Methamphetamine-induced behavioral alterations following repeated administration of methamphetamine

Repeated administration of a large dose of methamphetamine (MA) (25 mg/kg, i.p. twice daily for 4 days) to mice enhanced locomotor activity and decreased stereotyped behavior following a subsequent injection of MA. Simultaneous determinations of catecholamines revealed a depletion of brain dopamine. The moderate doses of haloperidol significantly enhanced MA-induced locomotor activity in mice. A significant enhancement of MA-induced locomotor activity was observed in the rats pretreated with 6-hydroxydopamine into the striatum, and this effect correlated negatively with the striatal dopamine level. These results suggest that hypofunction of striatal dopaminergic neuron systems induced by repeated administration of MA may be one of possible mechanisms of the enhancement of MA-induced locomotor activity due to the decrease of stereotyped behavior.     

Horseshoe anomaly of the pancreas.

A 72-year-old man with recurrent pancreatitis and a horseshoe-shaped anomaly of the pancreas is described. The diagnosis was made by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and computed tomography scan; laparotomy was confirmatory. The abnormal duct branched to the lower left from an enlarged Santorini's duct; a thin Wirsung's duct was joined at its distal portion to the junction of the abnormal duct. The anomaly was associated with a cystic dilatation of the common bile duct with stone and cholecystolithiasis. This anomaly is considered to be a variation of the dominant dorsal duct syndrome.     

Intercellular transport through a partially denuded arterial endothelial monolayer. Effect of platelets and PGI2.

Fluorescein Dextran (FD) was shown to be transported at increased rates through partially denuded endothelial monolayer. Platelet binding to the partially denuded monolayer lowered transport rates to those comparable with intact endothelium. Inhibition of transport by platelet binding was not affected by the addition of isocarbacyclin (a stable derivative of PGI2). This result suggests that adherent platelets at the partial denudation site are sufficient to suppress transport of FD.     

Dispersion of Pressure to the Head in Brain/NeuroSurgery

Skin and soft tissue defects are sometimes problematic especially when the defects large, contaminated, irradiated, or poor blood supplied. The human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are proliferated upon basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimuli in vitro and in vivo. In this experiment, the skin and soft tissue defects are investigated if the wounds are able to be reepithelialized or accelerated by hMSCs, bFGF and porcine‐derived bilayered skin template.
1.5 × 1.5 cm² nude rat skin and soft tissue defects including panniculus carnosus are excised and 1 × 10⁶ hMSCs and various doses of bFGF (1–100 μg) applied. Before and after normal reepithelialization, the tissues are tested for protein expressions by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting.
The wound sizes are significantly decreased at day 7 with hMSCs with 1, 10, or 100 μg bFGF compared to hMSCs‐alone or medium‐only. All the wounds healed by day 42. 42 Kda and 38 Kda human‐derived pancytokeratin expressions, which do not cross‐react with murine antigens, by Western blotting significantly augmented by 10 μg bFGF compared to hMSCs‐alone. The epidermal immunolocalizations such as integrin α3 and SKALP (Skin‐derived Anti Leukoproteinase) are greatly elevated in time and dose‐dependent manner. Human pan‐cytokeratin expressions are immunoreactive even at day 42.
These data suggest the skin and soft tissue wound healing is accelerated by hMSCs together with bFGF, partly by means of differentiation of hMSCs toward epidermal components.     

Responses of periodontal nerve terminals to experimentally induced occlusal trauma in rat molars: an immunohistochenmical study using PGP 9.5 antibody

The response of periodontal nerves to experimentally induced occlusal trauma in rat molars was assessed by immunohistochemistry for protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) at light and electron microscopic levels, and by computerized image analysis. The occlusal surface on the left upper first molar of 8-wk-old male Wistar rats was raised approximately 1 min under ether anaesthesia. The rats were perfusion-fixed on d 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 after bite-raising and then decalcified for 2–3 wk. Frozen sagittal cryostat sections were stained by the avidin-biotin complex method. By the second day after bite-raising many Ruffini endings were swollen and their outline unclear at the light microscopic level. Transmission electron microscopy disclosed PGP 9.5 reaction products within Ruffini endings that had unusually long cytoplasmic projections extending through enlarged slits of the Schwann sheaths and also diffuse extracellular PGP 9.5-immunoreactivity near the Ruffini endings. From d 2 to 4, thin nerve fibres on the pressure side of the periodontal ligament were orientated irregularly and had a prominent beaded appearance. An increase in beaded nerve terminals occurred at d 2–4 post elevation, and decreased later. These results suggest that occlusal trauma induces specific changes in the distribution and shape of nerve terminals in the periodontal ligament.     

