[A case of thoracic actinomycosis in the left lung coexisting with pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma in the right lung].

An 80-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with chest pain. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed masses in both lung fields. The findings from a biopsy specimen of the left chest wall showed radially filamentous microorganisms, therefore a diagnosis of thoracic actinomycosis was made.

C-reactive protein products generated by neutrophil elastase promote neutrophil apoptosis.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), a prototypical acute phase protein, is increased as much as 1000-fold during acute inflammation, suggesting its biological role in that process. CRP can be modified at sites of inflammation where proteases have been released by neutrophils migrating to tissues. In this study, we investigated whether native CRP and neutrophil elastase-digested products of CRP modulate the rate of neutrophil apoptosis.

High frequency of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1 (HPS1) among Japanese albinism patients and functional analysis of HPS1 mutant protein.

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by oculocutaneous albinism (OCA), bleeding tendency, and lysosomal accumulation of ceroid-like material. Seven genetically distinct subtypes of HPS are known in humans; most are rare outside of Puerto Rico. Here, we describe the analysis of the HPS1 gene in 24 Japanese OCA patients who lacked mutations in the four genes known to cause OCA (TYR/OCA1, P/OCA2, TYRP1/OCA3, and MATP/OCA4), and the identification of eight different HPS1 mutations in ten of these patients, four of which were novel (W583X, L668P, 532insC, 1691delA).