(1R,2R,3S,4S)-2-[(2R,3S)-2,3-Dimethyloxiran-2-yl]-3,4-bis(4-methoxybenzyloxy)cyclohexanol

The relative configuration was determined for the title compound, C(26)H(34)O(6), which was prepared in a synthetic study on immunosuppressant FR65814. There is an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the hydroxy and epoxy groups.

Cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection: a clinical overview

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection is implicated in various kinds of neoplasms including certain types of cutaneous T or natural killer (NK) cell proliferative disorders. Although a pathogenic role of EBV infection is not clear, some EBV gene products expressed during a latency phase were found to have biological properties leading to cellular gene expression and immortalization. Furthermore, EBV can use an array of strategies to evade host immune responses, and maintain the latent infection. EBV-associated cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders are prevalent in Asia, and less frequent in western countries where infectious mononucleosis is common in adolescents and young adults. This review introduces recent advances on the mechanism of EBV infection, highlighting unique clinicopathologic manifestations of EBV-associated cutaneous lymphoproliferative disorders.

Expression of hnRNP A2/B1 proteins in human cancer cell lines

The overexpression of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2/B1 is recently reported informative as a marker of lung cancer for early detection. To examine whether the expression of the proteins is specific for lung cancer, immunological analyses were performed both in lung and non-lung cancer cell lines. In immunostaining and Western blotting, the expression of A2/B1 was observed not only in the lung cancer cells but also in non-lung cancer cells. The expression of hnRNP A2/B1 is not specific for lung cancer and quantitative determination of A2/B1 is required to elucidate their significance in carcinogenesis.

Disseminated metastasis of neuroblastomatous component in immature mediastinal teratoma: a case report

A 17-year-old man with high levels of serum AFP and hCG was diagnosed as having primary mediastinal GCT. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy decreased the biomarkers, but the mass showed further growth. Pathological examination of the resected mass revealed a mixture of immature and mature teratomas. Six months after the surgery, the patient died of a dissemination of neuroblastomatous cells, which were similar to those in the immature neural component of the primary tumor. A disseminated metastasis of neuroblastoma in immature mediastinal teratoma is a rare complication. Serum NSE can be a useful marker in detecting the metastasis.

Breast cancer shortly after the diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia associated with polymyositis

Polymyositis is sometimes associated with pulmonary fibrosis or malignant diseases, however, rarely with both simultaneously. For such patients, no criterion for initial treatment and tapering of steroid has been reported. We describe a patient who had breast cancer and interstitial pneumonia associated with polymyositis. In this case, slow tapering of the steroid was an important aspect of the treatment, and close clinical follow-up was necessary to monitor for disease exacerbation.

Construction of a linkage map of the medaka (Oryzias latipes) and mapping of the Da mutant locus defective in dorsoventral patterning

Double anal fin (Da) is a medaka with an autosomal semidominant mutation that causes mirror image duplication of the ventral region concentrating on the caudal region. The chromosomal location of the Da gene and its sequence have remained unknown. We constructed a medaka linkage map as a first step to approach positional cloning of the gene. The segregation analysis was performed on the basis of genetic recombination during female meiosis using 134 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, 13 sequence-tagged sites (STSs), 15 polymorphic sequences from known genes, and the Da gene. One hundred forty-six markers from the above markers segregated into 26 linkage groups. The size of the genome was estimated to be 1776 cM in length. We identified four syntenic regions between medaka and zebrafish (and human) by mapping the known genes and found one of them to be located in close proximity to the Da gene. By mapping the region surrounding the Da gene in high resolution, two markers were detected flanking the Da gene at 0.32 and 0.80 cM. The detected markers providing a vital clue to initiate chromosome walking will lead us to the definite location of the Da gene.

