ETHANOL INDUCES HETEROGENEOUS REDUCTION OF CYTOCHROME aa3 WITHIN PERFUSED RAT LIVER LOBULE ASSESSED USING MICROSPECTROSCOPY

The redox state of cytochrome aa₃ was measured at microspots(20µm diameter) within the lobule of perfused rat livers,using reflectance microspectroscopy, and the effect of ethanolinfusion on sublobular distribution of the redox states wasevaluated. A sigmoidal relationship was observed between oxygendelivery and the reduction of cytochrome aa₃ in both the periportaland pericentral regions of the liver lobule when the influentO₂ concentration was decreased in a graduated manner. This sigmoidalcurve was shifted to the more reduced state by ethanol infusion,with ethanol (25–100mM) increasing the degree of cytochromeaa₃ reduction in a dose-dependent manner according to the distancefrom the periportal region along a sinusoid. This increase wasspatially heterogeneous within a liver lobule. These data indicatethat ethanol accelerates cytochrome aa₃ reduction, with a distinctgradient of reduction along sinusoids but a heterogeneous distributionwithin the liver lobule.     

"Trench Ulcer" of the Stomach

The clinical, endoscopic and histological findings of 14 cases with unusual gigantic ulcers of the stomach were reported. The patients were mainly aged, complicated by cardiovascular diseases. The ulcer was designated as "trench ulcer" from the characteristic endoscopic features, which ran from the cardiac portion to the angle along the lesser curvature.     

Defective Ultraviolet-Induced DNA Repair in Bone Marrow Cells and Peripheral Lymphocytes of Patients with Refractory Anemia with Excess of Blasts

The extent of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-induced DNA repairwas measured in bone marrow cells and peripheral lymphocytesof patients with refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB).Bone marrow cells from RAEB, when exposed to a 2 J/m dose ofUV, exhibited 50% lower incorporation of tritiated thymidinethan those of control subjects. A similar finding was observedin the peripheral lymphocytes. These data suggest that bonemarrow cells and peripheral lymphocytes from RAEB are deficientin repair of UV-induced lesions by DNA. Furthermore, this impairedDNA repair efficiency in RAEB was not related to the presenceor absence of a karyotype abnormality.     

An Approach to the Detection of Autonomic Neuropathy hy Use of Signal-Averaged Electrocardiography

The beat-to-beat variation of PR interval, which is thought to be a reflection of autonomic nervous system, is difficult to measure with accuracy because the variation is too subtle. However, R wave amplitude in the P wave triggered SAECG is easily attenuated in comparison to that in the R wave triggered SAECG, which might he due to PR interval fluctuation. To determine whether autonomic neuropathy could be detected by use of SAECG, two types of SAECGs triggered by P and R waves were recorded in 23 diabetics with autonomic neuropathy and 41 age matched controls. The peak voltage of filtered QRS complex was measured in the R wave and P wave triggered SAECGs. Percent attenuation of the filtered QRS voltage was calculated by dividing the difference between the voltages in the R wave and P wave triggered SAECGs by the voltage in R wave triggered SAECG. The percent attenuation of filtered QRS voltage was significantly smaller in diabetics with autonomic neuropathy than controls (4.6%± 4.9% vs 16.3%± 15.0%; P < 0.001). These results suggest that the degree of attenuation of filtered QRS voltage in the P wave triggered SAECG would be useful for the detection of autonomic neuropathy.     

Systemic air embolism in an extremely low birthweight infant treated with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation

An extremely low birthweight infant in whom systemic air embolism occurred during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation is reported. He was delivered at 25 weeks and 6 days gestation weighing 600 g. He was diagnosed as having respiratory distress syndrome and had intermittent mandatory ventilation. At 2 days of age, there was pulmonary hemorrhage and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation was begun. The maximum mean airway pressure during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation was 22 cmH₂O. At 9 days of age, X-ray film revealed air in the intracardiac cavity and major systemic vessels. Systemic air embolism can occur in an extremely low birthweight infant having high-frequency oscillatory ventilation with a mean airway pressure of 22 cmH₂O or higher.     

Detection of Carcinoplacental Alkaline Phosphatase by Polyacrylamide Gradient Gel Electrophoresis

Human serum alkaline phosphatase (E.C. 3.1.3.1.) was subclassified into several isoenzymes including carcinoplacental alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme (CPALP) by electrophoretic procedures. Since CPALP has three subtypes, such as Regan, Nagao and Variant type, their properties are somewhat different among them, and have no specific property, no simple method has yet been ascertained to detect CPALP separately.
CPALP was detected as the fastest migrating isoenzyme band to the anode, using the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of more than 8.0% gel concentration. Thus, a polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis of 16–8% gel concentration in Tris-borate buffer system was introduced, which resulted in CPALP being found to be the fastest migrating isoenzyme band to the anode and microheterogeneities of each CPALP were also identified: CPALP (Variant) was electrophoresed rather faster to the anode, CPALP (Nagao); intermediate, and CPALP (Regan), as well as placental alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme; rather slower. In addition, each isoenzyme of CPALP and placental alkaline phosphatase further differentiated clearly into a few subbands.
Slow moving new bands appeared by Triton X-100 treatment.     

Functional Localization of the Supplementary Motor Area

The supplementary motor area (SMA) is a key structure involved in behavioral planning and execution. Although many reports have indicated that SMA is organized somatotopically, its exact organization remains still unclear. This study aimed to functionally map SMA using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and validate the fMRI-SMA by electrocortical stimulation (ECS) and postsurgical symptoms. Total 32 healthy volunteers and 24 patients participated in this study. Motor tasks were right and left finger tapping and language tasks included simple reading, lexical decision for presented words, and verb generating tasks. SPM8 was used to conduct individual and group analyses. In all subjects, the lexical decision task induced the greatest number of active fMRI pixels in SMA. fMRI during the language tasks showed anterior part of SMA compared to finger tapping tasks. We found an overlap spot with all different tasks in posterior part of SMA, which we termed SMA core. Six patients underwent awake craniotomy for ECS mapping for primary regions and SMA. During awake craniotomy, ECS to posterior part of SMA, which might involve the possible SMA core consistently, evoked both speech arrest and flaccid hemiparesis. The SMA mapping suggested posterior part of SMA might play more important roles in any executions, which might involve the SMA core.