Origin and phenotypic features of hyperplastic epithelial cells in collapsing glomerulopathy.

The characteristic pathological feature of collapsing glomerulopathy (CG) is marked cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy within the glomeruli. The present study investigated the phenotypic alteration of hyperplastic epithelial cells in CG to determine their origin. Renal biopsy specimens from two patients with CG were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining, using markers for podocytes (PHM-5), parietal epithelial cells (PECs; cytokeratin), and cell proliferation (Ki-67).

Lineage involvement of stem cells bearing the philadelphia chromosome in chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase as shown by a combination of fluorescence-activated cell sorting and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is thought to arise from a pluripotent hematopoietic stem cell that has undergone a reciprocal translocation between the BCR gene on chromosome 22 and the ABL proto-oncogene on chromosome 9. This rearrangement results in a shortened chromosome 22, designated the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome. The Ph chromosome has been found in cells from all hematopoietic lineages except mature T lymphocytes.

[Analysis of the prognostic factor in the patients with locally invasive bladder cancer who underwent total cystectomy].

Objectives: Prognosis and related factors were analysed as for the patients with locally invasive bladder cancer who underwent total cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection.

Methods: Between January 1977 and December 1996, a hundred and one patients with locally invasive bladder cancer underwent total cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection at University Hospital. Survival rates of these patients were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and statistical significances were analysed by univariate and multivariate analyses.

Effects of lightwand (Trachlight) compared with direct laryngoscopy on circulatory responses to tracheal intubation.

We compared the effects of the lightwand technique on circulatory responses to tracheal intubation with those of direct-vision laryngoscopy. Forty adult patients received propofol and vecuronium, and their lungs were ventilated for 2 min via a mask with 5% sevoflurane in oxygen, after which the trachea was intubated orally using either the lightwand (Trachlight, n = 20) or the Macintosh laryngoscope (n = 20). Maximum mean arterial pressure changes did not differ between groups during (lightwand group, 25 (SD 21) mm Hg vs laryngoscopy group, 23 (19) mm Hg) and after (21 (24) mm Hg vs 21 (16) mm Hg) tracheal intubation.

Thoracic and lumbar extradural structure examined by extraduroscope.

We examined the extradural space using a flexible extraduroscope in 113 patients undergoing extradural anaesthesia. Patients were classified into two groups to receive either thoracic or lumbar extradural anaesthesia as needed for perioperative analgesia. The extraduroscopy showed that the thoracic extradural space becomes widely patent after injecting a given amount of air and that the amount of fatty and fibrous connective tissue is less in the thoracic extradural space compared with the lumbar extradural space.

Pigmented primary carcinoma of the breast: a clinical mimic of malignant melanoma.

A 68-year-old man had a pigmented tumour in the breast. Although the clinical picture suggested a malignant melanoma, histology revealed that the tumour was a primary ductal carcinoma of the breast. There was no pagetoid cell proliferation in the epidermis.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization of progenitor cells obtained by fluorescence-activated cell sorting for the detection of cells affected by chromosome abnormality trisomy 8 in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is believed to be a stem-cell disorder involving cytopenia and dysplastic changes in three hematopoietic lineages. However, the involvement of pluripotent stem cells and progenitor cells has not been clarified conclusively. To address this issue, we used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of blood and bone marrow (BM) smears for mature cells and FISH of cells sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting for progenitor cells.

[Tracheal intubation for emergent tracheostomy in a patient complicated with tracheal stenosis].

We report the management of anesthesia for emergent tracheostomy in a patient with severe tracheal stenosis. A 63-year-old male was scheduled for an emergency tracheostomy for severe tracheal stenosis due to the invasion of a thyroid cancer. A preoperative neck CT revealed the tracheal stenosis, extending from 1-2 cm below the vocal cord to the upper end of the sternum.

Effect of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on lipid peroxidation by hydroxyl radical.

1. Effects of acetaminophen and sodium salicylate on hydoxyl radical elimination were studied using an electron-spin-resonance spin-trapping method. The effects of these agents on lipid peroxidation of the human erythrocyte membrane were also investigated by the thiobarbituric acid method.

Allelotype analysis of early colorectal cancers with lymph node metastasis.

Several studies have indicated that frequent allelic losses in some specific chromosomal regions occur during colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. To clarify the correlation between such allelic losses and metastatic potential, the allelotype of lymph node-positive early CRCs, which are small but extremely malignant cancers consisting of metastatically competent cells, were investigated. Nineteen paraffin-embedded specimens of early CRC (pT1 tumors according to TNM classification) with positive lymph nodes were collected.

Dose-related cardiovascular effects of amrinone and epinephrine in reversing bupivacaine-induced cardiovascular depression.

Background: To ascertain the efficacy of amrinone and epinephrine in reversing bupivacaine-induced cardiovascular depression, we investigated the time course of recovery of cardiac function with 3 doses of both agents after bupivacaine administration.

Methods: In sevoflurane-anaesthetized dogs, bupivacaine was infused intravenously at 1 mg.kg-1.

[The efficacy of re-TUR after 3 weeks of initial TUR treatment for locally advanced bladder cancer].

