Complete cDNA encoding a putative phospholipase C from transformed human lymphocytes

Phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC) is a crucial enzyme in transmembrane signaling. A cDNA encoding the putative phospholipase C was cloned from human lymphocytes that were transformed by infection with Epstein-Barr virus. The deduced amino acid sequence of the cDNA accounted for 146.1 kDa of the molecular mass of the complete enzyme and showed 50.2% sequence similarity to bovine brain PLC. This cDNA contained regions, the sequences of which were similar to those of some tyrosine kinase-related oncogene products. Northern blotting demonstrated that the mRNA for this PLC is expressed in human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60). Since the other cloned cDNAs for PLCs could not hybridize with the RNA from this cell, it is strongly suggested that the gene obtained here encodes an additional isozyme of PLC in blood cells.

Zellweger-like syndrome with detectable hepatic peroxisomes: a variant form of peroxisomal disorder

A male infant with typical clinical and biochemical findings of Zellweger syndrome, but in whom hepatic peroxisomes were detected by electron microscopy, had profound hypotonia, hepatomegaly, typical facial appearance including large fontanelle and frontal bossing, convulsions, panaminoaciduria, and hyperammonemia. He died of liver failure at age 5 months. There were increased levels of very long chain fatty acids and trihydroxycoprostanic acid in serum, and increased excretion of dicarboxylic acids and tyrosine metabolites in the urine. Levels of peroxisomal enzymes, acyl coenzyme A oxidase, bifunctional protein, 3-ketoacyl coenzyme A thiolase, and dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase in the liver tissue from the patient were all deficient, findings consistent with Zellweger syndrome. However, immunocytochemical study and electron microscopic examination of the liver at autopsy revealed that hepatic peroxisomes were present at a level similar to that in a control subject. These observations suggest further heterogeneity in Zellweger syndrome and a different pathogenesis in this variant case.

Magnetic resonance imaging in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

Cranial computed tomography of a boy with clinical characteristics of the classic form of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease did not reveal a notable abnormality other than enlarged ventricles. Magnetic resonance imaging, however, demonstrated diffuse changes in the white matter with sparing of scattered small areas, suggesting persistent myelin islands which are a typical neuropathologic finding in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease. Magnetic resonance imaging appears more useful than computed tomography in confirming the diagnosis of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease.

Quantitative relationship between the stimulus intensity and the response magnitude in the tail flick reflex

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the quantitative relation between the stimulus intensity and the response magnitude of the tail flick reflex. The EMG of a tail muscle was recorded from the extensor caudae medialis (ECM) muscle in the side contralateral to heat stimulation, and the area of integrated EMG for 1 sec was measured as the magnitude of EMG activity. The minimum temperature to the onset of the EMG was 42.3 +/- 0.4 degrees C. The relation between the stimulus intensity and the magnitude of an integrated EMG followed a power function with an exponent of about 8.5. The magnitude of an integrated EMG was decreased by about 50% of the control by an intraperitoneal administration of morphine (0.5 mg/kg). These results suggest that tail flick reflex is closely related to painful sensation, and that EMG activity of the ECM muscle is applicable as an electrophysiological indicator to noxious stimulation of the tail and an expressible indicator of the magnitude of pain.

Enhanced glucose metabolism and impaired placental function in hypoxic pregnant rats

Glucose metabolism using 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose [( 18F]FDG) was studied in experimental hypoxia (10% oxygen concentration) of pregnant rats with special attention given to the placental function. After an i.v. injection of [18F]FDG, the uptake of 18F increased with time in the maternal brain, placenta and fetus of control rats. In the hypoxic condition, the uptake in these tissues was enhanced significantly, especially in the maternal brain and fetal heart, brain and lungs. A double-label autoradiography with [18]FDG and [14C]iodoantipyrine [( 14C]IAP) was performed to elucidate changes of the placental function in the hypoxic condition. The [18F]FDG image revealed a higher accumulation in the maternal side of the placenta of a control pregnant rat than in its fetal side. [18F]FDG uptake increased in the fetal brain and heart of hypoxic rats. The [14C]IAP image demonstrated that in the control rat there was a clear border zone on the maternal side of the placenta with very low permeability into the fetus. On the other hand, a high and heterogenous accumulation in both placenta and fetal organs was shown in hypoxic rats. We interpret this data to suggest that in a hypoxic condition the function of the placenta as a barrier system is impaired.

