Effect of feeding peptic digest of soy protein isolate on rat serum cholesterol

Growing rats were fed ad libitum soy protein isolate (SPI) or its peptic (SPI-P) or tryptic digest (SPI-T) for a month and their sera were examined for cholesterol and triglyceride levels and enzyme activities such as cholinesterase, glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and alkaline phosphatase. The rats fed SPI-P or SPI-T were inferior in growth to those fed SPI. Similarly, the serum glyceride level was lower in the SPI-P and SPI-T groups than in the SPI group. On the other hand, a significant difference was found in the serum cholesterol level between the SPI-P and SPI or SPI-T groups but not between the SPI and SPI-T groups. A similar tendency was observed for serum GPT and alkaline phosphatase activities, although there were no significant differences among dietary groups in small intestinal enzyme activities. As for the atherogenic index being a risk factor inducing atherosclerosis, the order of its value was SPI-P less than SPI less than SPI-T.     

Time and cost involved in the care of newly registered patients with diabetes mellitus and other lifestyle diseases at diabetes clinics in Japan (JDDM 4).

AIMS: To study the time and cost involved in the care of newly registered outpatients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), compared with patients with hypertension and/or hyperlipidaemia (HTL). METHODS: A total of 313 patients with DM and 58 patients with HTL without diabetes were registered on their first visits to 11 diabetes clinics across Japan. The time and cost involved in their care was recorded over the following 5 months. RESULTS: In the first 3 months, there was an extensive time commitment to both groups. The time spent by physicians was 1.5 times longer for DM than for HTL. The total care time spent by all the care providers for DM was twice that for HTL. The cost of DM care was twice that for HTL, with the cost of medicines excluded. However, half of the cost for DM was for laboratory tests. When these were excluded, and the remaining cost divided by the time spent, the amount for DM was half of that for HTL. Over the 5 months, mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) in DM patients improved from 8.0% to 6.5%, and 72% of DM patients achieved the glycaemic target of HbA(1c) < or = 6.5%. CONCLUSIONS: DM care in a diabetes clinic requires a great deal more time and resources than HTL to achieve the best outcome. An educational system for self care, presently lacking in the primary care setting in Japan, would improve glycaemic control for DM patients in the community.     

Osteochondritis dissecans of the humeral head.

A rare case of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) occurring in the humeral head is presented. As there are only six available records in the literature concerning OCD in the humeral head, clinical features, treatment, and etiology of OCD involvement of this anatomical part remains unclear. These points are discussed on the basis of the previous cases and ours. Osteochondritis dissecans of the humeral head commonly affects middle-aged and young males rather than females. The prevalent location of involvement is the anterosuperior aspect of the humeral head. We propose that repetitive microtrauma is one of the important causes of OCD in the humeral head. Moreover, we suggest that the most authentic treatment for OCD with a partial detached osteochondral fragment is removal of this fragment and drilling.     

Coronary artery bypass in dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis--a case report

A 71-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital by ambulance, because of right chest pain and hypotension. Chest X-ray and standard 12-lead ECG showed mirror-image dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis. ECG with right-left reversal of all leads showed acute inferior myocardial infarction. The patient underwent coronary bypass surgery due to postinfarction angina, and she is now doing well 2 years following the operation. Mirror-image dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis is very unusual. But the patients are believed to have normal longevity, and presumably have an incidence of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease similar to the general population. To our knowledge, this is the first case of coronary bypass surgery on a patient with mirror-image dextrocardia in Japan.     

Visual perception--a hypothesis

Based on the results of after-image experiments, it can be concluded that the retinal perception of image position is linked to head position information, since this affects after-image positioning. Why actual perception of object position is not affected is hypothesised as a resetting of the retinal horizon, from information received on head position. Tilting of the after-image is thus explained as superimposition of the former image on a reset (tilted) horizon (axis).     

