Enhancement of the cAMP-induced apolipoprotein-mediated cellular lipid release by calmodulin inhibitors W7 and W5 from RAW 264 mouse macrophage cell line cells.

Apolipoprotein (apo) A-I generates high-density lipoprotein (HDL) by removing cellular cholesterol and phospholipid on the interaction with cells as a main source of plasma HDL. The reaction is induced by dibutylyl cyclic (dbc) adenosine monophosphate (AMP) in RAW 264, mouse macrophage cell line cells, and we investigated its pharmacologic modulation using this cell model. Release of cellular cholesterol and choline phospholipid by apoA-I was increased 9.

Seven cases of breast cancer recurrence limited to the central nervous system without other visceral metastases.

We report 7 rare cases of recurrent breast cancers who presented with central nervous system (CNS) metastases as the initial relapse site without any other organ metastases. The average age of the patients at surgery was 42.6 years old of age (median 45:range 32-60), and 6 of the 7 cases (86%) were premenopausal.

Evaluation of histopathological criteria for identifying node-negative breast cancer with high risk of early recurrence in the NSAS-BC protocol study.

Background: The histopathological criteria for high-risk node-negative primary breast cancer stated in the National Surgical Adjuvant Study of Breast Cancer (NSAS-BC) protocol were used to grade a consecutive series of 488 cases at our hospital.

Methods: To validate the criteria retrospectively, we examined the histological features of node-negative primary breast cancers which showed early relapse within 2 years after surgical therapy.

Results: Early relapse occurred in 12 patients, distant metastases in 11, and local recurrence in one.

Development of non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis after percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy for severely calcified mitral stenosis.

We encountered a case of mitral stenosis, complicated with non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis, that developed after percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC). A 71-year-old female Japanese patient had severe congestive heart failure and underwent PTMC for critical and severely calcified mitral stenosis. Four weeks later, the echocardiogram demonstrated a highly echoic protrusion in the postero-medial commissure of the mitral valve.

Beneficial application of quantitative coronary angiography (edge detection algorithm) in analysis of dissected coronary arteries to predict long-term patency.

The present study evaluated the application of quantitative coronary angiography (edge detection algorithm) for the analysis of coronary dissection lesions after balloon angioplasty. Acute and late results were obtained by the edge detection algorithm in 60 patients with 66 dissected lesions (NHLBI types B-C). The edge detection algorithm delineated the border of the true lumen in 32 lesions (group with automated analysis alone, 48.

Combined measurement of the c-erbB-2 protein in breast carcinoma tissues and sera is useful as a sensitive tumor marker for monitoring tumor relapse.

c-erbB-2 protein levels in tissue extracts and sera were determined in a retrospective analysis of 158 patients who underwent surgical resection of breast carcinoma by means of a sandwich enzyme immunometric assay (EIA) using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed to the extracellular domain of the c-erbB-2 oncogene protein (ErbB-2). In the analysis of tissue extracts, 48 samples (30.3%) showed ErbB-2 levels exceeding 18.

Preferential occurrence of breast carcinomas with loss of chromosome 16q and der (16) t (1;16) / der (1;16) in middle-aged patients with hyperplasia of mammary glands.

Structural and numerical alterations of chromosome 16 are considered to be commonly involved in the genesis of breast cancer. To reveal etiological factors that predispose cells to these alterations, we examined the frequencies of chromosome 16 aneusomy, 16q loss and 1;16 fusion indicating der (16) t (1;16) / der (1;16) by multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization in 46 tumors resected mostly from young ( /= 75 years old) women, and compared the results with those in a patient group representing a common age distribution of Japanese patients in whom chromosome 16 status in the tumor had already been studied. The correlation of these chromosome 16 alterations with age, hyperplasia in adjacent mammary glands, cancer history, and obesity indices was investigated in a total of 244 patients.

