Fate of full‐house immunofluorescence staining in renal allograft: A case report

Here, we report the case of a patient with renal allograft with full‐house immunofluorescence staining in the zero‐hour biopsy. Full‐house immunofluorescence staining is a well‐known characteristic of lupus nephritis. Previous studies have reported patients with full‐house immunofluorescence staining, but without other symptoms or serological findings; this condition is referred to as full‐house nephropathy. We identified only one case out of 2203 zero‐hour biopsies over 13 years. Zero‐hour biopsy presented no glomerular changes but showed full‐house immunofluorescence staining. Electron microscopy revealed a nonorganized electron‐dense deposit mainly in the mesangial lesion. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)‐associated antibodies were negative, and complement deficiency was not observed in the donor patients. Deposition of immunoglobulin and complement levels markedly decreased within 1–3 years post transplantation. Neither donor nor recipient developed clinical or biological features of SLE; they showed good renal prognosis.     

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP)-immunoreactive neurons in the rat brain tissue

We demonstrated the presence of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), the immediate precursor of serotonin (5-HT), in the rat brain tissue using a glutaraldehyde-coupled immunohistochemical technique. The immunoreactivity of 5-HTP was intensified in the colchicine-pretreated rat. The distribution of labelled cells was the same as for 5-HT-immunoreactive cells, but they were fewer in number.     

经食管超声多普勒观察肺静脉及二尖瓣血流估测肺毛细血管楔嵌压的新方法

目的：本文探讨应用多普勒超声联系观察肺静脉血流（PVF）和二尖瓣前向性血流（MIF）估测平均肺毛细血管楔嵌压（MPCWP）的新途径。方法：研究了20例正常人和28例先天性心脏病患者PVF和MIF的特征,并将其多普勒参数及两者结合衍生的指标与经导管检查测得的MPCWP进行相关比较分析。结果：患者房缩期PVF的流速时间积分与周期MIF的流速时间积分之比（Zi/Ai)与MPCWP相关性最佳（MPCWP＝－7．88＋24．13xZi/Ai,SEE=3.24mm Hg,r=0.86,P＜0.01),且多元逐步回归表明：SBP、DBP、HR、age均不影响之。以Zi/Ai＞1．05估测MPCWP＞18mmHg的敏感性100％、特异性93％。结论：Zi/Ai是判定患者MPCWP正常与否的较好指标,本研究提示超声联系观察PVF和MIF可以为无创估测MPCWP提供新途径。     

The successful surgical management of perforation after endoscopic sphincterotomy: Report of two cases

Retroperitoneal performation following endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) is an infrequent but serious complication with a high mortality rate in patients who do not receive prompt treatment. We report herein two cases of perforation, diagnosed 3 and 7 days after EST, one of whom was treated by choledochojejunostomy (Roux-en-Y) and suturing of the perforation site with jejunal patching, and the other by pancreatoduodenectomy. Both operations were successful as emergency treatments and therefore we consider that radical surgery should be attempted for cases of perforation after endoscopic sphincterotomy with a delayed diagnosis.     

国产两性霉素B治疗恶性血液病并发肺部真菌感染38例临床观察

目的:探讨国产两性霉素B对恶性血液病并发肺部真菌感染的疗效和安全性。方法:对河南省肿瘤医院血液科2001年12月~2005年12月期间经微生物学和临床资料证实的38例肺部真菌感染患者,随机分为2组(传统给药组即逐步加量组和改良给药组即起始足量组)接受国产两性霉素B治疗,观察2组疗效及不良反应。结果:38例应用国产两性霉素B患者中有3例因严重药物不良反应停药,其余35例患者比较显示改良给药组达显效时间短于传统给药组,2组间总体疗效及不良反应差异无统计学意义。结论:一开始即给足够剂量的国产两性霉素B治疗恶性血液病并发肺部真菌感染达显效时间短于逐渐加药的给药方法,其不良反应及总体疗效与后者差异无统计学意义。     

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Japanese patients infected chronically with hepatitis C virus

