Surgical treatment of acute pulmonary embolism--report of two cases

Two surgical cases of acute pulmonary embolism with severe cardiocirculatory impairment were reported. In the first case, emergent open pulmonary embolectomy with cardiopulmonary bypass was not effective, and multiple and organized emboli were indicative. In the second case, complete pulmonary thromboembolectomy was accomplished under extracorporeal circulation with remarkable hemodynamic improvement. It was suggested that urgent pulmonary angiography was necessary for definitive diagnosis and medical treatment, and that indications for pulmonary embolectomy included all patients with massive emboli in the main branches of the pulmonary artery. Monitoring of pulmonary arterial pressure was important to assess the effect of thrombolytic therapy, and the system of emergent cardiopulmonary bypass was required for immediate and effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation.     

Cross-sectional study of allergic disorders associated with breastfeeding in Japan: The Ryukyus Child Health Study

Uncertainties remain as to whether breastfeeding is protective against childhood allergic disorders. Positive relationships of breastfeeding with asthma and atopic eczema were observed in two previous Japanese studies. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between the feeding pattern after birth and the prevalence of allergic disorders during the past 12 months in Japanese schoolchildren. Study subjects were 24,077 children aged 6-15 yr in Okinawa. The outcomes were based on diagnostic criteria from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Allowance was made for age, sex, number of siblings, smoking in the household, paternal and maternal history of asthma, atopic eczema, and allergic rhinitis, and paternal and maternal educational level. Breastfeeding, regardless of exclusivity, for 13 months or longer and exclusive breastfeeding for 4-11 months were independently associated with a higher prevalence of atopic eczema, particularly among children without a parental allergic history. A clear positive dose-response relationship was observed between prolonged duration of breastfeeding, regardless of exclusivity, but not exclusive breastfeeding, and the prevalence of atopic eczema. We found a significant positive trend for atopic eczema across the three categories (formula milk, partial and exclusive breastfeeding) in the first 4 months of life although the odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding was not statistically significant. No material association was found between the feeding pattern after birth and the prevalence of wheeze or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Prolonged breastfeeding may be associated with a higher prevalence of atopic eczema in Japanese children.     

Differential expression of the beta I- and beta II-PKC subspecies in the postnatal developing rat brain; an immunocytochemical study.

Differential expression of protein kinase C subspecies, beta I- and beta II-PKC, derived from a single gene by alternative splicing was evidenced in the postnatal developing rat brain. Immunoblot analysis of the PKC subspecies in the whole developing brain showed that beta I-PKC was present at birth and then gradually increased, while beta II-PKC was not present at birth or on postnatal day 3, then increased rapidly from day 7 to the maximum value seen in the adult brain. Under light microscopy, beta I-PKC immunoreactivities seen at birth were the most intense in the brainstem and intense in the diagonal bundle and globus pallidus. beta I-PKC immunoreactivities in these neurons weakened from day 7 and disappeared in the adult brain, while in the cerebral cortex, triangular septal nucleus and pontine nucleus beta I-PKC immunoreactivities were week at birth and then gradually increased. beta II-PKC immunoreactivities were first visible in neurons on day 7 and increased progressively. beta I- and beta II-PKCs were not co-localized in a neuron, as far as examined. The immunoreactivities of beta I-PKC at birth were localized in growth cone-like structures as well as in the dendrites and perikarya. Similarly, alpha-PKC was also present at birth in the growth cone-like structure. Immunoblot analysis revealed that beta I-PKC was present at birth in the growth cone-rich fraction from the hindbrain but not in that from the forebrain, while alpha-PKC was found in the growth cone-rich fraction from both the forebrain and the hindbrain. beta II- and gamma-PKC were not detected in the growth cone-rich fraction from either forebrain or hindbrain. These findings suggest that beta I- and beta II-PKC play a role in different stages of development and in different neurons; both beta-subspecies may be involved in postnatal developing neuronal functions while only beta I-PKC plays functional roles in the growth cone, in the prenatal developmental stage.     

Lack of rapid initiating, promoting or sequential syncarcinogenic effects of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in rat liver carcinogenesis

The effect of prolonged dietary administration of the peroxisomeproliferating plasticizer di(2-ethylhexy1)phthalate (DEHP wasstudied on liver carcinogenesis initiated by N-2- fltuorenylmxhmide(FAA) and with that of the neoplasm-promoter phenobarbital (PB).Also, DEHP was studied as an initiator by giving it in placeof FAA before PB. Male rats were fed FAA for 7 weeks to inducebepatocellular altered foci, and were subsequently given nochemical, 12 000 p.p.m. DEHP or 500 p.p.m. PB for 24 weeks inthe diet. In the rats fed DEHP, substantial hepatomegaly andperoxisome proliferation were induced. No evidence of indudionof hepatacellular altered foci or hepatic neoplasms was foundeither when DEHP was given alone for 24 weeks or for 7 weeksfollowed by PB. Also, DEHP fed for 24 weeks had no promotingeffect on liver altered foci that were induced by FAA and producedlittle or no enhancement of the occurrence of FAA-induced liverneoplasms. In contrast, PB exerted a marked enhancing effecton foci and substantially increased the incidence and multiplicityof liver neoplasms. Thus, the findings demonstrate that DEHPdid not have either a rapid initiating activity, a significantsequential syncarcinogenic activity, or a promoting effect onliver carcinogenesis under conditions in which numerous agentswith such activities have been identified.     

