Gamma interferon directly inhibits the growth of neurofibroma cells in vitro

Various neurofibroma cell lines isolated from either dermal, plexiform, or diffuse neurofibromas were found to respond to human gamma interferon by decreasing proliferation rates in vitro. The cell number decreased to around 40-50% of controls (without gamma interferon) six days after the treatment. The cell lines showed dramatic inhibition of tritium-labeled thymidine uptake one day after the treatment with gamma interferon. Either 100 IU/ml or 1,000 IU/ml of gamma interferon resulted in the same range of inhibition. It is calculated that venous infusion of one vial of commercial recombinant gamma interferon (200 x 10(6) IU/ml) reaches more than 100 IU/ml in the peripheral blood, which means that it may be clinically useful. The cell lines also responded to gamma interferon by initiating expression of CD54. Immunological modulation of neurofibroma cell components by gamma interferon in vivo remains to be studied.     

Comparative study of superoxide dismutase in normal and hereditary cataract (UPL) rats

In the present study, the levels of SOD activity and Cu, Zn-SOD mRNA in the brain, kidney, liver and eye of normal and Upjohn Pharmaceutics Limited (UPL) rats, a new hereditary cataract model derived from Sprague-Dawley rats, were measured. Although the levels of SOD activity in the eye and brain of UPL rats were significantly decreased compared with those of normal rats 3 and 5 weeks after birth, the levels of SOD activities in the kidney and liver were the same in both groups. The levels of Cu, Zn-SOD mRNA in kidney and liver of UPL rats were the same as those of normal controls. The level of Cu, Zn-SOD mRNA in the brain of normal rats 5 weeks after birth was about twofold greater than that of UPL, and that in the eye of UPL rats 3 weeks after birth was significantly decreased compared with that of normal controls. The sequences of cDNA encoding Cu, Zn-SOD and the sequences of the regulatory region of the Cu, Zn-SOD gene were confirmed to be the same in normal and UPL rats. These results indicated that the decreases in levels of SOD activity and Cu, Zn-SOD mRNA in the brain and eye of UPL rat were not due to mutation of the genomic Cu, Zn-SOD gene in UPL rats or differences in the sequence of the regulatory region of the Cu, Zn-SOD gene between normal and UPL rats.     

Primary ureteral tumor in the residual ureter: a report of two cases]

Two cases of primary ureteral tumor in the residual ureter are reported. One was in a 40-year-old woman who had undergone simple nephrectomy for renal tuberculosis 6 years earlier. The other was in a 59-year-old man 11 years after ureterostomy for hydronephrosis. They presented with hematuria. Cystoscopic examination revealed a ureteral tumor out of the residual ureteral orifice. Computed tomographic scan showed a perivesical mass attached to the urinary bladder. It is useful for examination of ureteral stump's condition. We performed ureterectomy. The pathological study revealed the former high grade transitional cell carcinoma with squamous cell carcinoma and lymph nodes metastasis and the latter low grade transitional cell carcinoma. They have been free of disease for 5.5 years and 1.75 years, respectively. These cases are the nine and tenth reports of primary ureteral tumor of the ureteral stump in the Japanese literature.     

Liver injuries induced by cyclochlorotine isolated from Penicillium islandicum

Sequential morphological changes in murine liver induced by cyclochlorotine (CC), a secondary metabolite of Pencicillium islandicum were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Within 15 min after the administration of CC there was a marked dilatation of Disse's space around the portal triads, and the exudates then poured out into the space which was formed by the invagination of the hepatocyte plasma membrane. Shortly after the invagination was completed, the connection between Disse's space and the invaginated space was pinched off, so that this space became a membrane-bound vacuole. After dehydration, the vacuoles became granular. The liver injuries induced by CC were influenced by various pretreatments. The results indicate that drug-metabolizing systems mediated by cytochrome p-450 in the hepatocytes may play an important role in the hepatotoxicity of CC.