Clinical significance of elevated plasma endothelin concentration in patients with cirrhosis.

Endothelin is a newly discovered potent vasoconstrictor peptide. To explain the clinical significance of endothelin in patients with chronic liver diseases, we measured the plasma concentration of endothelin in patients with chronic hepatitis (n = 15), cirrhosis with ascites (n = 8) and cirrhosis without ascites (n = 12), and we compared the findings with the plasma concentration of endothelin in normal controls (n = 14). The plasma endothelin concentration was significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis with ascites than in normal controls (8.3 +/- 2.3 pg/ml vs. 3.3 +/- 1.4 pg/ml, mean +/- S.D., p less than 0.001), whereas no significant difference was observed between normal controls and the other groups of patients (cirrhosis without ascites = 5.0 +/- 1.3 pg/ml; chronic hepatitis = 3.8 +/- 1.2 pg/ml). In patients with cirrhosis, the plasma endothelin concentration showed a significant negative correlation with creatinine clearance (r = -0.73, p less than 0.01), but no significant correlation was observed between plasma endothelin concentration and fractional excretion of filtered sodium. Furthermore, plasma endothelin levels were significantly higher in patients with endotoxemia than in those without (10.1 +/- 2.1 pg/ml vs. 4.9 +/- 1.2 pg/ml, p less than 0.001). From these results, elevated plasma endothelin, which has a close relation to endotoxemia, may play a contributory role in kidney dysfunction in patients with cirrhosis.     

Use of magnetic abutments for short endosseous implants following a fibula bone graft in an oral cancer patient: a case report

Dental implant treatment is an indispensable portion of oral rehabilitation in patients who are to undergo reconstructive surgery following the removal of an oral cancerous lesion. However, ideal dental implant treatment cannot be achieved easily in patients who have undergone mandibular reconstruction with a free vascularized flap, usually because of the limited length, height, and width of the bone graft. Shorter implants (< 10 mm in length) therefore are occasionally used in vascularized fibula graft sites. In such cases, however, shorter implants tend to be overloaded, thereby endangering its longevity. In this article, we discuss how a magnetic abutment system was introduced for such a patient. This was designed to discourage overloading of the mandatory short implants. The outcome was successful without overloading 1.5 years after the placing of the mandibular overdenture.     

Primary pulmonary Hodgkin lymphoma--two case reports and a review of the literature

Primary extranodal involvement of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is rare. We report two HL patients presenting with exclusive or predominant lung involvement. In both cases, the results of transbronchial and/or CT-guided lung needle biopsy were indicative of granulomatous disease. Eventually, lymph node biopsy specimens revealed HL with nodular sclerosis type and lymphocyte-rich type, respectively. There were no specific symptoms, laboratory and imaging findings for pulmonary HL. A histological examination was required to confirm the diagnosis. Lung biopsy techniques such as transbronchial or percutaneous biopsy may be insufficient to allow diagnosis of HL. Pulmonary HL should be included in the differential diagnosis of lung involvement, even when the pathological evaluation of nonspecific inflammation was made from the biopsied specimens.     

Transactivation of the ICAM-1 gene by CD30 in Hodgkin's lymphoma

The ICAM-1/LFA-1 complex mediates cell-cell interaction. ICAM-1 is overexpressed in Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (H/RS) cells, and serum levels of its soluble form are higher in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients than in controls. There are no data, however, regarding the regulation of expression of ICAM-1 in H/RS cells. CD30 was identified in H/RS cells of HL and has attracted much interest as a molecular marker of HL. To analyze ICAM-1 expression in H/RS cells, we examined the expression of ICAM-1, LFA-1, CD30 and CD30L in HL-derived cell lines. All cell lines expressed ICAM-1 and CD30, but not LFA-1 or CD30L. CD30 induced ICAM-1 expression. Analysis of the ICAM-1 promoter showed the importance of NF-kappaB binding site for CD30-induced ICAM-1 gene expression. Coexpression of IkappaB, IKK, NIK and TRAF dominant-negative constructs with CD30 inhibited CD30-induced activation of ICAM-1 promoter, suggesting that CD30 induces ICAM-1 via NF-kappaB signalling. The ICAM-1 promoter was activated by the C-terminal region of CD30, which activated NF-kappaB signalling. A decoy CD30 lacking the cytoplasmic region inhibited ICAM-1 promoter activity in HL cell lines. Thus, in H/RS cells, ligand-independent activation of CD30 signalling activates NF-kappaB and this leads to constitutive ICAM-1 expression, suggesting a link between 2 well known phenotypic characteristics of HL, CD30 and ICAM-1 overexpression.     

Retracted: Overexpression of Aurora A by loss of CHFR gene expression increases the growth and survival of HTLV‐1‐infected T cells through enhanced NF‐κB activity

Retraction: The following article has been retracted through agreement between the first author and several coauthors, the journal Editor‐in‐Chief, Peter Lichter, and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: Tomita M, Toyota M, Ishikawa C, Nakazato T, Okudaira T, Matsuda T, Uchihara JN, Taira N, Ohshiro K, Senba M, Tanaka Y, Ohshima K, Saya H, Tokino T, Mori N. (2009). Overexpression of Aurora A by loss of CHFR gene expression increases the growth and survival of HTLV‐1‐infected T cells through enhanced NF‐kappaB activity. Int J Cancer; 124 (June (11)): 2607‐2615, published online on 12 JAN 2009 in Wiley Online Library (www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com). After an investigation the retraction has been agreed due to inappropriate duplication of images and overlap with other published work.