ASO Visual Abstract: Fecal Microbes Associated with the Outcomes After Esophagectomy in Patients with Esophageal Cancer

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

Authors’ Reply: Relevance of Level IIb Neck Dissection in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas

World Journal of Surgery -     

Phylogenetic dichotomy of nerve glycosphingolipids.

Galactocerebrosides and sulfatides are major characteristic components of vertebrate myelin. In contrast, glucocerebroside is the major glycosphingolipid of shrimp nerve. In this study, the concentrations of these glycosphingolipids in the nervous systems of animals from several evolutionary branches were determined by use of high-performance liquid chromatography. In nerves of protostome animals only glucose-containing glycosphingolipids were detected, whereas glycosphingolipids from deuterostomes contained predominantly galactose. Neither the glycolipids containing alpha-hydroxy fatty acids nor sulfate esters of the glycolipids, both of which always accompany galactocerebrosides in deuterostome myelin, were present in protostome nerves. This correlation suggests an evolutionary trend from gluco- to galactocerebrosides, which corresponds with changes in the nervous system from loosely structured membrane-enwrapped axons to multilamellar highly structured myelin.     

Lithium therapy and cerebrospinal fluid biomarker levels in Alzheimer's disease

Recent studies suggest that lithium may retard pathological deterioration by inhibiting aberrant phosphorylation of tau in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we describe three cases of AD who were treated with lithium for agitation. However, there was no obvious improvement either in global cognition, agitation or cerebrospinal fluid markers that were thought to reflect Alzheimer's pathology. Increased dosages of lithium were not tolerated by the patients because of adverse effects. It is likely that AD patients do not benefit from lithium therapy as an alternative choice of treatment.     

Angiotensin II-Forming Systems in Cardiovascular Diseases

Both the systemic and the tissue renin–angiotensin system (RAS)-are heavily involved in cardiovascular homeostasis, but their excess activation seems to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality in various stages of cardiovascular diseases, since angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been shown to improve hypertension, congestive heart failure, and acute myocardial infarction. A clinical megastudy (ELITE) of elderly patients has recently shown that an AT1 receptor antagonist was superior to an ACE inhibitor for improvement of patients' prognosis. One of the possible mechanisms of this beneficial effect of the AT1 receptor antagonist compared to the ACE inhibitor could be the blockade of all the angiotensin (Ang) II formed not only by ACE but also by alternative pathways.Recent studies have disclosed that chymase, the most abundant Ang II-forming enzyme in human tissues, could be involved in the development of atherosclerosis, the remodeling of the myocardium after infarction or hypertrophy, restenosis after vascular injury, and chronic inflammatory conditions. Kallikrein-dependent Ang II formation also seems to take place under various ischemic conditions, as shown in the ischemic dog heart after ligation of a coronary artery, human leg circulation of patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans, or systemic circulation during a graded exercise. However, detailed mechanisms of non-ACE Ang II-forming enzymes involved in these pathological changes are not known. Current knowledge about ACE and non-ACE Ang II-forming enzymes in cardiovascular diseases are reviewed in this article.     

Differentiation of the rat myelomonocytic leukemia cell line c-WRT-7 by in vitro culture with the rat bone marrow preadipocyte cell line REC A16

Differentiation of the rat myelomonocytic leukemia cell line (c-WRT-7) was investigated, by co-culture with a rat embryonic bone marrow preadipose cell line (REC A16). Co-cultivation with REC A16, or with conditioned medium from REC A16 cultures (REC-CM), induced differentiation of c-WRT-7 cells to macrophages. A soluble factor(s) produced by REC A16 appeared to be responsible for the differentiation of c-WRT-7. Because REC-CM was associated with colony-stimulating activity on murine marrow progenitors, c-WRT-7 cells were cultured with various colony-stimulating factors (CSF) and it was found that macrophage CSF (M-CSF) significantly induced differentiation of c-WRT-7. We further demonstrated that both the colonystimulating and differentiation-inducing activities of REC-CM were significantly blocked by anti-M-CSF antiserum. These results suggest that the differentiation of c-WRT-7 is due to M-CSF produced by REC A16. Co-culture of these two cell lines should provide a useful model to study the mechanisms of interaction between leukemia cells and marrow stroma.Abbreviations CSF colony-stimulating facor - IL-1 interleukin-1 - LPS Lipopolysaccharide - REC-CM medium conditioned by REC A16 This work was supported, in part, by grants-in-aid 02256102, 03252102 and 03670325 from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan, and by grants-in-aid from the Fukuoka Anti-Cancer Society.