Flow cytometric DNA analysis of thyroid carcinoma

Abnormal DNA content has been considered as an additional criterion for determining the biological behavior of a tumor. Flowcytometric DNA analysis was done on 121 patients with thyroid carcinoma encountered during the period between 1975 and 1987. Tumor tissues were sampled from paraffin-embedded blocks and the histology of thyroid carcinoma found to consist of 91 papillary, 23 follicular, 2 medullary, 1 squamous cell and 4 anaplastic carcinomas. The incidence of aneuploidy in thyroid carcinoma was 7.4 per cent (9 patients) while that of diploidy was 92.6 per cent (112 patients). The aneuploid specimens consisted of 6 papillary, 1 follicular, 1 medullary and 1 anaplastic carcinomas and, of 4 anaplastic carcinoma patients with subsequent death within 6 months, only 1 was aneuploid. As an indicator of proliferative potential, S-phase fraction (SPF) was also determined by flow cytometry, but this could not be used as an independent prognostic factor. The aneuploid patients showed a significantly decreased survival rate (p less than 0.01). Thus, although DNA measurement proved useful for predicting the survival of aneuploid patients, there is some discrepancy between DNA content and the biological behavior of the tumor.     

A case of a rare anomaly of the common bile duct associated with an abnormal arrangement of the pancreaticobiliary ductal union

A 39 year-old Japanese female patient with a duplication of the distal portion of the common bile duct is presented herein. Moreover, an abnormal arrangement of the pancreaticobiliary ductal union, congenital biliary dilatation and carcinoma of the gallbladder were all demonstrated by cholangiographic and endoscopical studies. The patient underwent radical surgery for advanced adenosquamous carcinoma of the gallbladder, and her postoperative course was satisfactory. A reflux of pancreatic juice into the bile duct was demonstrated, but it was eliminated and considered to be a contributory etiologic factor of the gallbladder carcinoma.     

A VATS lobectomy for lung cancer in a patient with an anomalous pulmonary vein: Report of a case

A video-assisted right upper lobectomy was successfully performed on a 58-year-old man with an anomalnous segmental pulmonary vein. The tumor was a peripherally located adenocarcinoma. The anomalous vein behind the right main bronchus was identified and safely divided. This case emphasized that to perform this procedure successfully, (1) a careful preoperative evaluation of the anatomy, including the presence of any possible vascular and/or bronchial anomalies, is necessary, and (2) if any anatomical structures cannot be determined intraoperatively, a conversion into an open procedure must immediately be undertaken.     

Frequent loss of heterozygosity for loci on chromosome 8p in hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer.

Frequent loss of heterozygosity at chromosomal loci in a specific tumor type may indicate the presence of a tumor suppressor gene. We have examined loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 8p in paired tumor and constitutional DNA from 346 patients representing seven different types of human cancer. Frequent allelic losses were observed in hepatocellular carcinoma (22 of 46 cases, 47.8%), in colorectal cancer (12 of 26, 46.2%), and in non-small cell lung cancer (14 of 35, 40.0%), in contrast to low frequencies detected in breast cancer (5 of 56, 8.9%) and renal cell carcinoma (2 of 27, 7.4%). Ovarian cancer and gastric cancer showed intermediate frequencies of 33.3% and 22.2%. Subsequent analysis of 120 hepatocellular carcinomas and 94 colorectal cancers with five polymorphic markers along the short arm of chromosome 8 defined commonly deleted regions within the same chromosomal interval, 8p23. 1-8p21.3, suggesting that one or more tumor suppressor genes for both cancers may be present in that region.     

Neurochemical Findings in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Schizophrenic Patients with Tardive Dyskinesia and Neuroleptic-Induced Parkinsonism

Abstract: Monoamine and their acid metabolites were determined in the CSF of 18 drug-treated chronic schizophrenic patients with the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic-induced Parkinsonism (Parkinsonism). Six healthy volunteers were used as the control group.
The norepinephrine (NE) levels were found to be significantly higher in the patients with tardive dyskinesia than in the controls. Furthermore, elevated CSF NE levels were also observed in the patients with Parkinsonism. Epinephrine (E) and Dopamine (DA) were not present in the CSF of the control group, whereas measurable levels of DA could be detected in 4 out of 9 and E was found in 8 out of 9 patients with tardive dyskinesia. The mean concentration of HVA was slightly but not significantly elevated in the patients with tardive dyskinesia and Parkinsonism. The mean values of CSF 5-HIAA were all within the normal range in both patient groups. From the above results, it was suggested that abnormal adrenergic activity rather than abnormal dopaminergic activity may play an important role as a mechanism in the etiopathogenesis of extrapyramidal disorders. Furthermore, in the patients with Parkinsonism, CSF neurochemical observations were similar to those of the patients with tardive dyskinesia in this study. It may help to explain the clinical coexistence of tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic-induced Parkinsonism.     