Ethylnitrosourea-induced apoptosis in primordial germ cells of the rat fetus.

Ethylnitrosourea (ENU) is a simple alkylating agent. It induces gene mutations in fetal primordial germ cells (PGCs), and a high incidence of congenital malformations is also found in the offspring of male mice treated with ENU at the embryonic stage. It is also reported that decreases in the fertility rate and weights of the testis and ovary were found in the offspring from dams treated with ENU. In this study, we analyzed the occurrence of apoptotic cell death and the expression of p53 protein which is thought to play an important role in the DNA damage-induced apoptosis after administration of ENU to pregnant rats on day 13 of gestation to obtain a clue for clarifying the toxic effect of ENU on PGCs. Apoptotic cells increased in PGCs in fetal gonads from 3 h after treatment. The number of apoptotic PGCs peaked at 6 h and gradually decreased towards 24 h after treatment. On the other hand, p53-positive PGCs increased from I h after treatment, prior to the induction of apoptosis. The number of p53-positive PGCs peaked at 3 h and returned to the control level at 24 h after treatment. These results suggest that ENU induces apoptosis in rat fetal PGCs immediately after its administration to dams and excess cell death by apoptosis may have a close relation to the later occurrence of decreases in the fertility rate and gonadal weight. Moreover, a possible involvement of p53 is suggested in the ENU-induced apoptosis in PGCs.     

A case of acetaminophen-induced pneumonitis]

A 20-year-old woman took 1.2 g of acetaminophen for toothache. She subsequently developed a dry cough, pyrexia, and dyspnea. Chest X-ray revealed diffuse reticulo-nodular shadows in both lung fields. Broncho-alveolar lavage examination showed a marked increase in the total cell number and an increase in the percentage of eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes. Because drug-induced pneumonitis was suspected, all drugs were stopped and she was administered methylprednisolone. Consequently her symptoms resolved, and pulmonary function and chest X-ray findings improved remarkably. The lymphocyte stimulation test was positive for Norshin and its acetaminophen element. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of acetaminophen-induced pneumonitis was made. Acetaminophen intoxication is well-known, but to our knowledge this is the first reported case of acetaminophen-induced allergic pneumonitis in Japan.     

Postoperative local thermo-chemotherapy in control of residual pleural diseases after resection of primary lung carcinoma--regulation of dissemination

Pleural dissemination was proved by intraoperative histodiagnosis in 11 of 121 patients who underwent pulmonary resection for non-small cell carcinoma of the lung between April, 1985 and December, 1986. To control such intrathoracic residual diseases, we devised a means of local thermo-chemotherapy. Ten of 11 patients were treated with intrapleurally administrated cisplatin (50-100mg, bolus) combined with simultaneous radiofrequency hyperthermia (13.56 MHz) for 2 to 3 weeks after surgery. Courses were repeated at 5-to 7-day intervals. Eight patients had N2-disease, one N1 and the other NX. Eight were adenocarcinomas. Thermal burn of the chest wall with hyperkalemia was observed in only one patient who received thermotherapy at the over a magnetrode power of 450 watts for 50 minutes. In the other 9, side effects were minimal under the thermotherapy to obtain a peripleural temperature beyond 42 degrees C. Of the 10 patients, three lived more than 12 months after treatment. Although distant metastases were recognized in 6 cases, none had local recurrence for the median follow-up period of 6 months. One patient had metastasis to the contralateral supraclavicular lymph nodes. Because there was no evidence of intrathoracic recurrences in this patient, radical neck dissection were performed 15 months after the initial operation. This experience warrants further investigation of thermo-chemotherapy as a treatment for controlling pleural dissemination after resection of primary tumor.     

Takayasu's arteritis and mitral stenosis

A 44-year-old housewife was found to have coarctation of the abdominal aorta secondary to Takayasu's arteritis. Since she also had mitral stenosis, possible etiological relation between Takayasu's arteritis and mitral stenosis is suspected.