Transplantation of newborn esophagus: an experimental study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to see if allogeneic transplantation (Tx) of newborn esophagus can create viable esophageal tissue that may be used for treating long gap esophageal atresia.

Methods: Specimens of thoracic esophagus from newborn Brown-Norway rats, each were transplanted into a pouch created in the distal omentum of 5-week-old Lewis rats. In group I no immunosuppressant was used.

Urinary trypsin inhibitor and biliary atresia--providing protection for the liver?

Urinary Tyrosine Inhibitor (UTI) is produced in the liver and excreted in urine hepatic inflammation, infection or malignancy. We assess the possible implications of UTI in biliary atresia (BA). Liver function was used to divide 34 postoperative BA patients into 2 groups: Group 1 (n=25), anicteric (total bilirubin [T-Bil] <2.

Dynamical instability of the motion of atoms in a silicon crystal.

The dynamical nature of the motion of atoms in a silicon crystal is investigated from the information theoretic standpoint with time series analysis about numerical solutions of molecular dynamics simulation. The atomic motion exhibits exponential decay of information entropy with a characteristic time scale of approximately 40 x 10(-15) sec. This observation may be interpreted as a signature of microscopic dynamical instability in solids.

Bladder transplantation in rats using FK-506.

Purpose: We created viable bladder tissue by transplantation with immunosuppression.

Materials And Methods: For bladder transplantation the bladder of newborn Brown-Norway rats was excised and each was transplanted into a pouch created in the distal omentum of a 5-week-old Lewis rat. In 15 group 1 rats no immunosuppressive agent was used.

Are stable postoperative biliary atresia patients really stable?

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF beta-1) is an important mediator of liver-cell proliferation and replication that is implicated in hepatic fibrosis (HF). Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are activated by TGF beta-1 and are the main precursor cells involved in fibrogenesis. The correlation between serum TGF beta-1, activated HSC in liver-biopsy specimens, and liver biochemistry was investigated to determine the value of TGF beta-1 as an indicator of clinical status in postoperative biliary atresia (BA) patients.

A case of biliary atresia with duplication of the common bile duct.

The authors report a case of biliary atresia (BA) with duplication of the common bile duct. A 1-month-old girl was referred for investigation of persistent jaundice. BA was suspected and confirmed with intraoperative cholangiography.

Transplantation of infantile bladder in rats: an alternative procedure for bladder augmentation.

Background: Our purpose was to evaluate whether bladder transplantation (BTx) can be used for bladder augmentation (BA).

Methods: Bladders from infantile Brown-Norway rats (less than 21 days old) were excised and each transplanted into a pouch created in the distal omentum of a 6-week-old Lewis rat (fully allogeneic BTx). No immunosuppressant was used in group I (n=12).

Problems during and after pregnancy of former biliary atresia patients treated successfully by the Kasai procedure.

Background/purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the problems and the quality of life during and after pregnancy of the patients who had undergone Kasai operation and to find out a strategy for follow-up during the period of their pregnancy.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 134 institutions of the Japanese Biliary Atresia Society with the following questions: (1) Do you have any pregnancy cases in patients who had undergone Kasai operation? (2) Did she have any menstrual problem? (3) Did she have any problem during pregnancy and delivery? (4) Did she have any change in liver function tests after delivery? (5) Did she have any early and long-term problem after delivery? (6) Did the baby have any problem? (7) Was there any special care or comment about the pregnancy of the biliary atresia patients? The responses were analyzed.

Results: Fourteen institutions reported 16 cases of pregnancy, 23 cases of delivery, and 2 cases of abortion.

Congenital biliary dilatation.

Congenital biliary dilatation is commonly associated with pancreaticobiliary malunion. Its etiology remains unknown. With the advent of accurate cholangiography, combined abnormalities of the intrahepatic duct, common channel, and pancreatic duct are being identified more frequently in patients with congenital biliary dilatation.

Tubed latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flaps for esophageal replacement in puppies: long-term follow-up.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to show that a tubed latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap (tubed LDMCF) may be useful for treating circumferential esophageal defects.

Methods: A segment of esophagus 3 vertebrae long was excised through a right thoracotomy in each of 6 puppies, and a tubed LDMCF was interposed between the cut ends of esophagus. The puppies were sacrificed after a mean follow-up period of 6.

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis in childhood: a rare but important clinical entity.

Purpose: Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGPN) is extremely rare in children. The authors review their experience of this condition.

Methods: Medical records were investigated to conduct a retrospective study of 4 patients with XGPN (3 boys, 1 girl; age range, 2 months to 7 years) at the authors' institute over the past 14 years.

Comparison of substrate specificities of Escherichia coli endonuclease III and its mouse homologue (mNTH1) using defined oligonucleotide substrates.

