Distinctive features of degenerating Purkinje cells in spinocerebellar ataxia type 31

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 31 (SCA31) is an autosomal dominant form of pure cerebellar ataxia that is caused by a disease‐specific insertion containing penta‐nucleotide repeats (TGGAA)_n. Neuropathologically, cerebellar Purkinje cells are preferentially affected and reduced in number in SCA31, and they are often surrounded by halo‐like amorphous materials. In the present study, we performed neuropathological analyses on two SCA31 brains, and discussed the serial morphological changes of Purkinje cells in SCA31.We found that bent, elongated, often folded nuclei were observed frequently in degenerating Purkinje cells with the halo‐like structure. Conversely, Purkinje cells without this structure developed marked atrophy with severely slender and condensed nuclei. On the basis of these pathological findings, we propose two different processes for Purkinje cell degeneration in SCA31, namely, shrinkage of Purkinje cells with or without the halo‐like amorphous materials. The former, but not the latter, was considered to be specific to SCA31. Correspondingly, fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus was observed more frequently in Purkinje cells with the halo‐like structure than in those without this structure. We consider that the profound nuclear deformity and fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus are closely linked with the formation of the halo‐like structure in SCA31.     

Toremifene in the treatment of breast cancer

Although more widespread screening and routine adjuvant therapy has improved the outcome for breast cancer patients in recent years, there remains considerable scope for improving the efficacy, safety and tolerability of adjuvant therapy in the early stage disease and the treatment of advanced disease. Toremifene is a selective estrogen receptor modifier (SERM) that has been widely used for decades in hormone receptor positive breast cancer both in early and late stage disease. Its efficacy has been well established in nine prospective randomized phase III trials compared to tamoxifen involving more than 5500 patients, as well as in several large uncontrolled and non-randomized studies. Although most studies show therapeutic equivalence between the two SERMs, some show an advantage for toremifene. Several meta-analyses have also confirmed that the efficacy of toremifene is at least as good as that of tamoxifen. In terms of safety and tolerability toremifene is broadly similar to tamoxifen although there is some evidence that toremifene is less likely to cause uterine neoplasms, serious vascular events and it has a more positive effect on serum lipids than does tamoxifen. Toremifene is therefore effective and safe in the treatment of breast cancer. It provides not only a useful therapeutic alternative to tamoxifen, but may bring specific benefits.     

Monitoring of gliomas in vivo by diffusion MRI and 1H MRS during gene therapy‐induced apoptosis: interrelationships between water diffusion and mobile lipids

The measurement of water diffusion by diffusion‐weighted MRI (DWI) in vivo offers a non‐invasive method for assessing tissue responses to anti‐cancer therapies. The pathway of cell death after anti‐cancer treatment is often apoptosis, which leads to accumulation of mobile lipids detectable by ¹H MRS in vivo. However, it is not known how these discrete MR markers of cell death relate to each other. In a rodent tumour model [i.e. ganciclovir‐treated herpes simplex thymidine kinase (HSV‐tk) gene‐transfected BT4C gliomas], we studied the interrelationships between water diffusion (Trace{D}) and mobile lipids during apoptosis. Water diffusion and water‐referenced concentrations of mobile lipids showed clearly increasing and interconnected trends during treatment. Of the accumulating ¹H MRS‐visible lipids, the fatty acid ? CH ?CH ? groups and cholesterol compounds showed the strongest associations with water diffusion (r² = 0.30; P < 0.05 and r² = 0.48; P < 0.01, respectively). These results indicate that the tumour histopathology and apoptotic processes during tumour shrinkage can be interrelated in vivo by DWI of tissue water and ¹H MRS of mobile lipids, respectively. However, there is considerable individual variation in the associations, particularly at the end of the treatment period, and in the relative compositions of the accumulating NMR‐visible lipids. The findings suggest that the assessment of individual treatment response in vivo may benefit from combining DWI and ¹H MRS. Absolute and relative changes in mobile lipids may indicate initiation of tumour shrinkage even when changes in tissue water diffusion are still small. Conversely, greatly increased water diffusion probably indicates that substantial cell decomposition has taken place in the tumour tissue when the ¹H MRS resonances of mobile lipids alone can no longer give a reliable estimate of tissue conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cholangiocarcinoma arising from preexisting biliary hamartoma of liver--report of a case

We describe the case of a 72-year-old asymptomatic man with a cholangiocarcinoma arising from a biliary hamartoma, also referred to as "von Meyenburg's complex". The patient was clinically diagnosed as having a cystadenocarcinoma, but the tumor had already been present as a uniformly low-density area on computed tomography taken four years previously, as revealed by retrospective examination of the computed tomography films that had been taken annually after surgery for pulmonary emphysema. The low-density area had continued to enlarge year after year, and a high-density area was observed to have emerged inside the low-density area on computed tomography. Histopathological examination demonstrated that the high-density area corresponded to the cholangiocarcinoma and the low-density area to a biliary hamartoma. This is the first case in which it was possible to confirm the presence of cholangiocarcinoma inside a biliary hamartoma that had continued to increase in size.     

Association of Long-Term Diet Quality with Hippocampal Volume: Longitudinal Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Diet quality is associated with brain aging outcomes. However, few studies have explored in humans the brain structures potentially affected by long-term diet quality. We examined whether cumulative average of the Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010) score during adult life (an 11-year exposure period) is associated with hippocampal volume.