Smoking and smoking-related lung cancer in female patients

Smoking is the primary factor responsible for the epidemic of squamous cell lung cancer (SqLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), however, there have been few studies which reported the relationship between smoking and SCLC in female patients. To examine the relationship between smoking and SCLC and SqLC in female patients, a retrospective chart review was performed in 877 patients with lung cancer diagnosed at Tsukuba University Hospital. In both SCLC and SqLC, the proportions of non-smokers were higher in female patients than those of male patients (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001, respectively). A significant difference in smoking history was found between female and male patients who were diagnosed with SqLC and SCLC (p = 0.0001). In female patients, active smoking seems less responsible for the occurrence of smoking-related lung cancer compared with male patients, which suggests passive smoking influence the development of smoking-related lung cancer, especially in female patients.

Management of small cell lung cancer in elderly

BACKGROUND

There is increasing interest in the treatment of elderly small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, however the patients enrolled in clinical studies are strictly selected elderlies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the treatment of consecutive unselected patients more than 70 years of age in whom SCLC were diagnosed over the past 22 years.

RESULTS

In patients who received cisplatin-containing chemotherapy, response rate(RR) and mean survival time(MST) were 53.8% and 9 months. Whereas, in patients who were treated with carboplatin-containing chemotherapy, RR and MST were 72.0% and 7 months. The latter group included the patients whose doses of carboplatinum was reduced 20 to 50% in the first course of treatment. There was no difference found in RR, survival, and incidence of toxicity between these chemotherapy groups.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that in elderly SCLC patients, carboplatin could be substituted for cisplatin without apparent loss of therapeutic efficacy.

Spontaneous regression of multiple emphysematous bullae

The etiology of emphysematous bullae is not well known; thus, the management of bullous lung disease is often difficult because of concomitant underlying emphysema and coexisting cardiac conditions. The present paper reports a case in which near complete resolution of multiple emphysematous bullae in the right lung occurred spontaneously. This case is of interest, not only because of the rarity with which spontaneous regression of multiple emphysematous bullae has been reported in the literature, but also because of the accompanying dramatic improvements in radiological results and pulmonary function of the patients.

[Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (Siiyama) with pulmonary emphysema]

A 44-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with dyspnea on exertion. Chest radiographs and pulmonary function tests showed evidence of pulmonary emphysema. Serum alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) could not be detected by nephelometry, immuno-electrophoresis, or iso-electric focusing. However, allele-specific PCR revealed a genotype homozygotic for an alpha 1-AT deficient variant of the Siiyama allele. An elder sister of the proband was also a homozygous carrier of the Siiyama allele. The amino acid sequence for normal alpha 1-AT variants had been substituted by Arg101-Val213-Glu376 in the proband, demonstrating that the alpha 1-antitrypsin-deficient Siiyama variant in this pedigree was derived from M 1 (Val213).

Relationship between bone mineral density and tooth loss in elderly Japanese women

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the relationship between vertebral bone mass and tooth loss and jaw bone mass in elderly Japanese women.

METHODS

Mandibular cortical bone mass, alveolar bone height and number of teeth present (total, anterior, and posterior) were compared with the 3rd lumbar vertebral bone mineral density (L3BMD), measured by dual energy computed tomography (DEQCT), in 90 Japanese women by means of multiple regression analysis, controlling for body mass index, menopausal status, years since menopause and self-reported periodontal condition.

RESULTS

Mandibular cortical bone mass and number of posterior teeth were associated with both alveolar bone height and L3BMD, but there was no association between alveolar bone height, number of anterior teeth present and L3BMD.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that the loss of posterior teeth may be associated with a decrease not only in alveolar bone height, but also alveolar bone mineral density (BMD). The latter may be related to a decrease of lumbar vertebral BMD.

Unilateral metachronous lung cancers in a patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

The incidence of lung cancer in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is much higher than that in general population. We report on a case of large cell carcinoma in association with the additional occurrence, seven months later, of an adenocarcinoma of the lung. Surgical treatment was performed for each cancer, however, the outcome was poor. The association between the two disorders is discussed.

