Morphometry of Cytoarchitecture of the Lateral Hypothalamic Area in the Rat

Abstract: The cytoarchitecture of the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) in rats was studied with cresyl violet-stained coronal celloidin sections and with sections of the brain impregnated by a Golgi method. Unimodality was established in the frequency distribution histogram of both the somatic cross-sectional area of the LHA neurons and somatic shape (elongation and circularity). The predominant somatic orientation was in the dorsomedial-ventrolateral direction:bimodality of the frequency distribution of somatic orientation was denied. These findings suggest that the LHA neurons examined in the present study are not subdivisible on the basis of the somatic area, shape or orientation. Although the neurons were classified into eight types based upon the dendritic pattern, those in the LHA largely consisted of only three of them; Type III (dendrites extending in two directions along the long axis of soma), Type IV (three directions) and Type VIII (four directions) jointly accounted for 97.1 percent of the total neurons examined. This finding suggests that the parameter of dendritic pattern serves an important purpose in the typing of the rat LHA neurons. The orientation of intrinsic dendrites and intrinsic axons in the LHA has also been described.     

In Vivo and in Vitro Blood–Brain Barrier Transport of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) Reductase Inhibitors

Among the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, lovastatin and simvastatin have central nervous system (CNS) side effects, such as sleep disturbance, whereas pravastatin does not. This difference in CNS side effects may be due to a difference in blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability among these inhibitors. To test this hypothesis, we compared the BBB transport ability of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors by using an in vivo brain perfusion technique in rats and an in vitro culture system of bovine brain capillary endothelial cells. The in vivo BBB permeability coefficients of the lipophilic inhibitors, [¹⁴C]lovastatin and [¹⁴C]simvastatin, were high. In contrast, that of the hydrophilic inhibitor, [¹⁴C]pravastatin, was low and not significantly different from that of [¹⁴C]sucrose, an extracellular space marker. Similarly, the in vitro BBB permeability coefficients of [¹⁴C]lovastatin and [¹C]simvastatin were high, while that of [¹⁴C]-pravastatin was low. The in vivo and in vitro transcellular permeabilities obtained for HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors were comparable. This study shows that the BBB permeability correlates with the CNS side effects of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.     

Fatal neonatal nemaline myopathy: a case report.

A fatal neonatal nemaline myopathy in a Japanese girl was described. The patient was hypotonic at birth and failed to establish effective respiration. Rod-like structures were observed within a variety of skeletal muscles, particularly in the diaphragm. This is the first case of fatal neonatal nemaline myopathy in which many satellite cells were observed.     

A trial of postoperative adjuvant combination chemo-immunotherapy for stage IV gastric carcinoma

A chemo-immunotherapy program was designed on the basis of our clinical findings, which revealed that the ability to generate cell-mediated cytotoxicity was remarkably augmented after adriamycin (AM) administration in cancer patients. Twenty patients with stage IV gastric carcinoma who had undergone noncurative resections were treated with the above regimen that consisted of active immunotherapy with autologous tumor cells, in combination with 30 mg of AM, given 7 days before the immunization, followed by long-term tegafur (FT) and immunomodulators. The survival of these patients was compared to that of 3 other groups of patients, namely; 30 patients treated with another chemo-immunotherapy regimen which comprised autologous tumor cells in combination with several anticancer drugs followed by long-term FT and immunomodulators (CCI1), 17 patients treated with mitomycin C followed by long-term FT and immunomodulators (CI), and 24 patients with comparable histories (HC). The first treatment group had significantly improved survival, as compared to the HC group (p<0.01) and the survival tended also to be more favorable, when compared to the CCIl group (p<0.2) or the CI group (p<0.2). Moreover, the survival rate at 9 months was significantly higher than that of either the CCI1 group (p<0.01) or the CI group (p<0.01).     

Effect of Epidural Analgesia on Metabolic Response to Major Upper Abdominal Surgery

Blood concentrations of glucose, lactate, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and insulin (IRI) were measured in two groups of ten patients undergoing elective gastrectomy under general anesthesia with halothane (Group G) or epidural analgesia extending from Th3-4 to L1-2 without halothane (Group E). The rise in blood glucose and the rise in NEFA in group E during operation were significantly less than in Group G. Blood lactate levels during operation were lower in group E than in group G although the difference was not statistically significant. The increase in IRI/glucose ratio on postoperative day 1 was significantly less in Group E than in Group G, suggesting that insulin sensitivity after surgery was higher in Group E. The postoperative course was uneventful in all subjects. These results suggest that the endocrine-metabolic response to major upper abdominal surgery can be inhibited by epidural analgesia.     

cis-Halovinylthioacetamido side chain, a new effective structural element for 7 beta-substitution in cephem and oxacephem antibiotics. II. 7 beta-cis-Fluorovinylthioacetamino-7 alpha-methoxy-1-oxacephems

The synthesis and in vitro activity of 1-oxacephem derivatives having a substituted or a non-substituted cis-fluorovinylthioacetamido side chain at C-7 are described. Of these new 1-oxacephem antibiotics, 2355-S (42a) shows good antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and very favorable pharmacokinetic properties.     

Immunosuppressive substance derived from choriocarcinoma (author's transl)

Addition of choriocarcinoma culture fluid (CCF) inhibited mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) in vitro antibody production and in vitro allo-killer induction. This suppression was not mediated by HCG, and predominant when CCF was added at the initial phase of culture. The suppression of antibody production was observed when stimulated by T cell-dependent antigen but not by T cell-independent antigens. This suppression was mediated by suppressor T cell, since CSF induced antigen-nonspecific suppressor T cell during 24 hr-incubation. The suppressor T cell once induced was X-ray resistant, but sensitive at precursor level before incubation with CCF. The specific antiserum was raised in rabbit by immunization with a fraction of CCF. After appropriate absorbtion, the obtained antiserum reacted with choriocarcinoma cell lines and normal human chorionic trophoblast, but not with other human cells as tested by immunofluorescent antibody technique. Interestingly, this antiserum effectively neutralized the immunosuppressive activity of CCF, but this neutralizing activity was absorbed out with normal human chorionic villi. Thus, the trophoblasts of choriocarcinoma released them from maternal attack.