Human milk reduces the risk of retinal detachment in extremely low-birthweight infants

BACKGROUND: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a major cause of blindness in children. Because the use of oxygen is a known risk factor for development of ROP, supplemental oxygen is used carefully. However, it does not necessarily reduce the morbidity of ROP-induced blindness. The aim of the present study was to identify the possible risk factors for progression to retinal detachment, a most relevant cause of visual impairment, in extremely low-birthweight infants (ELBWI). METHODS: The medical records of the 42 ELBWI who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit in Asahikawa Kosei Hospital from April 1999 to March 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. Seven infants (16.7% of the ELBWI) developed retinal detachment and two of them became blind. Perinatal and postnatal variables in these infants with retinal detachment were compared with those in infants without retinal detachment. RESULTS: A striking difference in the daily intake of human milk was found between the infants with or without retinal detachment when their gestational ages at birth were matched. The infants without retinal detachment were fed more human milk (67-83% volume of total nutritional intake) as compared to those with retinal detachment (24-38% volume of total nutritional intake) at a specific postnatal period, 5-7 weeks postnatal age. CONCLUSIONS: Human milk may contain some beneficial factors to reduce the severity of ROP. Identifying these factors in human milk may contribute to development of a strategy to rescue premature infants from blindness.     

Association of hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D syndrome with erythema eievatum diutinum

Hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D and periodic fever syndrome was observed in a female patient with erythema eievatum diutinum. The association of this skin disease with hyperimmunoglohnlinaemia D may indicate a pathogenetic relationship. The skin lesions responded to dapsone therapy.     

Correlation of the hypo-osmotic swelling test, semen score and the zona-free hamster egg penetration assay in humans

The correlation between the hypo-osmotic swelling test, the modified Eliasson score for human semen analysis and the hamster egg penetration assay was examined. The results showed a weak but significant correlation between the group of subjects with swelling rates below 50% and the above 80% group. These groups showed hamster egg penetration assay rates of 9 +/- 14% and 39 +/- 29%, respectively (P less than 0.035). A significant correlation was also found between modified Eliasson scores (17 +/- 10 and 5 +/- 7, respectively) and swelling rates below 50% and above 70% (P less than 0.001). These results suggest that spermatozoa showing a low swelling rate have a poor fertilizing capacity. Therefore, the swelling tests and analysis of the patients semen can be used to discriminate sperm quality.     

Hyperactivation of Human Spermatozoa: Measurement of Motility before and after Incubation

The motility rate of sperm during capacitation process was determined by calculating a sperm motile efficiency index (SMEI) using a hemocytometer. The SMEI values for the sperm from 100% of normal fertile men and 64% of infertile patients increased significantly by the fourth hour of incubation, while for 36% of infertile patients there was no increase. A correlation between the increase of SMEI and original motility, original SMEI and original semen amount was not possible. In addition, a decrease of the SMEI value was observed after sperm incubated for 3 hours were added to the seminal plasma of the donor. It is concluded that in human spermatozoa "hyperactivation and dehyperactivation" can be measured by SMEI.     

Angioscopic Detection of Pulmonary Thromboemboli: with Special Reference to Comparison with Angiography,Intravascular Ultrasonography,and Computed Tomography Angiography

Introduction: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is often fatal and its incidence is increasing worldwide. Detection of thromboemboli (TEi) is essential for a definitive diagnosis of PE. The detection of TEi using most imaging methods is low in patients clinically suspected of having PE. This study was carried out to detect TEi in the pulmonary arterial trees by angioscopy (AS); to classify TEi; and to compare the sensitivity of detection for TEi among AS, angiography (AG), intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS), and computed tomography angiography (CTA) in patients with clinically suspected PE. Methods: After CTA, AG, and IVUS, the pulmonary arterial trees were surveyed by AS in 49 patients clinically suspected of having PE. Results: TEi were found by AS, AG, IVUS, and CTA in 81.6%, 24.4%, 34.8%, and 22.5% of 49 patients, respectively. The 48 TEi classified by AS were globular (35%), mural (10%), cap‐like (8%), web‐like (4%), patchy (33%), and micro (18%). Cap‐like, patchy, and micro‐TEi were not detectable by AG, IVUS, and CTA in any subjects. TEi color was classified as red, white, yellow, and red‐and‐yellow in a mosaic pattern in 10%, 31%, 38%, and 18%, respectively. Red and white globular TEi were observed in acute, and red‐and‐yellow TEi in both acute and chronic PE patients. TEi other than globular were observed in both patient groups. Conclusion: Although invasive, AS is superior to AG, IVUS, and CTA for the detection of TEi, and therefore is a helpful imaging method for the definitive diagnosis of PE. (J Interven Cardiol 2010;23:470–478)     

Increased striatal glutamate transporter by repeated intermittent administration of methamphetamine

Abstract We have examined the immunoreactivities of a glutamate (Glu) transporter, GLT-1, in rat brains treated with a single or repeated intermittent administration of methamphetamine (MAP). In the stratum of behaviorally sensitized rate induced by repeated intermittent MAP treatment, GLT-1 immunoreactivities were increased by 51%. There was no difference in the GLT-1 immunoreactivities in all regions examined between rate treated with a single administration of MAP and the control rats. These results suggest that hyperglutamatergic activity in the striatum is involved in the induction of behavioral sensitization caused by MAP.     

Depression among cancer patients

Abstract This study was done to investigate the frequency of co-morbidity and to demonstrate the best method for assessing depression among cancer patients. The subjects were 50 (25 male and 25 female) cancer patients and 50 (25 male and 25 female) medically ill patients. All subjects were interviewed by psychiatrists and were administered psychological tests such as SAS (self-rating anxiety scale), SDS (self-rating depression scale), POMS (Profile of Mood States), HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and DRP (Depression-related personality traits). The psychiatric interview revealed that 44% of cancer patients and 38% of the medical patients had mental disorders according to DSM-IV. The most frequently observed disorder was depression, which was seen in 28% of the cancer patients and 30% of the medical patients. The cancer patients with depression scored significantly higher on the DRP and the Anger mood state of POMS than did the medically ill patients with depression. In addition, most psychological tests employed had no discrimination between depressed and normal subjects among the cancer and the medical patients. However, it was found that the Depression scale in HADS (HADS-D) split depressed patients from normal subjects since the HADS-D was composed of items that were not concerned with physically ill conditions.