Clinical study on low body temperature in health subjects

During last year, 931 men aged 51.0 +/- 9.5 years participated in our hospital's 3-day health screening. Their axillary temperature were taken 3 times per day (twice each, at 6:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.) during their 3-day stay and the mean axillary temperature was determined for each subject. In 72 among all subjects, the mean axillary temperature was below 36 degrees C. These 72 subjects were classified as low-temperature individuals with normal temperature below 36 degrees C. This study was designed to compare low-temperature subjects with mean axillary temperature, on various factors, such as age, degree of obesity, liver function, renal function, lipids, electrolytes, and biochemical data (blood glucose, serum amylase, and CPK). This study also included seasonal changes in these low-temperature subjects. The following results were obtained. 1) Age was most closely related to low-axillary temperature, and the degree of obesity (modified Broca-Katsura method) had second significant relation. The low-axillary temperature was in common in subjects over 60 years and was also common in obese subjects, regardless of their age. 2) No seasonal effect was observed with low-temperature subjects. 3) Only the age and the degree of obesity (modified Broca-Katsura method) showed negative correlation independently with the mean axillary temperature. (For age, the correlation coefficient was Y = -0.006539X + 36.491, while for obesity it was Y = -0.004536X + 36.203.) Therefore the older and the more obese the subjects, the lower the mean axillary temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Ischemic stroke in infancy,childhood, and adolescence

The authors studied 34 patients with juvenile ischemic cerebrovascular disease over a 15-year period. Of the 34 patients, 23 had intracranial occlusions attributed to cerebral thrombosis or embolism and 11 had occlusions resulting from moyamoya disease. Clinicopathological features were evaluated in the 23 cases with ischemic stroke, but not those with moyamoya disease. The cause of the arterial occlusion remained undetermined in 11 patients and was found to be an embolism based on congenital heart disease in 8, on trauma in 3, and on infection in 1. Cerebral angiography was performed in 21 patients. Of these, 17 had stenoses or occlusions corresponding to their symptoms. CT scans were performed in 10 patients; the lesion in question showed no stenosis or occlusion with cerebral angiography. With regard to prognosis, patients with unknown etiology had good outcomes compared with those with congenital heart disease. With respect to acute infantile hemiplegia, 10 patients had convulsive seizures and 4 had a history of an earlier infection. Angiography and CT scans in patients with congenital heart disease demonstrated arterial occlusive sites in the middle cerebral artery region. Three patients had abscesses after their ischemic lesions.     

Ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumor associated with Maffucci's syndrome.

A 15-year-old girl developed a juvenile granulosa cell tumor associated with Maffucci's syndrome (enchondromatosis + hemangiomas). Clinical manifestations of the disease included an abdominal mass and progressive anemia. She underwent the removal of a Stage Ic juvenile granulosa cell tumor and subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy. On follow-up examination 4 years later, no recurrence of the ovarian tumor was noted. A review of the literature showed 10 previous cases of juvenile granulosa cell tumor associated with enchondromatosis, two associated with Maffucci's syndrome, and the rest with Ollier's disease (enchondromatosis). Ovarian juvenile granulosa cell tumor may occur not infrequently in female patients with enchondromatosis in the first or second decades, in contrast to the widely recognized sarcomatous changes of enchondromas that usually occur after the second decade. Data provided from these cases also emphasize the concept of a generalized mesodermal dysplasia.     

ERBIN associates with p0071, an armadillo protein,at cell-cell junctions of epithelial cells

BACKGROUND: ERBIN, an ErbB2 receptor-interacting protein, belongs to a recently described family of proteins termed the LAP [leucine-rich repeats and PSD-95/dLg-A/ZO-1 (PDZ) domains] family which has essential roles in establishment of cell polarity. RESULTS: To identify new ERBIN-binding proteins, we screened a yeast two-hybrid library, using the carboxyl-terminal fragment of ERBIN containing PDZ domain as the bait, and we isolated p0071 (also called plakophilin-4) as an ERBIN-interacting protein. p0071 is a member of the p120 catenin family, which are defined as proteins with 10 armadillo repeats, and localizes along the cell-cell border. The ERBIN PDZ domain binds the COOH-terminus of p0071 containing the PDZ domain-binding sequence. Endogenous ERBIN was co-immunoprecipitated with p0071. In fully polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, ERBIN co-localized largely with beta-catenin and partly with desmoplakin along the lateral plasma membrane domain. At these cell-cell contact regions, ERBIN co-localizes with p0071. Over-expression of the dominant active forms of Cdc42, Rac1 or RhoA, Rho family small GTPases, resulted in a marked accumulation of ERBIN at the cell-cell contacts of MDCK and HeLa cells. CONCLUSION: These results show that ERBIN interacts in vivo with p0071 and that it may be involved in the organization of adherens junctions and the desmosomes of epithelia. In addition, we demonstrated that the subcellular localization of ERBIN might be regulated by Rho family small GTPases.     

Novel Fluorinated Hybrid Polymer by Radical Polyaddition of Bis(α‐trifluoromethyl‐β,β‐difluorovinyl) Terephthalate onto Dialkoxydialkylsilanes

To develop the radical polyaddition of bisperfluoroisopropenyl esters, the reactions of bis(α‐trifluoromethyl‐β,β‐difluorovinyl) terephthalate [CF₂?C(CF₃)OCOC₆H₄COOC(CF₃)?CF₂] (BFP) with dialkoxydialkylsilane were examined to prepare fluorinated hybrid polymers bearing dialkylsilyl groups in the main chain. Prior to polyaddition, the radical addition reaction of 2‐benzoyloxypentafluoropropene [CF₂?C(CF₃)OCOC₆H₅] (BPFP) has been investigated to afford the results that diethoxydimethylsilane (DEOMS) or dimethoxydimethylsilane with BPFP initiated by oxo radical are the best combination for the preparation of polymers. The mechanism of the addition reaction was proposed. Radical polyaddition of BFP with DEOMS initiated by benzoyl peroxide or di‐tert‐butyl peroxide has yielded polymers of up to molecular weight 1 × 10⁶ with rather broad molecular weight distribution. A mechanism for the polyaddition reaction is proposed based on the radical addition reaction between BPFP and DEOMS. The step‐growth polymerization is initiated by hydrogen abstraction of DEOMS to add a perfluoroisopropenyl group, followed by a 1,7‐shift of the radical in the intermediate. The relationship between addition reaction mechanism and polyaddition mechanism was also discussed.

     

Beta-adrenergic receptor adaptation after an acute exercise in rat myocardium

An acute dynamic exercise provokes the translocation of beta-adrenergic receptors (beta-AR) from light vesicle fractions to sarcolemmal membranes in rat myocardium. However, 15 min after an acute exercise the density of beta-AR in both fractions returned to the pre-exercise level. The mean maximal activity of adenylate cyclase in response to isoproterenol roughly paralleled the redistribution of beta-AR. The dose-response curves, however, were substantially shifted to the right with increase in EC50 for isoproterenol stimulation of adenylate cyclase. Thus, the sensitivity of sarcolemmal beta-AR was found to be blunted 15 min afterwards.     

Distribution of facial motoneurons innervating the common facial muscles of the rabbit and rat

The distribution of the facial neurons that innervate several facial muscles was determined in the rabbit and the rat by examining the retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The target muscles were musculus levator nasolabialis, m. levator labii superioris, m. zygomaticus, and m. buccinator pars buccalis, as well as m. parietoauricularis and m. depressor anguli oris in the rabbit and m. levator auricularis posterioris in the rat. Localization of the retrogradely labeled neurons within the ipsilateral facial nucleus was confirmed for all facial muscles examined. Our results showed that m. levator nasolabialis was innervated by neurons located in the dorsal subnucleus, while the motoneurons innervating m. buccinator pars buccalis were distributed within the dorsal part of the intermediate subnucleus of the facial nucleus in the both species. Localization of the labeled motoneurons innervating m. zygomaticus and m. levator labii superioris showed the difference in the distribution within the facial nucleus among the species. Neurons innervating m. parietoauricularis and m. levator auricularis posterioris were localized in somewhat different subregions of the medial subnucleus in these species. M. depressor anguli oris was innervated by the neurons distributed within the intermediate subnucleus of the facial nucleus in the rabbit. Thus, our findings revealed that there is species-specific motor innervation pattern in rabbits and rats, despite several movement of the face is supplied by the homologous facial muscles.     

