Cerebello-brain stem orthochromatic leukodystrophy with floppiness and bulbar paralysis

A two year and ten-month-old girl with cerebello-brain stem leukodystrophy is presented. She was hypotonic with spasticity and showed delayed motor development until she was twelve months old, when regression of motor activities began. Progressive hypotonia, dysphagia and fatal respiratory abnormalities developed. Auditory brain stem response was absent. Pathological examination revealed primary demyelination with a predilection for the cerebellum, brain stem and spinal cord, in association with changes of the cerebellar cortex, pontine nuclei, inferior olivary nuclei and part of the basal ganglia. Clinical, pathological and biochemical studies revealed that this disease is different from metachromatic leukodystrophy, Krabbe's globoid cell leukodystrophy and adrenoleukodystrophy. The clinical entity of cerebello-brain stem orthochromatic leukodystrophy is discussed.

Lipid peroxidation as a possible cause of benzoyl peroxide toxicity in rabbit dental pulp--a microsomal lipid peroxidation in vitro

The toxicity of composite resin on rabbit dental pulp was investigated biochemically. A microsomal fraction of rabbit dental pulp was incubated with each of the components of composite resins, and the formation of peroxide was determined by the thiobarbituric acid reaction. Benzoyl peroxide (BPO), the most widely used catalyst, was the most effective on peroxidation, but monomers were not. Cations such as Cu2+ or Fe2+ were required for acceleration of this reaction. Authentic polyunsaturated fatty acids and phospholipids were extensively converted into their peroxides by BPO, but amino acids and carbohydrates were not. Among the active oxygens, hydroxyl radicals were thought to be responsible for BPO-dependent peroxidation. The results presented in this paper indicate that the lipid portion of the cells may be attacked by hydroxyl radicals produced by BPO and copper or iron. Therefore, BPO is considered to be the major factor responsible for the toxicity of composite resins.

Cytoplasmic tubular inclusion in ganglioneuroma

Unusual tubular inclusions were observed in the cytoplasm of ganglion cells of a mediastinal ganglioneuroma in a boy of 7 years. The inclusions consisted of an aggregation of about 100-nm-sized tubular structures resembling 'honeycomb-like' tubular structures in the axoplasm of rats and mice and suggested to be derived from dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum. These structures differ from profiles reported in normal and pathologic conditions and seem to be related to the neoplastic character of the ganglion cells.

Rocking phenomenon of Jones' tube in place. Its clinical importance

A Pyrex Jones' tube in normal position rocks simultaneously with eyelid motion. Anterior rhinoscopy shows this phenomenon. To prevent the tube's repeated submergence in tissues, the tube should be long enough to touch the nasal septum as it rocks. It will not interfere with the tear drainage except in an infection or allergy of the upper respiratory tract.

[Glioblastoma and fibrosarcoma in the brain with metaplastic bone formation--a case report]

The authors report a case in which left deep temporal fibrosarcoma with calcified area developed about 6 months after radiation therapy for left temporal astrocytoma. A 37 year-old woman was admitted to our clinic because of headache and visual deterioration. CT scan and angiography suggested left deep temporal glioma and on August 5, 1980, partial resection was performed. Histological sections showed astrocytoma G 2. Postoperative course was uneventful and she left the hospital after radiation therapy of 50 Gy. On March, 1981, right hemiparesis was noticed and progressed rapidly. CT scan suggested left temporal tumor recurred. On March 30, 1981, second operation was performed and this time, histological sections showed glioblastoma. After operation, beta-Interferon (IFN) was given intratumorally via Ommaya's reservoir (3 X 10(6) IU, daily). But in spite of IFN therapy, tumor became larger and she died on June 30, 1981. Autopsy revealed coexistence of glioblastoma and fibrosarcoma with metaplastic bone formation. A brief discussion concerning the problem of cerebral mixed tumors follows the description of the case.

Appearance of intoxication in rats by intraperitoneal administration of clioquinol

The investigation was undertaken to study the neurological symptoms in rats caused by maintaining high plasma concentration of about 30 nmol/ml or more, of clioquinol. Clioquinol suspension which was prepared using polysorbate 80 was administered intraperitoneally to rats and plasma and tissue concentrations were determined. On administration of clioquinol of 100 and 200 mg/kg, the mean plasma concentrations of clioquinol reached maximum values of 30 and 58 nmol/ml, respectively, after 0.5-1 h and thereafter decreased rapidly. With 400 mg/kg, however, plasma concentration reached maximum value of about 75 nmol/ml and fell slowly. By single and repeated administration of the suspension, clioquinol was distributed in the liver and kidney at a high concentration, and also in the nervous system. In experiments on appearance of neurotoxicity in rats by repeated administration of the suspension, all of 10 rats administered intraperitoneally with 100 mg/kg/d did not develop any neurological symptoms for about 30 d. On the other hand, one of 10 and 7 of 13 rats administered with 200 and 400 mg/kg/d, respectively, developed ataxia in the hind legs or all legs on the 3rd to the 12th day after starting administration. Pathologically, a slight change of the peripheral nerve, central chromatolysis of the anterior horn neuron and severe neuronal degeneration of the Ammon's horn were observed in the rats with ataxia.