Increased hyperkinesis in noninfarcted areas during short-term follow-up in patients with first anterior acute myocardial infarction treated by direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

The time course and clinical significance of hyperkinetic wall motion (HWM) in a noninfarcted area in direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) has not been clearly demonstrated in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The objectives of this study were to examine the change in HWM during one-month follow-up after direct PTCA and determine its impact on the recovery of global left ventricular function. A total of 61 patients with first anteroseptal AMI and one vessel disease were evaluated.

Atypical medullary carcinoma of the breast with cartilaginous metaplasia in a patient with a BRCA1 germline mutation.

We examined a 34-year-old premenopausal woman who had noticed a left-breast lump a month previously. She had no past history of malignancies but had a family history of breast and ovarian cancers. Her mother had suffered from ovarian cancer when aged 47 years and had died of the disease at age 52.

Effects of pimobendan and EGIS 9377, cardiotonic agents, and OG-VI, a nucleoside-nucleotide mixture, administered during reperfusion after ischemia on stunned myocardium in dogs.

Background: Pimobendan is a so-called calcium sensitizer that exerts a positive inotropic action. EGIS 9377 is synthesized as a calcium sensitizer. OG-VI is a nucleoside-nucleotide mixture that ameliorates the myocardial dysfunction (myocardial stunning) after ischemia.

Large, central acellular zones indicating myoepithelial tumor differentiation in high-grade invasive ductal carcinomas as markers of predisposition to lung and brain metastases.

High-grade invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) of the breast with large, central acellular zones on their cut surfaces are usually associated with the myoepithelial immunophenotype of carcinoma cells, which includes the expression of S-100 protein, alpha-smooth muscle actin, and keratin 14. To clarify the clinical significance of these features of IDCs, the authors compared the incidence of the myoepithelial immunophenotype immunohistochemically, patient prognosis, and metastatic sites of the tumor between 20 high-grade IDCs with large, central acellular zones and 40 control high-grade IDCs without these zones. The myoepithelial immunophenotype was detected in 16 IDCs (80%) with large, central acellular zones but in only seven IDCs (18%) without.

A subclavian artery aneurysm associated with aortitis syndrome.

We performed surgery on a 61-year-old woman who had increasingly severe right shoulder pain and paresthesia in her right upper extremity as a result of a large right subclavian artery aneurysm. She had suffered from aortitis syndrome for 10 years for which she was treated with steroids and had multiple arterial lesions, including bilateral subclavian artery aneurysms, abdominal aortic aneurysm and obstruction of bilateral superficial femoral arteries. The right subclavian artery aneurysm measured 4 cm in diameter and rupture appeared imminent, prompting surgical therapy.

Adriamycin causes dual inotropic effects through complex modulation of myocardial Ca2+ handling.

Effects of adriamycin (ADR) on the twitch contraction of isolated guinea pig cardiac muscles were examined to elucidate its actions on intracellular Ca2+ mobilization. In right ventricular papillary muscles, ADR (100-300 micromol/L) caused positive inotropy when the muscles were constantly stimulated at low frequencies (0.1-0.

c-erbB-2 protein overexpression and p53 immunoreaction in primary and recurrent breast cancer tissues.

Background And Objectives: We investigated whether expression levels of c-erbB-2 and p53 proteins in breast cancer tissues differ in primary and metastatic lesions.

Methods: Immunohistochemical staining or sandwich enzyme immunoassay was used to determine expression levels of c-erbB-2 and p53 proteins in 42 breast cancer samples from 21 patients. Estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PgR) were also measured by enzyme immunoassay in each case.

Evaluation of adjunctive intracoronary administration of acetylcholine following intravenous infusion of ergonovine to provoke coronary artery spasm.

A dilemma arises in patients with chest pain or other symptoms suggestive of coronary artery disease but without significant coronary artery stenosis or spasm even after the spasm provocation test by either ergonovine or acetylcholine. Incremental doses of intracoronary acetylcholine (up to 100 micrograms for left coronary artery and 50 micrograms for right coronary artery) were administered when intravenous infusion of ergonovine 0.4 mg showed negative results.

