rats was significantly reduced, compared to that in the untreated rats. Otherwise, there was no significant difference of the radioactivity in the liver, diaphragm, and serum between the estrogenized and untreated groups. Uterine estrogen receptor having a sedimentation constant of 8S was demonstrated in the untreated immature and mature rats by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, whereas there was no detectable estrogen binding components in the uterine cytosol from the estrogenized postpubertal rats, irrespective of the date of autopsy. No discernible changes in the sedimentation profiles could be observed in the estrogenized postpubertal rats after oophorectomy. The results suggest that high doses of estrogen administered in the estrogen administered neonatally to female rats may couse permanent deficiency of uterine estrogen receptor and result in uterine insensitiveness to estrogen in their later lives.

Short- and long-latency somatosensory evoked potentials in multiple sclerosis

Thirty-nine of 52 patients, with definite (29) or probable (23) multiple sclerosis (MS) had unequivocal alterations of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs). In 28 patients both short- (up to N18) and long-latency (after N18) components were affected, whereas the abnormality was limited to the long-latency SEPs in the remaining 11 patients. These findings indicate that a substantial number of SEP abnormalities may be overlooked if the test is determined solely on the basis of short-latency components. Furthermore, a questionable change of short-latency SEPs could often be decidedly abnormal by finding extreme asymmetry of long-latency components. The long-latency SEPs are therefore a useful adjunct in evaluating cases of MS, especially if bilateral stimulation is used.

Tourniquet-induced ischemia and somatosensory evoked potentials

We studied the effect of tourniquet-induced ischemia on the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP). During 24 minutes of ischemia, short-latency components (P9, P14, and N18) and Erb's potential were abolished earlier than the long-latency components (P22, N30, P40, and N60). The latency increase was the same for Erb's potential and for P9, P14, and N18, but it was greater for P22, N30, and P40 and greatest for N60. These dissociated effects suggest that SEP components are not transmitted through a single pathway but are mediated through independent routes, possibly involving different first-order afferent fibers. Selective abnormalities of the early SEP peaks in association with relative preservation of late peaks may occur in peripheral nerve disorders.

[Retention of organic solvent vapors in plastic bags. Part 5. A basic study about correction methods of concentration of organic solvent vapors in plastic bags (author's transl)]

The concentration of organic solvents in plastic bags is decreased with time elapsed. It was supposed to permeate in plastic films. Therefore, we assumed that this phenomenon will be approximately regulated by the first order order reaction (C = C0e-kt). We got the permeation coefficient (k) by experiments and used it to correct organic solvent concentrations in the plastic bags. In the present experiment, we used Tedlar bags, toluene and ethyl methyl ketone (MEK) as organic solvents and determined the values by gas chromatography. Initial organic solvents concentration and that after t hr standing being taken as C0 and C. k Values are obtained by the formula C = C0e-kt. Mean values of k about toluene and MEK were found: k = 6.00 X 10(-3) and k = 4.86 X 10(-3). The results by this correction were as follows: Retention of toluene concentration in 24 hr standing bags showed to increase from 81% to 93%, or, in the case of 96 hr standing bags, it was shown to increase from 56% to 100%. Retention of MEK concentration in 24 hr standing bags showed to increase from 86% to 97%, or, in the case of 96 hr standing bags, it was shown to increase from 68% to 109%.

Chronic tetanus: clinical report and histochemistry of muscle

A patient who was partially immune to tetanus developed nonfulminant tetanus after a minor injury. Manifestations of the disease persisted for over 17 months. Electrophysiologic studies revealed an absent silent period in the masseter muscle, large-amplitude F-responses, and denervation. A muscle biopsy showed neurogenic atrophy with reinnervation. This observation supports the existence of chronic tetanus and provides morphologic evidence for a peripheral action of tetanus toxin in humans.

[Immunofluorescent analysis of intracellular localization of estrogen and progesterone in normal human endometrial cells (author's transl)]