"Silicone-octopus repair" of lacrimal obstructions in children

Nineteen pediatric cases of lacrimal obstruction due to acquired disorders were repaired by a modification of the conventional silicone intubation procedure. This new operation employs an increased number of silicone strands within the lower excretory system. Sixteen patients had very good results and two were improved; there was one failure. This procedure is indicated in children with combined common canalicular and nasolacrimal duct obstruction.

Poly-adenosine diphosphate ribose autoantibody in systemic lupus erythematosus and other related autoimmune diseases

The binding activities of poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose (ADPR) and ds-DNA were measured in the sera of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other collagen diseases in comparison with normal subjects. High polyADPR binding activity was detected in the SLE sera. The polyADPR binding assay was as sensitive as the DNA binding assay for diagnosing SLE. In SLE sera, the increased polyADPR binding activity was correlated with that of ds-DNA and negatively with the complement (CH50) titer. With improvement of clinical symptoms of SLE, the binding activity of polyADPR decreased in parallel to the binding activity of ds-DNA and opposite to the CH50 titer. The polyADPR binding activity was occasionally high in other collagen diseases. Effects of steroid treatment of SLE on the binding activities of polyADPR and ds-DNA, and CH50 titer were examined over half a year, indicating that both binding activities are reliable parameters for judgment of the clinical course.

Cholesterol esters in rat brain infected with acute measles encephalitis: concentration and fatty acid composition

The present study deals with the concentration and fatty acid composition of cholesterol esters in rat brains infected experimentally with measles virus to induce acute encephalitis. The left side of the cerebrum, as well as other portions of the brain, when inoculated percutaneously contained a large amount of cholesterol esters. The major fatty acids from the esters in the brain were C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, and C18:1; those from the serum were C18:1, C18:2, and C20:4. This result indicates that cholesterol esters may not come from serum but can be synthesized in situ, even in the brain with acute viral infection.

Familial amyloid polyneuropathy with marked hypertrophy of the peripheral nerves

Autopsy findings in a 40-year-old male with heredofamilial amyloidosis and polyneuropathy are reported. He had been suffering from progressive autonomic as well as sensorimotor dysfunctions. Prominent amyloid deposit was found in the kidney, heart, thyroid, and testis, and less in the interstitium and small vessels of almost all organs. The peripheral nerves, some showing prominent hypertrophy, were most severely involved by amyloid deposit in a form of stellate mass, which ultrastructurally consisted of radially arranged amyloid filaments. In the hypertrophied nerves and ganglia, in addition to amyloid, massive accumulation of acid mucopolysaccharide (AMPS) was seen filling up the interstitial space, which was the cause of hypertrophy. Ultrastructurally, AMPS was seen as finely granular substance. An extracted amyloid from the kidney showed 8 nm filament on negative staining and was estimated of having a molecular weight of 14,000.

Neurovirulence of murine coronavirus JHM temperature-sensitive mutants in rats

The murine coronavirus strain JHM is highly neurotropic in rats and has a marked tendency to cause demyelinating central nervous system diseases after intracerebral inoculation. The clinical diseases observed range from an acute encephalomyelitis occurring within 2 weeks postinfection to a subacute demyelinating encephalomyelitis developing several weeks or months postinfection. Uncloned wild-type virus induced both acute and subacute diseases, whereas cloned JHM virus grown in tissue culture caused only acute disease without the pronounced lesions of primary demyelination. In contrast, temperature-sensitive mutants selected from that clone were capable of inducing subacute demyelinating encephalomyelitis after prolonged incubation times. Viruses recovered from diseased animals were still temperature sensitive. Inoculation of temperature-sensitive mutants into suckling rats (age, 10 to 15 days) produced high rates of subacute demyelinating diseases running a more chronic course; these diseases often were not fatal. Those rats which did not show clinical signs frequently revealed inflammatory demyelinating lesions. These findings indicate that the rate and type of clinical disease are dependent on the neurovirulence of the virus mutant used for inoculation and the age of the animals at the time of infection.

Thymidine factor in human cord sera and relationship to birth size, gestational age and insulin

Thymidine factor was studied in human cord sera from 44 neonates with gestational ages ranging between 36 and 43 weeks. Thymidine factor was determined by the uptake of 6-3H-thymidine using isolated chick embryo cartilage cells. The thymidine factors increased with gestational age and those of neonates at 40 weeks of gestation were 0.89 +/- 0.17 U/ml (mean +/- SD), but were significantly lower after 42 weeks of gestation. There was no correlation between thymidine factor in cord sera and birth weight or size. There was a positive correlation (p less than 0.02) between insulin level and thymidine factor in cord sera. Our data suggest that somatomedin measured as thymidine factor might not have a major role in fetal growth and insulin might be an important factor in the synthesis of somatomedin by the fetus.

