[The first report of human chronic sinusitis by Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida in Japan]

A 53-year-old male visited our hospital due to nasal obstruction persisting for 6 months and constant rhinorrhea. Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida was isolated from his nasal discharge and lavage fluid of the maxillary sinus, and also from the oral cavity of the dog he kept. The bacterial strains isolated from the patient and dog were identical in terms of biochemical properties, and drug sensitivity. Although serotype was different, the strain from the patient showed (A:6) and that from his dog showed (A:5). The microorganism is not present in the general environment. The patient had contact with his dog such as he kissed it frequently, gave it food with his chopsticks et al.. From the mouth of the people who kiss one's dog, we detected Pasteurella of the same character of bacteria as from the mouth of the dog. We detected two Pasteurella multocida of different character from only one mouth of a cat. Pasteurella multocida was checked in only one colony for sero type. Sero type A is the popular type for dogs and cats. The above suggest that their was a high possibility that the Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida found in the patient was from his dog. In Japan, the incidence of Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida infection has been increasing. In 1969, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare officially communicated this infection as a zoonosis to related institutions. At both medical and surgical departments, wither the patient keeps a pet should be confirmed during interview, and guidance of pet keeping methods is important in some cases from the aspect of clinical bacteriology.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bradykinin-induced activation of phospholipase A2 is independent of the activation of polyphosphoinositide-hydrolyzing phospholipase C

This study evaluates the role of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and its metabolites as possible mediators in the activation of phospholipases A2 in porcine aortic endothelial cells. We compared the time courses of bradykinin-induced turnover of phosphoinositides and the appearance of unesterified arachidonic acid (uAA) and eicosanoids. The metabolism of phosphoinositides was examined in cells prelabeled with [3H]inositol, which has a similar distribution as the endogenous inositol lipids. At 37 degrees C, bradykinin induced a rapid rise in lysophosphatidylinositol (lyso-PI) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) as well as a decrease in PIP2. Lyso-PI formation was detected at 10 s, as early as PIP2 degradation and IP3 formation. This suggests that the activation of PIP2-hydrolyzing phospholipase C and PI-hydrolyzing phospholipase A2 are simultaneous. However, at 30 degrees C, lyso-PI formation was detected in the absence of an increase in IP3 indicating that the activation of phospholipase A2 does not require the accumulation of IP3. The time course of formation of uAA and eicosanoids were examined in [3H]arachidonic acid-prelabeled cells. The 3H radioactivity was distributed among the phospholipid classes and subclasses the same as the endogenous phospholipids. Bradykinin stimulated the intracellular accumulation of uAA, detectable at 5 s, earlier than that of 1,2-diacylglycerol and phosphatidic acid. Such immediate formation of uAA further supports the notion that activation of phospholipase A2 is a very early event during the interaction of bradykinin with porcine endothelial cells, and that PIP2 hydrolysis is not prerequisite for the initial activation of phospholipase A2.

[Blood reflux into cartridge in dental anesthesia. Detection of total protein and human hemoglobin in residual anesthetic solution]

The present study was designed to elucidate the blood reflux into cartridge under infiltration anesthesia. When imitation examination was carried out using pontamine blue dye solution in 7 kinds of syringes for the use of cartridge, dye reflux was observed in all of them. Compared 4 kinds of cartridges on the market, dye reflux was observed in all except one. The amounts of protein in residual anesthetic solution of cartridges after infiltration anesthesia were quantitatively measured by dye binding method. Human hemoglobin was also measured by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The detection rates of protein and human hemoglobin were 26.2% (85/324) and 24.2% (24/99), respectively. From these facts that blood reflux cannot be avoided in the cartridge system, it is necessary to prohibit the reuse of residual anesthetic solution of cartridge as quickly as possible to avert the risk of cross infection of HB and AIDS virus.

