Reduced p27Kip1 expression in hepatocellular carcinomas

This study was designed to determine whether changes in p27Kip1 expression are involved in human hepatocarcinogenesis. We examined the p27Kip1 mRNA expression in hepatocellular carcinomas and surrounding non-cancerous liver tissue samples from 21 patients using a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay. The mean p27Kip1 mRNA expression levels (ratio of p27Kip1/beta-actin mRNA) were significantly lower in hepatocellular carcinomas than in non-cancerous liver tissues (0.49 +/- 0.24 versus 0.57 +/- 0.22, P < 0.05). p27Kip1 mRNA expression was reduced in 11 (52%) of the 21 hepatocellular carcinomas when compared with the surrounding non-cancerous liver tissues. These findings suggest that reduced p27Kip1 expression may be at least partly responsible for human hepatocarcinogenesis.

A mesenteric liposarcoma with production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor

A 77-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because of pyrexia and a right retroperitoneal mass. Leukocytosis and other inflammatory findings were noted. Bone-marrow aspiration revealed hypercellularity with no malignant cells. An additional mass was detected sonographically in the pelvis. The serum concentration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was highly elevated (299 pg/ml). The tumors were removed at laparotomy, and the pelvic mass was found to arise from the ileocecal mesentery. Postoperatively, white blood cell count and serum G-CSF concentrations decreased to normal levels. The mesenteric tumor showed weakly positive immunostaining for human G-CSF, and Northern and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses detected CSF and its mRNA in the mesenteric tumor.

Natural history and prognosis of adenomatous hyperplasia and early hepatocellular carcinoma: multi-institutional analysis of 53 nodules followed up for more than 6 months and 141 patients with single early hepatocellular carcinoma treated by surgical resection or percutaneous ethanol injection

BACKGROUND

The natural history and posttherapeutic outcome of adenomatous hyperplasia and early hepatocellular carcinoma have rarely been analyzed.

METHODS

Fifty-three hepatic tumors diagnosed as adenomatous hyperplasia or early hepatocellular carcinoma and followed up for more than 6 months and 141 patients with single early hepatocellular carcinoma treated by surgical resection or ethanol injection were collected retrospectively and analyzed.

RESULTS

Some of the adenomatous hyperplasias developed to early and to advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Tumors tended to grow faster in the order adenomatous hyperplasia, early hepatocellular carcinoma and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, with respective mean (SD) tumor volume doubling times of 21.2 (10.7), 13.9 (11.7) and 6.0 (5.2) months. Overall survival rates at 5 years in 53 patients treated by surgery and 88 patients treated by ethanol injection were 89.6 and 71.9%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Progression of adenomatous hyperplasia and early HCC was confirmed pathologically. Early HCC was shown to have a good prognosis.

[Tracheal obstruction caused by bucking during general anesthesia in a patient with a mediastinal tumor]

An eleven-year-old girl underwent an open biopsy of a mediastinal tumor extending from the foreneck to the tracheal carina under general anesthesia. Immediately following the bucking developed at the end of the surgery, she fell into serious ventilatory difficulty. A bronchoscopic examination revealed that the tracheal membrane had protruded into the tracheal lumen by its contraction concurring with the bucking, resulting in the obstruction of the endotracheal tube outlet. Endotracheal anesthesia might accompany tracheal stenosis by bucking, particularly in patients with a tumor surrounding the trachea.

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness, hypersensitivity to analgesics and urinary leukotriene E4 excretion in patients with aspirin-intolerant asthma

