Pathological study for the effects of in utero and postnatal exposure to diesel exhaust on a rat endometriosis model.

Previous studies have shown that prenatal and postnatal exposure to diesel exhaust (DE), which is known to be one of the main constituents of air pollution, enhances the persistence of endometriosis in a rat model. The aim of this study is to investigate the pathological changes induced by DE exposure in a rat model of endometriosis. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to DE or clean air beginning on gestational day 2 and neonatal rats were persistently exposed to DE or clean air.

The effects of nanoparticles on mouse testis Leydig cells in vitro.

We have indicated the possibility that nanoparticles such as diesel exhaust particles (DEP) and titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) may impair the male mouse reproductive system. In this study, to evaluate the direct effect of nanoparticles on testis-constituent cells, we examined the effect of DEP, TiO(2) and carbon black (CB) on mouse Leydig TM3 cells, the testosterone-producing cells of the testis. The uptake of three nanoparticles into Leydig cells was detected using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or field emission type scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FE-SEM/EDS).

Cytokine and chemokine expression in a rat endometriosis is similar to that in human endometriosis.

The pathogenesis of endometriosis, a gynecologic disorder associated with infertility, appears to involve immune responses. However, the details involved have not been clarified. In this study, we analyzed expression levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, eosinophil chemotactic protein, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and CC chemokine receptor 1 in endometriotic lesions in a rat model in which endometrium is autotransplanted onto peritoneal tissue and found that they were remarkably increased, while those of IL-2, IL-4, and interferon-gamma were not.

Necessity of a uniform start for scanning after FDG injection in brain PET study.

Unlabelled: The authors' goal was to show the importance of starting scanning at a uniform time after F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose injection in positron emission tomography (PET) brain study.

Method: Fifteen healthy normal subjects underwent FDG-PET to obtain glucose metabolic images starting 60 min and 70 min after FDG injection, respectively. The two sets of images were compared in a voxel-by-voxel analysis.

[A case of acute bromvalerylurea intoxication: clinical course and alteration in serum bromvalerylurea concentration].

Bromvalerylurea is one of the non-barbiturates products and has been used as analgesics and hypnotics in Japan. A 20-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for loss of consciousness. She had a 6-month history of transient delirium and drunken gait.