A case of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a patient with Crohn's disease]

Although adenocarcinoma is a well known complication of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, primary gastrointestinal lymphoma occurring in Crohn's disease is rare. A 40-year-old man with 10 year-history of Crohn's disease had multiple longitudinal ulcerative lesions on descending colon in follow-up colonoscopic examination. Microscopic examination of proximal descending colon revealed peripheral T cell lymphoma and other site of the descending colon was consistent with Crohn's disease. The patient reached complete remission of malignant lymphoma after three cycles of combined chemotherapy. He has been well for 10 months with sulfasalazine maintenance therapy but was admitted to the hospital due to spontaneous bowel perforation of ascending colon. Right hemicolectomy was done, but the patient died of post-surgical recurrent mesenteric abscess and sepsis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma complicating Crohn's disease in Korea which was confirmed by immunohistochemical studies.     

Anterior translocaton of pulmonary artery without aortic transection in repair of tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve.

We developed a technique of translocation of the pulmonary artery anterior to the ascending aorta without transection of the aorta in the repair of tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve. Our technique includes detachment of the main pulmonary artery (MPA) from the pulmonary annulus, vertical division of the MPA, anterior translocation of the pulmonary artery with patch augmentation between the vertically divided MPA.     

Retinopathy in hepatitis C patients due to combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin

Background  

To assess the nature, incidence, and risk factors of retinopathy associated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients.     

Change in chromatogram patterns after volatilization of some aroclors, and the associated quantitation problems

PCBs with the highest vapor pressures (fewest chlorines) in Aroclors 1016, 1242, 1254 and 1268 were enriched in the vapor phase relative to the original Aroclor during volatilization from a glass surface for up to 8 hr. PCBs with the lowest vapor pressures (most highly chlorinated) were enriched in the corresponding residue. Thus, visual matching of gas chromatograms with those of Aroclor standards may not be sufficient to identify a specific Aroclor since the past history of a sample is often unknown. The enrichment also was detected using isomeric classes, but not using total chlorine content. The perchlorination method and the Webb-McCall method using all chromatographic peaks agreed quantitatively; this was not always so for the NIOSH multiple peaks and the Webb-McCall methods.     

Dynamic MRI with projection reconstruction and KWIC processing for simultaneous high spatial and temporal resolution.

A method for dynamic imaging in MRI is presented that enables the acquisition of a series of images with both high temporal and high spatial resolution. The technique, which is based on the projection reconstruction (PR) imaging scheme, utilizes distinct data acquisition and reconstruction strategies to achieve this simultaneous capability. First, during acquisition, data are collected in multiple undersampled passes, with the view angles interleaved in such a way that those of subsequent passes bisect the views of earlier ones. During reconstruction, these views are weighted according to a previously described k-space weighted image contrast (KWIC) technique that enables the manipulation of image contrast by selective filtering. Unlike conventional undersampled PR methods, the proposed dynamic KWIC technique does not suffer from low image SNR or image degradation due to streaking artifacts. The effectiveness of dynamic KWIC is demonstrated in both simulations and in vivo, high-resolution, contrast-enhanced imaging of breast lesions.     

Flavonoids ofElscholtzia cristata

Apigenin, apigenin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and linarin were isolated fromElscholtzia cristata (Labiatae).     

Characterization of htAKR, a novel gene product in the aldo-keto reductase family specifically expressed in human testis

In human testis, expression of a novel member of the aldo-keto reductase family was identified. Based on its testis-specific expression, we termed this protein human testis aldo-keto reductase (htAKR). In addition to four major isoforms, the existence of multiple alternatively spliced products of htAKR was detected using RT-PCR followed by nested PCR. htAKR was a homologue of mouse liver keto-reductase, AKR1E1, with close similarity in their genomic organizations. htAKR4, the longest isoform, was expressed as a non-fused native form. It exhibited a limited activity toward 9,10-phenanthrenequinone, while no activity toward the steroids or prostaglandins was demonstrated. Using the laser capture microdissection technique and RT-PCR, expression of htAKR was detected in testicular germ cells as well as in interstitial cells. The levels of htAKR mRNA in the tissues obtained from seminoma were much lower than those in normal testes. A significant decline in the htAKR expression was observed when NEC8, a cell line originated from a human testicular germ cell tumour, was exposed to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate or 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone. These results indicate that the expression of htAKR, down-regulated in the testicular tumour, is possibly controlled by mitogenic and hormonal signals.     

Growth factor-dependent activation of the MAPK pathway in human pancreatic cancer: MEK/ERK and p38 MAP kinase interaction in uPA synthesis

Increased expression of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor (c-met) and urokinase type plasminogen (uPA) correlated with the development and metastasis of cancers. To investigate the role of HGF/c-met signaling on metastasis in cancer cells stimulated with HGF, we examined the effects of a specific MEK1 inhibitor (PD98059) and a p38 MAP kinase inhibitor (SB203580) on HGF-induced uPA expression in pancreatic cancer cell lines, L3.6PL and IMIM-PC2. Pretreatment of PD98059 decreased HGF-mediated phosphorylation of extracellular receptor kinase (ERK), uPA secretion and expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, SB203580 pretreatment increased HGF-stimulated ERK phosphorylation, uPA secretion and expression of MMPs. SB203580 also reversed the inhibition of HGF-mediated ERK activation and uPA secretion in the PD98059-pretreated cells. These results suggest that ERK activation by HGF might play important roles in the metastasis of pancreatic cancer and the p38 MAPK pathway also involved in the HGF-mediated uPA secretion and metastasis by regulation of ERK pathway. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.