18β-glycyrrhetyl-3-O-sulfate would be a causative agent of licorice-induced pseudoaldosteronism.

Licorice-induced pseudoaldosteronism is a common adverse effect in traditional Japanese Kampo medicine, and 3-monoglucuronyl glycyrrhetinic acid (3MGA) was considered as a causative agent of it. Previously, we found 22α-hydroxy-18β-glycyrrhetyl-3-O-sulfate-30-glucuronide (1), one of the metabolites of glycyrrhizin (GL) in the urine of Eisai hyperbilirubinuria rats (EHBRs) treated with glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), and suggested that it is also a possible causative agent of pseudoaldosteronism. The discovery of 1 also suggested that there might be other metabolites of GA as causal candidates.

Isolation of a novel glycyrrhizin metabolite as a causal candidate compound for pseudoaldosteronism.

Pseudoaldosteronism is a common adverse effect associated with traditional Japanese Kampo medicines. The pathogenesis is mainly caused by 3-monoglucuronyl glycyrrhetinic acid (3MGA), one of the metabolites of glycyrrhizin (GL) contained in licorice. We developed an anti-3MGA monoclonal antibody (MAb) and an ELISA system to easily detect 3MGA in the plasma and urine of the patients.

[Two metastatic colonic cancer patients successfully treated by combination therapy of tegafur/uracil (UFT) and oral Leucovorin].

Two metastatic colonic cancer patients were successfully treated by the combination therapy of UFT plus oral Leucovorin (UFT/LV). UFT was administered orally every eight hours at a dose of 300 mg/day in case of less than 1.20 m(2), 400 mg/day in case of between 1.

Role of reactive oxygen species in zinc deficiency-induced hepatic stellate cell activation.

We previously reported that zinc deficiency caused a reduction in intracellular glutathione at 8 h after the addition of zinc chelator, diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA), compared with control levels in rat hepatic stellate cells. In this study, we investigated the role of reactive oxygen species and glutathione on the mechanism of zinc deficiency-induced hepatic stellate cell activation, via assessing collagen synthesis. Isolated hepatic stellate cells were incubated with or without DTPA.

Involvement of intracellular glutathione in zinc deficiency-induced activation of hepatic stellate cells.

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) play an important role in the development of liver cirrhosis. They are a major source of extracellular matrix and during fibrogenesis undergo an activation process characterized by increased proliferation and collagen synthesis. In this study, we investigated the anti-fibrogenic effect of zinc supplementation on zinc deficiency induced HSC activation.

[A case of central retinal vein occlusion forming the epiretinal membrane].

Background: We encountered a patient with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) forming an epiretinal membrane (ERM) in a wide area. Generally formation of ERM is rare in CRVO.

Patient And Methods: The patient was a 72-years-old female with ischemic CRVO in the right eye, who had undergone insufficient pan-retinal photocoagulation.

Atrioventricular (AV) nodal reentry associated with 2:1 infra-His conduction block during tachycardia in a patient with AV nodal triple pathways.

We report a patient with atrioventricular (AV) nodal reentry in which a 2:1 infra-His conduction block was demonstrated during tachycardia. The electrocardiogram (ECG) at the time of attack showed two types of supraventricular tachycardias. The first type was a narrow QRS tachycardia associated with 1:1 AV conduction at a rate of 170 beats/minute.

Atrioventricular (AV) reciprocating tachycardia utilizing left lateral AV bypass pathway with a long retrograde conduction time.

A 52-year-old man had suffered from attacks of palpitation for 10 years. The frequency of the attacks had been increasing since June 1991. The electrocardiogram (ECG) at the time of attack showed a heart rate of 175 bpm and RP'/P'R > 1, indicating long RP' tachycardia.

Electrophysiologic changes before onset of ventricular tachyarrhythmias during partial reperfusion following severe myocardial ischemia in dogs.

We examined the electrophysiologic changes before an onset of ventricular tachyarrhythmia during partial reperfusion following severe myocardial ischemia. The left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded and cannulated below the occluded portion in 26 dogs. To deplete collateral flow into the ischemic myocardium, retrograde blood flow was induced for 20 min.

[Mitoxantrone and conventional-dose cytosine arabinoside for relapsed and refractory acute leukemia].

Fourteen patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemia received combination chemotherapy of mitoxantrone 6 mg/m2/day intravenously for three to six days and cytosine arabinoside 60 mg/m2/day intravenously over 24 hours continuously for five to ten days. Complete remission was attained in six patients (42.9%) and partial response in two patients (14.

Double atrial response to a single ventricular extrastimulus in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

Electrophysiological examination in a 39-year-old male disclosed an accessory pathway between the right atrium and the right ventricle and AV nodal dual pathways. Atrial and ventricular extrastimuli induced paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), which was shown to be AV reciprocating tachycardia. Double atrial response was noted during ventricular extrastimuli at V1V2 of 280 msec and V1V2 of 250 msec.

Myocardial blood flow, alternans of ST segment elevation, conduction delay and ventricular arrhythmia during acute myocardial ischemia with and without retrograde blood flow in canine hearts.

