Focal ischemia induces expression of the DNA damage-inducible gene GADD45 in the rat brain

GADD45 is a DNA damage-inducible gene that accelerates DNA excision repair and can be induced by a variety of DNA-damaging stimuli in mammalian cells. We investigated the expression of GADD45 mRNA and protein using in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry in rat brains after 2 h of temporal focal ischemia. The expression of GADD45 mRNA was induced in neurons throughout ischemic cortex 4 h after the onset of ischemia but was restricted to ischemic penumbra regions at 24 h after ischemia. The expression of GADD45 protein was increased only in sublethally injured neurons in the penumbra regions at both 4 h and 24 h following ischemia. These results suggest that GADD45 could have a protective role in ischemic neurons.

Expression of the apoptosis-effector gene, Bax, is up-regulated in vulnerable hippocampal CA1 neurons following global ischemia

The observation that delayed death of CA1 neurons after global ischemia is inhibited by protein synthesis inhibitors suggests that the delayed death of these neurons is an active process that requires new gene expression. Delayed death in CA1 has some of the characteristics of apoptotic death; however, candidate proapoptotic proteins have not been identified in the CA1 after ischemia. We studied the expression of Bax protein and mRNA, a member of the bcl-2 family that is an effector of apoptotic cell death, after global ischemia in the four-vessel global ischemia model in the rat and compared these results with the expression of the antiapoptotic gene bcl-2. Bax mRNA and protein are both expressed in CA1 before delayed death, whereas bcl-2 protein is not expressed. Bcl-2 protein expression, but not that of Bax, is increased in CA3, a region that is ischemic but less susceptible to ischemic injury. In the dentate gyrus, both Bax and bcl-2 proteins are expressed. The selective expression of Bax in Ca1 supports the hypothesis that Bax could contribute to delayed neuronal death in these vulnerable neurons by an independent mechanism or by forming heterodimers with gene family members other than bcl-2.

Second transplantation with CD34+ bone marrow cells selected from a two-loci HLA-mismatched sibling for a patient with chronic myeloid leukaemia

A 43-year-old man with chronic myeloid leukaemia underwent a second transplant with CD34+ bone marrow cells selected from his two-loci HLA-mismatched sibling after rejection of the first graft from an HLA-matched unrelated donor. By immunomagnetic positive selection, CD34+ marrow cells at 0.95 x 10(6)/kg with 97% purity and CD3+ T lymphocytes at 1.3 x 10(4)/kg were collected and transplanted. Engraftment was confirmed to be of CD34+ cell-donor origin. The patient developed only grade I acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and no chronic GVHD to date. These observations suggest that allogeneic CD34+ bone marrow cells are capable of reconstituting haemopoiesis and that CD34+ selection could be applicable to T-cell depletion.

Therapeutic effect of secretin in patients with jaundice; double-blind placebo-controlled multicentric trial

Secretin, a gastrointestinal hormone, has been shown to have a potent choleretic effect. Having already obtained some beneficial effects with secretin in patients with intrahepatic cholestasis, we sought to confirm its effects in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in patients with mild jaundice after acute or during chronic hepatitis, where total bilirubin level was in excess of 4.0 mg/dl for 3 days or more. Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and familiar hyperbilirubinemia were excluded from the study. Ninety-three patients were included in this analysis, but the final evaluation covered 69 of them. No statistically significant differences were found in the reduction of serum bilirubin levels between secretin and placebo groups. As a number of patients with liver cirrhosis had been included, the subjects were subdivided into one group with cholestasis in hepatitis and one with liver cirrhosis. In the subgroup of cirrhotic patients who received secretin, serum levels of AST were significantly increased compared with the placebo group. However, since the choleretic effect of secretin is unique, further studies seem to be warranted.

Biotransformation of digitoxigenin by cultured ginseng cells

Nine compounds, including a new compound (digitoxigenin beta-D-glucoside malonyl ester), were isolated as biotransformation products of digitoxigenin by cell suspension cultures of Panax ginseng (Pg-3 cell line). At the same time, two known products were identified by TLC and HPLC.