Intracerebral vascular occlusion in familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a case report of two siblings

Neuropathological findings in two siblings with familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FEL) are reported. Case 1 showed the typical neuropathological findings of FEL with lymphohistiocytic infiltration of the leptomeninges and perivascular spaces. A characteristic erythrophagocytosis was detected in inguinal lymph nodes, lung and bone marrow. Case 2 revealed calcification and necrotic lesions in the brain. In the necrotic areas, parenchymal calcification, vascular medial calcification, and occlusion of many vessels due to subendothelial fibrosis were detected. The areas of necrosis correlated with the distribution of occluded vessels. These changes were most prominent in putamen, internal capsule, thalamus and dentate nucleus. Hypercytokinemia is suspected to be the underlying mechanism for the clinical and laboratory findings in patients with FEL, although the relationship to the vascular pathology is unclear.     

Use of a Paracorporeal Pneumatic Ventricular Assist Device for Postoperative Cardiogenic Shock in Two Children with Complex Cardiac Lesions

Pneumatic ventricular assist device (VAD) was utilized for cardiogenic shock after intracardiac operation in two children with complex cardiac anomalies based with single ventricle. In the first case (a 10-year-old), after a modified Fontan operation, VAD was placed between the functional left atrium and ascending aorta, serving as a "artificial single ventricle" with neither pumping chamber nor artificial support in the right side of the heart. The systemic circulation was maintained by keeping relatively high central venous pressure. In another child (a 3-year-old) who underwent repair of incompetent atrioventricular valve leaving intracardiac lesions, VAD was placed between the common atrium and ascending aorta, serving as a pump for both pulmonary and systemic circulation with regulation of pulmonary blood flow through an aortopulmonary Gore-Tex shunt. The circulatory assist with VAD was utilized for 5 and 6 days, respectively. Although weaning from the device was not feasible in both patients because of the pulmonary dysfunction, these experience showed the possible use of VAD for cardiogenic shock after surgery in patients with complex cardiac anomalies.     

Molecular-based diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma: germ-cell carcinogenesis and aspiration biopsy nucleic acid diagnosis(ABND)

Recent data have shown the existence of specific changes in mRNAs in thyroid carcinomas. It has not been clarified, however, why these changes clearly distinguish benign tissues from carcinomas, while genomic alternation such as mutations in the RAS or P53 genes do not. Further, the widely believed hypothesis, multi-step carcinogenesis, does not explain some clinical and experimental evidence of thyroid carcinomas. Considering these facts, we propose a new idea for thyroid carcinogenesis called "germ-cell carcinogenesis", in which cancer cells are derived from the remnant of fetal thyroid germ cells(thyroblasts) instead of normal thyroid follicular cells. Utilizing such mRNAs, we have established a new method for preoperative molecular-based diagnosis of thyroid carcinomas, Aspiration Biopsy Nucleic Acid Diagnosis(ABND). ABND allows us to perform preoperative nucleic acid analyses of the tumors by extracting RNAs or DNAs from tumor cells obtained by fine needle aspiration biopsies(FNABs). Pathological diagnosis of thyroid follicular carcinoma is quite difficult, and the establishment of preoperative molecular-based diagnosis of follicular carcinoma has been long expected. We found that quantification of the trefoil factor 3(TFF3)/galectin-3 mRNA ratio in thyroid tumor cells is a useful tool for distinction between follicular adenomas and carcinomas. Because ABND can be performed without any severe invasion to the patients, in the near future, when more reliable systems of quantitative RNA analysis have been developed, ABND will probably become one of the standard tests for preoperative diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma.