Intramural duodenal hematoma: a case report

A 55-year-old male patient with acute onset of abdominal pain was examined. He had no apparent history of abdominal trauma or bleeding tendency. MRI showed three layered architecture, so-called "ring sign" distinctive of hematoma. MRI seemed to be very useful in non-invasively diagnosing intramural duodenal hematoma.     

Mediastinal lymph node metastasis of colon cancer: Report of a case

We herein describe a patient with mediastinal lymph node metastases which occurred after both a primary sigmoid colon cancer and metachronous ovarian metastasis had been resected. The most likely route of metastases to the mediastinum in this case is the paravertebral venous plexus probably connected to the ovarian metastasis, or so-called remetastasis. This case illustrates that the mediastinum is thus a possible metastatic site in patients with colon cancer. Surgeons should therefore pay attention to the mediastinum as well as the lung fields when checking chest X-ray films during a follow-up of patients after a resection of colon cancer.     

A novel type of non-coding RNA expressed in the rat brain

We have characterized a novel type of non-coding RNA which consists of tandem repeats of similar sequences, approximately 0.9 kb in size. This RNA, termed Bsr (brain specific repetitive) RNA, is encoded at a single locus (6 q31-->q32) in the rat genome, where 100 to 150 copies of the 0.9 kb sequences are repeated in tandem. Bsr RNA is preferentially expressed in the rat central nervous system (CNS), especially in phylogenetically old structures, such as the pareo- and archicortex, amygdala, thalamus and hypothalamus. In the developing brains, Bsr RNA is expressed in the subsets of differentiating cells but not in proliferating cells. Despite the finding that Bsr RNA appears to be conserved only among the Rattus species, the specific expression pattern of Bsr RNA suggests that it might have some role in the rat CNS.     

Oral administration of sepimostat mesilate prevents acute alcohol pancreatic injury in rats.

The preventive effect of a novel synthetic serine protease inhibitor, sepimostat mesilate (sepimostat), on acute alcohol pancreatic injury, induced by exocrine hyperstimulation and ethanol administration, was assessed and compared with that of a similar protease inhibitor, camostat mesilate (camostat). Conscious rats were infused with 1 microg mL(-1) h(-1) caerulein intravenously for 6 h and with 0.1 g mL(-1) h(-1) ethanol for 9 h, with the latter infusion beginning 3 h after the start of the caerulein infusion. Sepimostat or camostat was administered orally 1 h before the caerulein infusion. Rats infused with caerulein plus ethanol showed increased plasma amylase and lipase activities, and aggravated pancreatic interstitial oedema when compared with rats given caerulein alone. Sepimostat at 10 and 30 mg kg(-1) prevented the increase in plasma amylase and lipase activities caused by caerulein plus ethanol infusion. Sepimostat at 30 mg kg(-1) suppressed the histological change. Camostat did not show any preventive effects at the equivalent dose. When conscious rats were infused with 1 microg mL(-1) h(-1) caerulein alone intravenously for 6 h, plasma amylase and lipase activities were increased compared with rats given saline. Neither drug prevented the increase in these activities at 30mg kg(-1). Our results suggest that sepimostat has superior preventive effects on alcohol-induced acute pancreatic injury compared with camostat. Sepimostat may thus be a useful drug in the therapy of alcohol-induced pancreatitis.     

Mechanism of activation of an N-ras oncogene of SW-1271 human lung carcinoma cells.

An N-ras-related transforming gene was detected in the human lung carcinoma cell line SW-1271 and molecularly cloned. The lesion responsible for its acquisition of transforming activity was localized to a single nucleotide transition from A to G in codon 61 of the predicted protein. This lesion in the second exon results in the substitution of arginine for glutamine at this position. These findings, together with previous studies, indicate that the activation of ras oncogenes in human tumors is most commonly due to point mutations at one of two major "hot spots" in the ras coding sequence.     

Blood lead level to induce significant increase in urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid level among lead-exposed workers: a statistical approach

The present study was initiated to examine the quantitative relationship between blood lead (Pb-B) and urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA-U) among Pb-exposed workers, and to find a threshold Pb-B level to induce an increase in ALA-U. For this purpose, pairs of venous blood and spot urine samples were collected from 8,274 men and 5,856 women (14,130 workers in total) who were occupationally exposed to inorganic lead. The blood and urine samples were analyzed for Pb-B and ALA-U by atomic absorption spectrometry and colorimetry, respectively, and the correlation between pairs of measures were subjected to statistical analysis. The assumption of the 3rd degree regression for correlation gave a substantially greater correlation coefficient (0.645 for men and 0.619 for women) than 1st or 2nd degree regression, whereas only very small improvement in the coefficient was achieved with 4th to 6th degree ones. Logarithmic conversion of the parameters was not effective in improving the correlation. The assumption of the 3rd degree regression followed by calculation of the local minimum gave 22, 29 and 23 micrograms/100 ml Pb-B for men, women, and men + women, respectively, as the threshold Pb-B to induce ALA-U increase. Pb-B to elevate ALA-U to the 95% upper normal limit (8 mg/l, common to men and women) was 62, 50 and 58 micrograms/100 ml for men, women and men + women, respectively. The validity of the 3rd degree regression assumption as a tool to calculate a threshold from experimental or epidemiological data is discussed.     

Molecular analysis of the human orosomucoid gene ORM1*Q0köln responsible for incompatibility in a German paternity case

In a German paternity test, an alleged father was excluded only by reverse homozygosity of ORM1 phenotypes (mother ORM1 S, child ORM1 S and alleged father ORM1 F1) out of the 28 classical and DNA markers investigated. Without the ORM1 system the biostatistical probability of paternity was calculated to exceed 99.9999%. The intensity of the immunoprinted bands of the ORM1 protein for the child and alleged father after isoelectric focusing appeared to be reduced to about half. To identify a possible null allele, gene-specific amplification followed by single-strand conformation polymorphism and sequencing analyses were carried out. Deletion of one of the two copies of a 4 bp direct repeat sequence (GTCT) in exon 4 of the consensus sequence of ORM1*F1 was observed in the child and alleged father. Thus, the sharing of a rare mutant gene, ORM1*Q0_köln, increased the probability of paternity.     

Closed-Wedge osteotomy for osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum. A 7- to 12-year follow-up

This article details a 7- to 12-year follow-up of seven young male baseball players with osteochondritis dissecans of the capitellum that we treated using closed-wedge osteotomy. This procedure was established by Yoshizu in 1986 for the treatment of "Little League elbow." The bone of the capitellum was revascularized and remodeled within 6 months in all seven patients. Six of the patients were able to return to full athletic activity and continued to play baseball. Radiographic assessment during the follow-up study revealed minimal osteoarthritic change and suggests that the treatment is useful for such an injury.     

DXS10011: a hypervariable tetranucleotide STR polymorphism on the X chromosome

The locus DXS10011 is a polymorphic system with a tetranucleotide repeat sequence located on the human X chromosome. The distribution of allele frequencies was examined in 334 Japanese and 171 German individuals and a total of 36 alleles was detected in the two population groups. This STR polymorphism will be a useful marker for linkage analysis. Received: 8 March 1999 / Received in revised form: 14 July 1999