A novel tetrasaccharide, with a structure similar to the terminal sequence of an arabinogalactan-protein, accumulates in rice anthers in a stage-specific manner

Analysis of free sugars in developing rice anthers by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) showed that a very high concentration of a novel oligosaccharide accumulated specifically during microsporogenesis. Structural analysis of the purified oligosaccharide by methylation analysis, mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (MS/MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy revealed its structure to be beta-L- Ara(f)-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Ara(f)-(1-->3)-beta-D-Gal(p)-(1-->6)-D-Gal, which is closely related to a tetrasaccharide unit found in the glycan chain of a plant cell surface proteoglycan, the arabinogalactan-protein (AGP). Chilling treatment (12 degrees C, 4 days), which injures rice anthers during microsporogenesis, decreased the concentration of the tetrasaccharide, but the sucrose level increased. This effect was especially evident in a chilling-sensitive mutant line, YM56-1. These results suggest that this unique tetrasaccharide may play an important role in both the development of the rice anther and its response to chilling.

Structural studies of synthetic peptides dissected from the voltage-gated sodium channel

Peptides representing transmembrane regions of the alpha-subunit of the voltage-gated sodium channel were synthesised and their structures analysed, using 1H NMR and CD, in trifluoroethanol and in dodecylphosphocholine micelles. Sequence analysis suggests that the channel has six regions, S1 to S6, predicted to span the membrane in four homologous domains, designated, I, II, III and IV. Presented here are studies of representatives examples of possible single spanning segments (IS2, IS4, IVS4) and a double spanning segment, IS34, composed of segments IS3 and IS4. In addition, we investigated ISlink56, the putative linker region between segments IS5 and IS6. All of the peptides were found to have predominantly alpha-helical structures in both solvent systems. There was some evidence for bending of the longer helices but there was no discernible evidence for well-defined tertiary structure.

Differential effect of UV-B and UV-C on DNA damage in L-132 cells

Ultraviolet radiation is known to induce skin cancer. The induction of DNA damage caused by UV-B and UV-C was investigated using cultured L-132 cells. DNA strand breaks assayed by the alkaline elution procedure occurred in a dose-dependent manner, the extent of the strand breaks were inversely well correlated with the number of viable L-132 cells after 24 h incubation. About a 10-fold dose of UV-B irradiation was required to induce a similar degree of strand breaking to that induced by UV-C. Similarly about a 10-fold dose of UV-B was required to produce a similar amount of pyrimidine dimers, such as cyclobutane-type dimers and pyrimidine-(6-4)-pyrimidone photoproducts, which were determined by ELISA using the specific monoclonal antibody, to that produced by UV-C. Strand breaks induced by UV-B, however, were not fully repaired in viable cells remaining after incubation of cells for a longer period of time, although UV-C-induced strand breaks were repaired in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, an experiment with a cell-free system, where the induction of strand breaks by repair enzymes did not take place, indicated that UV-B caused significantly more direct DNA strand breaks than that caused by one-tenth the dose of UV-C. The data shown here suggest that UV-B-induced DNA damage is mediated, at least in part, via a different mechanism from the UV-C induced one.

Dimethylarsenics reveal DNA damage induced by superoxide anion radicals

We previously reported that DNA single-strand breaks (ssb) induced by exposure to dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) were enhanced by the presence of paraquat (PQ), a superoxide anion radical 0 -(2)-producing agent, in cultured human alveolar type II (L-132) cells in vitro. In the present study, we examined the effect of sequential exposure of the cells to PQ and then DMAA under conditions causing no ssb by each alone, and observed a remarkable occurrence of ssb. The result suggests that 0 -(2) caused DNA damage, which became detectable as ssb by the treatment using DMAA. The DNA damage induced by the exposure to PQ alone was different from that by DMAA; PQ-induced damage was fully repaired after 24 h, while DMAA-induced damage was repaired only partially, and aphidicolin, an inhibitor of repair-serving DNA polymerases alpha, delta and/or epsilon, inhibited only the latter repair but not the former. These findings indicate that the DMAA treatment may be an effective tool to reveal DNA damage induced by 0 -(2), which to date has not been sufficiently clarified.