Deletion 14q(q24.3 to q32.1) syndrome: significance of peculiar facial appearance in its diagnosis, and deletion mapping of Pi(alpha 1-antitrypsin)

A 10-month-old Japanese boy who had interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome No. 14; 46,XY, del(14)(pter----q24.3: :q32.1----qter) is reported. A peculiar facial appearance, including round face, frontal hypertrichosis with thick eyebrows, horizontal narrow palpebral fissures, a short bulbous nose with a flat nasal root, and mild micrognathia, appeared to be common with the two previously reported cases. We stress the significance of this peculiar facial appearance in the diagnosis of 14q-(q24.3 to q32.1) syndrome. The level of alpha 1-antitrypsin in the patient was only about half of that of his parents and controls, and the Pi locus was tentatively assigned to band 14q32.1.

Beneficial effect of chymostatin on dystrophic mice

We studied the effect of chymostatin on dystrophic mice (C57BL/6J-dy). The locomotor activity of normal mice increased markedly, attaining a plateau at 8 weeks of age, whereas in dystrophic mice, it increased until the age of 7 weeks, and thereafter decreased gradually. Serum levels of creatine phosphokinase were significantly higher in dystrophic mice compared with normal mice, and dystrophic mice had a reduced muscle protein content. When 3-week-old dystrophic mice received chymostatin (1 mg/kg, i.p.), the decrease in locomotor activity was retarded, serum enzyme levels decreased significantly, and muscle protein content increased significantly. In addition, the survival time of treated dystrophic mice was prolonged. The locomotor activity, serum enzyme levels, and muscle protein content of normal mice were not affected by chymostatin. Therefore, we posit that chymostatin retarded the progression of dystrophy in mice.

Two siblings with multiple intracranial haemangiomatosis with calcification

Two siblings with multiple intracranial haemangiomatosis are reported, each having psychomotor retardation, epilepsy and gyriform type calcification in the occipital and frontal lobes. There were haemangiomas in one autopsy case with calcification in the deep layers of the cortex and subcortical white matter.

Placental transfer of positron-emitting radionuclides in metabolic substrates

Experimental studies on the biodistribution and placental transfer of in vivo metabolic constituents in pregnant rats were investigated with positron-emitting compounds such as 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose, a mixture of 11C-glucose and 11C-fructose, 11C-L-methionine, 11C-D,L-leucine, 11C-adenine, 18F-5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine, 11C-S-adenosyl-L-methionine and 11C-coenzyme Q10. Sugars and amino acids transferred easily through the placenta and distributed into the fetal tissues to a similar extent as into the maternal tissues. The fetus-to-placenta ratios for the amino acids were always over 1.0, which indicated active transport of the amino acids in the placenta. On the contrary, other compounds have some limitation to transfer through the placenta in comparison with the sugars and amino acids. The fetus-to-placenta ratios of 11C-adenine, 11C-S-adenosyl-L-methionine and 11C-coenzyme Q10 were much less than the placenta-to-blood ratios, which indicated the presence of a certain placental barrier against these compounds. 11C-S-adenosyl-L-methionine and 11C-coenzyme Q10 were incorporated more into the fetal brain than into the maternal brain which is probably due to the nutritional requirement of the fetal brain and/or an immature blood-brain barrier.

[Case report of lymphangioma--a review of benign non-epithelial tumors of the pancreas]

Benign nonepithelial growths from indigenous structures in the pancreas are extremely rare. A patient with a lymphangioma of the pancreas is reported and 18 cases with benign non-epitherlial tumors reported in the Japanese literature are discussed. Of 18 tumors, 7 were hemangiogenic, 5 were lymphagiogenic, 3 were neurogenic and one each was fibromatous, leiomyomatous and teratomatus. There was no particular association with sex and age. Frequent symptoms suggesting intraintestinal hemorrhage, i.e. tarry stool, melena, occult blood, anemia.

Computed tomography in Krabbe's disease: comparison with neuropathology

We report computed tomography (CT) appearance of two patients with Krabbe's disease. The most common findings included severe brain atrophy: an enlarged frontal extracerebral space, dilatation of ventricles, enlarged cisterns and enlarged cortical sulci. There was low attenuation in the corpus medullaris of the cerebellum, and symmetrical focal hypodensity in the central periventricular white matter. CT at the terminal stage (16 months) showed marked cerebral atrophy including flattening of the heads of caudate nuclei and widening of the third ventricles confirmed by a neuropathological study. There was relatively less low density on the white matter of Krabbe's disease compared with that of other leukodystrophies. These CT findings may be useful in the diagnosis. The relative lack of low density in the white matter of Krabbe's disease might be related to severe gliosis and reduced total lipid contents.

