IN SITU ANALYSIS OF TISSUE DYNAMICS AND p53 EXPRESSION IN HUMAN GASTRIC MUCOSA

In situ tissue dynamics were studied in 12 cases of human gastric mucosa, including normal gastric body mucosa and gastric glands with intestinal metaplasia, obtained from gastrectomy specimens of adenocarcinoma. Cell proliferation was determined by Ki67 immunoreactivity. DNA fragmentation was studied in situ by TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labelling (TUNEL). In addition, p53 expression was examined by both immunohistochemistry and mRNA in situ hybridization. In the oxyntic gastric glands, Ki67 immunoreactivity was observed exclusively in the proliferative zone and TUNEL-positive cells were present predominantly in the surface foveolar epithelium. In the gastric glands with complete intestinal metaplasia, Ki67-positive cells were present in the lower portion of the glands and TUNEL-positive cells in the superficial epithelium. In the gastric glands with incomplete intestinal metaplasia, TUNEL-positive cells were detected in the lower gastric glands adjacent to cells immunoreactive for Ki67; the proportion of these gastric glands with TUNEL-positive cells (40 out of 108 glands) was significantly higher than for oxyntic glands (94 out of 620 glands) or for glands with complete metaplasia (31 out of 254 glands). Relatively strong p53 immunoreactivity and mRNA hybridization were also observed in the proliferative and apoptotic areas of gastric glands with incomplete intestinal metaplasia. These results indicate that incomplete intestinal metaplasia is associated with increased cell turnover and p53 overexpression, possibly in response to various noxious or DNA-damaging stimuli.     

Kidney transplantation and liaison psychiatry, part II: A case of dissociative identity disorder

Abstract  The authors examined the case of an adolescent patient with dissociative identity disorder secondary to psychological shock of a transplant rejection response. Psychiatric symptoms consisted ot three components: visual hallucinations and delusions as a psychological defense against the anxiety of a transplant rejection; appearance of three personalities including proper self, the dead child (donor), and a prophet with strong predicting power; and a twilight state. These psychiatric symptoms may have been related to two psychological factors; immature personality characteristics formed during hemodialysis, and post-traumatic stress caused by a chronic rejection reaction from the patient's first transplant.     

Cloning and Sequencing of a Unique Antigen MPT70 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and Expression in BCG Using E. coli-Mycobacteria Shuttle Vector

MPB70 is known to be an immunogenic mycobacterial protein secreted in large amounts from Mycobacterium bovis BCG (BCG) Tokyo. The analogous gene for MPT70 was cloned from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv which produces this protein in only a small amount. The gene encoding 193 amino acid residues inciuding 30 amino acids for the signal peptide. the promoter-like sequence, and the ribosome-binding site, was completely identical to that of BCG Tokyo. Computer analysis revealed that the carboxy-terminal half of MPT70 was homologous to amino acid sequences of fasciclin 1, osteoblast-specific factor 2 (OSF-2), and human transforming growth factor-beta induced gene product (βIG-H3). Escherichia coli (E. coli) -mycobacteria shuttle vectors containing mpt70 or mpb70 genes 0.7kbp upstream of the 5' end of them were able to be expressed in BCG Pasteur which is a MPB70 low-producer, but the extent of the expression was not that of a high-producer.     

Adrenoleukodystrophy initially presenting with symptoms of dementia

There is growing consensus that dementia caused by white matter alterations is called ‘white matter dementia’. Because the symptoms of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) are associated with diffuse white matter dysfunction, ALD is categorized as white matter dementia. Herein, we describe the case of a 47‐year‐old man affected by ALD whose symptoms first appeared a few years earlier in the form of deteriorating personality and memory disturbances, heralded by neurological symptoms. On neuroimaging, a discrepancy was found between magnetic resonance imaging and single photon emission computed tomography in the early stage of the disease process. We suggest that this discrepancy may be an important finding in the diagnosis of early stage white matter dementia.