Spinal cord injures in children observed over many years

The known salient features of spinal cord injuries in children are that 1) plane X-rays may not show dislocations or fractures, 2) many of these injuries are complete transections, 3) many injuries are located at the level of upper thoracic spine, and 4) the duration of spinal shock is short. Complications such as pressure sores occur just as easily in children as in adults and the injuries tend to be just as intractable. Complications characteristic in children with spinal cord injuries are spinal deformity and hip dislocation. In this paper, we describe a case involving a C7 spinal cord injury caused by a fall when the patient was 3 years old. We have observed the physical complications for 15 years following that injury. We also report on other observed cases of spinal cord injury.

Myelodysplastic changes in three cases within 100 days after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Three patients with severe aplastic anemia, acute promyelocytic leukemia (M3) and chronic myelogenous leukemia, developed myelodysplastic changes with trilineage morphological abnormalities in a few months following allogenic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Morphologically dysplastic changes associated with moderate-severe anemia, leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia appeared on day 40, day 62 and day 68 after BMT. A ferrokinetics study clearly showed ineffective erythropoiesis in one patient. Hematopoietic cells were shown to be of donor-origin in all three cases. The levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid were normal. Laboratory tests showed no signs of hemolysis or fragmentation of red blood cells. Although the cause of aberrant hematopoiesis compatible with MDS within 100 days post-BMT remains to be determined, cytomegalovirus infection, ganciclovir and/or graft-versus host disease (GVHD) might be associated with this myelodysplasia following allogeneic BMT.

[Urgent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation using a preparative regimen of cyclophosphamide anti-human thymocytes rabbit globulin in a patient with severe aplastic anemia with pneumonia]

A 16-year-old girl was diagnosed as having severe aplastic anemia (SAA) had received emergency complicated by sever pneumonia. She had an HLA-identical younger brother and been urgently transplantation with her brother's marrow following a preparative regimen of CY+rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG). Granulocyte transfusions carried out before and after the transplant prevented exacerbation of the pneumonia. The pneumonia was cured in association with the hematopoietic recovery after BMT. No signs or symptoms of acute or chronic graft-versus-host disease were recognized and her hematological data are normal. The rabbit ATG was thought to be effective in preventing rejection and could be used in the preparative regimen instead of total body irradiation.

Ruptured aneurysm of the distal posterior inferior cerebellar artery in a neonate--case report

A 34-day-old male presented with a rare neonatal ruptured aneurysm of the distal posterior inferior cerebellar artery manifesting as a 10-day history of enlargement of head circumference. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed hydrocephalus and a round infratentorial enhanced lesion which compressed the medulla. Left vertebral angiography demonstrated an aneurysm on the telovelotonsillar segment of the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery. Ventriculoperitoneal shunt emplacement and proximal artery clipping were performed. The cerebrospinal fluid was bloody, suggesting aneurysm rupture had caused hydrocephalus. His postoperative course was uneventful, and neurological and developmental findings were normal 7 months later. Present neuroimaging, surgical, and neuro-anesthesiology techniques allow successful surgical intervention in cases of neonatal ruptured aneurysm.

The mechanism of lactitol (NS-4) in inducing adrenomedullary proliferative lesion in rats

