Exaggeration of focal cerebral ischemia in transgenic mice carrying human Renin and human angiotensinogen genes.

Background And Purpose: We examined the possibility that activation of the human brain renin-angiotensin system is involved in enhancement of ischemic brain damage using chimeric transgenic mice with human renin (hRN) and human angiotensinogen (hANG) genes.

Methods: Chimeric (hRN/hANG-Tg) mice were generated by mating of hRN and hANG transgenic mice. Permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) by an intraluminal filament technique induced focal ischemic brain lesions.

Upregulation of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 and TNF-alpha converting enzyme during corneal wound healing.

Purpose: To elucidate tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-1 (TNFR1) and TNF-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) involvement during corneal wound healing.

Methods: The corneas of BALB/c mice cornea were scarred by alkali burns using filter paper dipped in 1N NaOH solution. TACE and TNFR1 expression in the alkali-burned corneas were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (total, 16 eyes).

Spinal cord injury induces upregulation of Beclin 1 and promotes autophagic cell death.

Autophagy is a degradation of the cytoplasm and it induces autophagic cell death in several neurodegenerative conditions. Beclin 1, a Bcl-2-interacting protein, is known to be a promoter of autophagy. We investigated the alterations in the Beclin 1 protein expression and the involvement of autophagy and autophagic cell death after spinal cord injury using a spinal cord hemisection model in mice.

Rat gastric banding model for bariatric surgery.

Background: Adjustable gastric banding is a surgical approach to weight reduction. In this study we created a gastric banding model in rats to better understand the mechanism of body weight loss.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 260 to 280 g were subjected to gastric banding (band group) (n=8) or to a sham operation (control group) (n=8).

Goshuyuto, a traditional Japanese medicine for migraine, inhibits platelet aggregation in guinea-pig whole blood.

The effects of goshuyuto and chotosan, traditional Japanese medicines, on collagen-induced platelet aggregation were examined using guinea-pig blood. Goshuyuto at the concentration of 1,000 mug/mL inhibited collagen-induced platelet hyper-aggregation to the same degree as aspirin at the concentration of 100 mumol/L, but chotosan did not. Goshuyuto is composed of four medicinal herbs.

Spectrum of novel mutations in the human PKLR gene in pyruvate kinase-deficient Indian patients with heterogeneous clinical phenotypes.

Eighteen unrelated pyruvate kinase (PK)-deficient Indian patients were identified in the past 4 years with varied clinical phenotypes ranging from a mild chronic haemolytic anaemia to a severe transfusion-dependent disorder. We identified 17 different mutations in the PKLR gene among the 36 mutated alleles. Ten novel mutations were identified: 427G>A, 499C>A, 1072G>A, 1180G>T, 1216G>A, 1220A>G, 644delG, IVS5 (+20) C>A, IVS9 (+44) C>T, and IVS9 (+93) A>C.

Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and value of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for early stage gastric cancer (stages IA, IB, and II).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively assessed 101 cases treated by LADG and compared to 49 contemporaneous cases treated by open distal gastrectomy (DG) between 2001 and 2006. Clinical variables, such as tumor diameter, operation time, blood loss, number of lymph nodes dissected, and length of stay were investigated.

Stereoselective synthesis and biological evaluation of 3,4-diaminocyclohexanecarboxylic acid derivatives as factor Xa inhibitors.

There have been few reports on synthetic methods for cis-1,2-diaminocyclohexane bearing a third ring substituent. Starting from 3-cyclohexenecarboxylic acid, we developed efficient methods for synthesizing the 3,4-diaminocyclohexanecarboxylic acid derivatives 2-5. We also evaluated their anti-Xa and anticoagulant activities.

Expression of hypoxia-inducible angiogenic proteins (hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha, vascular endothelial growth factor, and E26 transformation-specific-1) and plaque hemorrhage in human carotid atherosclerosis.

Object: Plaque hemorrhage in carotid atherosclerosis promotes plaque progression, resulting in cerebrovascular disease. Hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) induces angiogenesis via the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and E26 transformation-specific-1 (Ets-1). The authors investigated human carotid plaques to determine whether these hypoxia-inducible angiogenic proteins play a major role in intraplaque angiogenesis and hemorrhage.

Spine-shortening vertebral osteotomy in a patient with tethered cord syndrome and a vertebral fracture. Case report.

The authors report a rare case of tethered cord syndrome with low-placed conus medullaris complicated by a vertebral fracture that was successfully treated by a spine-shortening vertebral osteotomy. The patient was a 57-year-old woman whose neurological condition worsened after a T-12 vertebral fracture because a fracture fragment and the associated local kyphotic deformity directly compressed the tethered spinal cord. An osteotomy of the T-12 vertebra was performed in order to correct the kyphosis, remove the fracture fragment, and reduce the tension on the spinal cord.

[Nationwide surveillance of parenteral antibiotics containing meropenem activities against clinically isolated strains in 2006].

The antibacterial activity of meropenem (MEPM) and other parenteral antibiotics against clinical isolates of 876 strains of Gram-positive bacteria, 1764 strains of Gram-negative bacteria, and 198 strains of anaerobic bacteria obtained from 30 medical institutions during 2006 was measured. The results were as follows; 1. MEPM was more active than the other carbapenem antibiotics tested against Gram-negative bacteria, especially against enterobacteriaceae and Haemophilus influenzae.

[Histopathological characteristics of radical prostatectomy specimen and long-term PSA changes in men with PSA levels of 4.0 ng/ml or less].

