Acute pericardial diverticulum caused by pericarditis treated with drainage of pericardial effusion.

A 50-year-old woman was admitted with congestive heart failure due to cardiac tamponade, which was caused by acute pericarditis with pericardial effusion. Although images of contrast computed tomography (CT) obtained two weeks prior to admission had shown no abnormality, CT on admission showed a mediastinal tumor communicating with the pericardial cavity. It had rapidly appeared in a few weeks.

Progressing small vessel pontine infarction includes different etiologies.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of progressing stroke of pontine infarction as small vessel disease.

Methods: Enrolled 38 acute pontine infarctions were confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography at the first and seventh days. Ten patients (26.

α5β1 integrin induces the expression of noncartilaginous procollagen gene expression in articular chondrocytes cultured in monolayers.

Introduction: Articular chondrocytes undergo an obvious phenotypic change when cultured in monolayers. During this change, or dedifferentiation, the expression of type I and type III procollagen is induced where normal chondrocytes express little type I and type III procollagen. In this study, we attempted to determine the mechanism(s) for the induction of such procollagen expression in dedifferentiating chondrocytes.

Cerebrovascular lesions in elderly Japanese patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: Cerebrovascular lesions (CVLs) are known to play important roles in the pathophysiology underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD), especially in elderly AD cases. The present study was conducted to elucidate the relationship between the CVLs and vascular risk factors (VRFs) in elderly Japanese patients with AD.

Subjects And Methods: The CVLs such as lacunar infarcts, old microbleeds (OMBs), white matter lesions (WMLs), and occlusive vascular lesions on MRI were analyzed in relation to the risk factors in 120 Japanese patients with probable AD.

Up-regulation of interleukin-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor-A in the synovial fluid of temporomandibular joints affected by synovial chondromatosis.

Our aim was to explore important inflammatory mediators for synovial chondromatosis in the temporomandibular joints (TMJs) by analysing synovial fluid. Samples were collected from 10 patients with unilateral synovial chondromatosis of the TMJ. Control samples were obtained from 11 subjects with no symptoms in the TMJ.

The use of laser capture microdissection on adult human articular cartilage for gene expression analysis.

The integrity of articular cartilage is maintained by chondrocytes, the sole type of cell that resides within the tissue. The noncalcified region of articular cartilage can be divided into three zones based on histological features, in which the chondrocyte metabolism is known to differ obviously among the zones. In pathological cartilage, the chondrocyte metabolism may change dramatically, which could play a pivotal role in the progression of the disease.

αvβ5 integrin promotes dedifferentiation of monolayer-cultured articular chondrocytes.

Objective: When cultured in monolayers, articular chondrocytes undergo an obvious phenotypic change. Although the involvement of integrins has been suggested, the exact mechanisms of the change have not been determined. This study was undertaken to clarify the mechanisms underlying the loss of chondrocyte phenotype early after plating.

Myocardial infarction in a premenopausal woman with a decreased serum estrogen level due to leuprorelin acetate.

A 45-year-old premenopausal woman was admitted with acute myocardial infarction. Her serum estrogen level was decreased because of leuprorelin acetate administration, 3 months prior to admission for the treatment of uterine myoma. Emergency coronary angiography revealed diffuse narrowing of the distal half of the left anterior descending artery (LAD).

Involvement of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 and 17 in shedding of tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is initially synthesized as a membrane-bound protein and converted into a soluble form by proteolytic cleavage. Although a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) is considered to be the primary sheddase for TNF-alpha, it is not known whether ADAM17 is solely responsible for that process in any type of cells. To identify the TNF-alpha sheddase(s) in varieties of cells, we performed experiments using a unique screening system and observed that ADAM9, ADAM10, ADAM17, and ADAM19 were capable of cleaving TNF-alpha.

Zonal gene expression of chondrocytes in osteoarthritic cartilage.

Objective: To determine the chondrocyte metabolism in respective zones of osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage.

Methods: OA cartilage was obtained from macroscopically intact areas of 4 knee joints with end-stage OA. The cartilage was divided into 3 zones, and gene expression profiles were determined in the respective zones by a custom-designed microarray that focused on chondrocyte-related genes.

Regional differences in chondrocyte metabolism in osteoarthritis: a detailed analysis by laser capture microdissection.

Objective: To determine the change in metabolic activity of chondrocytes in osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage, considering regional difference and degree of cartilage degeneration.

Methods: OA cartilage was obtained from knee joints with end-stage OA, at both macroscopically intact areas and areas with various degrees of cartilage degeneration. Control cartilage was obtained from age-matched donors.

Pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha induces bone morphogenetic protein-2 in chondrocytes via mRNA stabilization and transcriptional up-regulation.

In articular chondrocytes, the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) induces the expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), a growth factor known to be involved in the induction of cartilage and bone. A study was performed to clarify the mechanism(s) underlying the induction of BMP-2 in chondrogenic ATDC5 cells and primary cultured adult human articular chondrocytes. In ATDC5 cells, the endogenous BMP-2 expression was consistently low throughout the process of chondrogenic differentiation, and TNF-alpha induced BMP-2 expression only after the cells acquired the chondrogenic phenotype.

Effect of GDF-5 on ligament healing.

The effects of growth and differentiation factor-5 (GDF-5) on ligament healing were studied using a gap injury model of the medial collateral ligament in rat knee joints. The administration of GDF-5 once at the time of surgery significantly improved the mechanical properties of the femur-ligament-tibia complex. At 3 weeks after surgery, 30 microg of GDF-5 improved the ultimate tensile strength of the complex by 41%, and the stiffness by 60%, compared with the vehicle control (p < 0.