Escherichia coli endonuclease III (Endo III) and its eukaryotic homologues are major repair enzymes for pyrimidine lesions formed by reactive oxygen species and ionizing radiation. In the present study, the activities of Endo III and its mouse homologue (mNTH1) have been compared using defined oligonucleotide substrates containing a urea residue (UR), two cis-thymine glycol (TG) diastereoisomers, 5, 6-dihydrothymine (DHT), and 5-hydroxyuracil (HOU). The substrates were incubated with Endo III and mNTH1, and their activities were compared based on the product analysis by gel electrophoresis.

alpha-Glutathione-s-transferase as a new sensitive marker of hepatocellular damage in biliary atresia.

Early identification of patients likely to deteriorate post-hepatic portoenterostomy for biliary atresia (BA) would be beneficial. alpha-Glutathione-s-transferase (alpha-GST) is a serologic marker of reactive hepatocellular damage because of its low molecular weight, uniform hepatic distribution, high cytosol concentration, and short half-life. We evaluated whether serum alpha-GST in post-surgical BA patients correlates with liver function (LF) and investigated its potential as a medium- to long-term marker of prognosis.

Degradation of pig cyclin B1 molecules precedes MAP kinase dephosphorylation during fertilisation of the oocytes.

Pig oocytes at metaphase II were activated by penetration of spermatozoa in cycloheximide-free and cycloheximide-containing fertilisation media. The precise nuclear stage, and the kinetics of degradation of cyclin B1 and dephosphorylation of MAP kinase were assessed after insemination. After maturation culture, 96% of oocytes reached metaphase II.

Localisation of phosphorylated MAP kinase during the transition from meiosis I to meiosis II in pig oocytes.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been reported to be involved in oocyte maturation in all animals so far examined. In the present study we investigate the expression and localisation of active phosphorylated MAPKs (p44ERK1/p42ERK2) during maturation of pig oocytes. In immunoblot analysis using anti-p44ERK1 antibody which recognised both active and inactive forms of p44ERK1 and p42ERK2, we confirmed that MAPKs were phosphorylated around the time of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and the active phosphorylated MAPKs (pMAKs) were maintained until metaphase II, as has been reported.

An annular pancreas derived from paired ventral pancreata, supporting Baldwin's hypothesis.

An annular pancreas is a rare malformation. It is generally accepted that the ring formation originates from a single ventral pancreas, as suggested by Lecco. No reports of resected and/or autopsied annular pancreata derived from paired ventral pancreata, thus supporting Baldwin's hypothesis, have been published.

Idiopathic gastric perforation in neonates and abnormal distribution of intestinal pacemaker cells.

Background/purpose: The etiology of idiopathic gastric perforation (IGP) in neonates is unclear. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) express tyrosine kinase receptor C-kit, and act as gastrointestinal pacemaker cells. Stem cell factor (SCF) is a C-kit ligand and plays an important role in immune system homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract.

Spindle formation and dynamics of gamma-tubulin and nuclear mitotic apparatus protein distribution during meiosis in pig and mouse oocytes.

This work focuses on the assembly and transformation of the spindle during the progression through the meiotic cell cycle. For this purpose, immunofluorescent confocal microscopy was used in comparative studies to determine the spatial distribution of alpha- and gamma-tubulin and nuclear mitotic apparatus protein (NuMA) from late G2 to the end of M phase in both meiosis and mitosis. In pig endothelial cells, consistent with previous reports, gamma-tubulin was localized at the centrosomes in both interphase and M phase, and NuMA was localized in the interphase nucleus and at mitotic spindle poles.

Developmental regulation of effect of epidermal growth factor on porcine oocyte-cumulus cell complexes: nuclear maturation, expansion, and F-actin remodeling.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) efficiently stimulates expansion of mouse and rat oocyte-cumulus complexes (OCC). Contradictory data have been published by several laboratories about the ability of EGF to stimulate expansion of porcine OCC. We assumed that these contradictions may have resulted from heterogeneous conditions used for isolation, culture, and assessment of OCC.

Specific regulation of CENP-E and kinetochores during meiosis I/meiosis II transition in pig oocytes.

To understand the mechanisms which regulate meiosis-specific cell cycle and chromosome distribution in mammalian oocytes, the level and the localization of CENP-E and the kinetochore number and direction on a half bivalent were examined during pig oocyte maturation. CENP-E is a kinetochore motor protein whose intracellular level and localization are strictly regulated in the somatic cell cycle. The localizations of CENP-E on meiotic chromosomes from diakinesis stage to anaphase I and at the spindle midzone at telophase I were shown by immunofluorescent confocal microscopy to be similar to those in somatic cells of pig and other species.