Repair pattern of the reticular lamina of the organ of corti in human ears

The repair pattern of the reticular lamina of the organ of Corti was studied in the cochleae of human ears. The inner ears were obtained at autopsy from the individuals who had no evidence of auditory or vestibular disorders or therapy with ototoxic drugs:

• After a loss of outer or inner hair cells, the framework of the reticular lamina was distorted but no gaps were detected. The supporting cells were hypertrophied but no reparative proliferation of the supporting cells was found in the organ of Corti.
• Defects due to the collapse of outer hair cells of the first row were filled in mainly by the hypertrophied heads of the outer pillar cells.
• Defects due to the collapse of outer hair cells of the second, third and fourth row were filled in mainly by the hypertrophied phalanges of Deiters' cells of the first, second and third row respectively.
• The space due to inner hair cell loss was filled in by the nearest inner supporting cells which were hypertrophied and extended toward the space.
• The distortion of the reticular lamina and the aging degeneration were regarded as two possible causes for the total loss of the organ of Corti near the end of the first turn.

     

The association of cigarette smoking with self-reported disease before middle age: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study

BACKGROUND: Evidence that demonstrates the harmful effect of cigarette smoking during young adulthood is limited. Therefore, we assessed associations between cigarette smoking and several self-reported illnesses in a prospective cohort study in healthy young adults. METHODS: Data were derived from 4472 adults aged 18 to 30 years at baseline participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study and reexamined at least once after 7, 10, or 15 years. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking in 1985-86 was related to self-reported smoking-related cancers, circulatory disease, and peptic ulcer. Incidence of these diseases was 9.3/1000 person years among current smokers vs. 4.5/1000 person years among never smokers with no exposure to passive smoke, relative risk (adjusted for race, sex, education, and center) 1.96 (1.42-2.70). Assuming causal relationships, 32% of these premature incidents were attributable to smoking. The relative risks of liver disease, migraine headache, depression, being ill the day before the examination, and chronic cough and phlegm production were also higher in smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Smokers aged 18-30 followed for 7 to 15 years reported an excess of both major and minor ailments related to earlier and current smoking. Thus, prevention, cessation, and avoiding passive smoking should remain strong goals among young people.     

Chemoradiotherapy for neurohypophyseal immature teratoma

We performed chemoradiotherapy for two patients (aged 6 and 33 years)with neurohypophyseal immature teratoma. The patients received total doses of 40 to 50.6 Gy with concurrent carboplatin and etoposide. In both cases, neurological symptoms improved. Both patients are still alive and remain free from local recurrence and distant metastasis 92 months and 62 months, respectively, after the completion of chemoradiotherapy. No late complications were observed. Chemoradiotherapy is extremely effective in the treatment of neurohypophyseal immature teratoma.     

Functional and urodynamic characteristics in patients with ileal neobladder

We analyzed the functional and urodynamic characteristics in 19 patients with ileal neobladder by the Hautmann procedure. A questionnaire survey by mail was performed for functional information of neobladder. Seventeen of the 19 patients (89.5%) could voluntarily void via the urethra and the others needed clean intermittent self catheterization (CIC) because of their significant residual volume. Eight of the 19 patients (42.1%) micturated at least two times at night. Two of the 19 patients (10.5%) were incontinent in the day time and 12 (63.2%) in the night time. They needed 2 pads in the day time and one pad at night on average. Eight out of 18 patients (44.4%) were satisfied with their micturition state. A urodynamic study showed the neobladder to be a low-pressure reservoir with a mean capacity of 395.2 +/- 96.8 ml. The mean residual volume of the patients without CIC was 27.8 +/- 28.2 ml. In 10 out of 11 patients high frequency and high amplitude spikes were seen by the perineal electromyogram in the voiding phase.     

alpha-Adducin Gly460Trp polymorphism is associated with low renin hypertension in younger subjects in the Ohasama study

BACKGROUND: The Gly460Trp polymorphism of the alpha-adducin gene (ADD-1 ) has been examined as a candidate gene for essential hypertension with salt sensitivity in the Caucasian population. However, we failed to detect a positive association between the Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 and hypertension in a small series of Japanese subjects. OBJECTIVE: To examine the precise association between the Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 and blood pressure (BP), we carried out an association study using a Japanese population: the Ohasama Study. DESIGN: Subjects (n = 1490) were recruited from participants in the Ohasama Study, which is a cohort in a rural community of northern Japan. METHODS: DNA was extracted from the buffy coat of the participants who gave informed consent for genetic analysis, and the Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 was determined by the TaqMan polymerase chain reaction method. Various BP values (casual BP, ambulatory BP and home BP) were measured in the Ohasama study. We used the mean values of these BP measurements for analysis. RESULTS: The frequencies of genotypes in the Ohasama population were 23% Gly/Gly, 49% Gly/Trp, and 28% Trp/Trp. In the baseline characteristics, age, sex, body mass index, frequency of diabetes and hyperlipidemia were significantly different between hypertensive or normotensive subjects. In total subjects, all BP values were not different among genotypes. In the younger subjects ( 60 years old) with low plasma renin activity (< 1.0 ng/ml per h), however, ambulatory BP and home BP were significantly higher in the subjects with the Gly/Trp or Trp/Trp genotypes of ADD-1 polymorphism than in those with the Gly/Gly genotype. In the same population, the frequency of the Gly/Trp or Trp/Trp genotypes of was significantly higher in hypertensives than in normotensives (83 versus 72%, chi1(2) = 4.04, P<0.05; odds ratio, 2.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-4.68). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the possibility that the Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 is associated with low renin hypertension.     

Validation of walking questionnaire for population-based prospective studies in Japan: comparison with pedometer

PURPOSE: To assess the reproducibility and validity of a single-item, self-administered questionnaire on walking used in two population-based prospective cohort studies in northern Japan, using pedometer counts as the reference standard. METHODS: Fifty-one men and 55 women participating in the main cohort studies (mean age: 61.7 years) responded to a question on the average duration of walking per day five times at 3-month intervals. The subjects also provided 3 consecutive days of pedometer counts four times along with the first four questionnaire surveys. RESULTS: For the first and the fifth questionnaires administered one year apart, 55% of the subjects chose concordant categories among three options (< or = 30 min/ between 30 and 60 min/> or = 60 min), and 13% chose the highest category in one questionnaire and the lowest in the other questionnaire. The sex- and age-adjusted mean daily numbers of walking steps counted by the pedometer were 5,857, 7,047, and 7,621 for the three categories of walking duration in the fifth questionnaire, and it showed significant linear associations with all of the five questionnaire measurements. CONCLUSION: The single-item questionnaire on walking is reasonably reproducible and valid, and useful in studying the health effects of walking among the Japanese population.     

Pranlukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene antagonist, reduces serum eosinophil cationic protein levels in patients with asthma

Cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs) are considered to be important mediators involved in bronchial asthma and the ensuing eosinophilic inflammation. We evaluated the effects of pranlukast, a potent and selective cysLT receptor antagonist, on the clinical course and serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels of 10 asthmatic patients. A four-week administration of pranlukast increased the morning peak expiratory flow (PEF) (p = 0.007) and decreased as-needed beta 2-agonist use (p = 0.021). Changes in the morning PEF inversely correlated with those in the serum ECP levels (r = -0.80, p = 0.0057). These results suggest that cysLTs are important mediators involved in eosinophilic inflammation, a major pathophysiologic feature of bronchial asthma in humans.