The benefit of chemotherapy in a patient with multiple brain metastases and meningitis carcinomatosa from ovarian cancer.

We report on a 45-year-old patient with stage IIIc ovarian cancer, multiple brain metastases, and meningitis carcinomatosa. After three courses of initial chemotherapy, consisting of docetaxel and carboplatin, the patient underwent interval cytoreductive surgery, consisting of hyster-ectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy, appendectomy, and retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. Then five courses of the same chemotherapy were given as adjuvant treatment.

Large-scale production of genetically engineered CYP3A4 in E. coli: application of a jarfermenter.

To produce a large amount of CYP3A4, we applied a jarfermenter (ABLE, BMJ-PI or BMS-PI) to culture the genetically engineered E. coli cells harboring CYP3A4 along with NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (OR). The jarfermenter is a stirred bacterial culture vessel in which the pH, the dissolved oxygen (DO) and the temperature of a culture medium can be controlled.

Vascular-pedicled costal cartilage graft for the treatment of subglottic and upper tracheal stenosis.

Background/purpose: Free costal cartilage graft for the treatment of subglottic and tracheal stenosis is widely used, but postoperative granulation formation is a problem. To reduce the risk of granulation formation after free costal graft, a new operation of costal cartilage graft with vascular pedicle was introduced.

Methods: A vascular pedicled fifth costal cartilage graft is prepared using internal thoracic artery and vein and intercostal artery and vein as a vascular pedicle.

Hormonal control of a metamorphosis-specific transcriptional factor Broad-Complex in silkworm.

Insect metamorphosis is induced by the steroid 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in the absence of sesquiterpenoid juvenile hormone (JH). In Drosophila melanogaster, the Broad-Complex (BR-C) transcriptional factor plays critical roles during metamorphosis. We isolated cDNAs encoding BR-C in the silkworm Bombyx mori and examined their mRNA expression.

[Aortic valve papillary fibroelastoma found at reoperation after open mitral commissurotomy; report of a case].

In 1982, a 63-year-old woman underwent open mitral commissurotomy for rheumatic mitral stenosis. She was referred to our hospital for surgical treatment of mitral restenosis in 2003. Preoperative echocardiography showed rheumatic mitral valve restenosis and demonstrated a mobile mass of the aortic valve.

Experience of long-term synbiotic therapy in seven short bowel patients with refractory enterocolitis.

Background/purpose: Probiotic and prebiotic therapies are potent new strategies to treat various intestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and viral and bacterial infections. Synbiotics is defined as the combined use of probiotics and prebiotics and is expected to have a stronger effect on intestinal diseases than probiotics or prebiotics alone, but there has been no report of its clinical application. The authors designed a protocol for synbiotic therapy composed of Bifidobacterium breve, Lactobacillus casei, and galactooligosaccharides and preliminarily ascertained its clinical effects in humans.

Omphalocele associated with a large multilobular umbilical cord pseudocyst.

The prevalence of umbilical cord cysts at 7-13 weeks' gestation is approximately 3%. More than 20% of such cases are complicated by structural defects and/or chromosomal abnormalities such as trisomy 18. These cysts usually have a single cavity and are <5 cm in size.

Evaluation of recovery directed left ventricular assist device using isolated perfused rabbit hearts.

We have developed a recovery directed left ventricular assist device (RDLVAD) that can promote cardiac recovery by achieving very low ventricular work and ensuring full ventricular relaxation and filling. It consists of a valved apical conduit, an afterload controlling chamber, and a centrifugal pump. To test the previously described effects of RDLVAD on the left ventricle, we made an RDLVAD suitable for isolated perfused rabbit hearts.

[The effect and role of the intraaortic balloon pumping in off-pump coronary artery bypass].

Eighty consecutive patients who underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) were studied. They were divided into group I (n = 10) which received preoperative intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP), and group II (n = 70) which did not receive IABP. The indications for preoperative IABP were severe left main coronary artery disease in 7 patients, severe 3 vessel disease in 3 patients, unstable angina in 5 patients, acute myocardial infarction in 3 patients.

Stromal invasion of the cervix can be excluded from the criteria for using adjuvant radiotherapy following radical surgery for patients with cervical cancer.

Background: Regarding complications of radiotherapy, the indications for adjuvant radiotherapy should be restricted. We conducted the present study to determine whether deep stromal invasion of the cervix could be excluded from the criteria used to identify patients for this treatment surgery.

Methods: This study included 115 patients with FIGO stage Ib to IIb cervical cancer who underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection.

Expression of the c-myc gene as a predictor of chemotherapy response and a prognostic factor in patients with ovarian cancer.

The present study was conducted to determine whether and how expression of the c-myc gene is related to the response to chemotherapy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. This study includes 101 consecutive patients with stage Ic to IV epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent primary surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy. Immunohistochemical studies were performed to detect Ki-67 and ARF proteins.

Refolding processes of cytochrome P450cam from ferric and ferrous acid forms to the native conformation. Formations of folding intermediates with non-native heme coordination state.