This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of cromolyn sodium on airway sensitivity to sulpyrine, and bronchial responsiveness to methacholine, and to investigate whether this protective activity is associated with reduction in aspirin-induced excretion of urinary leukotriene E4 (u-LTE4), a marker of the cysteinyl LT overproduction that participates in the pathogenesis of aspirin-induced asthma. We assessed the effects of pretreatment with cromolyn sodium on bronchoconstriction precipitated by inhalation of methacholine and sulpyrine in 16 adult patients with mild or moderate aspirin-intolerant asthma; those who were in stable clinical condition and were hypersensitive to a sulpyrine provocation test were included in this study. A double-blind, randomized, crossover design was used. u-LTE4 was measured using combined reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography enzyme immunoassay. Cromolyn sodium protected against analgesic-induced bronchoconstriction through mechanisms that are not related to its bronchodilator property, but to the improvement of both bronchial hyperresponsiveness and hypersensitivity to analgesics (p<0.01 and p<0.001). Although excretion of u-LTE4 did not increase after the methacholine provocation test, it significantly increased after sulpyrine provocation (p<0.01). Furthermore, after pretreatment with cromolyn sodium, the maximum level of u-LTE4 after the sulpyrine provocation test was significantly lower than in controls (p<0.01). These results support the hypothesis that cysteinyl LT is one of the most important components in the pathogenesis of aspirin-intolerant asthma. Cromolyn sodium improves both hypersensitivity to analgesics, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in aspirin-intolerant asthma.

[Cancer-associated gene abnormalities and chemosensitivity]

One of the most important clinical issues in cancer chemotherapy is the presence of intrinsic resistance or the appearance of acquired resistance against chemotherapy. As for intrinsic resistance, we had to perform direct chemo-sensitivity testing, or had to rely on the knowledge empirically acquired from randomized clinical trials. However, molecular or genetic markers associated with chemo-sensitivity have been reported recently. For example, inactivation of p53 or GML gene has been reported to be associated with chemo-resistance. Overexpression of topo-isomerase I has been reported to be associated with chemo-sensitivity to Topo I inhibitor. Overexpression of Thymidine Phosphorylase has been found to be associated with chemo-sensitivity to prodrug of 5-FU. By checking the status of such chemo-sensitivity markers prior to chemotherapy, it would be possible to predict the chemotherapeutic effect and even the necessity of the chemotherapy in the near future. In this article, we review the chemo-sensitivity markers reported so far, and methodology contributing to the discovery of new chemo-sensitivity markers. As a clinical study, 11 cases of ovarian cancer with high sensitivity to cisplatin-based chemotherapy and 29 cases of ovarian cancer with chemoresistance were analyzed by Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH). Copy number decrease in Xp, and copy number increase in 19q were observed in 13, 12 out of 29 resistant cases (45, 41%) and zero, 1 out of 11 sensitive cases (0, 9%), suggesting that -Xp and +19q were likely to be a genetic event associated with intrinsic drug-resistance (p = 0.006, 0.05, respectively). This effort should contribute to the discovery of new chemo-sensitivity and resistance markers.

Average thresholds in the 8 to 20 kHz range as a function of age

The sound-pressure thresholds at the extended high frequencies of 8-20 kHz were measured for 65 normal subjects aged between 10 and 69 years. The results are not unlike those obtained by previous investigators. The thresholds increased gradually as a function of frequency, except around 12 kHz and above 19 kHz, and also as a function of age. To clarify the connections between threshold, frequency and age, we introduced the regression lines for the threshold by analysing two ranges of frequencies (8-10 kHz and 14-19 kHz) and determining their slopes and intercepts. The regression line analysis reveals that the thresholds at 8-10 kHz tend to increase more at higher frequencies as subject age increased above 30 to 39 years, and those at 14-19 kHz increase translationally with increase of age. Our results did not contradict earlier reports on the pathological changes of the inner ear.

Average thresholds in the 8 to 20 kHz range in young adults

The sound-pressure level thresholds in the extended high-frequency range (8 to 20 kHz) were measured in 25 non-hearing-impaired young adults from 20 to 29 years of age. The result was not unlike that obtained by previous investigators; the thresholds increased gradually as a function of frequency. However, two notable points were found: one that the threshold reached a plateau above 18 kHz, and the other that it decreased slightly at 12 kHz. As the subjects might respond to the low-frequency noise of the stimulus wave, the threshold became a plateau above 18 kHz. An acoustic resonance in the ear canal caused the threshold to decrease at 12 kHz. In clinical studies of extended high-frequency audiometry, the threshold data should be carefully evaluated above 18 kHz and at 12 kHz.