Chymase inhibitor ameliorates eosinophilia in mice infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis

BACKGROUND: Chymase is a chymotrypsin-like serine protease primarily stored in mast cells. Infection with helminth parasites is known to increase the level of mast cell chymase in the jejunum and serum in mice. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the role of chymase in helminth infection. METHODS: Chymase inhibitor SUN-C8257 was administered to mice infected with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, and the number of eosinophils in the blood, serum IgE levels and fecal egg counts were determined. RESULTS: Administration of SUN-C8257 significantly inhibited blood eosinophilia in BALB/c mice infected with N. brasiliensis. The effect of SUN-C8257 was specific for eosinophils, in that it affected neither the number of total leukocytes nor serum IgE levels. SUN-C8257 did not alter the fecal egg counts in this model, showing that SUN-C8257 has no effect on infectivity and expulsion of the nematode. N. brasiliensis infection induced eosinophilia in mast cell-deficient mice (W/W(v)) as well as their littermates (+/+), and SUN-C8257 inhibited the eosinophilia in +/+ mice but not in W/W(v) mice. These results suggest that the eosinophil number may be regulated by different mechanisms in W/W(v) and +/+ mice, and that the effect of SUN-C8257 on nematode-induced eosinophilia is probably due to chymase inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Chymase released by activated mast cells may play a role in helminth-induced eosinophilia.     

Interferon-{beta} inhibits bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis by decreasing transforming growth factor-{beta} and thrombospondin

Pulmonary fibrosis is the result of abnormal processes of repair that occur after lung injury. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta is a key molecule in the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Although clinical use of interferon (IFN)-beta did not improve survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, because some preclinical studies have suggested that IFN-beta is a potent inhibitor of fibrogenesis, beneficial effects of IFN-beta have been expected. We therefore attempted to determine effects of IFN-beta and investigated the mechanism of action of IFN-beta in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Bleomycin at Day 0 and IFN-beta for 4 wk were administered intravenously to ICR mice. At 28 d after bleomycin injection, histologic and chemical analysis was performed for evaluation of effects of IFN-beta. Tissue distribution and amounts of TGF-beta1 and thrombospondin (TSP)-1/2 were analyzed. IFN-beta attenuated prolylhydroxylase activity, resulting in inhibition of pulmonary fibrosis. Bleomycin-induced increase in TGF-beta1 in epithelial cells and extracellular matrix was attenuated by IFN-beta. TSP-1/2 was limited in platelets of control mice, but was present in foamy cells in fibrotic regions induced by bleomycin. These findings suggest that the antifibrotic effect of IFN-beta is inhibition of TGF-beta and its activation via decrease in TSP-1/2 in lung tissue and change in location of TSP-1/2 from platelets to foamy cells.     

Induction of lymphosarcoma in sheep inoculated with bovine leukaemia virus

Five sheep were experimentally inoculated with BLV in order to study the humoral immune response in animals infected with bovine leukaemia virus (BLV). During experimental periods of 46 months, 2 sheep died with leukaemia and one sheep showed splenomegaly and proliferation of tumour cells. The other 2 sheep were clinically normal. All of the inoculated sheep developed antiviral antibodies 1 month after inoculation and BLV could be re-isolated in lymphocytes 2 to 3 months after inoculation. Antibody against glycoprotein antigen (gp51) of BLV appeared earlier than the antibody against protein antigen (p24) and antibody titres of the former were higher than those of the latter during the course of the experiment. The complement dependent antibody cytotoxicity test was performed for the detection of antibody against BLV-related cell membrane antigen with 2 different kinds of target cells; FLK cells which are foetal lamb kidney cells chronically infected with BLV and SF-28 cells which are sheep fibroblasts transformed with BLV in vitro. All 5 sheep developed cytotoxic antibodies against both types of cells. In sera from two leukaemic sheep, cytotoxic antibody titres against SF-28 cells gradually decreased 30 months after inoculation and finally became negative one to 3 months before they died of leukaemia. However, these leukaemic sheep persistently produced antibodies against gp51 and p24.