Changes in heme coordination state and protein conformation of cytochrome P450(cam) (P450(cam)), a b-type heme protein, were investigated by employing pH jump experiments coupled with time-resolved optical absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and resonance Raman techniques. We found a partially unfolded form (acid form) of ferric P450(cam) at pH 2.5, in which a Cys(-)-heme coordination bond in the native conformation was ruptured.

p38 MAPK associated with stereoselective priming by grepafloxacin on O2- production in neutrophils.

Grepafloxacin is an asymmetric fluoroquinolone derivative which possesses high tissue penetrability as well as strong, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities. We recently found that grepafloxacin induced a priming effect on neutrophil respiratory burst induced by N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine. In this report, we elucidate the precise mechanism of the priming by grepafloxacin.

Thoracic epidural catheter insertion using the caudal approach assisted with an electrical nerve stimulator in young children.

Objectives: We evaluated whether thoracic epidural catheter placement using the caudal approach and assisted with an electrical stimulator could be performed in young children.

Methods: Ten young children (1-4 years) who underwent abdominal surgeries were studied. Under general anesthesia without muscle relaxants, caudal catheter placement was performed using an 18-gauge Crawford-type needle and a 20-gauge radiopaque epidural catheter with a stainless-steel stylet.

New phenotype of accessory scrotum with perineal lipoblastoma: coexistence of midperineal and lateral accessory scrotums.

We present the extremely rare phenotype of an accessory scrotum with an associated lipoblastoma. There was a coexistence of midperineal and lateral types. To our knowledge, this phenotype has never been reported.

A case of acrocephalosyndactyly with low imperforate anus.

The authors report a case of a female acrocephalosyndactyly with imperforate anus without fistula, which is rare in girls. Acrocephalosyndactyly is characterized by premature closure of the sutures (craniosynostosis) and fusion or webbing of hands and feet (syndactyly). The most general types of the syndrome are the Apert syndrome and the Pfeiffer syndrome.

A case of laryngeal atresia (congenital high airway obstruction syndrome) with chromosome 5p deletion syndrome rescued by ex utero intrapartum treatment.

The authors report a case of laryngeal atresia (congenital high airway obstruction syndrome [CHAOS]) that was diagnosed prenatally. The patient underwent successfully tracheostomy by ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT). The fetal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging MRI showed a typical CHAOS pattern with expanded hyperechogenic lungs, inverted diaphragms, and a dilated trachea.

Leptomycin B enhances CDDP-sensitivity via nuclear accumulation of p53 protein in HPV-positive cells.

Cervical cancer, which commonly contains a wild-type p53 gene, is highly correlated with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. Because the oncoprotein E6, derived from HPV, inhibits the function of p53 protein, the inhibition of apoptosis via the p53 pathway by HPV may be related to cisplatin (CDDP)-sensitivity in cervical cancer. We conducted the present study to determine whether and how HPV is related to CDDP-sensitivity in HPV-positive cervical cancer cells.

Activity of docetaxel in paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cells.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the behavior of docetaxel (DTX) in ovarian cancer cells resistant to paclitaxel (PTX).

Methods: We used human ovarian adenocarcinoma cell lines KF, KFTx (PTX-resistant KF), SK-OV-3, and HAC-2. The sensitivity of the cells to PTX or DTX was determined by the MTT assay.

Conditional rather than absolute requirements of the capsid coding sequence for initiation of methionine-independent translation in Plautia stali intestine virus.

The positive-stranded RNA genome of Plautia stali intestine virus (PSIV) has an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in an intergenic region (IGR). The IGR-IRES of PSIV initiates translation of the capsid protein by using CAA, the codon for glutamine. It was previously reported (J.

In vitro studies of hematopoiesis in the silkworm: cell proliferation in and hemocyte discharge from the hematopoietic organ.

The lepidopteran hematopoietic process is poorly understood. We therefore examined the fundamental properties of hematopoiesis in the silkworm Bombyx mori using hematopoietic organ culture. In a medium containing larval plasma taken from the fourth day of the final larval stadium, over 50,000 hemocytes per hematopoietic organ were discharged within 48 h, with the number of cells comprising the hematopoietic organ simultaneously increasing from approximately 20,000 to 40,000.

Tandem duplication of alkaline phosphatase genes and polymorphism in the intergenic sequence in Bombyx mori.

Alkaline phosphatases are ubiquitous in organisms from bacteria to human. Two alkaline phosphatase genes, Alp-m and Alp-s, were independently cloned from the silkworm Bombyx mori. They were mapped to a small DNA region and shown to be organized in tandem.

[Routine application of trans-sternal off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting using innovative technique].

Objective: With specific apparatus and surgical techniques, we have extended the use of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) [OPCAB] through sternotomy approach to all of the patients with multiple coronary vessel lesions necessitating CABG. The objective of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of our technique.

Methods: All of the consecutive 100 patients with multiple coronary vessel lesions necessitating CABG underwent trans-sternal OPCAB using our innovative technique between September 2000 and December 2002.