Urinary prolactin excretion in children with renal disease

The contribution of the kidney to the metabolism of prolactin has not yet been established. In the present study, urinary prolactin concentrations in 30 children with renal disease were measured by a newly devised, highly sensitive, time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. Median prolactin concentrations in the urine of children with renal disease, were 1.86 pmol/L⁻¹ of urine (range: 0.17–546.31 pmol/L⁻¹. By stepwise regression analysis, change in urinary prolactin levels as a function of the urinary β 2-microglobulin concentrations was detected. These results indicate that prolactin urinary excretion in children with renal disease is dependent on the renal proximal tubular function.     

Bile acids influence hepatic chemiluminescence in normal and oxidative-stressed rats†

The aim of the present study was to clarify whether bile acids influence chemiluminescence (CL) in the liver in vivo. Hepatic CL was determined on the surface of the liver of anaesthetized rats by using a photon counter. In normal rats, hepatic CL was significantly decreased 30 min after enteral administration of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) or deoxycholic acid (DCA), but returned to its initial level 3 h later, after part of the CDCA administered was metabolized. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and cholic acid had no effect on CL. In contrast, hepatic CL was markedly increased 30 min after CDCA or DCA administration in rats given either buthionine sulphoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase, or diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), an inhibitor of both superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. Chenodeoxycholic acid further increased the CL of BSO- or DDC-treated rats during inhalation of oxygen via a tracheal cannula. Coadministration of UDCA eliminated the effects of CDCA on the hepatic CL of normal and BSO- or DDC-treated rats with or without oxygen inhalation. We conclude that cytotoxic bile acids, such as CDCA, increase CL in the antioxidants-depleted or oxidative-stressed liver in vivc, but that UDCA prevents CDCA from developing CL.     

卡维地洛与维司力农:心力衰竭中新的抗心律失常途径(英文)

卡维地洛和维司力农是近年来受到瞩目的慢性充血性心力衰竭治疗药。电生理学研究表明这些药物可适度延长心室肌的动作电位时程(APD)而无明显的逆频度依存性,然而其产生这一作用的离子机制是不同的。卡维地洛可阻断L-型钙电流(I_(Ca)),一过性外向钾电流(I_(to))以及延迟整流钾电流(I_K),特别是其快速激活成份(I_(Kr))。维司力农是一个选择性的I_K阻滞剂,具有独特的药物-通道相互作用。根据维司力农对I_K的电位与时间依存性抑制作用,该药被认为在I_K(主要是I_(Kr))通道处于激活状态时与其结合,而在通道关闭时则发生解离。这些电生理学特性将为器质性心脏病患者理想的抗心律失常药的开发提供新的途径。     

An Attempt to Assess the Replacement Dose of Human Growth Hormone in the Treatment of Growth Hormone Deficient Children

Hibi, I., Tanaka, T., Yano, H., Umezawa, S., Kagawa, J., Tanae, A. and Ishikawa, E. (National Children's Medical Research Center, Tokyo, the National Children's Hospital, Tokyo and the Department of Biochemistry, Miyazaki Medical College, Miyazaki, Japan). Acta Paediatr Scand [Suppl] 337:87, 1987.
In 25 patients with hGH deficiency, who had been treated long-term with hGH, the mode of hGH administration was switched from the conventional method (0.3–0.5 IU/kg/week, in two or three divided doses, intramuscularly) to daily subcutaneous injection at 1900–2100 hours with a dose of 0.46 ± 0.07 IU/kg/week (equivalent to 14.7 ± 2.0 IU/m²/week). After 1–3 months of this new mode of hGH administration, blood and urine were sampled at 0900 hours after overnight fasting. Blood glucose, plasma insulin, plasma IGF-1 and plasma total IGF (after extraction) were analysed in blood samples. IGF-1 and hGH were measured in urine samples. These measurements indicated that the dose studied was close to a replacement one, but might be slightly higher than the exact replacement dose.     

Trichosporon beigelii Pneumonia in a Patient with Malignant Histiocytosis

A 30-year-old previously healthy housewife presented with bilateralpulmonary infiltrates. She was treated with various antibioticsbut died with disseminated intravascular coagulation. Culturesof tracheal aspirates obtained prior to her death yielded Trichosporonbeigelii. Postmortem examination revealed T. beigelii pneumoniawith fungal dissemination in other organs. In addition, manyorgans were found to be infiltrated with atypical mononuclearcells which exhibited cytochemical properties of histiocytes.It was considered, therefore, that T. beigelii pneumonia developedon the basis of underlying malignant histiocytosis. T. beigeliiin her lung sections was fluorescently stained with rabbit antiserumto the fungus isolated from the patient. This is the first reportof Trichosporon beigelii pneumonia associated with malignanthistiocytosis.     