Detection and differentiation of Aino and Akabane Simbu serogroup bunyaviruses by nested polymerase chain reaction.

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nested PCR were developed to detect and differentiate Aino (AINO) and Akabane (AKA) virus S RNA. Two pairs of AINO- and AKA-specific primers for nested PCR were synthesized and examined for their capacity to amplify PCR products using 7 Simbu serogroup viruses isolated in Japan and Australia. RT- and nested PCR using AKA-specific primers amplified cDNA from Tinaroo virus RNA as well as homologous RNA.

[Assessing the physiologic significance of intermediate coronary lesions: comparison of coronary flow measurements with exercise electrocardiography].

Angiography may provide limited assessment of intermediate coronary stenoses. Doppler coronary flow reserve has been applied to determine the physiologic significance of such lesions. This study compared coronary flow reserve derived from intracoronary Doppler flow wire with the results of the exercise tolerance test to evaluate the validity of intracoronary flow measurements in the assessment of intermediate stenoses.

[Hepatic involvement in a case of lysosomal glycogen storage disease with normal acid maltase].

A 19-year-old man, who could run only slowly since childhood and who walked on his toes since 12 years of age, noted difficulty in climbing upstairs at 17 years of age. He was admitted to Kyushu University Hospital because of elevated AST, ALT and CK levels. On admission, the liver was palpable two fingerbreadths beneath the right costal margin.

Contrast-enhanced computed tomography detection of occult breast cancers presenting as axillary masses.

Some non-palpable breast cancers presenting as axillary metastases (occult breast cancer, OBC) are not clinically detectable by either mammography (MMG) or ultrasonography (US). We performed contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) in order to locate the primary tumors in five cases of OBC and succeeded in locating all of them.

Intraoperative detection of embedded coronary arteries in MIDCAB using a color Doppler microprobe.

Intraoperative detection of deeply embedded coronary arteries is difficult, especially in minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafts. This report describes an effective method to identify embedded coronary arteries by using a color Doppler microprobe. Five embedded left anterior descending coronary arteries were successfully identified by intraoperative ultrasonography.

A dose-finding study of lenograstim (glycosylated rHuG-CSF) for peripheral blood stem cell mobilization during postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Lenograstim/Breast Cancer Study Group.

Background: The optimum dose of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization after disease-oriented, conventional-dose chemotherapy remains unknown.

Methods: A multicenter dose-finding study of glycosylated G-CSF (lenograstim) for the mobilization of PBSCs following adjuvant CAF chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil) was performed in 38 patients with postoperative breast cancer. Each 10, ten and eight patients were sequentially allocated to one of the three dose groups (2, 5 and 10 micrograms/kg, respectively) of lenograstim.

Detection of bovine coronaviruses from adult cows with epizootic diarrhea and their antigenic and biological diversities.

Bovine coronavirus (BCV) was detected by reverse transcriptase-PCR, immune electron microscopy or virus isolation from adult cows at 6 out of 6 outbreaks of epizootic diarrhea in Japan. Six BCVs isolated in feces, intestinal content or tracheal exudate of the cows were analyzed for their antigenic properties by cross virus neutralization (VN) tests. The isolates were divided into two groups, one of which had closely related antigenicity with the reference Mebus and Kakegawa strains of BCV, and another which showed significant differences in VN antibody titers from the reference strains.

Prognosis of a series of 763 consecutive node-negative invasive breast cancer patients without adjuvant therapy: analysis of clinicopathological prognostic factor.

Background And Objectives: The objectives of this study were to confirm the favorable outcome of Japanese invasive breast cancer patients without lymph node metastasis, after treatment with surgery alone, and to evaluate clinicopathological prognostic factors in this population.

Methods: The subjects were 763 consecutive node-negative invasive breast cancer patients who underwent surgery without adjuvant therapies between 1988 and 1993 at our hospital. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were analyzed by clinicopathological factors.