Out of 132 prostate cancer (Pca) patients who underwent radical prostatectomy 31 (mean age 65 +/- 5 years) had prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels of 4.0 ng/ml or less (low PSA group). The average PSA level was 3.

Attenuation of focal brain ischemia by telmisartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker, in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

The effects of an angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1 (AT(1)) receptor blocker (ARB) on focal brain ischemia and atherosclerotic lesions were explored in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoEKO) mice treated with a high-cholesterol diet (HCD). The ischemic brain area and neurological deficit 24 h after middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion were significantly greater in ApoEKO mice treated with HCD for 10 weeks than in those with a normal standard diet. The reduction of cerebral surface blood flow in the penumbral region and the increase in superoxide production in the ischemic area were exaggerated in HCD-treated ApoEKO mice.

[Critical role of phosphatidylserine in hemolysis due to red blood cell enzyme/membrane defects].

The life span of human red blood cells (RBCs) is approximately for 120 days, and finally destroyed in reticuloendothelial systems. In pathological conditions, RBCs fall into premature death, i.e.

Adhesion of Epstein-Barr virus-positive natural killer cell lines to cultured endothelial cells stimulated with inflammatory cytokines.

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (CAEBV) is characterized by chronic recurrent infectious mononucleosis-like symptoms. Approximately one-fourth of CAEBV patients develop vascular lesions with infiltration of EBV-positive lymphoid cells. Furthermore, EBV-positive natural killer (NK)/T cell lymphomas often exhibit angiocentric or angiodestructive lesions.

Carbamazepine-induced hemolytic and aplastic crises associated with reduced glutathione peroxidase activity of erythrocytes.

Although pure red cell aplasia is a well-known side effect of carbamazepine treatment, intravascular hemolytic anemia is rare. We describe a 5-year-old boy who developed concurrent intravascular hemolytic anemia and erythroblastopenia, probably due to carbamazepine. Carbamazepine treatment was subsequently discontinued, and the patient was treated with red blood cell transfusions, haptoglobin, and methylprednisolone.

The role of heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor and amphiregulin in the epidermal proliferation of psoriasis in cooperation with TNFalpha.

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) and amphiregulin (AREG) are the members of EGF family that bind to common EGF receptor (EGFR) in the epidermis. However, the role of these two growth factors in epidermal hyperplasia of psoriasis has not been established. On the other hand, CD4+ T cells are responsible for the development of the psoriatic plaques.

Attenuation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression via inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB activity in inflammatory vascular injury.

Background: The effect of a calcium channel blocker (CCB) on the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 was explored in inflammatory vascular injury, focusing on the role of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB.

Methods: Vascular injury was induced by cuff placement. Expression of MCP-1 was determined by real-time RT-PCR.

First-trimester prenatal diagnosis of pyruvate kinase deficiency in an Indian family with the pyruvate kinase-Amish mutation.

Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is a rare red cell glycolytic enzymopathy. The purpose of the present investigation was to offer prenatal diagnosis for PK deficiency to a couple who had a previous child with severe enzyme deficiency and congenital non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia. PK deficiency was identified in the family by assaying the enzyme activity in red cells.

[A case of recurrent renal cell carcinoma which recurred after fourth surgical resection and survived for about 2 years by medroxyporgesterone acetate administration].

A 62-year-old man visited our hospital complaining of asymptomatic gross hematuria. Right radical Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated an 8 cm mass in the right kidney. nephrectomy was done in March 1995, and the pathological examination revealed renal cell carcinoma (RCC), clear cell type, G2>G1.

Disturbed colocalization of multidrug resistance protein 2 and radixin in human cholestatic liver diseases.

Background And Aim: Endocytic retrieval of multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2) is closely associated with cholestasis and may be attributed to the disturbed linking of MRP2 and radixin, a cross-linker between actin filaments and membrane proteins. This study aimed to investigate the role of radixin in the altered localization of MRP2 in various human cholestatic liver diseases.

Methods: Using immunofluorescence microscopy, we investigated the localization and expression of MRP2 and radixin in various cholestatic liver diseases, such as drug-induced liver injury, obstructive jaundice, primary sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune hepatitis.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia recurring in the spinal epidural space.

A 27-year-old man presented with a very rare spinal epidural mass associated with recurrence of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) manifesting as acute progressive neurological deficits. The patient presented with shoulder pain and ambulatory difficulties 3 years after remission of ALL treated by bone marrow transplantation. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an epidural mass extending from C-7 to T-3, which compressed the cord and extended to the intervertebral foramen along the roots.

Magnetic resonance energies of heterocyclic conjugated molecules.

Magnetic resonance energy (MRE), derived from ring-current diamagnetic susceptibility, can be interpreted as a kind of aromatic stabilization energy. For polycyclic conjugated hydrocarbons, this quantity correlates well with topological resonance energy (TRE). MREs for typical heterocyclic conjugated molecules were then calculated and analyzed.

Glycolytic inhibition by mutation of pyruvate kinase gene increases oxidative stress and causes apoptosis of a pyruvate kinase deficient cell line.

Objective: SLC3 is a Friend erythroleukemic cell line established from the Pk-1(slc) mouse, a mouse model of red blood cell type-pyruvate kinase (R-PK) deficiency. This study was aimed to elucidate the mechanisms attributing to apoptosis induced by R-PK deficiency.

Materials And Methods: SLC3 and a control Friend cell line, CBA2, were cultured in a condition of glucose deprivation or supplementation with 2-deoxyglucose, and apoptosis was detected by annexin V.