Immunohistochemical study of collagen synthesis in an in-vitro model of scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach.

Background/aims: The mechanisms involved in the unique stromal change that occurs upon cancer invasion are poorly understood in scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach.

Methodology: Three different human gastric cancer cell lines (KATO-III, MKN-28, MKN-45) and human fibroblast cells (TIG-101) were co-cultured three-dimensionally in collagen gels. The gels, in vitro models of gastric cancer, were immunostained by monoclonal antibodies to human placental prolyl 4-hydroxylase (PH, a key enzyme of collagen synthesis) and then examined by light and electron microscopy.

Evaluation of changes in methylmercury accumulation in the developing rat brain and its effects: a study with consecutive and moderate dose exposure throughout gestation and lactation periods.

Methylmercury (MeHg) can be transferred to the fetus through the placenta and to newborn offspring through breast milk. The higher mercury (Hg) accumulation and susceptibility to toxicity in the fetus than in the mother during the gestation period is well known. However, the contribution of MeHg exposure through breast milk to the brain Hg concentration in offspring is not clear.

Neuronal migration disturbance and consequent cytoarchitecture in the cerebral cortex following transplacental administration of methylmercury.

To understand the effects of methylmercury (MeHg) on neuronal migration in the developing cerebral cortex, we performed double administrations of MeHg and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to pregnant rats on different embryonic days (E11, E13, E16 or E21). Histopathological examination of a proportion of the offspring on postnatal day 28 revealed no apparent cytoarchitectural abnormalities in the primary motor and primary somatosensory cortices of the cerebrum. Morphometric analysis revealed no significant differences in total neuron population in either of these areas, and no differences in subpopulations of cells in any of the cortical layers, between any of the MeHg-exposed groups and the control animals.

Abnormal expression of epidermal growth factor and its receptor in the forebrain and serum of schizophrenic patients.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) comprises a structurally related family of proteins containing heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGFalpha) that regulates the development of dopaminergic neurons as well as monoamine metabolism. We assessed the contribution of EGF to schizophrenia by measuring EGF family protein levels in postmortem brains and in fresh serum of schizophrenic patients and control subjects. EGF protein levels were decreased in the prefrontal cortex and striatum of schizophrenic patients, whereas the levels of HB-EGF and TGFalpha were not significantly different in any of the regions examined.

Clinical evaluation of pN-stage (TNM) in gastric cancer: an analysis of distribution of regional lymph nodes in node-positive patients.

Background: The aims of the present study were to identify the distribution of regional lymph nodes in gastric cancer patients based on the number of nodes and to assess the influence of the examined area of lymph nodes on the determination of node stage according to TNM in node-positive patients with gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: A total of 346 node-positive patients with primary solitary carcinoma of the stomach (210 males and 136 females; age range, 27 to 84 years; mean, 58.5 years), who underwent curative gastric resection combined with D2 or more extended lymph node dissection, were enrolled in the present study.

Neutrophil elastase inhibitor attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatic microvascular dysfunction in mice.

The present study was conducted to elucidate the role of neutrophil elastase in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced hepatic microvascular injury by using in vivo microscopy. The intravenous (i.v.

Protective effects of urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI) on hepatic microvasculature in hypotensive brain-dead rats.

Background/aims: We examined the protective effects of a protease inhibitor, urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), on livers of brain dead rats associated with systemic hemodynamic instability.

Methods: Brain death was induced by inflating a balloon catheter placed in the epidural space in rats followed by intravenous administration of UTI for 6 h. The hemodynamic, functional and morphological changes in the liver were examined.

Fusiform gyrus epilepsy: the use of ictal magnetoencephalography. Case report.

The authors report successful presurgical identification of an epileptic focus in the fusiform gyrus by using ictal magnetoencephalography (MEG), which was performed with the aid of an advanced whole-brain neuromagnetometer. A 22-year-old man had suffered from medically refractory complex partial seizures since he was 10 years of age. Seizure symptoms, magnetic resonance imaging, and ictal single-photon emission computerized tomography examinations indicated right temporal lobe epilepsy; however, ictal electroencephalography, including sphenoidal recordings, failed even to lateralize the seizure focus.

