Adenosquamous Cell Carcinoma of the Colon with Severe Hypercalcemia: --Report of Two Cases--

Two patients with adenosquamous cell carcinoma of the colon,who presented severe hypercalcemia, are reported. Adenosquamouscell carcinoma of the colon is relatively rare, and there wereonly two cases among 1,053 patients who were hospitalized withmalignancy in the large intestine at the National Cancer CenterHospital during the past 18 years. Both of these cases presentedlethal hypercalcemia in the absence of osseous metastasis, andthere were no other patients who had malignant tumors of thelarge intestine and presented hypercalcemia. These observationssuggest that there is a close relationship between the squamouscell component and the occurrence of hypercalcemia, as is observedin the case of lung cancer. Radioimmunoactive parathyroid hormonewas undetectable in the plasma and the tumor tissue in thesetwo cases.     

COEXISTENCE OF STOMACH CANCER AND RENAL ADENOMA IN RENAL ALLOGRAFT

Autopsy findings of a 34-year-old Japanese male with stomach cancer in a renal allograft are presented. The renal graft was given by his 53-year-old mother, who had the same HLA type as the patient and showed negative response in the Mixed Leukocyte Culture Reaction test. Stomach cancer occurred 4 years and 5 months after the renal graft, and infiltrated widely into the abdominal cavity, causing rectal stricture. In his original left kidney, a small renal adenoma was found. The tumor cells of the adenoma were composed of clear cells. In the adenoma, infiltration of stomach cancer was found. The renal allograft functioned very well until his death in spite of several rejection episodes. This is the seventh reported case in Japan in which a renal allotransplant was accompanied by malignancies.     

Mental Retardation and Neurochemistry

Abstract Neurochemical aspect of mental retardation is described, with special reference to phenylketonuria (PKU) as a cause of the inhibition of brain development. Biochemical and behavioral findings are outlined in S few animal models of PKU, including that of "maternal PKU" in which genetically normal offspring of rats with experimental PKU show significantly lowered discrimination learning ability. Possible roles of disordered amino acid metabolism and defective myelination in the inhibited brain development are briefly discussed.     

A Report on Experiments with Toyo ‘s Super-Gus-Permeable Hard Contact Lens: Paper presented at the International Contact Lens Congress,Fiji, July 1978.

Among the recent developments in the field of hard contact lenses, attention has been focused on a new type of lenses with high oxygen permeability. In 1977 the staff of the research division of the Toyo Contact Lens Co. Ltd succeeded in developing a new polymer with extremely high oxygen permeability based on an entirely new monomer made of esterifies methacrylic acid. They have named this new material ‘PHCL’, denoting a gas permeable hard contact lens. The PHCL has the following two primary features. The first feature lies in its excellent gas permeability. The permeability of the PHCL is measured to be 1.4×10^--¹⁰ml. cmlcm².sec.mmHg., which is about 2.5 times the permeability of other gas permeable hard contact lenses and about twice that of 2–Hema polymers. The second feature is the good wettability of the new material. The wettability is usually estimated by the contact angle. The contact angle of the PHCL is measured to be 23°, showing a remarkable improvement from the contact angle of PMMA which is about 63“. These two features will definitely contribute to the physiological integrity of the cornea and the comfort in wearing contact lenses. Our report includes the comparison of the PHCL with other gas permeable hard contact lenses and several soft contact lenses with respect to the following points: 1) reduction of glycogen granules in rabbits' eyes; 2) histological studies by HE staining; 3) corneal thickness changes measured by pachornetry with human eyes. The data indicates superior quality of the PHCL to other materials in terms of maintaining the normal metabolism and physiology of the cornea.     

Kinetics of serum cytokines in adults undergoing peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation

Summary. We investigated the serum cytokine levels (G-CSF, GM-CSF, IL-l/?, IL-3 and IL-6) using an ELISA in 14 patients with haematological malignancies undergoing peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation (PBPCT). Serum G-CSF levels in all patients rose immediately after PBPCT, then gradually decreased as the neutrophil counts began to rise. No detectable serum levels of GM-CSF or IL-lp were observed, but serum levels of IL-3 rose transiently immediately following PBPCT. Serum levels of JL-6 rose transiently during a fever in four patients. These observations suggest that G-CSF and L 3 may contribute to the early haemopoietic reconstitution in PBPCT.     

Chemical modification of superoxide dismutase Extension of plasma half life of the enzyme through its reversible binding to the circulating albumin

Protection of organisms from oxidative stress is one of the major prerequisites for aerobic life. Since intravenously injected Cu⁺⁺/Zn⁺⁺ -type superoxide dismutase (SOD) rapidly undergoes renal glomerular filtration and appears in urine in its intact form, its clinical use as a scavenger for superoxide radicals has been highly limited. To test whether reversible interaction of SOD with plasma albumin might decrease the rate of disappearance of the enzyme from the circulation, the lysyl residues of the human erythrocyte-type enzyme were covalently linked with poly-(styrene-co-maleic acid) butyl ester (SMA) via amide linkage. Affinity chromatographic analysis by an albumin-Sepharose column revealed that the enzyme samples labeled with SMA (SMA-SOD) tightly bound to the column, while unmodified SOD was eluted in the unbound fractions. SMA-SOD bound to the column could be eluted by the buffer solution containing 0.1% sodium dodecylsulfate. In vivo analysis revealed that intravenously administered SMA-SOD circulated bound to albumin with an extremely long half-life (6 h), while unmodified SOD rapidly underwent renal glomerular filtration with a plasma half-life of 4min. Thus, SMA-SOD may effectively dismutate superoxide radicals in the circulation.     

EXPERIMENTAL BILATERAL CAROTID ARTERY OCCLUSION: A STUDY OF THE OPTIC NERVE IN THE RAT

The presence of marked changes in the neural retina and retinal vessels of Long-Evans pigmented rat following bilateral carotid ligation has been previously documented by serial ophthalmologic examinations. Light and electron microscopic studies of the optic nerve in this experimental animal model revealed advanced optic nerve atrophy in ten of twelve rats examined. There was no significant pathology in either the retina or optic nerve in the remaining two rats after carotid ligation or in the sham-operated controls.     

TRANSIENT UNCROSSED CORTICOSPINAL FIBRES IN THE NEWBORN RAT

A small number of uncrossed corticospinal fibres were demonstrated in a 1-day-old rat by injection of horseradish peroxidase into one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex. These fibres were not demonstrable after the age of 7 days.     

Natural Killer Activity and Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity in Multiple Myeloma

Natural killer (NK) activity and antibody-dependent cell-mediatedcytotoxicity (ADCC) were studied by routine methods in 11 patientswith untreated malignant monoclonal gammopathy. NK and/or ADCCactivity was clearly reduced in three patients with advanceddisease. Moreover, sera from some myeloma patients impairedthe ADCC and NK activity. A large quantity of purified monoclonalIgG from one patient appeared to inhibit NK and ADCC activityas did high concentrations of pooled polyclonal immunoglobulinfrom healthy persons. In two of these 11 patients, other malignancieswere diagnosed prior to chemotherapy. One of these patients,who had nonsecretory myeloma, had marked impairment of NK andADCC activity; the other, with IgG myeloma, had normal NK andADCC activity.     

UNATTACHED PRESYNAPTIC TERMINALS IN A CEREBELLAR NEUROBLASTOMA IN THE HUMAN

Hirano A. & Shin W.-Y. (1979) Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology 5 , 63–70
Unattached presynaptic terminals in a cerebellar neuroblastoma in the human
Many unattached presynaptic terminals were seen in a cerebellar neuroblastoma removed from a 3-year-old boy. It was concluded that presynaptic terminals may develop without the immediate influence of a postsynaptic mate on a one-to-one basis.