Prenatal sonographic appearance of truncus arteriosus on wide‐band Doppler imaging

Persistent truncus arteriosus is an uncommon congenital cardiac anomaly. In most patients, this condition is not diagnosed prior to birth. We report a case in which this uncommon cardiac anomaly was diagnosed prenatally using wide‐band Doppler imaging. When diagnosing fetal truncus arteriosus, sonologists should carefully search for the origin of the main pulmonary artery and for its 2 branches. Our experience suggests that wide‐band Doppler imaging facilitates the prenatal diagnosis of truncus arteriosus. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 2009     

Inhibition of M-type K current by linopirdine, a neurotransmitter-release enhancer, in NG108-15 neuronal cells and rat cerebral neurons in culture

The effect of linopirdine, a neurotransmitter-release enhancer, on the M-type K⁺-current, I_K(M), was examined in NGPM1-27 cells, mouse neuroblastoma×rat glioma NG108-15 cells transformed to express m1-muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors, using the nystatin-perforated patch-recording mode under voltage-clamp conditions. The application of linopirdine induced the inward current associated with an inhibition of I_K(M), which mimics an excitatory part of the ACh-induced responses in NGPM1-27 cells. The affinity of linopirdine for the inhibition of I_K(M) was 24.7 μM in NGPM1-27 cells. In the presence of linopirdine, ACh failed to evoke a further inward current, but ACh still elicited an outward current, thus suggesting that the Ca²⁺-dependent K⁺ current is rather insensitive to linopirdine. Linopirdine also inhibited another voltage-gated potassium current (I_K(V)) at the concentration of 72.3 μM. Finally, the inhibitory effect of linopirdine on I_K(M) was confirmed in pyramidal neurons acutely dissociated from the rat cerebral cortex at 35.8 μM. The results suggest that linopirdine is thus considered to be an inhibitor of some type of K⁺ channels in both NGPM1-27 cells and the rat cerebral neurons.     

Adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive bladder cancer

A total of 20 patients with primary invasive bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy using a CAP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin) or modified M-VAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, pirarubicin, and cisplatin) regimen. In all, 16 of the patients were treated with CAP and 4 received the modified M-VAC regimen. Of the 20 patients, 17 had transitional-cell carcinoma with or without non-transitional-cell elements. All of the patients had tumors with a histological grade of G2 (6 cases) or G3 (14 cases). As for lymph-node metastasis, there were ten N0 cases, three N1 cases, six N2 cases, and one N3 case. Adjuvant chemotherapy was usually commenced 2 weeks after the surgery and was given every 3–4 weeks for two or three cycles. The 5-year survival rate of these 20 patients was 65.9%, whereas that of 49 patients who did not receive any adjuvant chemotherapy was 30.2%. Regarding toxicity, both of the adjuvant chemotherapy regimens used in this study were generally well tolerated. The most common toxic effects were gastrointestinal symptoms, alopecia, and myelosuppression. Another 19 patients with invasive transitional-cell carcinoma of the bladder received 2 or 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy using the modified M-VAC or MEC (methotrexate, epirubicin, and cisplatin) regimen. Of 18 pathologically evaluable patients who underwent radical cystectomy or partial cystectomy, the stage was pT0 in 3 cases (17%), pTis in 3 (17%), pT1 in 3 (17%), and pT2 or higher in 9 (50%). The 4-year survival rate of 18 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy was 71.5%. Regarding toxicity, one patient died of a bowel complication after surgery, and the complication was suggested to be drug-induced.Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Treatment of Urinary Tract Tumors with Adriamycin/Farmorubicin, 24–25 September 1993, Hakone, Japan     

Different effect of hippocampal granule cell destruction on amygdaloid kindling in Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rats