A comparison of the binding characteristics of class I antiarrhythmic agents for human muscarinic m1-m3 receptors

The binding characteristics of the class 1 antiarrhythmic agents, cibenzoline, disopyramide, disopyramide metabolite (the main active metabolite of disopyramide in humans), and pirmenol, for human muscarinic receptors (m1-m3) stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) were investigated by binding assay with [3H]N-methylscopolamine ([3H]NMS) as a ligand. All of these agents inhibited the specific [3H]NMS binding to membrane preparations in a concentration-dependent manner. The potencies of affinity of these agents for m1, m2, and m3 receptors (compared by IC50) were disopyramide > pirmenol > disopyramide metabolite > cibenzoline, pirmenol > cibenzoline > disopyramide > disopyramide metabolite, and disopyramide > disopyramide metabolite > pirmenol > cibenzoline, respectively. Some competition curves of cibenzoline, disopyramide, and pirmenol were shallow, and Hill coefficients of these curves differed from unity, suggesting that these agents have allosteric binding characteristics for human muscarinic receptors. The m2-selective ratios to m1 (IC50 m1/IC50 m2) and m3 (IC50 m3/IC50 m2) of cibenzoline were 4.0 and 16, and those of pirmenol were 6.5 and 43, respectively, whereas those of disopyramide and its metabolite ranged from 0.46 to 1.6, suggesting that cibenzoline and pirmenol exerted high selectivity to the m2 receptor. We conclude that (a) all class 1 antiarrhythmic agents in this study have inhibitory effects on human m1, m2, and m3 receptors, and some of those binding may show allosteric characterization; (b) disopyramide and its metabolite have similar affinity to m1 to m3 receptors; and (c) cibenzoline and pirmenol have high m2-selective ratios to m1 and m3.

Atypical presentation of vertebral bone metastasis from lung cancer

The authors describe a case of lung cancer in a 55-year-old man who complained of back pain. Initial isotopic bone scanning showed no abnormality, however, magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging revealed bone metastasis in thoracic vertebral bone. Even when there is no typical findings of metastasis in bone scintigraphy, MRI imaging would be useful if vertebral bone metastasis is suspected. MRI imaging is an important modality to evaluate extraosseous extension and marrow invasion of metastatic tumors.

Inhibitory effect of combined administration with CPT-11 and 5-fluorouracil in vitro and in vivo

Combined antitumor activity of CPT-11 and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was evaluated in a human cultured cell line derived from lung cancer. After 24 h culture with SN-38 followed by 5-FU 24 h, synergistic effect was observed in the cell line. In addition, the antitumor effect of this combination was studied in in vivo experiments using Donryu rat with Yoshida sarcoma cells. CPT-11 and 5-FU synergistically inhibited tumor growth. There was no significant increase of toxicity as assessed by the body weights. These results might support for the combination with 5-FU and CPT-11 in a chemotherapy for cancer.

The association of latent Epstein-Barr virus infection with hydroa vacciniforme

Patients with hydroa vacciniforme (HV)-like eruptions and malignant potential have been reported from Asia and Mexico, and those patients frequently had an associated latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. In order to elucidate the association of latent EBV infection with HV, we studied six children with typical manifestations of HV by detection of EBV genes and EBV-related RNAs in biopsy specimens from cutaneous lesions. Cutaneous lesions of all six children with typical HV contained EBV-encoded small nuclear RNA (EBER)+ cells in 3-10% of the dermal infiltrates, whereas no Bam HI-H, l-fragment (BHLF) mRNA, or transcripts encoding EA-D antigen, were detected. No EBER + cells were detected in other inflammatory or benign lymphoproliferative skin disorders tested. Polymerase chain reaction amplification confirmed the presence of EBV DNA sequences in five of six biopsy specimens from the patients. Latent EBV infection is associated with the development of cutaneous lesions of HV.

Intracranial hemorrhage due to cerebral metastasis of lung cancer - a case report

Lung cancer often metastasizes to brain. However, hemorrhage of the metastatic lesions is uncommon. We report a case of a 68-year old man with lung cancer who underwent right upper lobectomy of the lung and presented in 15 months with a cerebral hemorrhage from a metastatic lesion of the brain.