Osteochondritis dissecans of the talus treated by the transplantation of tissue-engineered cartilage

Management of osteochondral lesions of the joint has been difficult, because articular cartilage has a poor healing capacity as a result of its lack of vessels, nerve supply, and its isolation of systemic regulation. Although a lot of basic research and surgical treatments for cartilage repair have focused on osteochondral lesions in the knee joint, orthopedic surgeons have recently diverted their attention to osteochondral lesions in the ankle joint, partly because of the widespread introduction of arthroscopy in ankle surgery. There have been many attempts to treat articular cartilage defects in the ankle joint as well as in the knee joint. However, no treatment has achieved efficient healing with hyaline cartilage. Recently, tissue engineering technique for cartilage repair has been gaining much attention in the orthopedic field. In this study, we reported on a patient with osteochondritis dissecans of the talar dome, successfully treated by transplantation of tissue-engineered cartilage made ex vivo using atelocollagen gel and low tibial osteotomy.     

Study of the mechanism of tumor marker CA125 in serum

Ascites fluid, chest effusion, cyst fluid, and serum mainly obtained from malignant-ovarian-cancer patients were applied to quantitate the concentration of the tumor marker CA125. The same procedure was also performed for ascites, cyst fluid, and serum mainly obtained from benign-ovarian-tumor patients. To know how CA125 proceeds from tumor cells into the circulation, a CA125-producing, ovarian-cancer-cell line (SHIN-3) was transplanted sub-cutaneously into nude mice. Then the relationship between the grown tumor size and CA125 concentration in serum was analyzed and the histo-pathological background was also evaluated. Quantitative analysis of the ascites and cyst fluid showed no remarkable difference between the malignant-tumor patients and benign ones: however, the CA125 concentration in serum of malignant-tumor patients was up to 90 times higher than in benign ones. The proceeding ratio of CA125 in its productive site (cyst fluid, for example) to that in the serum of patients with malignant lesions was 24 times as high as with benign lesions. No relationship between tumor sizes and the CA125 concentration in serum in nude mice was observed. And in the mice which had high CA125 in serum, the capsules around the tumor tended to be destroyed and vessel infiltration by tumor cells was remarkable.     

A case of transitional cell carcinoma in a pyelocaliceal diverticulum

A 63-year-old man visited our hospital because of painless macrohematuria. Drip infusion pyelography and retrograde pyelography revealed a space-occupying lesion with extravasation of contrast medium to upper caliceal system. A computed tomographic study revealed an intrarenal solid moiety and further more, arteriography showed the arterial encasement and fine neovascularity of the lesion. On gross section of the extirpated kidney, a cystic cavity measuring 3 by 3 cm existed at the upper pole and apparently channeled to the upper caliceal system. Small stones were found in the cystic cavity. Histopathologically, the wall of the cavity was covered with layered squamous cells and a part of the wall developed metaplasic transitional cell carcinoma proliferation which invaded into the renal parenchyma and renal pelvis, as well.     

Effects of a bite‐raising splint on the duration of the chewing cycle and the EMG activities of masticatory muscles during chewing in freely moving rabbits

Metal bite‐raising splints of 0.5 mm thickness were attached to the upper molar teeth on both sides of the jaw in rabbits. The effects of these splints on masticatory behaviour during the chewing of soft food (bread) by freely moving rabbits were investigated. We recorded electromyograms (EMGs) of the masseter and digastric muscles. The animals exhibited prolongation of the chewing cycle, decreased EMG activity of the masseter muscle and increased EMG activity of the digastric muscle during chewing after introduction of the bite‐raising splints. The effects of the splints on the activities of masticatory muscles were abolished by bilateral sectioning of the maxillary and inferior alveolar nerves. It seems likely that afferents from oral sensory receptors were responsible for the changes in masticatory behaviour after the introduction of the occlusal splint.     

