[Delayed wound healing in chronic renal insufficiency? (author's transl)]

Chronic renal insufficiency was induced in rats by a five-sixths nephrectomy, and then incisional wounds were made in the abdominal skin, linea alba, stomach and colon. Morphologically, there was no significant retardation of wound healing in the uremic rats, although a slight delay was evident in the beginning of the healing process and inflammmatory cells were more increased in number in uremic rats. Bursting strength of the colon and tensile strength of the skin, aponeurosis an stomach were usually less in the uremia than in the control, but there was no statistical significance except in colonic wounds after 5 days. It was also observed that the amount of hydroxyproline present in the uremic rats was less without statistical significance except in colonic wounds at 5 and 6.5 days. However, no correlation was established between blood urea nitrogen and microscopic findings of the wounds, nor between tissue strength and hydroxyproline. Nevertheless our investigations indicate the relative significiance of the hydroxyproline concentration for processes of wound healing. Transferring theses results to man, patients suffering from chronic uremia are throughly operable if a more careful choice of surgical technique and avoidance of possible wound infections is observed.

Deconjugation of bile acids by human intestinal bacteria

The purpose of this report is to present the deconjugation of bile acids by numbers of strains of bacteria in the small intestine and feces. The small intestinal juice was aseptically aspirated by a double lumen tube with a rubber cover on the tip devised by us ("Fukushima Type 1"). Bile acids were analyzed with thin layer chromatography.

THE RESULTS

1) Among aerobic bacteria, species of which all of the strains split conjugated bile acids was enterococcus, and most of the strains split were Staphylococcus (S.) epidermidis and Lactobacillus (L.) bifidus. Species of which none of the strains split were Escherichia (E.) coli, E. communior, E. freundii, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, L. buchneri, L. cellobiosus, L. bulgaricus, S. aureus, Aerobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, candida, proteus, serratia, and almost none of the species split was Intermediate coliform bacilli. 2) Among anaerobic bacteria, species of which all of the strains split were Bacteroides (B.) vulgatus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. uniformis, Corynebacterium (C.) granulosum, C. avidum, Peptostreptococcus (Peptostrept.) putridus, Eubacterium (Eubact.) lentum, Peptococcus (Pept.) grigoroffii, Pept. anaerobius, Veillonella (V.) orbiculus, and most of the strains split were Coryne. diphtheroides, Eubact. parvum, Peptostrept. intermedius. Species of which none of the strains split were Coryne, parvum, Peptostrept. micros, V. alcalescens, V. parvula, Catenabacterium (Catena.) catenaforme, and Catena. filamentosum. 3) All or none, or almost all or none, of the strains of each species tested split conjugated bile acids, and it seems probably that the presence or absence of this ability would be a proper character of eachspecies.

Significance of Schistosomiasis japonica in the development of cancer of the large intestine: report of a case and review of the literature

A 68-year-old man had a tumor in the ascending colon, following schistosomiasis 58 years earlier. Right hemicolectomy was performed. Examination of the specimen showed adenocarcinoma with schistosomiasis japonica. A total of 276 such cases in medical literature were reviewed. There were significant differences between carcinoma with schistosomiasis and ordinary carcinoma in symptoms, age range, sec ratio, and histopathologic findings. These suggest that schistosomiasis induces carcinoma. Chronic inflammation and epithelial proliferation due to intestinal schistosomiasis may be a promoting factor rather than a direct carcinogenic factor in the development of adenocarcinoma of the large intestine.

Fifty years of cancer surgery of the large intestine at Osaka University Hospital

Surgical procedures were performed in 863 cases of carcinoma of the large intestine in the Second Department of Surgery, Osaka University Hospital, Japan, between 1924 and 1973. There were 262 cases (30.3%) of carcinoma of the colon and 601 cases (69.7%) of carcinoma of the rectum. Sacral resection was the main procedure for rectal carcinoma until 1934. From 1954 through 1962, the abdominoperineal excision became predominant with radical operability 73.3%. Operative mortality declined to 2.3% and the five-year survival rate reached 52.1%. In 1963, sphincter-preserving operations were introduced, after which the radical operability increased to 76.1% and the survival rate to 56.8%. In these years, we selected cases for low anterior resection. Welch's invagination anastomosis and Bacon's pull-through operation according to each indication. For colonic carcinoma, the operative mortality was 2.2%, the five-year survival rate 63.2% and the ten-year survival rate 44.2% in the last period.