Intracellular localization and the heat-dependent redistribution of estrogen and progesterone in human endometrial cells have been investigated by a fluorescent steroid-antibody technique. The dispersed endometrial cells were incubated with 5 X 10(-8) M estradiol-17 beta and progesterone in TC medium 199 containing 10% calf serum for 1--3 hr at 4 degrees C or 37 degrees C. An indirect immunofluorescent technique using FITC-labeled anti-rabbit IgG and steroid antibodies raised from rabbits immunizing with estradiol-6-oxime-BSA and progesterone-3-oxime-BSA was applied to the smear specimens. In normal endometrial cells in both proliferative and secretory stages, specific fluorescences to estradiol and progesterone were generally observed in the cytoplasm after incubation with the steroids at 4 degrees C for 1 hr. When these cells were incubated with the steroids at 37 degrees C for 1 hr, cytoplasmic and predominant nuclear fluorescences were detected, whereas the 3 hr-incubation at 37 degrees C resulted in disappearance of cytoplasmic fluorescence, remaining nuclear fluorescence alone. These fluorescences were remarkedly eliminated when endometrial cells were incubated with diethylstilbestrol and R-5020 prior to the incubation with estradiol and progesterone, respectively. These results indicate that the fluorescent steroid-antibody technique used in this study enables us to visualize subcellular localization of estradiol and progesterone possibly bound to receptors in each endometrial cell.

[Cellular heterogeneity of steroid reactivity in human endometrial carcinoma: an approach by an immunofluorescent steroid-antibody technique (author's transl)]

The dispersed cancer cells obtained from biopsy or surgical specimens of 12 patients with endometrial carcinoma were incubated with 5 x 10(-8) M estradiol-17 beta or progesterone in TC medium 199 containing 10% calf serum at 37 degrees C for 1 hr. The immunofluorescent steroid-antibody technique using FITC-labeled anti-rabbit IgG and steroid antibodies raised from rabbits immunized with estradiol-6-oxime-BSA and progesterone-3-oxime-BSA was applied to the smear specimens and freeze-dry sections that had been incubated with these steroids. In 6 cases, there was a mixed cell-population with or without nuclear fluorescence to estradiol and progesterone. The cellular heterogeneity with respect to nuclear fluorescence was confirmed by the immunofluorescent technique applied to the freeze-dry sections. Two cases showed weak cytoplasmic fluorescence to estradiol and progesterone, but nuclear fluorescence was negative. In 3 cases, there was no immunoreactivity to these steroids. One case exhibited the similar distributional patterns of cytoplasmic and nuclear fluorescence to those of normal endometrial cells. These results indicated that in endometrial cancer, there were some impairments of subcellular steroid dynamics in comparison with those of normal cells and that cellular heterogeneity of the steroid reactivity might exist in some cases.

[Double-blind comparison of L-keflex and cephalexin (Keflex) in dental infections (author's transl)]

In order to evaluate efficacy and safety of L-Keflex (granule form of sustained release cephalexin), a double blind study comparing it with Keflex (capsule of regular cephalexin) was conducted in dental infections. Evaluable cases in adults for efficacy of the drugs were 196 consisting of 97 for L-Keflex and 99 for Keflex. Those in children were 19 (8 for L-Keflex and 11 for Keflex). There were no significant differences in background of the patients and severity of the diseases between both groups (L-Keflex and Keflex groups). The daily doses used in both groups were 1,000 mg in adults and 500 mg in children, respectively. The dose was given in two divided doses for L-Keflex group and in four divided doses for Keflex group. Following are evaluation by the committee members for the study: Adults 1. Clinical response rate at final therapy day was 93.8% in L-Keflex group and 92.9% in Keflex group, showing no significant difference between both groups. 2. No significant difference in severity of subjective and objective symptoms between both groups was observed at each therapy day. 3. Side effects were found in 6.7% of 105 patients receiving L-Keflex and in 5.6% of 107 patients with Keflex, and there was no significant difference between both groups. As the side effects, gastrointestinal symptoms, rash and itching were observed, but no any other side effects were found in both groups. Children 1. As shown in the above, number of the cases enough to evaluate statistically was not obtained, but all of both groups clinically responded to the drugs. 2. As for side effects diarrhea was observed in only one patient of Keflex group consisting of 12 patients. In the patient, however, discontinuation of the drug was not required and the side effect disappeared during the therapy. From the above results, L-Keflex (granule) is judged to have more convenience than Keflex (capsule) in that (1) it can be administered with b.i.d. regimen and (2) it can be easily taken in dental patients such as patients having difficulty in opening mouth of swallowing pain.

