Occlusive arteriopathy and brain tumor.

Four cases with the association of occlusive arteriopathy and brain tumor are presented. A clinical analysis of these cases and cases reported in the literature revealed that occlusive arteriopathy at the base of the brain was often associated with a slowly growing basal tumor in children. Possible causes of occlusive arteriopathy in these cases were compression of the circle of Willis by a slowly growing basal tumor, secondary artial occlusive changes by radiation therapy for a basal tumor, or vasculopathy associated with neurocutaneous syndrome.

Microvascular responses to norepinephrine and vasopressin during halothane anesthesia in the rat.

This experiment was designed to determine the microvascular responses to the two known naturally occurring vasoconstrictors, norepinephrine (NE) and vasopressin, at known levels of central vasomotor activity before, during and after halothane anesthesia. The responses to topical application of NE and vasopressin were studied in the microvasculature of the mesentery and cremaster muscle, using microscopic methods. Neural (CNS) stimulation was accomplished through electrodes chronically implanted in vasoactive sites of the forebrain and midbrain.

[A case of binasal quadrantanopsia due to opto-chiasmal arachnoiditis (author's transl)].

A case of binasal quadrantanopsia due to chiasmal arachnoiditis was reported. The patient was a 28-year-old man who complained of blurring of vision for 12 months. Visual acuity of the right eye was 20 cm/numerus digitorum and the left 0.

Involvement of calcium in cyclic nucleotide metabolism in human vascular smooth muscle.

When cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase was purified from isolated smooth muscle layer of human aorta by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, separated cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity was markedly stimulated in the presence of 10-20 micrometer of Ca2+ by a protein modulator which has similar physicochemical properties to troponin C. Synthetic compound, N-(6-aminohexl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalensulfonamide, which produced relaxations of arteries contracted by prostaglandin F2alpha or KCl was found to inhibit selectively this Ca2+-dependent cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase. This compound produced inhibition of superprecipitation of myosin B system obtained from mouse skeletal muscle and also inhibited adenosine triphosphatase activity of myosin B.

Cyclic 3':5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase determined in various human tissues by DEAE-cellulose chromatography.

Tissue extracts from human heart, lung, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle and cerebrum displayed at least 3 distinct cyclic 3':5'-nucleotide phosphodieterase (EC 3.1.4.

[Experimental hydrocephalus of the rat, produced by cisternal injection of kaolin-solution (author's transl)].

Experimental hydrocephalus was produced in rats in high percentage, by direct injection of kaolin-solution into the cisterna magna under a operating microscope. Rats with hydrocephalus showed retarded development of the body. The skull enlarged round and became so thin, that the cortical vessels were observed through the skull.

Effect of anti-thyroid agents, methimazole and propylthiouracil, on brain noradrenaline content.

1 Methimazole (1-methyl-2-mercaptoimidazole, MMI) and propylthiouracil (6-propyl-2-thiouracil, PTU) which are used in the therapy of hyperthyroidism were found to reduce brain noradrenaline (NA) content. Endogenous NA levels in rat brain were reduced from 1 to 6 h after intraperitoneal injection of MMI by doses in excess of 25 mg/kg and by PTU at a dose of 50 mg/kg. However, endogenous NA in the rat heart was only slightly reduced after 50 mg/kg of MMI, and was not affected by PTU (50 mg/kg).

[Intracranial invasion of ethmoid cancer --a report of two cases (author's transl)].

Two cases of intracranial invasion of the ethmoid cancer were reported. With additional six cases reported in Japan, the precise clinical course and pathophysiological findings of the disease were reviewed, and the following several points became clear; 1) The incidence of the ethmoid cancer was rare. 2) These were divided into main groups according to the onset of intracranial signs, such as the frontal lobe symptoms and I-VII cranial nerve involvement.

INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID IN CHICK EMBRYOS.

The occurrence of IAA, a plant-growth-regulating substance of the auxin group, was investigated in developing chick embryos. Paperchromatography followed by the Avena curvature test revealed the presence of a substance with auxin activity and the same Rf as IAA. This substance was identified as IAA by combined gas chromato-graphy-mass spectrometry.