Slowing of peripheral motor nerve conduction was ameliorated by aminoguanidine in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats.

The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of aminoguanidine (AG) on slowing of motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) of the sciatic nerve in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats and to assess its mechanism of action. The MNCV of the sciatic nerve was measured electrophysiologically in diabetic rats treated with and without AG for 16 weeks. To elucidate the action of AG, morphological lesion and abnormality of polyol pathway metabolism in the nerve were examined and tissue levels of advanced glycosylation end-products (AGE) were determined as an indicator of AGE accumulation in tissue.

Transport and metabolism of glutathione isopropyl ester in cerebrospinal fluid.

The transport of glutathione (GSH) or glutathione isopropyl ester (GSH isopropyl ester) to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in rats was estimated by levels of GSH or GSH isopropyl ester and their metabolites in CSF 30 min after the intravenous administration of GSH or GSH isopropyl ester (300 mg/kg). Although the CSF uptake of GSH isopropyl ester was almost equal to that of GSH as evidenced by about a two-fold increase in the amount of non-protein sulfhydryl groups in CSF, the sum of GSH isopropyl ester and GSH concentrations in the CSF after GSH isopropyl ester treatment was increased by 32% compared with saline-treated controls. On the other hand, treatment with GSH had no significant increase in GSH levels in CSF but increased its metabolite levels, such as cysteinyl-glycine and cysteine.

[Pulmonary complications in patients with rheumatoid arthritis].

Pulmonary manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis were studied in 26 patients. Pulmonary complications could be divided into four subgroups: Interstitial pneumonia/Pulmonary fibrosis (n = 18), Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia (n = 4), Bronchiolitis Obliterans (n = 2), and Pleuritis/Pericarditis (n = 1). Analysis of cells in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) revealed abnormally high percentages of lymphocytes in one-half of the patients and abnormally high percentages of neutrophils in one-third of the patients.

[Prognosis of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia].

Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) is characterized by chronic inflammation and fibrosis of the lung. It carries a poor prognosis and the treatment for IIP has not yet been established. We evaluated 116 cases of IIP retrospectively, and analyzed possible prognostic factors, such as the mode of detection, clinical symptoms, chest X-ray findings, pulmonary function tests, blood chemistry, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and treatments.

[A case of subcutaneous sarcoid nodules induced by interferon-alpha].

A 57-year-old woman came to our hospital complaining of multiple subcutaneous nodules that developed while she received corticosteroid therapy for pulmonary sarcoidosis. She was treated with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) at another hospital for C-type chronic hepatitis and she noticed these nodules with tenderness two months after treatment began. A biopsy specimen of the nodule revealed subcutaneous sarcoid granuloma.