A case of hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type III with a decrease in unmyelinated fibers

We report a 3-year-old girl with hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type III with a decrease in unmyelinated fibers. There have been few reports of such cases. The present findings suggest the possibility that the primary lesion in this disease is in the axons. We consider that more attention should be paid to the changes in unmyelinated fibers and axons in further studies on this disease.     

Adenocarcinoma of the lower esophagus. A disease primarily of white men with Barrett's esophagus

Sex and racial predilection, social history, and histology were analyzed in a biopsy-proven adenocarcinoma of the lower esophagus/esophagogastric junction collected over a 5-year period in two teaching institutions with different patient populations. Adenocarcinoma occurred in 11% of patients with biopsy-proven esophageal cancer. The disease occurred only in males at one center, and in a 7:1 ratio of males to females at the other center. Clear racial predilection was seen, since 12 of 13 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus were white, whereas less than 20% of patients with squamous carcinoma of the esophagus were white. The finding of Barrett's epithelium in eight of the 13 cases strongly supports the theory that in white males, Barrett's epithelium is a precursor lesion of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus/esophagogastric junction.     

The cytochromes P-450 concentrations in microsomes of liver, kidney and duodenal mucosa of the camel, sheep and goat

The concentration of microsomal cytochromes P-450, and of protein in the homogenate, cytosol and microsomes were measured in the liver, kidney and duodenal mucosa of healthy well-fed male and female camels, sheep and goats. For comparison, data from the liver of male and female rats were also obtained. The protein concentrations in the tissues of adult animals were broadly similar in the four species. The concentration of cytochromes P-450 was highest in the liver, followed by the kidney, then the duodenal mucosa in all the species. No cytochromes P-450 were detected in the tissues of immature (less than 1 mo) male goats, whereas the female goat had the highest concentrations of these enzymes in the liver and kidney when compared with the respective tissues in the other species studied. Males had higher activity of cytochromes P-450 than females in the three tissues, except in the duodenal mucosa of sheep, where males had lower activity than females. In camel liver and sheep kidney, the amount of cytochromes P-450 were similar in the two sexes. The present results suggest that the mature female goat is the species best equipped to handle xenobiotics which are detoxified by the cytochromes P-450 and other drug metabolizing enzymes in diseased or malnourished animals is suggested as these two conditions are known to modify drug metabolizing enzymes.     

Affinity purification of a high molecular weight human breast cancer-associated antigen identified by the BCD-B4 monoclonal antibody

This study reports the purification and characterization of a high molecular weight human breast cancer-associated antigen identified by a previously described (1,2) murine monoclonal antibody, BCD-B4. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that BCD-B4 recognizes an antigen expressed in an altered form on the human breast carcinoma cell line, BT-20, compared to the non-malignant human mammary epithelial cell line, HBL-100. Chemical treatments and enzymatic digestions suggested that the recognized moiety was a protein. The antigenic determinant was resistant to neuraminidase and periodate treatments but was sensitive to trypsin and proteinase K. The antigen was purified by affinity chromatography and its molecular weight, determined by SDS-PAGE analysis under non-reducing conditions, was proven to be 250 Kd. Under reducing conditions, the molecule dissociated into two polypeptides of 125 and 45 Kd, respectively. Both subunits could be isolated from normal HBL-100 and neoplastic BT-20 cellular protein extracts by affinity chromatography. The higher molecular weight subunit showed; however, qualitative and quantitative differences between the two cell lines: it was expressed in greater quantity on BT-20 cells and its molecular weight was 15 Kd higher. Both subunits could also be identified by immunoblots of BT-20 cells.