Synthesis of 1-N-(D-threo- and racemic erythro-3-amino-2-hydroxybutanoyl)-2',3'-dideoxykanamycin A

1-N-(D-Threo-3-amino-2-hydroxybutanoyl)-2',3'-dideoxykanamycin+ ++ A has been prepared by coupling of 3,6'-bis(N-benzyloxycarbonyl)-2',3'-dideoxy-3"-N-(trifluoroacetyl)kanamy cin A with D-threo-3-azido-2-hydroxybutanoic acid. A diastereomeric mixture of the erythro analog has also been prepared by use of racemic erythro-3-azido-2-hydroxybutanoic acid. Synthesis of the D-threo- and racemic erythro-3-amino-2-hydroxybutanoic acids has been described.     

Benign brainstem encephalopathy with truncal ataxia--a clinical study of 3 cases]

Three cases (case 1, female, aged 30; case 2, male, aged 32; case 3, male, aged 34) of benign brainstem encephalopathy with truncal ataxia were reported. Two patients had prodromal symptoms Neurological examination revealed truncal ataxia in all cases. As additional neurological signs, anisocoria, mydriasis, nystagmus, ptosis, transient opsoclonus, and facial palsy were seen. There was neither drowsiness nor myoclonus in the three cases. On laboratory examinations, cold agglutination test revealed significant elevation in two cases. The examination of cerebrospinal fluid showed a moderate rise of proteins in one case, but did not revealed pleocytosis in any of the cases. Magnetic resonance imaging of one patient revealed an area of high intensity in the left pontine tegmentum by T2-weighed imaging. The prognosis for all these cases was good, and the reappearance of neurological signs was not present until now. Our cases were different from brainstem encephalitis (Bickerstaff's encephalitis) because of an absence of disturbed consciousness and no pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. Our cases were also different from "myoclonus-opsoclonus syndrome" because of an absence of myoclonus. We discussed a possibility of a new clinical syndrome which we call "benign brainstem encephalopathy with truncal ataxia".     

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with ophthalmoplegia and multisystem degeneration in patients on long-term use of respirators

Summary We describe two patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), who had developed progressive external ophthalmoplegia of a predominantly supranuclear type while they survived on respirators, and displayed histopathological abnormalities both typical and atypical of ALS. Patient 1 was a 43-year-old man with ALS of 5-year duration, who had initially exhibited fulminant ALS, and remained on a respirator for 4 years. Patient 2 was a 51-year-old man with ALS of 13-year duration, who remained on a respirator for 8 years. Both patients died in a totally locked-in state. Autopsy of both patients revealed not only histopathological abnormalities consistent with ALS, but also multisystem degeneration which involved the pontine tegmentum, substantia nigra, Clarke's dorsal nuclei and spinocerebellar tracts. In addition, Patient 2 displayed intracyto-plasmic neuronal basophilic inclusion bodies which exhibited marked immunoreactivity to anti-ubiquitin antibodies. Our case reports indicate that the longer survival which is possible through the use of respirators may make one subgroup of ALS patients prone to develop atypical clinical and neuropathological features which are not observed during the natural cours of ALS.Supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Research Committee of CNS Degenerative Diseases, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan, and by a Grant from Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo     

Effects of multipurpose solutions (MPS) for hydrogel contact lenses on gap-junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in rabbit corneal keratocytes

To ensure the effects of multipurpose solutions (MPS) for hydrogel contact lenses on the cornea, the inhibitory activity of three types of MPS on corneal cells has been evaluated with the use of scrape loading and dye transfer assay (SLDT assay) and Western blotting on rabbit corneal keratocytes (RC4). In SLDT assay, MPS-A and poloxamine showed dose-dependent inhibitory activity, suggesting the inhibitory action of MPS-A and poloxamine to gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in the tested cells. Moreover, after treatment with MPS-A, the GJIC was initially inhibited within 4 h, and thereafter gradually turned to an approximately 60% level of the initial value. When MPS-A was removed from the incubation media after exposure of the cells, the recovery of GJIC was time dependent and returned to approximately initial levels at 8 h. Complete recovery was established after approximately 24 h. These findings suggested that the inhibitory action of MPS-A on corneal keratocytes was reversible. This inhibition was accompanied by a decrease in the quantity of connexin-43, which is a major protein constituting the gap junctional channel of these cells, and its change in the phosphorylation state. Taken together, it was suggested that MPS-A interacts with connexin-43, inducing an inhibitory action on GJIC.