Background: To examine the relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and diabetes mellitus (DM) in Japanese populations, a retrospective study was done in 866 patients with chronic viral disease. Methods: The present study included 707 HCV-infected and 159 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. The prevalences of HBV- and HCV-related cirrhosis were 32% and 33%, respectively. A case-control study was also conducted to determine the seroprevalence of HCV infection in a cohort of 459 diabetics. Results: The prevalence of DM was higher in HCV-infected patients (20.9%; P < 0.02) than in HBV-infected subjects (11.9%). In the cirrhotic patients, DM was observed in 30.8% of the subjects with HCV compared with 11.8% of those with HBV (P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that the major independent variables associated with type II DM were male sex (odds ratio, 1.54; p = 0.020) and cirrhosis (odds ratio, 1.97; P = 0.0007). The relative odds of the development of DM were calculated to be 3.2 times higher in HCV-infected cirrhotic patients than in HBV-infected ones. In the case-control study of the diabetic cohort, 10.5% of patients were infected with HCV compared with 1.1% with HBV (P < 0.0001). The results indicate that HCV infection is closely associated with DM, compared with HBV infection. Cirrhosis was an independent risk factor for DM. Conclusions: Taken together, the findings indicate that cirrhosis appears to be a more important predictor of glucose intolerance than HCV infection, and the combination of both factors increases the risk of DM in our populations. Received: April 18, 2002 / Accepted: October 25, 2002 Reprint requests to: S. Kakumu     

Overexpression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 promotes intravascular thrombus formation in porcine coronary arteries in vivo

OBJECTIVE: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) cause extracellular matrix degradation and may be involved in the rupture of atherosclerotic plaques by degrading fibrous cap, resulting in the intravascular thrombus formation. Here we examined whether local overexpression of MMP-9 alters the characteristics of arteriosclerotic vascular lesions and promotes thrombosis after balloon injury in porcine coronary arteries in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS: Balloon angioplasty was performed in the left coronary arteries followed by injection of adenovirus vector solution encoding either MMP-9 or beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene into the injured coronary arteries. Three weeks after the gene transfer, histological examination demonstrated that macroscopic intravascular thrombus formation was noted at the MMP-9-transfected site but not at the beta-gal-transfected site. Microscopic intramural thrombus area was significantly larger at the MMP-9-transfected site as compared to the beta-gal-transfected site. Co-transfection of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) with MMP-9 prevented the intravascular thrombus formation in vivo. Western blot analysis revealed the reduced expression of intact tissue factor pathway inhibitor-1 and the increased tissue factor (TF) expression at the MMP-9-transfected sites. CONCLUSION: These results provide the first in vivo evidence that overexpression of MMP-9 promotes intravascular thrombus formation after balloon injury due in part to the activation of TF-mediated coagulation cascade.     

A Novel Data Mining Approach to the Identification of Effective Drugs or Combinations for Targeted Endpoints—Application to Chronic Heart Failure as a New Form of Evidence-based Medicine

Summary Background: Data mining is a technique for discovering useful information hidden in a database, which has recently been used by the chemical, financial, pharmaceutical, and insurance industries. It may enable us to detect the interesting and hidden data on useful drugs especially in the field of cardiovascular disease.Methods: & Results: We evaluated the current treatments for chronic heart failure (CHF) in our institute using a decision tree method of data mining and compared the results with those of large-scale clinical trials. We enrolled 1,100 patients with CHF (NYHA classes II–IV and EF < 40%) who were hospitalized at the National Cardiovascular Center during the past 31 months. Drugs prescribed at discharge were extracted from the clinical database. Both echocardiograms and plasma BNP level at 6–12 months after discharge were determined prospectively. It was found that beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin II receptor antagonists independently improve both the plasma BNP level and %fractional shortening (FS), while oral inotropic agents increased the plasma BNP level and decreased %FS. These findings agree with evidence accumulated from several large-scale trials. Interestingly, statins, histamine receptor blockers, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors also attenuated the severity of CHF, suggesting the possibility of new treatment of CHF.Conclusion: Clinical data mining using Japanese CHF patients yielded almost identical data to the results of large-scale trials, and also suggested novel and unexpected candidates for CHF therapy. Further validation of the data mining approved in the cardiovascular field is warranted.