Evidence for the archaebacterial-type conformation about the bond between the beta-ionone ring and the polyene chain of the chromophore retinal in chlamyrhodopsin

Previous studies using retinal analogs (Wada, A., Sakai, M., Kinumi, T., Tsujimoto, K., Yamauchi, M. and Ito, M. (1994) J. Org. Chem. 59, 6992-6997; Wada, A., Sakai, M., Imamoto, Y., Shichida., Y., Yoshizawa, T. and Ito, M. (1993) Chem. Pharm. Bull. 41, 793-795) revealed that both retinochrome and visual pigments share a common chromophoric conformation in which the ring region of retinal is twisted ca. 50 degrees with respect to the plane of the polyene chain, suggesting a highly conserved 6-s-cis conformation throughout rhodopsin-like pigments in animals. By contrast, 6-s-trans conformation was commonly observed or suggested in archaebacterial rhodopsins examined thus far. Here we have reconstituted in vivo both the photoreceptor for photobehavioral responses of the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the second archaeal sensory photoreceptor phoborhodopsin from a series of retinal analogs. Results exclusively point to the conclusion that in both photoreceptors retinal has the coplanar 6-s-trans conformation, though recent molecular cloning studies revealed no homology between Chlamydomonas photoreceptor (chlamyrhodopsin) and archaeal rhodopsins.

Determination of serum physiological concentration of methylmalonic acid by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring

We developed a sensitive assay for the rapid determination of serum methylmalonic acid concentration using capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with selected ion monitoring and a simple solid-phase extraction. The assay was linear up to 10,000 nmol/L and had a detection limit < 50 nmol/L, average recovery of 98% and between-day coefficient of variation at concentrations of 570 and 2206 nmol/L of 7.7% and 5.4%, respectively (n = 25). Comparison with another validated GC/MS method using sera with a wide range of methylmalonic acid concentrations (94-2020 nmol/L) revealed a slope and intercept of 0.97 and 17 nmol/L, respectively (n = 38). Methylmalonic acid concentrations determined by this assay in a group of apparently healthy individuals ranged from 64-331 nmol/L (n = 81). We conclude that the method is ideally suited for the determination of methylmalonic acid at physiological concentrations in both clinical and research laboratories.

Beta-catenin mutation in carcinoma of the uterine endometrium

Beta-catenin forms complexes with Tcf and Lef-1 and functions as a transcriptional activator downstream of the Wnt signaling pathway. Activation of the pathway by stabilization of beta-catenin has been shown to be important in the development of colorectal carcinoma, which is mainly caused by inactivating mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor gene or by activating mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene. Here, we analyzed mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene in endometrial carcinoma cases in which loss of heterozygosity at the adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor gene locus has been rarely reported. We found that 10 of 76 cases had beta-catenin gene mutations. All mutations identified were single-base missense mutations on serine/threonine residues (codons 33, 37, 41, and 45), altering the glycogen synthase kinase-3beta phosphorylation consensus motif, which participates in the degradation of beta-catenin. To determine whether these beta-catenin mutations actually led to stabilization of this protein, expression of beta-catenin was analyzed immunohistochemically, and 9 of 10 cases with the beta-catenin mutation and 20 of 66 cases without it showed accumulation of beta-catenin in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus. In total, 38% of cases showed accumulation of beta-catenin. These data indicate that stabilization of beta-catenin due to mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene and other mechanisms may have an important role in development of endometrial carcinomas.

Successful predilation of a resistant, heavily calcified lesion with cutting balloon for coronary stenting: a case report

A 65-year-old man with a restenotic lesion of the mid LAD was scheduled for Wiktor stent placement. The IVUS revealed circumferential severe calcification. Two conventional, non-compliant angioplasty balloons inflated to high pressures failed to achieved sufficient dilatation and both ruptured. At this point, we selected high pressure inflation of the Cutting Balloon. The Cutting Balloon achieved adequate dilation for stenting and proved to be useful in predilating a circumferential, heavily calcified lesion.