We used 13-week repeated oral administration of lactitol as part of a study to clarify the mechanism by which lactitol induces the proliferation of adrenomedullary chromaffin cells. There was a marked increase in urinary calcium (Ca) excretion even though the lactitol administration had no effect on the blood Ca level. A tendency for an increase in adrenal venous blood epinephrine (EPI) and norepinephrine (NE) concentrations was seen. Organ weight measurement of adrenal glands revealed a tendency for an increase in absolute weight and a significant increase in relative weight. Morphometric analysis of adrenomedullary chromaffin cells showed a tendency for an increased total cell volume and a decreased numerical density; but, there was no conspicuous change in the total cell number. Determinations of the anti-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and antiproliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) antibody-positive cell counts showed a tendency for an increased proliferation rate for adrenomedullary chromaffin cells. Electron microscopy showed a slight increase in the number of Golgi apparatuses in these cells. Because the marked increase in urinary Ca excretion was concomitant with morphological changes that suggested the hyperfunction of chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla and a tendency for an increased cell proliferation rate, we assume that persistent hyperfunction of the adrenomedullary chromaffin cells, which was mediated by enhanced Ca absorption from the intestinal tract, may have induced proliferative lesion.

[A case of successful acute revascularization using a long vein graft]

We experienced a case of successful acute revascularization using a long vein graft. A 68-year-old man was admitted to our department due to transient ischemic attack of the left hemiparesis. CT scan showed no infarction, but PAO-SPECT revealed moderate hypoperfusion in the right ACA and MCA area. Cerebral angiography demonstrated right IC occlusion at its origin and moderate collateral circulation via leptomeningeal anastomosis from the PCA area, and via the external carotid system, especially directly from STA. But the STA was very narrow. Three days after admission, left hemiparesis appeared again and deteriorated severely. This time the hemiparesis persisted. Although MRI demonstrated little infarction in the right frontal lobe, we decided to carry out revascularization on the same day. Right saphenous vein was harvested for a graft because of the narrow STA. The facial artery and angular artery was selected as a donor and a recipient respectively, to avoid a clamp of the EC and a craniotomy of the STA running area. Finally we performed a facial artery-vein graft-angular artery (M4) bypass. The patient showed no complication and the left hemiparesis improved enough to allow the patient to walk by himself. Revascularization using vein graft is dangerous for acute ischemia due to the possibility of a complication such as brain edema and hemorrhagic infarction. The usual style of vein graft bypass is an EC-vein graft-M2 or M3 bypass. Using this style, high pressure inside the EC is carried intracranially.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[The role of gallium-67 citrate scintigraphy in Crohn's disease]

We investigated the usefulness of gallium scintigraphy and its importance in the choice of a treatment method for Crohn's disease. The subjects for the study were 30 patients diagnosed as Crohn's disease. After intravenous injections of 67Ga-citrate 111 MBq, planar and SPECT images were taken at 48 and 72 hrs. The overall positive rate was 42.1%, and among the positive cases, 78.6% required surgical treatment. On the other hand, surgical treatment was only performed in 18.8% of the negative cases, which was significantly low percentage. However, since 75% of the cases, in whom surgical treatment was performed, showed preoperative positive 67Ga results, positive cases detected by 67Ga scintigraphy were considered to be high-risk cases requiring surgical treatment.

Relapsing oral and colonic ulcers with monoclonal T-cell infiltration. A low grade mucosal T-lymphoproliferative disease of the digestive tract

BACKGROUND

Some cutaneous T-cell lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD), such as lymphomatoid papulosis and pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta, are characterized by an indolent or waning and waxing clinical course. However, such T-cell LPD are rarely documented in other organs.

METHODS

A patient with T-cell LPD of the digestive tract characterized by repetitive episodes of self-healing ulcers in the oral and intestinal mucosa over the course of 17 years is reported. Biopsy specimens from oral and intestinal mucosa were studied by conventional pathology, immunocytochemistry, and Southern blot analysis of T-cell receptor (TCR)-beta and -gamma gene rearrangement.

RESULTS

Immunocytochemically, the infiltrating lymphocytes were lamina propria T cells with a dominant phenotype CD3+, CD4+/-, CD8-, and HML-1-. DNA study revealed the same rearranged configuration of TCR-beta and -gamma genes in specimens from both oral and colonic lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

The present case may represent a novel T-cell lymphoproliferative disease (i.e., a digestive-tract mucosal counterpart of cutaneous dysplastic LPD).

