Hepatic arterial and portal venous oxygen content and extraction in liver cirrhosis

ABSTRACT— We examined the oxygen content in the hepatic arterial, hepatic venous and portal venous blood to evaluate the oxygen supply to the liver and hepatic oxygen extraction in cirrhosis. The arterial-portal venous difference of the oxygen content was within the normal range in cirrhosis patients, although the oxygen content of the hepatic artery and portal vein was lower than in the control patients. The hepatic venous oxygen content was normal in the cirrhosis patients. The oxygen tension and saturation were always higher in the splenic vein than in the other branches of the portal system. Oxygen was supplied chiefly by the hepatic artery, and arterial oxygen extraction was normal in cirrhosis. In addition, there was no change in arterial extraction during oxygen inhalation by cirrhosis patients. Portal venous oxygen extraction was decreased in cirrhosis and was increased by oxygen inhalation. These findings indicate the autoregulation of hepatic oxygen through a mutual relationship between the hepatic arterial and the portovenous oxygen supply.     

Antibody to HTLV-I in Indigenous Inhabitants of the Andes and Amazon Regions in Colombia

To explore the HTLV-I-carrying groups among the indigenous inhabitants in South America, a sero-epidemiological study on HTLV-I focusing on hinterland villages isolated from others in the Andes and Amazon regions was conducted. Five (2.9%) out of 171 subjects showed positive for HTLV-I antibody in the gelatin particle agglutination (PA) test. Two out of 5 positives with high antibody titer (≫× 1024) in the PA test also showed a positive immunofluorescence (IF) test and anti-HTLV-I-specific protein products, p19, p24, p28, gp46, and p53 in sera by the Western blotting (WB) test. One of three negatives in the IF test showed positive antibodies to p19 and p24 by the WB test. Finally, two were confirmed as HTLV-I carriers and one was suspected of being a carrier. All three are Paez Indians from the central Andes; 53- and 34-year-old women and a 35-year-old man. The results show that HTLV-1 carriers exist among isolated indigenous people in South America.     

The Differences between Lymphoma and Leukemia Type of Adult T-cell Leukemia

The difference between lymphoma type and leukemia type of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) were analysed with 102 Japanese patients all positive for human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) antibody. They were classified into three groups on findings at first medical examination: lymphoma type cases, leukemia type cases, and mixed type (leukemia type plus lymphadeno-pathy) cases. Lymphoma type patients had several or more enlarged lymph nodes the largest of which was greater than 1 cm in diameter and with practically no abnormal lymphocytes (ATL. cells), which are characteristic of ATL, in the peripheral blood. Leukemia type patients had 10% or more ATL cells in the peripheral blood and had no detectablle lymphadenopathy Lymphoma type patients often complained of detectable lymphadenopathy, while leukemia type patients complained frequently of general fatigue and skin eruption. Mixed type patients more frequently had signs and symptoms which were characteristic of both types: lymphadenopathy and 10% or more ATL cells in the peripheral blood. Mixed type: ATL had a poorer prognosis than either lymphoma type or leukemia type. The median survival time was 3 months for mixed type patients, 10.5 months for lymphoma type patients, and 13.5 months for leukemia type patients. Complications and causes of death have also been touched upon. Clinicians are thus advised to consider ATL patients separately according to their clinical manifestations.     

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma

Since the discovery of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), malignant neoplasms of mature (peripheral) T lymphocytes have attracted a great deal of attention. This type of neoplasm is more common in Japan than in Western countries, and may show distinct clinical pictures such as hypergammaglobulinemia, hypercalcemia, etc. T-cell lymphomas are more prone than B-cell lymphomas to become leukemic. Because of a marked intermingling of reactive cells (histiocytes, eosinophils, etc.), the histologic diagnosis of T-cell lymphoma is often difficult. Proliferation pattern and cellular size do not correlate with prognosis as in B-cell lymphoma. Since T-cell lymphomas often manifest with several distinct clinicopathologic settings, their categorization should be based on several parameters, such as the presence or absence of ATLL-associated antigen in serum, histology, phenotype of the neoplastic cell, and clinical features. Since a classification for T-cell lymphomas has not been established, a further multi-disciplinary approach is necessary for a better understanding of this interesting neoplasm.     