Chronic recurrent demyelinating encephalomyelitis associated with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

A man aged 31 with remittent fever, leukopenia, polyuria, and splenomegaly in addition to chronic and recurrent episodes of neurologic abnormalities was examined pathologically. A chronic type of perivenous encephalomyelitis was found in the CNS, and chronic inflammatory lesions were noticed in the infundibulo-hypophyseal system and also in the peripheral nerves. Moreover, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis predominated in the reticuloendothelial system. This seemed to be the first adult case of demyelinating disease with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Molecular cloning, genomic analysis, and biological properties of rat leukemia virus and the onc sequences of Rasheed rat sarcoma virus

Rasheed rat sarcoma virus (RaSV) has been shown to code for a protein of 29,000 Mr not present in replication-competent rat type C helper virus (RaLV)-infected cells. This protein is a fused gene product consisting of a portion of the RaLV p15 gag protein and the transformation-specific 21,000 Mr (p21) ras protein, which is also found in Harvey murine sarcoma virus. We now report the molecular cloning of both the SD-1 (Sprague-Dawley) strain of RaLV and the transforming ras sequences of RaSV. Heteroduplex analysis of these cloned DNAs demonstrated that the RaSV ras gene (v-Ra-ras) was inserted into the rat type C viral genome with a small deletion of RaLV genetic information in the 5' region of the gag gene and that the v-Ra-ras gene (0.72 kilobase pair) is homologous to and colinear with the p21 ras gene of Harvey murine sarcoma virus (v-Ha-ras). Restriction enzyme mapping confirmed the homology demonstrated by heteroduplex mapping, showing strong site conservation of restriction endonucleases known to cleave v-Ha-ras. Cloned v-Ra-ras DNA transformed NIH 3T3 cells, inducing the synthesis of the p29 RaSVgag-ras protein.

Occurrence of drug resistance in human tumor implanted in nude mice

A line of human breast tumor xenograft in nude mouse, MX-1, acquired resistance to vincristine or mitomycin C during multiple treatments; both drugs were effective against the parent line of this tumor. If the treatment was started when the tumor was smaller than 500 mm3 in size, MX-1 was responsive to the initial treatment with vincristine (0.8 mg/kg) or mitomycin C (3.4 mg/kg), and some animals survived with complete regression of the tumor. However, some of the recurrent tumors were able to tolerate multiple treatments with either of these agents, and finally acquired apparent resistance to the agent. On the other hand, when tumors larger than 5,000 mm3 were treated with vincristine, the occurrence of resistance was observed with much higher frequency than when small tumors were treated. Resistant tumors thus obtained exhibited significant refractoriness to each agent when they were reimplanted in new mice and treated in the same manner. This suggests that the occurrence of resistance can be ascribed to changes not in metabolic functions of the host animal but in the tumor cell populations.

[Schmidt Ruppin-D-ASV-induced primary rat brain tumor model for therapeutic screening]

It is important to evaluate the therapeutic and side effects of new therapy for malignant brain tumors in an adequate animal model prior to its initial clinical investigation. For decades, neurooncologists have argued for the use of primary, autochthonous tumors rather than transplanted tumors such as C 6 glioma cells and 9 L gliosarcoma cells. But unfortunately, no spontaneous animal astrocytomas are currently available as usable models. So we tried to establish the model of primary, autochthonous avian sarcoma virus-induced rat gliomas for experimental chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The present study was undertaken to determine the incidence and histologic pattern of tumors and the mean survival time of the animal model used. It was found that the intracerebral inoculation of 2 X 10(6) FFU/5 microliter of infectious cell free homogeneous subgroup D Schmidt-Ruppin avian sarcoma virus (SR-D-ASV) into 3-day-old inbred Fischer 344 rats induced small sized tumors in all rats 20 days later. The mean survival time of inoculated rats were 58.7 +/- 12 days. As to the classification of SR-D-ASV induced brain tumors in Fischer rats, astrocytoma was 70.6% (protoplasmic astrocytoma 23.5%, fibrillary astrocytoma 47.1%), sarcoma 17.6%, and mixed astrocytoma and sarcoma 11.8%. In conclusion, this SR-D-ASV induced tumor in the rat fulfilled the following criteria for the desirable animal model: (1) Spontaneously arising. (2) Glial origin. (3) Intraparenchymal growth. (4) Uniformly fatal within reasonable time period. Statistic evaluation of the effects of chemotherapy and immunotherapy was considered to be possible.