Background: Radical cystectomy was usually performed for the patient with advanced bladder cancer. The choice of surgical procedure whether bladder preserved therapy or radical cystectomy has sometime plagued us in bladder cancer treatment. Because we don't have clear guideline for the treatment of locally advanced bladder cancer (T2-T3a N0M0).

[Legionella pneumonia caused by aspiration of hot spring water after sarin exposure].

A 72-year-old man was exposed to the sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway on March 20 th, 1995. After exposure, he noticed eye discomfort, chest tightness, headache and weakness of the lower limbs and oropharyngeal muscles. Despite these symptoms, he visited a hot spring on the same day with his family.

Malignant lymphoma demonstrating sick sinus syndrome.

We report a case of T-cell-rich large B-cell lymphoma demonstrating sick sinus syndrome as a single initial symptom, followed by the retention of pericardial and pleural effusions. Intrapleural administration of interferon-alpha prevented reaccumulation of the pleural effusion for one and a half months, whereas systemic chemotherapy failed to control tumor growth in the skin and lymph nodes. The autopsy revealed involvement of the sinoatrial node of the heart by lymphoma cells.

Theanine-induced reduction of brain serotonin concentration in rats.

Following the administration of theanine, the brain tryptophan content significantly increased or tended to increase, but the contents of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5HIAA) decreased. The use of inhibitors of serotonin metabolism enable us to speculate that theanine reduced serotonin synthesis and also increased serotonin degradation in the brain.

[Superselective angiographic findings of ipsilateral middle meningeal artery of chronic subdural hematoma in adults].

The authors reported the results of continuous superselective angiography of the ipsilateral middle meningeal artery (MMA) in cases of chronic subdural hematoma (CSH) in adults. MMA angiography was performed twice, at an interval of approximately two weeks, in 3 cases of conservative and 1 case of surgical treatment. The features of MMA angiographic findings were diffuse dilatation of MMA and visualization of scattered abnormal vascular networks (VN), which seemed to be macrocapillaries in the outer membrane of the CSH.

Construction of YAC-based mammalian artificial chromosomes.

To construct a mammalian artificial chromosome (MAC), telomere repeats and selectable markers were introduced into a 100 kb yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) containing human centromeric DNA. This YAC, which has a regular repeat structure of alpha-satellite DNA and centromere protein B (CENP-B) boxes, efficiently formed MACs that segregated accurately and bound CENP-B, CENP-C, and CENP-E. The MACs appear to be about 1-5 Mb in size and contain YAC multimers.

Differential expression of fos and jun family members in the developing chicken gastrointestinal tract.

We have analysed the expression patterns of all the known fos/jun family genes, which encode the components of the transcription factor AP-1, in the chicken embryonic digestive tract that develops into the esophagus, proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine, ceca and large intestine. From soon after formation of the tubular structure, each gene transcript was localized in distinct domains of the epithelium and mesenchyme in all of these major gastrointestinal organs, independently of the anterior-posterior axis. fra-2 was expressed predominantly in epithelium, which also expressed junD, while low-level expression of junD was also detected in smooth muscle cell precursors in mesenchyme.

[Clinico-pathological analysis of interstitial pneumonia associated with collagen vascular disease in patients with lung cancer].

We investigated interstitial pneumonia associated with collagen vascular disease (IP-CVD) in association with lung cancer. Seventy-three cases of IP-CVD were included in this study. Nine (12%) of the 73 cases were associated with lung cancer, one of which had double lung cancers.

Genetic alterations are frequent in APC but rare in the TGF-beta type II receptor gene in cancer in adenomas of the colon.

Cancer in adenomas are thought to be an excellent model of colorectal carcinogenesis based on the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. We searched for alterations in the APC mutation cluster region, the whole coding regions of TGF-beta type II receptor (RII) and beta-catenin exon 3 in 16 cases of cancer in adenomas of the colon. Overexpression of the p53 protein was also analyzed.

A new variant translocation of t(15;17) in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (M3): t(15;19;17)(q22;p13;q12).

The reciprocal translocation (15;17) is specifically associated with acute promyelocytic leukemia [APL; M3 subtype according to French-American-British (FAB) classification]. A few patients with this disease have complex variant translocations. We describe a patient with M3 carrying t(15;19;17)(q22;p13;q12), which is a new type of variant translocation.

A micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method for determination of solubilization isotherms in surfactant micelles.

We have devised a new micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method for determination of the solubilization equilibrium constants of neutral solutes in surfactant micelles as functions of the intramicellar mole fraction of the solute. In this method, the running solution in a capillary and in electrode vessels contains the neutral solute as well as the surfactant micelles, and the injected solution contains the surfactant micelles and the dilute marker compounds for aqueous and micellar phases but not the solute. The mobility of the solute can be measured from a negative peak recorded on the chromatogram.

Effects of Hange-shashin-to on cholera toxin-induced fluid secretion in the small intestine of rats.

The effects of Hange-shashin-to (TJ-14) on cholera toxin-induced intestinal fluid secretion were studied to elucidate the mechanism by which this kampo medicine manifests antidiarrheal effects. TJ-14 suppressed the intestinal fluid secretion induced by cholera toxin (1 microg/rat) in a dose-dependent manner at doses between 125 and 1000 mg/kg. It also inhibited the luminal prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) level.