Immunocytochemical study on the variation in estrogen receptors of primary and nodal metastases of breast cancer

The variation in estrogen receptors (ER) between primary and regional nodal metastatic lesions was examined by an estrogen receptor immunocytochemical assay (ER-ICA) in 25 mammary carcinoma patients. The ER status was evaluated in terms of the percentage of ER positive stained cells, staining intensity and distribution of those stained cells. The overall ER status was consistent in both sites, however, the percentage of ER positive cells and the staining intensity were not always consistent. A decrease in the percentage of ER positive cells and staining intensity was demonstrated in the nodal metastatic lesions of 4 and 3 cases out of a total 14 ER positive cases, respectively. The mean percentage of ER positive cells in the nodal metastatic lesions was 57 per cent compared with 73 per cent in primary lesions. Thus, a tendency of both the percentage of ER positive cells and the staining intensity to decrease in nodal metastases as when compared with primary lesions in breast cancer was demonstrated.     

Model for “charge-relay”: Acceleration by carboxylate anion in intramolecular general base-catalyzed ester hydrolysis by the imidazolyl group

The effect of benzoate anion on intramolecular general base-catalyzed ester hydrolysis by the imidazolyl group in endo-5-[4'(5')-imidazolyl]bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-endo-2-yl trans-cinnamate was examined in dioxane/H(2)O solutions. Benzoate anion exhibited a remarkable acceleration of the intramolecular general base-catalyzed hydrolysis of endo-5-[4'(5')-imidazolyl]bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-endo-2-yl trans-cinnamate by the imidazolyl group. The rate of hydrolysis in the presence of the benzoate anion increased with the dioxane mole fraction and was proportional to the concentration of benzoate anion. On the other hand, the rate of hydrolysis of endo-5-[4'(5')-imidazolyl]bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-endo-2-yl trans-cinnamate in the absence of benzoate anion decreased with the dioxane mole fraction. Thus, the ratio of the rate in the presence of benzoate anion to that in the absence of benzoate anion drastically increased with the dioxane mole fraction and attained a 2500-fold rate acceleration at a dioxane mole fraction of 0.42 (the highest experimentally attainable) when the concentration of benzoate anion was 0.5 M. The proposed mechanism involves proton abstraction by the benzoate anion from the imidazolyl group, followed by proton abstraction by the imidazolyl group from H(2)O, resulting in effective general base-catalysis of hydrolysis. The results of the present paper provide support for the "charge-relay" system in serine proteases.     

Psychiatric Disorders of Pre-adolescence in Japan

Abstract: We have classified 200 pre-adolescent patients, with whom we have met during the last three years, into the following four types: 1) school refusal and obsessive behavior, 2) psychosomatic disorders, 3) depressive reactions, and 4) schizophrenic disorders. During our therapeutic process, we realized that even though their symptoms seemed varied and severe, they disappeared after comparatively short periods. The pre-adolescent period is a turning point at which the children depart from their earlier relationships with parents and start to form new ones with friends. We facilitated the patients' developmental process in this period so that they would recover naturally by themselves. However, when we looked at the social phenomena which influence the family and children, we noticed that some factors interfered with the pre-adolescents trying to get over the above-mentioned turning point.     

The distribution of hypoglossal motoneurons in the dog, rabbit and rat

Summary The distribution of motoneurons innervating the extrinsic tongue muscles was studied in the dog, rabbit and rat using the horseradish peroxidase technique. In these mammals, hypoglossal motoneurons were clustered in roughly ventral (or media) and dorsal (or lateral) groups. Axons of hypoglossal motoneurons in the ventral (or medial) group passed via the medial branch of the hypoglossal nerve, and those in the dorsal (or lateral) group by way of the lateral branch of the hypoglossal nerve. Motoneurons supplying the geniohyoid or genioglossus muscle were distributed, respectively, in the ventral or lateral aspect of the ventral (or medial) cluster of hypoglossal motoneurons. Hyoglossus and styloglossus motoneurons were located in the lateral aspect of the dorsal (or lateral) cluster. The area of distribution of hypoglossus motoneurons overlapped with that of styloglossus motoneurons. It seems likely that motoneurons innervating intrinsic tongue muscles form the remainder of the hypoglossal nucleus. The largest motoneurons in the hypoglossal nucleus were distributed in the cluster of geniohyoid motoneurons. Thus, in the present study a somatotopic arrangement of motoneurons innervating the extrinsic tongue muscles was found, in keeping with previous studies using the retrograde cell degeneration technique.