Roles of brain angiotensin II and C-type natriuretic peptide in deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt hypertension in rats

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the roles of brain angiotensin II and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) in the hypertensive mechanism of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension.

METHODS

We injected 50 microg/kg CV-11 974, an angiotensin II type-1 receptors antagonist, 30 nmol/kg CNP-22, or the vehicle (artificial cerebrospinal fluid) into the cerebral ventricle or intravenously 5 min before the intracerebroventricular infusion of 1.5 mol/I NaCl solution for 30 min into either male normotensive Wistar rats or DOCA-salt hypertensive rats anesthetized with urethane, and their arterial pressures and heart rates were continuously recorded. Blood (2 ml) was collected at the end of the infusion for the measurement of plasma concentration of arginine vasopressin. We infused 10 or 50 microg/kg per day CV-11 974, 10 or 50 nmol/kg per day CNP-22, or the vehicle (1 microl/h) into the cerebral ventricles of DOCA-salt hypertensive rats for 7 days by using osmotic minipumps, and measured their systolic arterial pressures, pulse rates, and urinary excretions of vasopressin.

RESULTS

Intracerebroventricular pre-administrations of CV-11 974 and of CNP-22 inhibited increases in mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and plasma vasopressin concentration induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of 1.5 mol/l NaCl into normotensive rats; increases in hemodynamics and plasma level of vasopressin induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of 1.5 mol/l NaCl were suppressed by intracerebroventricular pre-injections of CV-11 974, but not of CNP-22, into DOCA-salt hypertensive rats. Continuous intracerebroventricular infusions of 50 microg/kg per day CV-11 974 attenuated hypertension in DOCA-salt treated rats, accompanied by a reduction in urinary excretion of vasopressin. Continuous intracerebroventricular infusions of 50 nmol/kg per day CNP-22, however, affected neither hypertension nor urinary excretion of vasopressin in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats.

CONCLUSION

Brain angiotensin II could play a role in the pressor mechanism of DOCA-salt hypertension by increasing release of vasopressin via type 1 receptors. That brain CNP has an inhibitory effect on release of vasopressin in acute experiments indicates that the impairment of this inhibitory effect of brain CNP on secretion of vasopressin could be involved in the pathogenesis of DOCA-salt hypertension in rats.

[A clinical investigation of bacteremia for the past ten years at the Second Department of Internal Medicine, Jikei University Hospital]

We clinically investigated a total of 288 cases of bacteremia for the past ten years, from January 1986 to December 1995, at the Second Department of Internal Medicine in the jikei University Hospital. All of the subjects who had a positive reaction to blood culture or catheter tip culture were investigated for their basic disease, complications, and detected bacteria. Malignant tumors, chronic renal failure, diabetes mellitus, and hematologic disease were frequent by noted. The cases due to primary infection were mainly respiratory organ infection or urinary tract infection, which were 47.8% of the total. In 31.3% of the total, catheter tip cultures were positive. Except for catheter related infection, Gram-positive coccus were detected in 40.3%, which was most frequent. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were 8.1% and Staphylococcus epidermidis were 11.2%. In catheter related infection, Gram-positive coccus were detected in 59.9%, which was most frequent amongst them, MRSA was 17.2%, S. epidermidis was 16.2%. The mortality of bacteremia was 12.5%, mainly from hematologic diseases, immunodeficiency due to long term steroid administration etc. Accordingly, the more the advance of chemotherapy, the better the prognosis of septicemia is. Appearance of catheter related infection was unexpected frequent. Increase of immunocompromised host is thought to be one of the main factors in the outbreak of bacteremia.

Molecular cloning of the chromosomal breakpoint in the LIS1 gene of a patient with isolated lissencephaly and balanced t(8;17)

Karyotypic analysis of a patient exhibiting a phenotype of isolated lissencephaly, and of her parents, revealed a de novo balanced translocation, t(8;17)(p11.2; p13.3). Since the lissencephaly (LIS1) gene was known to be located on 17p13.3, we investigated whether the translocation might involve this gene. We performed Southern analysis using cosmid clones that contained genomic sequences corresponding to LIS1, and found that the breakpoint was located within intron 1. As sequence analysis of the parental chromosomes in the vicinity of the breakpoint identified no additional putative transcripts, haploinsufficiency of the LIS1 gene is likely to be solely responsible for the patient's lissencephaly. Characterization of both breakpoints indicated a possible involvement of repetitive sequences in the recombigenic process that led to the translocation.

Transarterial chemotherapy with zinostatin stimalamer for hepatocellular carcinoma

Zinostatin stimalamer (SMANCS) is a lipophilic intra-arterial chemotherapeutic agent for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thirty HCC patients underwent transcatheter arterial injection of 4 mg SMANCS-lipiodol emulsion. Their responses were evaluated by computed tomography 1 month after treatment. Complete response (CR) was defined as disappearance or 100% necrosis of all tumors. Partial response (PR) was defined as > or = 50% reduction and/or > or = 50% necrosis. We regarded the lipiodol accumulation in tumors as being necrotic. CR and PR were observed in 8 patients (27%) and 4 patients (13%), respectively, and the overall response rate (CR + PR/all patients) was 40% (12/30). Of 12 patients whose serum alpha-fetoprotein levels had been more than 200 ng/ml before treatment, 5 patients (42%) showed more than 50% reduction in this level within 1 month after treatment. Toxicity was quite acceptable, although grade 4 toxicity (WHO) was observed as liver dysfunction in 1 patient. Transarterial chemotherapy with SMANCS, which is well tolerated, appears to have moderate antitumor effect in patients with HCC.

Light and temperature cooperate to regulate the circadian locomotor rhythm of wild type and period mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

In the wild type (Canton-S) and period mutant flies of Drosophila melanogaster, we examined the effects of light and temperature on the circadian locomotor rhythm. Under light dark cycles, the wild type and per(S) flies were diurnal at 25 degrees C. However, at 30 degrees C, the daytime activity commonly decreased to form a rather nocturnal pattern, and ultradian rhythms of a 2 approximately 4h period were observed more frequently than at 25 degrees C. The change in activity pattern was more clearly observed in per(0) flies, suggesting that these temperature dependent changes in activity pattern are mainly attributable to the system other than the circadian clock. In a 12h 30 degrees C:12h 25 degrees C temperature cycle (HTLT12:12), per(0) flies were active during the thermophase in constant darkness (DD) but during the cryophase in constant light (LL). The results of experiments with per(0);eya flies suggest that the compound eye is the main source of the photic information for this reversal. Wild type and per(0) flies were synchronized to HTLT12:12 both under LL and DD, while per(S) and per(L) flies were synchronized only in LL. This suggests that the circadian clock is entrainable to the temperature cycle, but the entrainability is reduced in the per(S) and per(L) flies to this particular thermoperiod length, and that temperature cycle forces the clock to move in LL, where the rhythm is believed to be stopped at constant temperature.

[Clinical analysis of patients with sepsis--comparison between underlying diseases]

We evaluated the clinical data in 83 patients with sepsis, which was diagnosed by both Bone's definition of sepsis and positive isolates from blood culture, according to their underlying diseases. This study enrolled a total of 117 septic episodes in 83 patients (57 males and 26 females, mean age: 52.0 years). We classified 3 groups, including hematological malignancies (46 patients, 72 episodes), solid malignant tumors (23 patients, 25 episodes) and non-malignancies (14 patients, 20 episodes), by the underlying diseases. Of the total number of isolates from blood culture, 53.0% were single gram-positive bacteria, 33.3% were single gram-negative bacteria, 7.7% were single fungus and 6.0% were polymicrobial organisms. In addition, coagulase negative staphylococci was isolated most often in patients with hematological malignancies. Sepsis was often caused by infectious focuses of hemorrhoid, stomatitis or intravenous catheter in patients with hematological malignancies, by pneumonia in patients with solid malignant tumors and by urinary tract infection in patients with non-malignancies. Mortality of sepsis in patients with solid malignant tumors (48%) was highest in 3 groups. Septic patients, who were complicated with shock and/or DIC, has poor prognosis in all groups. Serum albumin level was significantly lower in dead patients than patients who survived. These results suggest that clinical features may be different according to the underlying diseases of patients with sepsis.