The technique of retrograde blood flow has been shown to decrease collateral flow into the ischemic myocardium, and to cause severe myocardial ischemia in dogs. Ischemia with retrograde blood flow in dogs is similar to ischemia in human hearts. Therefore, we examined the effect of retrograde blood flow on myocardial blood flow, ST segment elevation, alternans of ST segment elevation, conduction delay and ventricular arrhythmia in dogs.

Purification and characterization of novel heparan sulfate proteoglycans produced by murine erythroleukemia cells in the growing phase.

Murine erythroleukemia cells (Friend erythroleukemia cells of a C-10-6 line) synthesized sulfated glycosaminoglycans consisting mainly of heparan sulfate (more than 95%) with a small amount of chondroitin 4-sulfate. The heparan sulfate occurred as proteoglycans, of which the cell-associated component was separated into urea-insoluble (UI) and urea-soluble (US) fractions. The UI proteoglycan consisted of a single homogeneous molecular species with an estimated Mr of 360,000 (C(UI)PG), whereas the US component was composed of two subfractions: a homogeneous species with an Mr of 280,000 (C(US)PGI) and a mixture of compounds with Mr values of less than 80,000 (C(US)PGII), which were isolated in yields of about 110, 340, and 80 micrograms of hexuronate (HexUA), respectively, from 1.

Effect of pre-existing four hour coronary stenosis on ventricular arrhythmias during a subsequent 10 minute occlusion in dogs.

Study Objectives: The aim was to assess the effect of pre-existing coronary stenosis on ventricular arrhythmia during subsequent acute coronary occlusion.

Design: Dogs with a 4 h intact interval followed by a 10 min occlusion of left anterior descending coronary artery (group A) were compared for ventricular arrhythmias with dogs with a 4 h stenosis of the same artery followed by a 10 min occlusion (group B). Myocardial blood flow was measured in the ischaemic myocardium using the H2 gas clearance method to exclude dogs with good collateral flow (myocardial blood flow greater than 11.

Ventricular fibrillation during partial reperfusion following severe myocardial ischemia in the canine model.

The authors examined whether partial reperfusion protects against reperfusion ventricular fibrillation (VF) following severe acute myocardial ischemia. Fifty-seven dogs were divided into two groups. In group A (n = 21), the left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded for 10 minutes, followed by full reperfusion.

[Pure red cell aplasia with inhibitor to erythroid precursors in serum].

A patient with pure red cell aplasia (PRCA), who had the inhibitor to erythroid precursors in serum, is described. A 72-year-old female was referred to Nagoya National Hospital because of progressing anemia in April 1988. On admission, her hemoglobin was 4.

[So-called Ph1-negative chronic myelogenous leukemia with a mosaic pattern of trisomy 8 and normal karyotypes--report of 2 cases].

Two cases of Ph1-negative chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are described, they were 66-year-old female and 73-year-old male. Both patients shared all of the following features: presence of anemia, thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis with every stage of neutrophilic differentiation, hypercellular bone marrow with hyperplasia of the degranulated neutrophilic series, diminished neutrophilic alkaline phosphatase, elevated serum lysozyme and vitamin B12 level, mosaic pattern of trisomy 8 and normal karyotypes in chromosome analysis, and markedly increased number of CFU-GM. In addition, bcr rearrangement by Southern blot hybridization was not demonstrated in these patients.

[IgM myeloma without depression in serum IgG and IgA--a case report].

A 64-year-old woman with a monoclonal gammopathy was admitted to Nagoya National Hospital with the complaint of occasional hemoptysis. On examination, there was no hepatosplenomegaly or no lymphadenopathy. The hemoglobin was 10.

[UFT/CDDP treatment in advanced gastric cancer--case report].

In treating advanced gastric cancer cases, 100 mg/m2 of cisplatin (CDDP) was given to such patients by means of a 24 hr continuous iv infusion once a month. This was in addition to daily UFT chemotherapy with an oral administration of UFT at a dose of 200 mg/m2 twice a day before meals. In this paper, two patients who achieved an objective tumor response to this UFT/CDDP chemotherapy are discussed.

[Therapeutic treatment of Borrmann type 4 (scirrhous) gastric cancer-chemotherapy and histopathological studies].

Up to now, there has been no investigation documenting clearly the effectiveness of chemotherapy for Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer from a histopathological viewpoint. In this paper, we present a few representative cases of Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer in which microscopic examination revealed the therapeutic effectiveness (degradation of cancer cells) of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Further, comparative studies will be needed to clarify the relationship between the assessed effectiveness of therapy by roentgenological and histopathological examination.

Analysis of fibrinogen degradation product in severe liver disorders by immunoblotting.

Increased serum fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) in liver cirrhosis and hepatic carcinoma as measured by latex agglutination was analyzed by means of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting with anti-fibrinogen antibody. The antibody used in this study reacts with fibrinogen, fragment X, Y, D-D, D and E. The validity of this technique was confirmed by the analysis of the serum samples from patients with definite diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation.