Non-invasive fibrosis assessments of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease associated with low estimated glomerular filtration rate among CKD patients: the Fukuoka Kidney disease Registry Study

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology - A growing body of evidence has shown that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Non-invasive fibrosis...     

Induction of HIV-specific antibody response and protection against vaginal SHIV transmission by intranasal immunization with inactivated SHIV-capturing nanospheres in macaques

We have previously reported that concanavalin A-immobilized polystyrene nanospheres (Con A-NS) could efficiently capture HIV-1 particles and that intranasal immunization with inactivated HIV-1-capturing nanospheres (HIV-NS) induced vaginal anti-HIV-1 IgA antibody response in mice. In this study, to evaluate the protective effect of immunization, each three macaques was intranasally immunized with Con A-NS or inactivated simian/human immunodeficiency virus KU-2-capturing nanospheres (SHIV-NS) and then intravaginally challenged with a pathogenic virus, SHIV KU-2. After a series of six immunizations, vaginal anti-HIV-1 gp120 IgA and IgG antibodies were detected in all SHIV-NS-immunized macaques. After intravaginal challenge, one of the three macaques in each of the Con A-NS- and SHIV-NS-immunized groups was infected. Plasma viral RNA load of infected macaque in SHIV-NS-immunized macaques was substantially less than that in unimmunized control macaque and reached below the detectable level. However, it could not be determined whether intranasal immunization with SHIV-NS is effective in giving complete protection against intravaginal challenge. To explore the effect of the SHIV-NS vaccine, the remaining non-infected macaques were rechallenged intravenously with SHIV KU-2. After intravenous challenge, all macaques became infected. However, SHIV-NS-immunized macaques had lower viral RNA loads and higher CD4(+) T cell counts than unimmunized control macaques. Plasma anti-HIV-1 gp120 IgA and IgG antibodies were induced more rapidly in the SHIV-NS-immunized macaques than in the controls. The rapid antibody responses having neutralizing activity might contribute to the clearance of the challenge virus. Thus, SHIV-NS-immunized macaques exhibited partial protection to vaginal and systemic challenges with SHIV KU-2.     

Urinaryα 1 as an index of proximal tubular function in early infancy

Urinary ₁-microglobulin (U-A₁M) was measured in healthy term infants on days 1, 4, 7, 14, 28, 90 and 180 of life. U-A₁M was high until day 14 and declined thereafter. It was significantly correlated with urinary ₂-microglobulin (U-B₂M) throughout the study, but not with serum A₁M on days 1 or 7. Similar to U-B₂M, U-A₁M in the clinically stable term infants with intrauterine growth retardation (n=4–7) was not elevated on days 1–7. In the sick infants who needed immediate resuscitatio at birth (n=4–8), U-A₁M as well as U-B₂M was high on days 1–7 and then decreased to normal levels, suggesting that U-A₁M can be used as a sensitive marker of acute proximal tubular damage and its recovery. These observations indicate that U-A₁M is a useful index of proximal tubular function in early infancy.     

A comparative study of measurement of arterial blood pressure using HEM-802F and arterial cannulation

Finger arterial blood pressures determined by a newly developed sphygmomanometer, HEM-802F, were compared with arterial pressure obtained from direct measurement of the radial artery. An excellent correlation was found between the two methods (systolic: r = 0.93, diastolic: r = 0.91), although there was a large variability among individual subjects. The range of differences between them are from +32 to –13mmHg for systolic and +15 to –25mmHg for diastolic blood pressure measurement. HEM-802F underestimated systolic pressure (–4.0mmHg) and overestimated diastolic pressure (+6.7mmHg), compared with intra-arterial readings.The HEM-802F was useful for the non-invasive arterial pressure monitoring during general anesthesia.(Shigemi K, Takahashi H, Hashimoto S et al.: A comparative study of measurement of arterial blood pressure using HEM-802F and arterial cannulation. J Anesth 4: 91–93, 1990)     

Accuracy of titanium cast crowns obtained from calcia base mold

A calcia base investment has high stability even with melted titanium and, therefore, can produce an excellent titanium casting. In this study, titanium powder was distributed to a calcia base investment as an expanding agent, and the firing temperature of the mold was controlled at 800 degrees C. The calcia base investment with 6.1% wt titanium powder expanded 1.7% during 2 h heating at 800 degrees C. The marginal discrepancies between the die and the titanium crown were improved by the addition of the titanium powder to the investment. The mean thickness of the cement layer between the epoxy teeth and the crown using 6.1% wt titanium powder content was from 40-80 microns.     

A rapid method for detecting barbiturates in serum using EI-SIM

A simple and rapid method for analysis of barbiturates in serum has been developed. In order to extract and clean barbiturates in serum, a separation column packed with Extrelut and Florisil was used, and the eluate was directly analyzed by means of electron impact selected ion monitoring (EI-SIM). Selected ions used were base peak ions of 10 barbituartes, and the internal standard used was allobarbital or secobarbital. The calibration curves were linear over the range 0.5–5 ng. Extraction of replicate serum samples containing 20 g/1.5 ml and 5 g/1.5 ml resulted in a recovery of 87.2–105.2% and 81.6–104.6%, respectively, with the exception of phenobarbital, which was 151.9% and 172.1%, respectively. Secobarbital was also analyzed in the serum of 13 patients who had been given secobarbital intravenously. In 3 out of 10 cases, Secobarbital levels greater than 1 g/ml were detected more than 72 h after administration. This method seems to have possibilities for clinical use.Paper presented at the 2nd International Symposium ADVANCES IN LEGAL MEDICINE, Berlin, Germany, August 30–September 1, 1993     

P53 and rb alterations in operable breast-cancer

We analyzed association between p53 and/or Rb expression and clinicopathologic variables or Ag-NOR counts, and then ascertained whether p53 and/or Rb expression would be useful for estimating prognosis in 81 breast cancer patients. Positive p53 expression was significantly associated with post-menopausal status, axillary lymph node metastases and Ag-NOR counts, whereas low level Rb expression was significantly associated with tumor size. Moreover, the combination of p53 and Rb expression was significantly associated with Ag-NOR counts, although there was no significant association between p53 and Rb expression. In the univariate study, p53 expression as well as age and axillary lymph node metastases were significantly associated with survival, whereas Rb expression was not. In the multivariate study, p53 and/or Rb expression did not provide independent prognostic information, although axillary lymph node metastases was an important factor affecting survival. Our findings suggest that p53 and/or Rb expression may reflect tumor proliferation of breast cancer, but the prognostic value of such assays is limited.     

Expression of pancreatic trypsinogen in human extrapancreatic gastrointestinal carcinomas

Pancreatic trypsinogen expression in 149 surgically resected extrapancreatic gastrointestinal neoplasms was evaluated immunohistochemically. Immunohistochemistry was performed using a monoclonal antibody against human pancreatic trypsinogen. Pancreatic trypsinogen expression was detected in 28 of 55 gastric carcinomas (50.9%), 22 of 44 colorectal cancers (50%), 12 of 20 gallbladder cancers (60%), nine of 10 extrahepatic bile duct cancers (90%), and none of 20 hepatocellular carcinomas. The intensity of immunoreactivity in the tumor area varied from specimen to specimen, and from area to area within the same specimen. In most cases, however, immunoreactivity was more pronounced at the infiltrative margin of the tumor. Additionally, the highly differentiated carcinoma cells tended to display a focal, fine granular immunoreactive pattern, usually present in the supranuclear cytoplasm, while the poorly differentiated carcinoma cells displayed a fine granular pattern, usually present over the entire cytoplasm. These findings suggest that some extrapancreatic gastrointestinal neoplasms express pancreatic trypsinogen immunoreactive peptides, raising the possibility that secreted pancreatic trypsinogen plays a role in carcinoma invasion and metastasis, as has been shown for other classes of proteases.     

Nm23 expression versus helix-pomatia lectin-binding in human breast-cancer metastases

The relationship between nm23 expression, HPA staining, and other clinicopathological variables, i.e., axillary (AX) and internal mammary lymph node (IMN) metastases was assessed, and their prognostic values were analyzed. Positive HPA staining was found to be significantly correlated with tumor size, and with AX and IMN metastases, whereas negative nm23 expression was significantly correlated with AX and IMN metastases. A univariate study revealed that overall survival was correlated significantly with tumor size, AX and IMN metastases, and HPA staining, whereas nm23 expression did not appear to be a significant prognostic factor. In a multivariate study, only AX and IMN metastases were significant prognostic factors. When AX and IMN metastases were excluded from the Cox model, however, only HPA staining had independent prognostic value for survival. In this study, therefore, it may be concluded that HPA staining was more closely correlated with AX and IMN metastases, and with survival than nm23 expression.