Intravenous glucose tolerance test-derived glucose effectiveness in strength-trained humans

The effect of long-term strenuous resistance training on glucose effectiveness (SG) was examined by comparing 11 strength-trained and 20 sedentary males by a minimal model approach. Lean body mass (LBM) was measured by hydrostatic weighing. The LBM in strength-trained subjects (65.7 +/- 3.1 kg) was significantly larger than in sedentary subjects (56.6 +/- 1.2 kg, P < .01). The glucose disappearance constant ([KG] 3.07% +/- 0.45% min(-1)) and insulin sensitivity ([SI] 17.5 +/- 2.0 x 10(-5) x min(-1) x pmol/L(-1)) in strength-trained subjects were significantly higher than in sedentary subjects (2.06% +/- 0.14% x min(-1) and 10.3 +/- 1.2 x 10(-5) x min(-1) x pmol/L(-1), P < .05). SG in strength-trained subjects (0.024 +/- 0.003 min(-1)) was significantly higher than in sedentary subjects (0.018 +/- 0.001 min(-1), P < .05). These results thus suggest that the improved glucose tolerance in strength-trained subjects was due to increased SG and SI.

Imaging of large early and early advanced hepatocellular carcinomas of more than 5 cm in diameter: report of two cases

In an attempt to clarify the imaging characteristics of large early and early advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we present two such cases which were greater than 5 cm in diameter. One case had four early HCCs and the other had early advanced HCC which was followed for five years and nine months. Multiphasic CT, CT arteriography (CTA), CT arterial portography (CTAP), and MR imaging were performed. Early HCC was shown as a low density mass by multiphasic contrast CT, CTAP and as a hyperintense mass on a T1-weighted image (WI) and isointense on T2WI. Early advanced HCC was demonstrated as a hypodense mass with hyperenhancing interior nodules on CTA, and isodense with hypodense internal foci on CTAP. One follow-up case showed a multi-step progression from early to early advanced HCC, and finally to overtly advanced HCC. Despite the unusually large size of these two tumors, the findings of multiphasic CT, CTA, CTAP, and MR imaging were consistent with those seen in common-sized (less than 2 cm) early and early advanced HCCs. Multi-step progression of hepatocarcinogenesis was observed in one case.

Cardioprotective effect of succinate against ischemia/reperfusion injury

We investigated the protective effects of succinate, which is a respiratory substrate and a potential antioxidant, on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury with the whole heart. Isolated rat hearts were loaded with 25-min normothermic global ischemia followed by 30-min reperfusion in a working heart model. Succinate administered either before reperfusion or added to the cardioplegic solution improved the postischemic cardiac function significantly. The hearts arrested with succinate-supplemented cardioplegic solution replenished high-energy phosphates and maintained the total adenine nucleotides during the reperfusion period, whereas those arrested with succinate-nonsupplemented cardioplegic solution replenished the high-energy phosphates less, and also lost total adenine nucleotides during that period. We thus conclude that succinate administered before reperfusion may decrease the degree of mitochondrial damage during reperfusion and thereby reduce the amount of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Dynamics of hepatitis C viremia following interferon-alpha administration

Knowledge of the dynamics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in vivo is important for elucidation of its pathogenesis and the establishment of therapeutic guidelines. The aim of this study was to obtain kinetic information about virus load following interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) administration. Serial serum HCV core protein and HCV RNA levels were measured. IFN-alpha exponentially reduced serum HCV levels. The mean (+/-SD) viral half-life was 7.0 +/- 2.6 h in HCV core protein assay and 7.2 +/- 3.1 h in HCV RNA assay on the first day of therapy. This initial rapid decrease was followed by a slower decrease in serum HCV levels thereafter. Thus, the biphasic reduction in virus load during IFN-alpha therapy was demonstrated.