Combined protein and DNA measurements by the ninhydrin-Schiff and Feulgen techniques

Feulgen nuclear staining with pararosanilin-SO2 was combined with the ninhydrin-Schiff technique. The aldehyde groups converted from primary amino groups are stained with an acriflavine-Schiff reaction. This results in a red nuclear fluorescence and a bright yellow cytoplasmic and nuclear fluorescence. The combined fluorescence staining facilitates cytofluorometric determination of total protein and DNA in the same cell. The ninhydrin-Schiff reaction is affected by the fixation procedure and the duration of the ninhydrin reaction. Investigations with a model system showed that proportionality between the fluorescence intensity of acriflavine and the amount of protein stained by the procedure was obtained after fixation with a fixation mixture suggested by Böhm et al. (1968) and a reaction with ninhydrin at 37 degrees C for 10 h. The ninhydrin-Schiff reaction has no effect on the fluorescence intensity of cells previously treated with pararosanilin-Feulgen staining and it is not affected itself by this previous procedure. Testing this double fluorescence staining on cytology specimens taken from patients with gastric carcinoma and uterine cervial carcinoma, cancer cells were shown to have markedly increased protein and DNA contents compared with those of normal cells.

The carpal tunnel syndrome: localization of conduction abnormalities within the distal segment of the median nerve

Palmar stimulation was used to assess median nerve conduction across the carpal tunnel in 61 control patients and 105 patients with the carpal tunnel syndrome. With serial stimulation from midpalm to distal forearm the sensory axons normally showed a predictable latency change of 0.16 to 0.21 ms/cm as the stimulus site was moved proximally in 1 cm increments. In 47 (52 per cent) of 91 affected nerves tested serially, there was a sharply localized latency increase across a 1 cm segment, most commonly 2 to 4 cm distally to the origin of the transverse carpal ligament. In these hands, the focal latency change across the affected 1 cm segment (mean +/- SD: 0.80 +/- 0.22 ms/cm) averaged more than four times that of the adjoining distal (0.19 +/- 0.09 ms/cm) or proximal 1 cm segments (0.19 +/- 0.08 ms/cm). In the remaining 44 (48 per cent) hands, the latency increase was distributed more evenly across the carpal tunnel. Unlike the sensory axons the motor axons were difficult to test serially because of the recurrent course of the thenar nerve, which may be contained in a separate tunnel. The wrist-to-palm latency was significantly greater in the patients with carpal tunnel syndromes than in the controls for sensory (2.18 +/- 0.48 ms v 1.41 +/- 0.18 ms) and motor axons (2.79 +/- 0.93 ms v 1.50 +/- 0.21 ms). Consequently, there was considerable difference between the carpal tunnel syndromes and controls in SNCV (38.5 +/- 7.5 m/s v 57.3 +/- 6.9 m/s), and MNCV (28.2 +/- 4.5 m/s v 49.0 +/- 5.7 m/s). In the remaining distal segment, however, there was only a small difference between the two groups in sensory (1.48 +/- 0.28 ms v 1.41 +/- 0.22 ms) and motor latency (2.15 +/- 0.34 ms v 2.10 +/- 0.31 ms). The exclusion of the relatively normal distal latency made it possible to demonstrate mild slowing across the carpal tunnel in 36 (21 per cent) sensory and 40 (23 per cent) motor axons of 172 affected nerves when the conventional terminal latencies were normal. Sensory or motor conduction abnormalities were found in all but 13 (8 per cent) hands. Without palmar stimulation, however, an additional 32 (19 per cent) hands would have been regarded as normal.

Distal slowing of motor nerve conduction velocity in diabetic polyneuropathy

Using the latencies of M response and F wave, motor nerve conduction was assessed along the entire course of the nerve from the spinal cord to the muscle in 102 diabetics and 74 control patients. In diabetics, latencies were increased and conduction velocity decreased over both proximal and distal segments. However, the latency ratio of the proximal to distal segment (F ratio) was slightly but significantly smaller in diabetics (mean +/- SD:0.93 +/- 0.14, 1.35 +/- 0.20, 1.09 +/- 0.19 and 1.02 +/- 0.19 for median, ulnar, tibial and peroneal nerves, respectively) than in control patients (1.05 +/- 0.09, 1.41 +/- 0.12, 1.17 +/- 0.13 and 1.08 +/- 0.12). These findings suggest that motor conduction abnormalities in diabetic polyneuropathy are diffuse over the total length of the nerve, but more intense in the distal than proximal segment. An additional finding in diabetics was that both proximal and distal segments were more frequently affected in the lower than in the upper extremities.