The effects of long term Tranilast administration on bronchial hypersensitivity in asthmatics

Tranilast is an oral antiallergic agent developed in Japan. This study investigated the effect of prolonged administration of Tranilast on the bronchial sensitivity of 18 asthmatic subjects. They were treated for either less than 3 months or more than 3 months continuously. Methacholine loading testing was used to assess bronchial reactivity, and the respiratory parameters were recorded on an Astograph. Patients treated for longer than 3 months showed a significant decrease in bronchial sensitivity (p less than 0.05). The anticholinergic and bronchodilatory properties of Tranilast were also investigated in 8 subjects. No significant anticholinergic or bronchodilatory effects were observed following a single oral dose of 100 mg of Tranilast.     

Immunohistological study on the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA/cyclin) in human colorectal lesions]

The purpose of this study was to clarify the significance of immunohistological staining for PCNA/cyclin in human colorectal lesions. Our results: The PCNA-positive cells existed at the bottom of colonic tubuli in the normal and hyperplastic conditions. In the neoplastic lesions, however, the positive cells were existed at the relatively surface of the mucosa (chi 2: P less than 0.01) and distributed irregularly from the bottom to the top of carcinoma tissue. These results suggested that immunohistological staining for PCNA would specifically detect the cell proliferation and be beneficial for practical use and clinical application of the diagnosis of the colorectal lesions.     

Neutrophil elastase inhibitor reduces hepatic metastases induced by ischaemia-reperfusion in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possibility in rats that ONO-5046 Na, a new recombinant inhibitor of neutrophil elastase, can reduce hepatic metastases induced by ischaemia-reperfusion. DESIGN: Laboratory experimental study. SETTING: Research laboratory, Japan. SUBJECTS: Male Fischer rats. INTERVENTIONS: Rats underwent 60 min of 70% partial hepatic ischaemia, after which rat colon adenocarcinoma cells (RCN-H4) were injected into the spleen. The animals were divided into two test groups and a control group. One group was given ONO-5046 Na intravenously at 10 mg/kg/hour. A second group was given a saline solution for the same period, while the controls were not made ischaemic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three weeks after inoculation, the number of tumour nodules on the liver surface was counted. The anti-cancer effect of ONO-5046 Na was measured by monotetrazolium assay. RESULTS: Hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion increased the number of liver metastases of RCN-H4 in both clamped and unclamped hepatic lobes. ONO-5046 Na significantly inhibited this in unclamped lobes, but had no anti-cancer effect. CONCLUSION: Neutrophil elastase may have an important role in increasing haematogenous liver metastases by ischaemia-reperfusion, particularly in unclamped lobes.     

Purification of rabbit, rat and mouse protein C with the use of monoclonal antibody to human protein C, PC01

Ca(++)-dependent monoclonal antibody specific to gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) domain of protein C was produced. It did not cross-react to the other vitamin K-dependent plasma proteins but to protein C of the other species. Using this monoclonal antibody, PC01, rabbit (170 micrograms), rat (60 micrograms) and mouse (40 micrograms) protein Cs were isolated from 100 ml of their plasma by affinity chromatography. All of these protein Cs were two chain form linked by disulfide bond as well as human protein C and activated by thrombin-thrombomodulin complex. Rat and mouse protein Cs showed similar characters to human protein C. On the other hand rabbit protein C had different M(r) of heavy and light chains and showed lower anticoagulant activity compared with human protein C.     

The prognostic value of cytogenetic analyses in patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia treated with the same intensive chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND. Some specific chromosome abnormalities for the leukemias have been proven to be associated with the prognosis of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). However, most of these reports included patients treated with different protocols. Therefore, some bias has been involved in the evaluation of the prognostic factors in such reports. METHODS. The authors studied the morphologic, cytogenetic, and clinical features of 136 patients (86 males and 50 females) with de novo ANLL treated with the same protocol of intensive induction chemotherapy using multivariate analyses. RESULTS. Chromosome abnormalities were detected in 62.5% of the patients. The overall complete remission (CR) rate of disease was 85.5% in these patients. More than 90% of the patients with t(8;21) and pseudodiploid abnormalities achieved experienced CR. However, CR rates in the patients with abnormalities of chromosome 5 or 7 were 50%. With multivariate analyses by the type of karyotypic abnormality, CR duration and survival time of the patients with t(8;21) were longer than those of patients with normal karyotype and abnormalities of chromosome 5 or 7. Abnormalities of chromosome 5 or 7 and hyperdiploid were associated with poor prognosis. Older age and lower platelet counts also were factors contributing to shorter survival times. With the analysis with French-American-British (FAB) classification, only hypoplastic leukemia was a poor prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS. These data suggest that cytogenetic analyses plays an important role in estimating the prognosis of patients treated with intensive induction chemotherapy.