A case of primary giant calculus in female urethra

Urinary calculus is rarely seen in the urethra and is usually encountered in men with urethral stricture or diverticulum. Primary urethral calculi are extremely rare in females. We describe a case of a giant urethral stone impacted in the urethra of a 103-year-old female.     

A new monoclonal antibody which binds to the cytoplasm of large cell lymphomas.

We reported a new monoclonal antibody, designated FUB-1, reacting with normal and neoplastic large lymphoid cells. FUB-1 was produced using a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line (HBL-5) as an immunogen. Its immunoglobulin subtype was IgM. The determinant was not on the surface but in the cytoplasm. Western blotting analysis revealed that the molecular weight of the antigen was 52,000 dalton. In the normal lymphoid tissue, FUB-1 reacted with large lymphoid cells, but not with small or medium-sized lymphoid cells or plasma cells. In addition, the FUB-1 antigen was not found in resting cells in the peripheral blood (PB), but it was induced on mononuclear cells of PB by addition of PWM or PMA. In the B-cell lymphomas tested, FUB-1 reacted with small cleaved cell lymphomas (3/12), large cell lymphomas (7/10), Burkitt's lymphomas (4/4) and immunoblastic lymphomas (2/2), but not with small cell lymphomas (0/3) or intermediate lymphocytic lymphomas (0/8). These findings indicate that the FUB-1 antigen appears to be expressed on normal lymphoid cells during blastoid transformation and on neoplastic large lymphoid cells. FUB-1 also reacted with normal glandular epithelium and various adenocarcinomas. FUB-1 may be useful to investigate the mechanism of in vitro blastoid transformation or activation of lymphoid cells.     

Jarcho-Levin Syndrome Associated with Atrial Septal Defect and Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return: A Case Report

A bstract A 61-year-old woman suffering from Jarcho-Levin syndrome (JLS) was associated with atrial septal defect and partial anomalous pulmonary venous return and underwent corrective surgery. Pressure controlled postoperative ventilator therapy is preferred in patients with JLS.     

Pharmacokinetics of carboplatin and etoposide in a haemodialysis patient with Merkel-cell carcinoma

We present a Merkel-cell carcinoma patient with chronic renal failure requiring haemodialysis and evaluate the pharmacokinetics of carboplatin and etoposide during haemodialysis. The area under the concentration-time curve of carboplatin was increased by prolonging the interval between administration and haemodialysis. However, that of etoposide was not changed. Carboplatin showed good membrane permeability in haemodialysis, while etoposide showed no permeability. In conclusion, the pharmacokinetics of carboplatin could be controlled by haemodialysis and the interval between chemotherapy and haemodialysis. However, the pharmacokinetics of etoposide were not affected.     

Endovascular repair of a presumed aortoduodenal fistula.

This report describes the use of transluminal endovascular grafting for the treatment of a presumed aortoduodenal fistula. The patient was a 71-year-old man who had undergone resection and graft replacement for an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Three years after operation, melena was caused by perforation of the duodenal wall by a pseudoaneurysm at the proximal graft anastomosis. The pseudoaneurysm was treated by transluminal endovascular grafting. The pseudoaneurysm was subsequently thrombosed and absorbed. The ulcer-like lesions at the site of the duodenal wall perforated by the pseudoaneurysm also resolved. Endovascular stent-grafts may have a role to play in management of aortoduodenal fistula.     

Baseline study of sleep electroencephalography--daily variation and individual variation