Alpha-pattern coma in a 2-year-old child

An EEG of a two-year-old child with Reye's syndrome complicated by prolonged hypoglycemia showed continuous, diffusely distributed, 8- to 9-Hz, well-modulated alpha activity while the patient was comatose. Continuous monitoring of EEG showed gradual reduction of alpha activity and the appearance of moderate-amplitude delta waves within the next 18 hours. Subsequent EEGs showed electrocerebral silence. The EEG features and their evolution resembled those described in postanoxic "alpha-pattern coma" in adults. A diffuse cortical-subcortical insult, possibly due to hypoglycemia, may be responsible for the generation of diffuse alpha activity in our case. Because of its transient nature, immediate and serial EEG studies following the acute cerebral insult may be necessary to demonstrate this pattern in children.

A fast-recovery electrode amplifier for electrophysiology

To overcome the problem of amplifier 'blocking time' due to stimulus artifact, a fast-recovery electrode amplifier is developed. The design of this amplifier and its application to a clinical EMG unit is discussed.

Refractory period of human motor nerve fibres

Using a collision technique, the ulnar nerve was made refractory for a shorter distance normally covered in 0.5 ms or a longer distance covered in 1.5 ms. Studying the shorter refractory segment with paired shocks of maximal intensity, the test response first appeared (more than 5% of unconditioned response) at an interstimulus interval of 1.16 +/- 0.18 ms (mean +/- SD in 20 ulnar nerves). The conduction velocity of the test impulse then was 55.3% +/- 19.2% of normal. Recovery in amplitude of the test response was nearly complete (more than 95%) at 2.11 +/- 0.50 ms, when it was conducting at a speed of 81.2 +/- 17.4% of normal. The conduction velocity recovered to a level above 95% of normal at 2.65 +/- 0.65 ms. Whereas recovery in amplitude of the test response was unrelated to the length of the refractory segment, change in latency was greater with the longer refractory segment, although not in proportion to the distance.

A method for determining median nerve conduction velocity across the carpal tunnel

Palmar stimulation was used to assess median nerve conduction across the carpal tunnel. In 50 hands from 25 control subjects, motor and sensory latencies in the wrist-to-palm segment (mean +/- SD: 1.15 +/- 0.21 msec and 1.12 +/- 0.21 msec respectively) were less than half the conventional terminal latencies in the wrist-to-muscle and wrist-to-digit segment (3.01 +/- 0.44 msec and 2.47 +/- 0.39 msec). Motor and sensory conduction velocities (MNCV and SNCV) in the wrist-to-palm segment (56.0 +/- 7.6 m/sec and 58.7 +/- 7.5 m/sec respectively) were comparable to those in the elbow-to-wrist segment (57.0 +/- 4.5 m/sec and 62.4 +/- 5.7 m/sec). In 20 symptomatic hands from 13 patients with mild carpal tunnel syndrome, delay in motor and sensory terminal latencies (3.91 +/- 0.67 msec and 2.90 +/- 0.57 msec) was primarily attributable to increased conduction time in the wrist-to-palm segment (1.96 +/- 0.59 msec and 1.58 +/- 0.49 msec) and not in the remaining more distal portions. Consequently, MNCV and SNCV were significantly (P less than 0.001) slowed when calculated in the segment across the carpal tunnel (36.6 +/- 11.2 m/sec and 44.9 +/- 11.8 m/sec), even though the conventional terminal latencies from the stimulus site at the wrist were often within normal limits.

Studies on the adjuvant effect of water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) emulsion of sesame oil. 2. Mode of action of the w/o/w emulsion

The water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) emulsion showed potent adjuvant effect on the antibody formation to thymus-dependent antigens, but not to thymus-independent antigens. In hapten-carrier system the priming with carrier in the w/o/w emulsion enhanced more effectively the carrier specific helper function than did the priming with carrier in free solution. The cells responsible for the helper function were radioresistant. In the adoptive cell transfer system, the w/o/w emulsion was shown to enhance helper cell function. It is discussed that our w/o/w emulsion exerts the adjuvant effect by enhancing helper T cell activity.

The effect of induced hyperthermia on the blink reflex in multiple sclerosis

In 76 patients with multiple sclerosis, the blink reflex was elicted electrically at normal body temperature and during induced hyperthermia to observe the effect on conduction within the reflex pathway through the brainstem. Special attention was directed to 31 patients with electrophysiologic evidence of reflex slowing, presumably because of demyelination in the reflex pathway. Hyperthermia did not induce any significant changes in mean reflex latency, amplitude, or duration in either the overall group of 76 or in the 31 patients with baseline blink reflex abnormalities. While the mean reflex latency did not change, 13 (33 percent) of 39 abnormal R1 responses from the 31 patients changed by 1.5 msec or more during hyperthermia, whereas change of similar magnitude was noted in only three (3 percent) of 90 normal R1 responses.

