Use of xanthan gum in dietary management of diabetes mellitus

Xanthan gum (12 g/day) was fed in muffins during either the first or second half of a 12-wk period of muffin feeding, to free-living subjects. Nine subjects were diabetic, having moderately elevated serum glucose but managing without insulin or hypoglycemic drugs, and four were nondiabetic controls. Before the study and at the end of the xanthan and xanthan-free periods, bloods were taken before and 2 h after an oral glucose load. The feeding of xanthan gum lowered fasting and postload serum glucose and reduced fasting levels of total plasma cholesterol in diabetic subjects. Xanthan gum also tended to lower fasting and postload levels of gastrin and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and fasting levels of total and VLDL triglyceride and cholesterol in VLDL and LDL fractions. Subjects reported a sense of fullness after consuming xanthan muffins but no severe digestive symptoms.     

Use of pulse oximetry for monitoring tracheostomy tube obstruction

Experimental studies were performed on dogs for monitoring postoperative tracheostomy tube obstruction using a pulse oximeter. While a 25% obstruction of the cross-sectional area of the tube did not alter the oxygen saturation, obstruction of 40% and above resulted in a drop in the oxygen saturation level which corresponded to the degree of obstruction. The greater the degree of obstruction, the sooner was the fall of oxygen saturation. Therefore a pulse oximeter could be effectively put to use to monitor tracheostomy tube obstruction.     

Induction of testicular DNA synthesis in vitro by hCG and hMG treatments in men with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

To study the effectiveness of hCG and hMG administration on spermatogenesis of patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), the DNA synthesis of spermatogonia was investigated by the method of 3H-thymidine uptake by cultured tissue fragments of human testis with or without treatment with hCG and/or hMG. Although in two groups treated with different concentrations of hCG the value of 3H-thymidine incorporation into testicular tissue showed no significant difference compared with the untreated control group, treatment with both hCG and hMG induced significant changes in the value of 3H-thymidine incorporation compared with the untreated control group. Combined hCG and hMG therapy was effective for induction of spermatogenesis in patients with HH.     

Changes in the hormone receptors of human breast carcinoma xenografts in nude mice by treatment with cytotoxic agents

We examined the effect of chemotherapeutic agents on the estrogen receptors (ER) of breast carcinomas in vivo using human breast carcinoma strains (Br-10, T-61) serially transplanted into nude mice. When the tumor size reached approximately 1 X 1 X 1 cm, mitomycin C (MMC) at doses of 1, 2 and 4.5 mg/kg and cyclophosphamide (CPA) at a dose of 120 mg/kg, were administered once intraperitoneally, and the ERs of the tumors were measured sequentially by the dextran-coated charcoal method. Four days after the MMC administration at above doses, the binding sites of ER in Br-10 were not reduced and binding affinity was not affected. When the changes in ER content with time after the treatment with 4.5 mg/kg MMC and 120 mg/kg CPA were investigated, the ER content was found to be stable until 4 days after the treatment with both drugs, although the growth of T-61 had been significantly inhibited by the drugs. From these findings, it seems reasonable to initiate chemotherapy before endocrine therapy, since the chemotherapeutic agents did not reduce the ER content of the breast cancer strains.     

A multipurpose dye laser photocoagulation system

We modified a single argon/dye laser photocoagulator by adding two optical fibers so that it could be used with a slit-lamp microscope, an operating microscope, and with an endophotocoagulation probe. One fiber is attached to a nearby slit-lamp microscope; the other extends approximately 70 m and can be connected to either an operating microscope or an endophotocoagulation probe. An electrically-operated mirror inside the machine controls which of the two fibers the laser beam passes through. Separate control boxes for each fiber permit direct regulation of the photocoagulation process in all situations.     

Malignant inverted papilloma of the urinary bladder: the histopathological aspect of malignant potential of inverted papilloma.

To investigate the histopathological characteristics of inverted papillomas of the urinary bladder, including the possibility of malignant transformation, we studied the indicators of cellular proliferation activity in 7 inverted papillomas of the bladder including two cases of malignant inverted papilloma of the bladder. PCNA expression rates in two cases of malignant inverted papilloma were higher than in benign inverted papillomas. Mean numbers of AgNORs per nucleus in malignant inverted papillomas were much more than in benign inverted papillomas. The c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was expressed only in malignant inverted papillomas. These results suggest that PCNA expression rate, mean number of AgNORs per nucleus and c-erB-2 oncoprotein expression may be merited as good indicators to detect the inverted papilloma with more proliferative and aggressive lesions, and with the potential of malignant transformation.