Early sigmoid colon carcinoma developed from a pedunculated polyp

A 60‐year‐old man underwent routine colonoscopy, and was noted to have a pedunculated polyp in the sigmoid colon. The pathologic diagnosis was adenoma, and due to patient’s personal circumstances, the lesion was left untreated. The colonoscopic examination was repeated 4 years and 11 months later, to find that the polyp had transformed into an elevated lesion with irregularly depressed surface. The patient was diagnosed as having early sigmoid cancer, and underwent sigmoidectomy. The histologic examination of the excised specimen revealed well‐differentiated adenocarcinoma with invasion into the submucosal layer. Through studying the natural course of colon cancer, it has become known that the advanced cancers commonly develop from polyps with short pedicles (sessile polyps). This case represents an early sigmoid cancer developed from a pedunculated polyp, which differs from the current mainstream concept of ‘polyp‐cancer sequence of colon cancer.’     

Regional Differences in Calcium Sensitivity in the Guinea-pig Intestine

The effect of the Ca²⁺-channel antagonist nicardipine on the basal tone of six segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, proximal colon, distal colon and rectum) of the guinea-pig intestine has been investigated in muscle preparations. Nicardipine reduced the basal tone of the proximal and distal colon but not of the duodenum, jejunum, ileum and rectum. Similarly, when each segment was incubated in Ca²⁺-free medium, the basal tone of the proximal and distal colon, but not that of the other four segments, was reduced. The reduced basal tone recovered after cumulative addition of Ca²⁺ in both colon preparations. The basal tone of the distal colon was partly reduced by tetrodotoxin, atropine and clonidine. Conversely, l -typeCa²⁺-channel antagonists (Cd²⁺, verapamil and nicardipine), but not the T-type Ca²⁺-channel antagonist Ni²⁺, completely reduced the basal tone of the distal colon. These results indicate that in the regulation of basal tone there are additional regional differences in the effect of Ca²⁺ influx into the cells from the extracellular fluid which might involve l -type-like Ca²⁺ channels and might partly be because of neuronal factors.     

Incidence and Familial Occurrence of the Congenital Anomalies of the Face, Hand and Foot

We made an epidemiological study of congenital anomalies of the face, hand and foot in newborns from 1973 to 1992 in Miyagi Prefecture which has a population of about two million. In these twenty years 579,766 babies were born in Miyagi Prefecture. Out of these newborns 3,416 babies with 3,759 congenital anomalies of the face, hand and foot were registered. Of all registered congenital anomalies, face anomalies were most commonly encountered, followed by hand and foot anomalies. Among face anomalies, in order of frequency, accessory ear was the most common, next cleft lip with or without cleft palate, cleft palate alone, cryptotia and microtia. The occurrence ratio per 10,000 live births was 9.6 in accessory ear, 6.7 in cleft lip, 6.1 in cleft lip with cleft palate, 4.2 in cleft palate alone, 2.9 in cryptotia, and 1.8 in microtia. In hand and foot anomalies, polydactyly was the most common and syndactyly the next. Incidence ratio of polydactyly was 5.8 in the hand and 6.4 in the foot. Polydactyly was the most frequent in the preaxial ray in the hand and in the postaxial ray in the foot. About half of cases of postaxial polydactyly the foot was associated with syndactyly between the fourth and fifth toe. In addition, we reported on variation of the incidence ratio and familial occurrence of congenital anomalies of the face, hand and foot.     

Clonal and non-clonal karyotypically abnormal cells in haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

We studied chromosomes in bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood cells of nine patients with haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH); three of them had a family history of HLH and four others underwent concurrent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. In addition to a large population of normal mitotic cells, karyotypically abnormal clonal cells were found in two patients, abnormal clonal cells and a nonclonal (single) abnormal cell in one, and nonclonal abnormal cells in three. All the six patients with chromosome abnormalities died of progressive disease; one of them also had EBV infection and EBV-associated clonal proliferation. Two of three patients with EBV infection and only normal mitotic cells in BM completely recovered from the disease.
Although HLH did not show histological and/or haema-tological evidence of a neoplastic disease, clonal chromosome abnormalities and the fatal clinical outcome found in some of the patients suggest that the disease may be heterogenous and include malignancy. HLH patients with karyotypically abnormal clonal cells in BM should warrant more intensive chemotherapy than that presently being applied to them and should be considered as candidates for BM transplantation.