The aims of the present study were to observe the daily habituation to night sleep in a laboratory environment and to make clear the daily and individual sleep variations by using polygraph parameters, including electroencephalography (EEG). Sleep EEG records were obtained from a subject who slept ten successive nights, and from six subjects who each slept one night in the laboratory. The parameters used were as follows: sleep stage %, sleep latency (SL), REM latency (RL), number of stage shifts, subjective sleep, integral EMG, and slope (a) and intersect (b) of a regression equation used to estimate the sleep depth against sleep time. Stage WAKE and SL, slope (a), intersect (b) and the mean depth of sleep were found to become stable from the fifth night. Stage MT, the number of stage shifts, and integral EMG increased significantly from the fifth night and later, showing p less than 0.01, p less than 0.01, and p less than 0.05, respectively. Judging from these findings, the sleep habituation of the subject in the laboratory was completed within the first four nights. Coefficients of variation of sleep stage 2 and stage REM of the ten-nights' EEG were the lowest among all the sleep parameters examined. Almost all the parameters of day-to-day sleep of the subject who slept for ten successive nights in the laboratory showed smaller variations than those of the other six subjects. It may be concluded that the mist effect on sleep could be assessed more precisely by using an individual repeatedly than by using a group of subjects.     

Identification of the metabolites of irinotecan, a new derivative of camptothecin, in rat bile and its biliary excretion.

1. To investigate the metabolites and biliary excretion of new camptothecin analogue, irinotecan, the drug was administered i.v. to rats (10 mg/kg) and bile, urine and faeces were collected. 2. In rat bile, unchanged irinotecan, the metabolite 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (EHCPT) and unknown metabolite M-1 were found by t.l.c. and h.p.l.c. From beta-glucuronidase hydrolysis, n.m.r. spectrometry and mass spectrometry, M-1 was identified as EHCPT-glucuronide (EHCPT Glu). Other metabolites in the bile were negligible. 3. The cumulative biliary and urinary excretion of radioactivity after dosage of rats with irinotecan were 62.2% and 33.3% dose, respectively, and 9.0% of the radioactivity was excreted in the faeces. 4. Approx. 55% of the biliary radioactivity excreted in 24 h was unchanged irinotecan, 22% was EHCPT Glu, and 9% was EHCPT. 5. Approx. 18% of the biliary radioactivity was reabsorbed from the intestine.     

Experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) in rats: isolation of S-antigen, EAU susceptibility of rat strains, genetic control of EAU induction, and effects of cyclophosphamide and irradiation on EAU

Highly purified S-antigen was isolated from bovine retinas by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and was used to induce experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) in various rat strains. Studies were then made of the genetic control of EAU, the effects of cyclophosphamide or irradiation on EAU, and the correlation between the EAU incidence and the serum levels of antibody to S-antigen. Lewis rats were the most susceptible to EAU followed by Wistar rats. F344 rats and BN rats were resistant to EAU. (Lewis X BN)F1 rats and (LBNF1 X Lewis) rats were susceptible to EAU, while (LBNF1 X BN) rats were resistant. These results indicate that susceptibility to EAU was inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Treatment of rats with cyclophosphamide or irradiation (200 rad/rat) on the day before immunization markedly suppressed EAU development. On the other hand, the same dose of irradiation 7 days after the immunization did not affect the disease induction, yet the antibody levels to S-antigen were very high in the rats. In addition, BN rats resistant to EAU exhibited very high levels of antibody to S-antigen. Therefore, the antibody to S-antigen seems to play a minor role, if any, in the immunopathogenic mechanisms of EAU.     

Dorsal skin responses to topical application with hydrogen peroxide in Mini and Wistar rats.

Mini rats (Jcl: WistarTGN(ARGHGEN) 1Nts) (MRs) are Wistar rat (WR)-derived transgenic rats in which the expression of growth hormone (GH) gene is suppressed under the presence of antisense RNA transgene. In order to evaluate the effects of GH-deficiency on the acute injury by external stimuli, the dorsal skin responses to a single topical application with 20% hydrogen peroxide (HPO), one of the environmental oxidative stressors, were histologically compared between male MRs and WRs of 8 weeks old, whose hair cycle was under the telogen phase. As a result, formation of granulation tissues, reepithelialization and regrowth of hair follicles were delayed in MRs compared with WRs. While hair follicles of MRs of this age are under a long-lasting telogen phase after their 2nd cycle, a new hair cycle started not only in the HPO-applied area but also in the solvent-applied area with a little time lag. These findings suggest that GH-deficiency may influence the skin responses to the external chemical stimuli.