The hippocampal granule cells receive major inputs via the perforant path from other limbic structures such as the amygdala (AM). In this study, we examined Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Wistar rats, the effect of bilateral destructions of the hippocampal granule cells on the process of AM kindling and kindled AM seizures after completion of kindling. The granule cells were selectively and completely destroyed bilaterally by intra-hippocampal injections of colchicine. The left AM was used as the primary kindling site and the right AM as the secondary site. In SD rats, prior destruction of the granule cells caused a marked delay in the seizure development of both the primary AM kindling and subsequent secondary AM kindling. However, once AM kindling was established in SD rats, the destruction of granule cells was totally ineffective in preventing kindled seizures. In Wistar rats, unlike SD rats, prior destruction of the granule cells failed to change the rate of kindling at the primary and secondary sites. However, Wistar rats showed a transient and marked regression of kindled seizures when the granule cells were destroyed after the completion of AM kindling. In both strains, granule cell destruction had no effect on the re-establishment of kindled seizures at the time of primary-site re-test. These findings suggest that hippocampal granule cells of SD and Wistar rats play different roles in AM kindling.     

Effect of low-intensity aerobic exercise training on arterial compliance in postmenopausal women.

Regular aerobic exercise training attenuates age-related reduction in central arterial compliance, an independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. We tested the hypothesis that even low-intensity exercise training could increase central arterial compliance in postmenopausal women. Using B-mode ultrasound, we studied the central arterial compliance of 15 postmenopausal females (age: 52-66 years) before and after a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention. Subjects performed aerobic exercise training of the same energy expenditure (cycle exercise, total 900 kcal/week, 3-5 sessions/week) at two different exercise intensities: 7 trained at low intensity (40% heart rate reserve: L-TR) and 8 trained at moderate intensity (70% heart rate reserve: M-TR). Arterial compliance increased after exercise training in the L-TR group (0.70+/-0.32 vs. 1.06+/-0.55 mm2/mmHgX10(-1), p <0.05) and in the M-TR group (0.82+/-0.37 vs. 1.14+/-0.39 mm2/mmHgX10(-1), p <0.05). There was no significant difference in increases of arterial compliance in either group (L-TR: 0.35+/-0.38 vs. M-TR: 0.32+/-0.33 mm2/mmHgX10(-1)). These results suggest that the improvement of central arterial compliance by aerobic exercise training might not be influenced by the intensity of exercise training if the energy expenditure of the training is the same. Accordingly, even low-intensity exercise training may have the effect of improving central arterial compliance.     

Improvement of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury by oral administration of soft-shelled turtle powder in the rat

The effects of orally administered soft-shelled turtle powder on experimental liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride were studied. Activities of transaminases and lactate dehydrogenase, content of albumin in serum, total protein, triglyceride and hydroxyproline in liver and histopathological assessment were used as indices of liver injury. Daily oral administration of 100 and 500 mg/kg soft-shelled turtle powder for 6 weeks did not prevent the acute injury induced by a subsequent single injection of carbon tetrachloride. However, administration of soft-shelled turtle powder for 6 weeks during chronic treatment with carbon tetrachloride significantly and dose-dependently ameliorated the liver injury. The increases in glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase in serum were attenuated, and there was a noticeable improvement of serum album and liver total protein content in rats treated with the powder. In addition, histopathological observation demonstrated a decrease in fatty degeneration in the liver of rats treated with the powder. None of the indices of liver injury was significantly affected by 6-week oral administration of soft-shelled turtle powder in non-carbon tetrachloride-treated rats. The results suggest that repeated administrations of soft-shelled turtle powder have a therapeutic effect on chronic liver injury, by improving liver function and protein synthesis.     

Association of AKT1 with schizophrenia confirmed in a Japanese population.

BACKGROUND: Abnormality of the V-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homologue 1 (AKT1) may be a predisposing factor in schizophrenia. Recent evidence supporting this hypothesis showed decreased AKT1 protein levels in patients with schizophrenia and significant association of AKT1 haplotypes according to the transmission disequilibrium test. METHODS: We provide the first replication of this evidence using a relatively large case-control sample (507 Japanese schizophrenia and 437 control subjects). We genotyped five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the original study and one additional SNP. RESULTS: We found a positive association with an SNP (SNP5) different from the original study's findings (SNP3) and also significance in the haplotypes constructed from the combination of SNP5. Linkage disequilibrium around SNP5 was complex and may produce this positive association. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides support for the theory that AKT1 is a susceptibility gene for Japanese schizophrenia. Fine linkage disequilibrium mapping is required for a conclusive result.