Differential inhibitory properties of dog and human alpha 1-proteinase inhibitors

Dog alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1-PI) was found to be an effective inhibitor of bovine chymotrypsin and also of porcine pancreatic elastase as in the case of human inhibitor. The dog inhibitor inactivated both proteinases at a molar ratio of 1:1. However, compared to the human inhibitor, dog alpha 1-PI was a relatively poor inhibitor of bovine trypsin. The association rate constants (kass) of the interactions of dog alpha 1-PI with bovine chymotrypsin and with porcine elastase were determined to be 6.9 +/- 0.3 X 10(6) M-1 s-1 and 6.4 +/- 0.1 X 10(5) M-1 s-1, respectively. These values are 1.3- and 2.7-fold higher than the corresponding values for the human inhibitor. On the other hand, kass for the dog inhibitor with bovine trypsin (2.6 +/- 0.3 X 10(4)M-1 s-1) was found to be about 5 times smaller than that of the human inhibitor.

Effect of progesterone and its 17 alpha-hydroxyl derivative on human erythrocyte membrane

Effect of progesterone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone on human erythrocyte membrane was investigated by three methods. Prompt hemolysis test: Progesterone progressively reduced the membrane fragility at the concentration of 1.25 X 10(-5)-2.0 X 10(-4) M, but 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone had almost no effect. Continuous MCV analysis: When erythrocytes were transferred into 0.9 (w/v) % NaCl solution without progesterone after incubation with 0.5 M d-glucose for 2 hr at 37 degrees C, erythrocytes markedly expanded up to about 140 microns 3 and subsequently returned to nearly the original volume (about 95 microns 3) within 30-40 sec. Progesterone reduced the reversibility of expanded erythrocytes at the concentration of 1.25 X 10(-5)-1.0 X 10(-4) M. 17 alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone had little effect on the reversibility. Scanning electron microscopy: After incubation in isotonic buffered saline solution without progesterone for 12 hr at 37 degrees C, most of the erythrocytes were transformed from discocytes to echinocytes and sphero-echinocytes (echinocytes+sphero-echinocytes, greater than 80%). Progesterone (5.0 X 10(-5) and 1.0 X 10(-4) M) inhibited this transformation, so that a greater number of erythrocytes remained as discocytes than in the control. Moreover, at higher concentration of progesterone, stomatocytes emerged prominently (1.0 X 10(-4) M progesterone), followed by the increase in spherocytes (2.0 X 10(-4) M). 17 alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone, however, merely prevented the echinocytic progress from I to II or III at the concentration of 5.0 X 10(-5)-2.0 X 10(-4) M and slightly increased the number of discocytes at the higher concentration (2.0 X 10(-4) M).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A case of prostatic malacoplakia

Prostatic malacoplakia is an extremely rare disease. We report a case of malacoplakia of the prostate and review the 21 cases previously reported, including 4 in our country and 17 in other countries.

Familial nephrotic syndrome with focal glomerular sclerosis

Two brothers with nephrotic syndrome are reported. Their parents were first cousins. The nephrotic syndrome developed at the age of 14 and 15 years and was resistant to the treatment with corticosteroid. The elder patient fell into renal failure about 2-1/2 years after the development of nephrotic syndrome, and the younger has demonstrated a progressive decrease in renal function. The renal histopathology in one patient revealed findings typical of focal glomerular sclerosis. In light of the clinical similarities in these two patients, it is likely that they have a familial form of focal glomerular sclerosis.

A test for analgesics as an indicator of locomotor activity in writhing mice

Marked depression of locomotor activity was observed in writhing mice given acetic acid i.p. This depression of the activity was evidenced by a squatting posture in reaction to pain. The hypoactivity was reversed dose-dependently by nonnarcotic analgesics such as acetyl-salicylic acid, aminopyrine and mefenamic acid in smaller dosages than those obtained by the conventional writhing syndrome test, and was also reversed dose-dependently by narcotic analgesics such as morphine, pethidine and codeine. Consequently, this hypoactivity test proved to be useful for analgesics screening.