Elevated Ley antigen expression on T-lymphocytes in schizophrenic patients

Summary Le^y is a carbohydrate determinant of membrane glycoconjugates and is expressed in some tumor and embryonic cells. On T lymphocytes, it is known that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected human lymphocyte T-cell lines express elevated Le^y antigen and AIDS patients show the highest Le^y expression in T lymphocytes at lower CD4/CD8 ratio. Later, a comparative elevation of Le^y expression on T-cell subsets has been noticed to be mainly present in patients with viral diseases, such as acute and chronic hepatitis, implying an association of the highest Le^y expression with viral infection. We found that Le^y antigen was most expressed in both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ subsets of peripheral T lymphocytes in hospitalized schizophrenic patients. On the other hand, atypical lymphocytes with stimulated morphology are known to appear in the blood circulation of schizophrenic patients. Similar atypical lymphocytes have also been described in viral and autoimmune diseases. Two possibilities have been discussed: viral association in the pathology in some schizophrenic patients; and immunological abnormalities including environmental effects under hospitalization on immune status, since normal controls (staff in psychiatric hospitals) showed higher Le^y expression than normal controls under non-psychiatric circumstances.     

1-Hydroxyethylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (HEBP) simultaneously induces two distinct types of hypomineralization in the rat incisor dentine

Summary Effects of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-bis-phosphonate (HEBP) on the dentinogenesis of the rat maxillary incisor were microradiographically examined 96 hours after a single subcutaneous injection. HEBP produced hypomineralized incremental bands in the enamel (HPOe) and in the dentine (outer HPO1 and inner HPO2) in a dose-dependent manner. In the labial dentine, both HPO1 and HPO2 did not extend apically beyond the apical limit of the HPOe and were thus located in the circumpulpal dentine. The two lesions in the labial dentine fully developed with a dosage of 10 mg P/kg or larger, and with 15 mg P/kg or larger, gross hypoplastic lesions developed. Therefore, histological analysis at shorter postinjection intervals was carried out on the labial dentine with 10 mg P/kg of HEBP. The HPO1 appeared along the dentine-predentine junction by 24 hours and was characterzed by reduced numbers of inorganic crystals and 10 nm particles which invested the collagen fibrils. Therefore, the HPO1 was judged to be produced by the disturbance of transformation of the predentine to dentine. The precursor lesion of HPO2 appeared in the proximal predentine by 4 hours, and was characterized by reduced number of collagen fibrils and unusually coarse interfibrillar stippled material. This lesion migrated to the dentine by 96 hours and became the HPO2, which was characterized by reduced number of collagen fibrils. Individual collagen fibrils in the HPO2 were invested by as many inorganic crystals and 10 nm particles as in the normal dentine. The HPO2 is considered to be produced by the disturbance of organic matrix formation.     

Relationship of adrenergic and electrical brain stimulation induced feeding responses

Electrical and adrenergic brain stimulation can induce eating in satiated animals. This report explores the interrelationship of brain feeding systems mediating eating in response to norepinephrine and electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus in rats. It was found that simultaneous adrenergic and electrical brain stimulation resulted in a significant increase in food intake as compared to each stimulation condition alone. Furthermore, pharmacological blockade of the alpha-adrenergic receptors in the hypothalamus attenuated feeding in response to adrenergic, but not electrical brain stimulation. Results are interpreted to suggest that these feeding systems are independent at the level of the diencephalon. The role of the vagus nerve as an efferent link through which these brain systems may influence feeding behavior is discussed.     

A randomized trial of adriamycin,cyclophosphamide, ftorafur (ACF) and adriamycin,cyclophosphamide, ftorafur,methotrexate (ACFM) in patients with advanced breast cancer

Summary A prospective randomized trial was conducted comparing the clinical response of 60 patients with advanced breast cancer to a combination of adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, and oral ftorafur (ACF), or to a combination of ACF plus methotrexate (ACFM). The response rate was 12 of 28 (43%) in ACF and 18 of 30 (60%) in ACFM. Responses were seen more frequently in patients in whom fewer than two organs were involved, and responses at dominant metastatic sites were equal for the two arms. The response duration was 21+ (3.5–49.5+) months with ACF, as against 6.9 (1.9–30.8+) months with ACFM (P<0.05). The median survival time from start of therapy was 20.8+ months for ACF, while that for ACFM was 13+ months (statistically not significant). The major toxicities were hair loss, GI toxicity, and leukopenia. The response rate with ACFM was higher than that with ACF, but the addition of methotrexate to ACF did not increase the complete response rate or prolong response duration.