Relapsing oral and colonic ulcers with monoclonal T-cell infiltration. A low grade mucosal T-lymphoproliferative disease of the digestive tract

BACKGROUND

Some cutaneous T-cell lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD), such as lymphomatoid papulosis and pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acuta, are characterized by an indolent or waning and waxing clinical course. However, such T-cell LPD are rarely documented in other organs.

METHODS

A patient with T-cell LPD of the digestive tract characterized by repetitive episodes of self-healing ulcers in the oral and intestinal mucosa over the course of 17 years is reported. Biopsy specimens from oral and intestinal mucosa were studied by conventional pathology, immunocytochemistry, and Southern blot analysis of T-cell receptor (TCR)-beta and -gamma gene rearrangement.

RESULTS

Immunocytochemically, the infiltrating lymphocytes were lamina propria T cells with a dominant phenotype CD3+, CD4+/-, CD8-, and HML-1-. DNA study revealed the same rearranged configuration of TCR-beta and -gamma genes in specimens from both oral and colonic lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

The present case may represent a novel T-cell lymphoproliferative disease (i.e., a digestive-tract mucosal counterpart of cutaneous dysplastic LPD).

DNA-strand breaks induced by dimethylarsinic acid, a metabolite of inorganic arsenics, are strongly enhanced by superoxide anion radicals

We previously reported that dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA), a major metabolite of inorganic arsenics, induced DNA single-strand breaks (ssb) both in vivo and in cultured alveolar type II (L-132) cells in vitro, possibly via the production of dimethylarsenic peroxyl radicals. Here, the interaction of superoxide anion radicals (O2-) in the induction of ssb in L-132 cells was investigated using paraquat, an O2(-)-producing agent. A significant enhancement of ssb formation was observed in the DMAA-exposed cells when coexposed to paraquat. This enhancement occurred even when post-exposed to DMAA after washing, suggesting that the DMAA exposure caused some modification of DNA such as DNA-adducts, which was recognized by active oxygens to form ssb. An experiment with UV-irradiation, which was likely to induce ssb at the modified region, supported the possibility of DNA modification by DMAA exposure. An ESR study indicated that O2- produced by paraquat in DMAA-exposed cells was more consumed than in non-exposed cells, assumingly through the reaction with the dimethylarsenic-modified region of DNA. The species of active oxygens were estimated by using diethyldithiocarbamate, aminotriazole, diethylmaleate, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), gamma-irradiation and ethanol. O2- but neither H2O2 nor hydroxyl radicals was very likely to contribute to the ssb-enhancing action of paraquat.

Torsion of the wandering spleen: CT and angiographic appearance

OBJECTIVE

To seek CT and angiographic appearances that characterize torsion of the wandering spleen.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The CT and angiographic findings of two cases of preoperatively diagnosed torsion of the wandering spleen were reviewed, and the findings were closely compared with intraoperative and histopathological findings.

RESULTS

Characteristic CT appearance seemed to be a whirled appearance formed at the medial side of the displaced spleen. The angiographic finding that was characteristic of the disease was a tapered and abruptly twisted distal splenic artery.

CONCLUSION

These findings were useful in making the early and correct diagnosis of this rare but fulminant condition.

Adult GM1 gangliosidosis: immunohistochemical and ultrastructural findings in an autopsy case

We report neuropathologic findings for a 66-year-old Japanese man with adult/chronic GM1 gangliosidosis whose main clinical symptoms were speech and gait disturbance attributable to dystonia with rigidity. He was a homozygote for the 51isoleucine (ATC)-->threonine (ACC) mutation in the beta-galactosidase gene. Neuronal loss and intracytoplasmic storage were most prominent in the caudate nucleus and putamen and, to a lesser degree, in the amygdala, globus pallidus, and Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. Other areas of the CNS were relatively spared. We believe that this selective neuronal involvement in the CNS is characteristic of adult/chronic GM1 gangliosidosis and that it reflects a more active turnover of GM1 ganglioside in the affected areas than elsewhere in the CNS.