Serum bile acid analysis

Routine and research techniques are outlined for the analysis of bile acids in serum. The basis of these techniques is the use of liquid-solid extraction and liquid-gel chromatography coupled with the measurement of bile acids by gas chromatography using high resolution glass capillary columns and mass spectrometry which provides increased sensitivity compared with conventional methods of measurement. Problems associated with the isolation and purification of bile acids from serum are discussed and rapid and flexible methods for their metabolic profiling are described. The advantages and applicability of these procedures are illustrated with examples of profiles of bile acids in the serum from normal subjects, patients with liver disease and a patient with an ileal resection.

Radioimmunoassay of serum glycocholic acid, standard laboratory tests of liver function and liver biopsy findings: comparative study of children with liver disease

Serum glycocholic acid (SGC) was measured by radioimmunoassay in 277 samples from 122 children with hepatobiliary disorders and from 23 healthy age-matched controls. In patients with hepatobiliary disease the SGC was more frequently abnormal (83%) than values for serum albumin (7%), prothrombin time (17%), bilirubin (22%), alkaline phosphatase (45%), aspartate transaminase (57%) and gammaglutamyl transpeptidase (63%). The cumulative frequency of abnormality of these six tests was equal to that of SGC alone. Serum glycocholic acid concentrations were raised in 13 patients in whom all other tests of liver function were normal. Two of these had clinical and histological evidence of liver disease, while four had biopsy-proven hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis, and two of three with chronic active hepatitis in remission subsequently relapsed. Four patients have as yet, no other clinical or biochemical evidence of continuing liver disease. Serum glycocholic acid was normal in seven children with abnormal aspartate transaminase or gammaglutamyl transpeptidase in whom there is strong suspicion of significant hepatic disease. A wide range of values of SGC was found with marked overlap between the values found in the different disease entities studied. The SGC value was related to the serum concentration of aspartate transaminase and gammaglutamyl transpeptidase but not to other tests of liver function. Serum glycocholic acid concentration was considered in relation to the severity of histological abnormality in 25 percutaneous liver biopsies. The extent of the rise in SGC was related to the presence or degree of histological severity of oedema in the portal tracts, disruption of the limiting plate, parenchymal fibrosis and hepatocellular necrosis but not to other histological features. The very high incidence of abnormal SGC values found in this study does suggest that in an ordinary inpatient and outpatient service SGC determination is a practical and sensitive indicator of the presence of significant liver disease but for its comprehensive identification aspartate transaminase and gammaglutamyl transpeptidase must also be determined.

Clinicopathological differences between juvenile and late infantile metachromatic leukodystrophy

The autopsy report of the juvenile type of metachromatic leukodystrophy is rare. The clinical and pathological difference between the juvenile and the late infantile type of metachromatic leukodystrophy was described. Loss of myelin sheaths was much less in the brain stem and spinal cord in the juvenile type than in the late infantile type, although that of the roots or cranial and spinal nerves was marked similarly in both types. The relationship of these pathological findings to clinical signs and laboratory data was discussed.

Clinical significance of specific IgE antibody against streptokinase-streptodornase in renal diseases of childhood

The immediate skin reaction (IR) with streptokinase-streptodornase (SK-SD) was found with a high incidence in children with renal disease and was confirmed to be mediated by a specific IgE antibody against SK-SD by means of the radioallergosorbent test (RAST). This test revealed high radiocounts in children with renal disease who showed the IR and there was a close correlation between the RAST counts and the intensity of the IR. Furthermore, the RAST counts in the severe nephrotic syndrome belonging to corticosteroid dependent and resistant group were far higher than those in the corticosteroid sensitive group. From these results, a determination of the RAST counts against SK-SD seemed to help evaluate the severity of some nephrotic syndromes and the specific IgE antibody may be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Siderochrome production by Yersinia pestis and its relation to virulence

P+ plague strains contained more siderochrome-producing organisms than P-. Siderochrome enhanced the mouse virulence of an F1+Vw+P1+P-Pu+ strains, inhibited P1 activity, and could be assayed by a paper disk titration method.