Intra-abdominal fat in obese children

We investigated the distribution of abdominal fat accumulation in obese children to know whether a clustering of coronary risk factors was demonstrated in visceral fat obesity as reported in adults. The relative indicator of intra-abdominal fat accumulation was obtained from computed tomography scans at the umbilicus level in 36 obese subjects (24 males, 12 females). There was no visceral fat obesity in this study by reported criteria. All metabolic variables except triglyceride did not correlate significantly with intra-abdominal fat accumulation. We conclude that visceral fat obesity is a rare status and has no close relationship to coronary risk factors in childhood.     

Differential expression of costimulatory molecules in chronic inflammatory periodontal disease tissue

Although B cell activation and subsequent immunoglobulin production are the immunopathological features of chronic inflammatory periodontal disease, in situ expression of costimulatory molecules in humoral immunity has not been investigated. In the present study we examined the expression of CD40, CD40 ligand (CD40L), CD80, CD86, CD28 and cytolytic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) on lymphocytes immunohistochemically. Cryostat sections were prepared from the gingival tissue samples of 14 patients with moderate to advanced adult periodontitis. In vitro kinetics of the expression of CD40L and CTLA-4 by peripheral blood T cells and that of CD80 and CD86 by peripheral blood B cells were also investigated by flow cytometry. Positive percentage expression of CD40L, CD28 and CTLA-4, and CD40, CD80 and CD86 was calculated for the number of CD3⁺ and CD19⁺ cells, respectively. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the expression of CD40L and CTLA-4 on T cells, and CD80 and CD86 on B cells of peripheral blood was up-regulated upon activation. While most T cells and B cells expressed CD28, and CD80 and CD86, respectively, in gingival tissues, the expression of CD40L and CTLA-4 was lower but highly variable between specimens. Furthermore, these two molecules seemed to be expressed reciprocally in the lesion. As both CD40L and CTLA-4 expression are induced transiently by stimulation, variability in the expression of the molecules may reflect immunological activities and participation in the regulation of B cell activation of the lesion.     

Studies on the Phenomenon of Locational Variation in the Speed of Discoloration During the Endoscopic Congo Red Test. The First Report: Quantitative Study of Parietal Cell Populations by Cell Isolation Method

A quantitative study of parietal cell populations was done using the cell isolation method designed by the authors in order to investigate the cause of the phenomenon of locational variation in the speed of discoloration during the endoscopic Congo red test. The endoscopic Congo red test was performed in three mongrel dogs and five patients with peptic ulcers. In each case, at the time when spotty discoloration was observed, three biopsy specimens were obtained from both the quickly discolored portion (Q) and the slowly discolored portion (S) of the greater curvature of the middle body. After determination of wet weight, the biopsy specimens, having been separated into two groups (the Q-group and the S-group), were digested simultaneously with collagenase and dispose in the same way in each case. The number of parietal cells per microlitre in the obtained cell suspensions were counted using Neubauer's hemocytometer, staining with tetranitroblue tetrazolium. The number of parietal cells per milligram tissue wet weight was calculated for each sample from both groups. The number of parietal cells per milligram wet weight of the quickly discolored portion was 2.0 times (on average) as large as that of the slowly discolored portion in the case of the dogs. In the case of patients, the former was 1.7 times (on average) as large as the latter, with a statistically significant difference. We concluded that the locational variation of the speed of discoloration during the endoscopic Congo red test may be mainly due to the unequal distribution of parietal cells.