A selective thromboxane A2 (TXA2) synthase inhibitor, ozagrel, attenuates lung injury and decreases monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and interleukin-8 mRNA expression in oleic acid-induced lung injury in guinea pigs.

This study examined the effect of ozagrel, a thromboxane A(2) synthase inhibitor, on the accumulation of leucocytes and chemokine mRNA expression in lungs experimentally injured using oleic acid (OA). OA injection into guinea pigs rapidly increased thromboxane A(2) generation and subsequently increased total protein concentration and the numbers of macrophages and neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and increased monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and interleukin-8 mRNA expression in the whole lung. Administration of ozagrel prevented these changes associated with OA injection.

[Pathological and biochemical studies of 30 Niigata autopsy cases related to Minamata disease].

Objectives: To reevaluate pathologically and biochemically 30 autopsy cases related to Minamata disease (MD) in Niigata Prefecture (NP) and compare the findings with those of autopsy cases related to MD in Kumamoto Prefecture (KP).

Methods: Recently, a set of pathological materials of these 30 autopsy cases has been sent from the Brain Research Institute at the University of Niigata to the National Institute for Minamata Disease (NIMD). The materials from each autopsy case were reexamined at the NIMD.

Methylmercury poisoning in common marmosets--MRI findings and peripheral nerve lesions.

Common marmosets were used as model animals for methylmercury (MeHg) poisoning. Six marmosets were given MeHg of 5 ppm Hg in drinking water. The animals were divided into 3 groups of 2 each.

An autopsy case of minamata disease (methylmercury poisoning)--pathological viewpoints of peripheral nerves.

The outbreak of methylmercury poisoning in the geographic areas around Minamata Bay, Kumamoto, Japan in the 1950s has become known as Minamata disease. Based on earlier reports and extensive pathological studies on autopsied cases at the Kumamoto University School of Medicine, destructive lesions in the anterior portion of the calcarine cortex and depletion predominantly of granular cells in the cerebellar cortex came to be recognized as the hallmark and diagnostic yardstick of methylmercury poisoning in humans. As the number of autopsy cases of Minamata disease increased, it became apparent that the cerebral lesion was not restricted to the calcarine cortex but was relatively widespread.

[Clinical significance of fine-needle aspiration biopsy in major salivary gland tumors].

We compared preoperative evaluations of 93 fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) of major salivary gland tumors done over a 5 year period with pathologic diagnoses of surgically resected specimens. The overall accuracy was 88.5%.

Extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage and chemotherapy for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal free cancer cells.

The effects of extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage (EIPL) for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal free cancer cells were investigated. This study was based on 22 consecutive patients with peritoneal free cancer cells, among 663 patients who underwent curative surgical treatment for advanced gastric cancer. The 22 patients were followed up for 2 years or until death.