Successful treatment of a VIPoma by continuous subcutaneous infusion of somatostatin analogue (SMS 201-995)

A case with WDHA syndrome due to VIPoma is reported. Injection of somatostatin analogue SMS 201-995 was followed by prompt suppression of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide levels (VIP), decreased stool volume, and restoration of the serum potassium concentration to normal. Long-term treatment with SMS 201-995 for up to 20 weeks produced excellent clinical control and a decrease in tumour size. No adverse effects were noted except for localized pain at the site of injection. This was overcome by using a continuous subcutaneous infusion pump which also enabled the effective daily dosage to be reduced and thereby adverse reactions to be avoided.     

Crevicular temperature rises stimulated by plaque formation

In nineteen subjects, temperatures were recorded thermo-electrically in the vestibular and proximal crevices of fifty-nine teeth. It was found that the formation of a new plaque was followed by a rise in crevicular temperature. In addition, it was found that the normal as well as the abnormal crevicular temperatures were higher in the mandible than in the maxillae.     

Immunohistochemical demonstration of proteoglycans in the skin of patients with systemic sclerosis

Skin proteoglycan was demonstrated by an immunofluorescent technique using an antibody against bovine cartilage proteoglycan, after the cross-reactivity of human proteoglycan with the antiserum had been confirmed. Normal skin exhibited specific fluorescence mainly in the blood vessels as well as in the subepidermal area. The clinically uninvolved skin of systemic sclerosis (SS) revealed no features different from those of normal skin. However, the vascular proteoglycan deposition of early systemic sclerosis was later replaced by deposition between the collagen fibres, which appeared to progress centrifugally in parallel to the increase in the skin sclerosis, suggesting a vascular initiation of the skin lesion. Sclerotic skin was characterized by random deposition between the collagen fibres. Immunoelectron microscopic studies suggested that the random proteoglycan deposition reflected uncontrolled local accumulation of proteoglycan in the interfibrillar matrix around irregularly arranged collagen fibrils.     

Molecular imaging of dementia

Diagnosis and treatment strategies for dementia are based on the sensitive and specific detection of the incipient neuropathological characteristics, combined with emerging treatments that counteract molecular processes in its pathogenesis. Positron emission tomography (PET) is used for diverse clinical and basic studies on dementia with a wide range of radiotracers. Approaches to visualize amyloid deposition in human brains non‐invasively with PET depend on imaging agents reacting with amyloid fibrils. The most widely used tracer is [¹¹C]‐6‐OH‐BTA‐1, also known as Pittsburgh Compound‐B, which has a high affinity to amyloid β peptide (Aβ) aggregates. Some ¹⁸F‐labeled amyloid ligands with a longer radioactive half‐life have also been developed for broader clinical applications. In addition, there have been demonstrated advantages of tracers with high specific radioactivity in the sensitive detection of amyloid, which have indicated the significance of Aβ‐N3‐pyroglutamate as a new diagnostic and therapeutic target. Furthermore, beneficial outcomes of Aβ and tau immunization in humans and mouse models have highlighted crucial roles of immunocompetent glia in the protection of neurons against amyloid toxicities. The utility of PET with a radioligand for translocator protein as a biomarker for tau‐triggered toxicity, and as a complement to amyloid and tau imaging for diagnostic assessment of tauopathies with and without Aβ pathologies, has also been demonstrated. Meanwhile, brain cholinergic function can be estimated by measuring acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain with PET and radiolabeled acetylcholine analogues. It has been reported that patients with early Parkinson's disease exhibit a reduction in acetylcholinesterase activity in the cerebral cortex, and this decline is more profound in patients with Parkinson's disease with dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies than in patients with Parkinson's disease without dementia. The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative was a multicentre research project conducted over 6 years that studied changes in cognition, brain structure, and biomarkers in healthy elderly controls and subjects with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. An international workgroup of the National Institute on Aging‐Alzheimer's Association has suggested that Alzheimer's disease would be optimally treated before significant cognitive impairment, defined as a ‘presymptomatic’ or ‘preclinical’ stage. Therefore, PET will be of technical importance for both clinical and basic research aimed at prodromal pathologies of Alzheimer's disease.     

Motor activity of vascularly perfused rat duodenum. 1. Characteristics of spontaneous movement

We developed an ex vivo model of arterially perfused rat duodenum to examine the motor activity of intestine. In this preparation, spontaneously occurring pressure waves with regular rhythm were observed. The oxygen consumption and motor activity of the intestine were compared at different arterial perfusion rates to determine the degree of oxygenation required to elicit spontaneous motility. Pressure waves with regular rhythm occurred at a frequency of 1 min-1 when the arterial perfusion was 3-5 mL min-1, and stopped when the perfusion rate fell below 2 mL min-1. Atropine and hexamethonium reduced the percentage motor index/10 min of pressure waves in a dose-dependent manner, and tetrodotoxin completely blocked motor activity. Acetylcholine stimulated motor activity, and this effect was not antagonized by TTX. These findings suggest that spontaneous contraction in the ex vivo perfused rat duodenum might be mediated by a cholinergic mechanism via muscarinic receptors on smooth muscle, but that noncholinergic mechanisms may also participate in this response.