Effect of FR167653, a novel inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1beta synthesis on lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatic microvascular dysfunction in mice.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) have been recognized as key proinflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced liver injury. In the present study we examined the effect of FR167653, a novel inhibitor of TNFalpha and IL-1 synthesis, on the hepatic microvascular response to LPS using in vivo microscopy. Significant hepatic microvascular responses comprising leukocyte adhesion to the sinusoidal wall and central venules and reduced sinusoidal perfusion appeared 2 and 4 h after LPS (0.

Expression of PGP9.5 in ductal cells of the rat pancreas during development and regeneration: can it be a marker for pancreatic progenitor cells?

The expression of protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5), a known neuron marker, was immunohistochemically investigated in rat pancreas.

Cerebellar cortical tau pathology in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration.

Immunohistochemical localization of tau in the cerebellar cortex was carried out using a mouse monoclonal antibody against phosphorylation-dependent tau (AT8) in brain tissue (cerebellum) from 13 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 7 patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and 5 age-matched control subjects. Purkinje cell somata that showed diffuse granular accumulation of cytoplasmic tau were found occasionally in 9 of the 13 patients with PSP (69%) and in 4 of the 7 patients with CBD (57%). Tau-positive doughnut-shaped structures were also found occasionally in the cerebellar molecular layer in 6 of the 13 patients with PSP (46%) and 2 of the 7 patients with CBD (29%).

Effects of cortisol administration on hepatic circulation during brain death in rabbits.

Background: Hemodynamic instability and endocrinologic alterations during brain death contribute to dysfunction of donor organs. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of cortisol administration on hepatic circulation in brain-dead hypotensive donors.

Methods: Brain death was created by inflating a balloon catheter inserted into the epidural space in rabbits.

Surgical strategy and outcomes for epileptic patients with focal cortical dysplasia or dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify and compare the influence of surgical strategy on relief from seizures in patients with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and those with dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT).

Methods: Six patients with FCD and five patients with DNT, all of whom underwent surgical resection for medically intractable epilepsy, were compared in terms of presurgical seizure types and frequency, location of lesions, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 99mTc-ECD, scalp electroencephalogram (EEG), and long-term video-EEG recording. Prolonged subdural recordings and intraoperative electrocorticograms (ECoG) were analyzed.

Recent results in the surgical treatment of gastric cancer according to the Japanese and TNM classification.

Background: Recent outcomes based on surgical long-term follow-up of patients with gastric cancer using current staging systems have not been fully evaluated.

Materials And Methods: A total of 1357 patients with primary gastric carcinoma (911 males and 446 females, ranging in age from 20 to 87 years; average 59.1 years) who had undergone gastric resection between 1986 and 1996 were examined with respect to their clinicopathological features, surgical procedures and patient survival according to Japanese and UICC-TNM classifications.

Blockade of bradykinin B(2) receptor suppresses acute pancreatitis induced by obstruction of the pancreaticobiliary duct in rats.

1. The involvement of bradykinin (BK) B(2) receptor in acute pancreatitis induced by pancreaticobiliary duct ligation was investigated in rats. 2.

Alpha-Fetoprotein-producing esophageal adenocarcinoma: report of a case.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing esophageal tumors are extremely rare. We report herein the case of a 51-year-old man found to have an AFP-producing adenocarcinoma arising from esophageal proper mucosa. The patient presented for investigation of dysphagia, and esophagogram and endoscopy revealed a lesion about 2 cm in size with a depressed center surrounded by low nodular protrusions in the lower esophagus.

Slowly progressive dementia and multiple cerebral cortical infarctions following mitral valve replacement.

We describe the clinicopathological findings of a woman, 83 years of age at the time of death, who demonstrated dementia and numerous cerebral infarctions. She had a history of repeated mitral valve replacements 15 and 13 years prior to death and showed a dull responsive state 1 month after the second operation. Thereafter, dementia manifested and slowly progressed.

A new staging system based on tumor volume in gastric cancer.

Background: Development of a more appropriate staging system for gastric cancer may prove useful in clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: A total of 171 patients with solitary carcinoma of the stomach (112 males and 59 females; age range, 20 to 84 years; mean, 57.7 years) who underwent curative surgery were examined.

Tumor volume as an indicator of nodal status in advanced gastric carcinoma.

Background: The significance of tumor volume as an indicator of lymph node metastasis in advanced gastric cancer remains to be clarified.

Materials And Methods: Tumor volume was measured from continuous tissue sections taken from 60 patients with advanced gastric cancer (34 males and 26 females, aged 35 to 81 years; average 57.3 years) using a computer generated surface rendering method.

Immunohistochemical and electron microscopic study of extrinsic hepatic reinnervation following orthotopic liver transplantation in rats.

Background/aims: Because little has been known about the morphological and functional consequences of liver transplantation on hepatic autonomic nerves, we examined the time-course of extrinsic hepatic innervation at the level of the porta hepatis of liver allografts.

Methods: Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed using male Lewis rats. Crosscut tissue specimens were obtained postoperatively for up to 6 months from the porta hepatis of transplanted livers, and processed for immunohistochemical staining for protein gene product 9.

Aprosencephaly: histopathological features of the rudimentary forebrain and retina.

Aprosencephaly/atelencephaly is an extremely rare central nervous system defect of the human fetus, which has been attributed to an encephaloclastic process. We report here the histopathological features of the rudimentary forebrain and retina of a case of aprosencephaly in a male fetus that was examined at 20 weeks of gestation, in which there was no evidence of destruction. The prosencephalon was excessively small and replaced by a solid, cylindrical mass without a hemispheric cleavage or a ventricle.

Cause of death in renal transplant patients: a comparison between azathioprine and ciclosporin.

The results of renal transplantation have improved due to advances in immunosuppression techniques of preservation, and pre- and postoperative treatments; however, both morbidity and mortality remain serious problems. To decrease the morbidity and mortality rates we analyzed the causes of death after renal transplantation in our hospital. Between 1972 and 1999, we performed 364 renal transplantations, 257 of which were living-related and 107, cadaveric.

Experimentally induced leptomeningeal glioneuronal heterotopia and underlying cortical dysplasia of the lateral limbic area in rats treated transplacentally with methylmercury.

Leptomeningeal glioneuronal heterotopia (LGH) is a developmental anomaly sometimes observed at the surface of human brains with severe malformations. We experimentally induced LGH in brains of rat pups by transplacental exposure to methylmercury. Histopathological profiles of the induced LGH, including the spatio-temporal predominance of the manifestation, suggest some aspects of the histogenesis of this malformation.

History of pancreaticojejunostomy in pancreaticoduodenectomy: development of a more reliable anastomosis technique.

The history of pancreaticojejunostomy in pancreaticoduodenectomy is described. Many types of operations have been devised in search of a more reliable method of anastomosis. To perform a safe and reliable pancreaticoenteric anastomosis it is necessary to understand the organ characteristics of the pancreas.

Migration pathways and behavior of glial progenitors in the postnatal forebrain.

The postnatal subventricular zone (SVZ) gives rise to many of the glial cells in the forebrain. We investigated migration pathways and dynamics of motility of progenitors from the neonatal rat forebrain SVZ by labeling progenitors in vivo with a retrovirus encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) and then visualizing the dynamics of their movements by time-lapse fluorescence microscopy in slice preparations. Cells within the dorso-lateral SVZ moved in an apparently undirected fashion, but migrated in a directed manner after emigration into white matter and cortex, displaying both radial and tangential migration.