Proximal versus distal slowing of motor nerve conduction velocity in the Guillain-Barré syndrome

Using the F wave, a simple equation was devised to calculate the ratio between motor nerve conduction time from the spinal cord to the stimulus site and that of the remaining nerve segment to the muscle (F ratio). In 33 healthy subjects the F ratio (mean +/- SD) was close to unity for the median nerve (1.04 +/- 0.09) with stimulation at the elbow and for the peroneal (1.11 +/- 0.09) and tibial nerves (1.17 +/- 0.10) with stimulation at the knee. Thus, in these nerves, the time required for the passage of impulses from the cord to the site of stimulation is approximately the same as that from the stimulus site to the muscle. The ratio was significantly more for the ulnar nerve (1.40 +/- 0.11) with stimulation below the elbow. Of 126 nerves in the upper and lower extremities from 45 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome, the F ratio was normal in 65 (51%), increased in 30 (24%), and decreased in 31 (25%). The mean F ratios remained normal in median (1.12 +/- 0.40), ulnar (1.38 +/- 0.30), peroneal (1.07 +/- 0.25), and tibial (1.12 +/- 0.20) nerves. These findings together with the results of nerve conduction studies indicate that the conduction abnormality usually affects both proximal and distal segments in the Guillain-Barré syndrome. If selective, it is distributed at random between the two segments, but there is a tendency toward involvement of common sites of compression and the most proximal, possibly radicular, portion of the nerve.

Studies on the adjuvant effect of water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) emulsion of sesame oil. 1. Enhanced and persistent antibody formation by antigen incorporated into the water-in-oil-in-water emulsion

Water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) emulsion developed in our laboratory is as effective as water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion of Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA) in the stimulation of antibody formation. The emulsion is prepared by redispersion of water-in-sesame oil emulsion of an antigen solution in phosphate buffered saline with emulsifier, Tween 80. The emulsion can be stored at 4 degrees C for at least 3 months without any evidence of change in the adjuvanticity and in the w/o/w state. Even a single injection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the w/o/w emulsion elicited a high antibody response in mice over the period of almost whole lifespan. 10 microgram BSA in w/o/w could stimulate antibody formation up to 2(12) in hemagglutination titer, while the same dose in free solution did not elicit any detectable antibody. The tissue reactions caused by the w/o/w emulsion at the injected site and in the regional lymph nodes were much less prominent than those by FIA.

Somatosensory-evoked potentials elecited by bilateral stimulation of the median nerve and its clinical application

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) elicited by bilaterally simultaneous median nerve stimulation (BS) were studied in 28 normal subjects and in 20 patients with various cerebral lesions. In normals, SEP'S evoked by BS were symmetric between the homologous areas of the two hemispheres and resembled the response contralateral to unilateral stimulation (US). In patients with a cerebral lesion, BS responses were not only asymmetric but often differed in wave form from the response of the affected hemisphere to contralateral US. These alterations were attributed to the cumulative interactions of the anomalous contralateral and ipsilateral components. The additional use of BS made it possible to demonstrate SEP abnormalities that might have been regarded as normal or equivocal if only the US method had been used. The neurophysiologic mechanisms of the origin of SEP are discussed.

Steroidal control mechanism of cell proliferation in mouse uterine epithelium

The percentage of labeled cells in the uterine luminal epithelium of cycling mice showed the different zonal distributions at each stage of estrous cycle after cumulative labeling with 3H-thymidine for 36 hr. It was estimated that the proliferating fraction in the epithelium at proestrus, estrus, metestrus, and diestrus was 100%, 100%, 40% and 5%, respectively. The percentage of labeled cells in the uterine luminal epithelium of cycling mice treated with progesterone remained below 10% level for at least 20 hr after injections of progesterone. Total labeling was attained in the uterine epithelium of castrated mice by the administration of estradiol-17beta. On the other hand, the cell proliferation in the uterine epithelium of castrated mice treated with estradiol and progesterone was markedly suppressed and the percentage of labeled cells remained approximately at 35%. The remaining cell population, however, still showed the mitotic potency when mice received estradiol. It is suggested from this study that the effect of progesterone is to suppress the epithelial cell proliferation and transfer cells into resting cell fraction which is still evoked to proliferate as the effect of estradiol and that a key factor controlling epithelial proliferation in mouse uterus during the estrous cycle is proliferating fraction rather than cell cycle time.