Double outlet right ventricle demonstrated by multislice computed tomography

A 60 year-old male presented with abnormal systolic heart murmur. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy and mosaic jet in the RV outflow tract. RV catheterization revealed significantly pressure gradient between the RV and the pulmonary artery. Enhance ECG-gated multislice CT was performed and an axial source image in end-diastole revealed RV myocardial hypertrophy and remarkable hypertrophy of the moderator band. Multiplanar reconstruction images in end-systole revealed hypertrophic anomalous muscle bundles in the RV and significant narrowing of the RV outflow tracts and a post-stenotic dilated pulmonary trunk. In volume rendered images, in end-systole, the lumen of RV outflow tract revealed severe stenosis compared with that in end-diastole and he was diagnosed with double chamber RV.     

Lack of initiation activity of 4-oxo-2-hexenal, a peroxidation product generated from omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, in an in vivo five-week liver assay.

Peroxidation products formed from polyunsaturated lipids have DNA damaging potential. 4-oxo-2-hexenal (4-OHE), generated by the oxidation of omega-3 fatty acids, has been demonstrated to be mutagenic in vitro as assessed in the Ames test. To examine the carcinogenic risk of 4-OHE in vivo, initiation activity was investigated in a five-week liver assay, established to be effective for screening of carcinogenic potential of mutagens. Seven-week-old male F344 rats underwent two-thirds partial hepatectomy (PH) and were administered 4-OHE intragastrically at doses of 128, 80, 64, 40, 32, 20, or 0 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) at 18 hours thereafter, then being fed on diet containing 0.015% 2-acetylaminofluorene from weeks 2 to 4. All rats were given with 0.8 ml/kg b.w. CCl4 at week 3. At week 5, all survivors were sacrificed and initiation activity was assessed with reference to induction of glutathione S-transferase placental form (GST-P) positive foci in the liver. Mortality was significantly increased to 72.7% in the 128 mg/kg b.w. dose group compared with 0.9% in the control group. However, the average number of GST-P positive foci in the "128" dose group was 3.26-/+1.66 foci/cm2, not significantly different from the control value (2.78?1.33). Areas of GST-P positive foci were also similar (1.11-/+0.5 and 1.53-/+1.33 mm2/cm2 in "128" and the control groups, respectively). These results showed 4-OHE to have no significant initiation activity in.     

Comparative analysis of titers of antibody against measles virus in sera of vaccinated and naturally infected Japanese individuals of different age groups

The anti-measles virus (MV) antibody titers in the sera of vaccinees and naturally infected individuals of different age groups were measured to help assess the efficacy of the current MV vaccination in Japan. Neutralizing (NT) antibody titers induced by vaccination were 2(3.2) times lower than those induced by natural infection and declined significantly by age 20. The once-decreased NT antibody titers of the vaccinees increased 2(3.6) times during their twenties to titers comparable to those of naturally infected individuals of the same age, implying the possible occurrence of natural infection in vaccinees with decreased anti-MV immunity. Although the current field strains in Japan, types D3 and D5, were reported to differ antigenically from each other and from vaccine strains (type A) to some extent, as demonstrated by different reactivities to monoclonal antibodies, the sera of vaccinees neutralized the two types of field strains and the vaccine strain with the same efficiency. This result suggests that the current vaccine strain would be suitable to elicit protection against types D3 and D5, as long as viral antigenicity is concerned. However, when compared at given hemagglutination inhibition titers, NT antibody titers of vaccinees were 2(1.1) to 2(3.2) times lower than those of naturally infected individuals, suggesting a qualitative difference(s) of anti-MV antibodies between the two groups. It should be emphasized that protective immunity induced by the one-dose vaccination currently implemented in Japan may not be strong enough to ensure lifelong immunity. A two-dose vaccination program with higher vaccination coverage needs to be considered in order to effectively control measles in Japan.     

Cyclin D1 overexpression in N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced rat gastric adenocarcinomas

Changes in cell cycle regulation are involved in many human cancers, including gastric cancer. In the present study, cyclin D1 expression and localization were immunohistochemically analyzed in 23 N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced rat gastric adenocarcinomas and compared with findings for beta-catenin. Cyclin D1 nuclear overexpression was more frequently observed in tumors displaying nuclear (4/4=100%) and cytoplasmic (3/4=75%) beta-catenin accumulation than those with membranous (3/15=20%) localization (nuclear vs. membranous, P<0.02). In the former cases it was considered that cyclin D1 was induced with beta-catenin activation; in the latter, a direct or indirect pathway for cyclin D1 accumulation bypassing Wnt pathway might be involved. Cyclin D1 was also found to be accumulated in gastric glands within normal-looking mucosa, these perhaps representing preneoplastic lesions for cancers with membranous beta-catenin accumulation.     

Facilitated activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors in cerebellar Purkinje cells in glutamate transporter EAAT4-deficient mice

Around excitatory synapses in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), GLAST and EAAT4 are expressed as predominant glial and neuronal glutamate transporters, respectively. EAAC1, another subtype of neuronal glutamate transporter, is also expressed in PCs. EAAT4 is co-localized with metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) at perisynaptic sites in excitatory synapses in PCs, and this neuronal transporter was reported to be involved in the regulation of mGluR activation induced by the stimulation of parallel fibers (PFs). However, it remains to be elucidated whether only EAAT4 is specifically involved in mGluR activation among the glutamate transporters expressed near excitatory synapses in PCs. Here we examined mGluR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (mGluR-EPSCs) evoked by PF stimulation in cerebellar slices of mice deficient in EAAT4, EAAC1, or GLAST. PF-evoked mGluR-EPSCs showed larger amplitude and faster rising kinetics in EAAT4-deficient mice than in the wild-type mice. In contrast, there was no significant difference in either the amplitude or the rising kinetics of mGluR-EPSCs in GLAST- or EAAC1-deficient mice compared to wild-type mice. We conclude that EAAT4 is most closely involved in mGluR activation in PCs among the glutamate transporters.     

Sensory tract abnormality in the chick model of spina bifida

Spina bifida aperta (SBA) is an open neural tube defect that occurs during the embryonic period. We created SBA chicks by incising the roof plate of the neural tube in the embryo. The area of the dorsal funiculus was smaller in the SBA chicks than in the normal controls. Additionally, the SBA group had fewer nerve fibres in the dorsal funiculus than the normal controls. The pathway of the ascending sensory nerves was revealed by tracing the degenerated nerve fibres using osmification. We cut the sciatic nerve (L5) of the control and SBA chicks at the central end of the dorsal root ganglion 1 day after hatching and fixed the tissue 3 days later. Degenerated sensory nerve fibres were observed in the ipsilateral dorsal funiculus in the control chicks. In contrast, degenerated sensory nerve fibres were observed in the ipsilateral and contralateral dorsal, ventral and lateral funiculi of the spinal cord in the SBA chicks. Consequently, fewer sensory nerve fibres ascended to the thoracic dorsal funiculus in the SBA chicks than in the normal controls. This is the first report of abnormal changes in the ascending sensory nerve fibres in SBA.     

Inhibition of Helicobacter pylori motility by (+)-Syringaresinol from unripe Japanese apricot

A methanol extract from unripe Japanese apricot showed inhibitory activity of Helicobacter pylori motility. Inhibitory compound 1 was isolated and identified as (+)-syringaresinol (1) by spectoroscopic means. (+)-Syringaresinol (1) inhibited >90% of the H. pylori motility at a concentration of 500 microg/ml and the IC50 value was 50 microg/ml.