Evaluation of the Japanese-Chinese Herbal Medicine,Kampo, for the Treatment of Lupus Dermatoses in Autoimmune Prone MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr Mice

Kampo, a Japanese-Chinese traditional herbal medicine, has been used for the treatment of various diseases for about 3,000 years in China. Among herbal medicines, Sairei-to is well known for improving the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other collagen diseases. However, its immunosuppressive effects on autoimmune cutaneous phenomena are not completely understood. We investigated the effects of Sairei-to on the development of lupus dermatoses in autoimmune-prone MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) mice, an animal model which spontaneously develops skin lesions similar to those seen in human lupus erythematosus. Virgin female MRL/lpr mice at 1 month of age, which were treated orally with Sairei-to, had reduced amounts of IgG deposition at the dermoepidermal junction, titers of anti-DNA antibodies and rheumatoid factor, and lymphoproliferation. These results support the use of traditional herbal medicines in patients with human RA and systemic lupus erythematosus.     

The effect of bile duct ligation and bile diversion on FK506 pharmacokinetics in dogs.

Mongrel or beagle dogs were submitted to bile duct ligation, or to extraenteric biliary diversion by means of choledochoureterostomy. The kinetics of intravenously administered FK506 was not changed from control status two weeks after bile duct ligation, but the bioavailability of orally administered FK506 was nearly quadrupled. Following oral administration, the absorption of FK506 was highly variable. The results indicate that in dogs FK506 is absorbed from the intestine just as efficiently in the absence of enteric bile and in presence of exogenous bile salt supplement when compared with its absorption in presence of normal bile drainage. These findings with FK506 are different from those with cyclosporine after biliary obstruction or diversion and will have important practical as well as experimental ramifications.     

A case of aberrant left pulmonary basal aneurysm arising from the descending aorta]

A 65-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of fever and abnormal shadow in the left lung. An aortogram revealed a large artery arising from the descending aorta supplying the left basal segment and, which then flowed into the pulmonary vein. This artery had an aneurysm and 30 mm in diameter. Bronchography showed compression of the left basal branch. A clinical diagnosis of an aberrant left pulmonary basal aneurysm arising from descending aorta was made, and left lower lobectomy was performed, because of the danger apprehension of the aneurysmal rupture. The procedure was successful. There are only 15 case reports of a systemic artery supplying the lung with normal bronchial branch in Japan. Differences of this anomaly from pulmonary sequestration were discussed.     

Function, molecular structure and gene expression regulation of nerve growth factor]

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the initially discovered and best characterized target-derived neurotrophic factor. The NGF gene family includes NGF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin (NT)-3, NT-4, and NT-5. The members of this family can interact with the members of trk family of receptor-like protein-tyrosine kinases (trk, trk B and trk C), suggesting that the different trk protein serves as receptor subunits for the different neurotrophins. Meanwhile, some recent reports have shown that exogenous administration of NGF itself or a stimulator of NGF synthesis to damaged neurons have beneficial effects. These findings open the possibility of new therapy for nervous diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.     

Antibodies against saline-soluble components of skeletal muscle in myasthenia gravis

Summary Antibodies against phosphate-buffered-saline extracts (SE) of non-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) skeletal muscle antigens were found in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The antigenicity of SE was distributed in three fractions with molecular masses of over 200 kDa, 90–150 kDa and 7–14 kDa on gel filtration. These fractions shared common antigenicities. Further analysis of 90–150 kDa fractions on sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed five major bands, ranging from 105 kDa to 275 kDa. The antibodies against SE were detected in 52% (58/112) of the MG patients; incidence and titres were higher in the thymoma group (n=21; 90% and 0.872 respectively) than in the non-thymoma group (n=91; 43% and 0.200, P<0.001). In patients without a thymoma, these antibodies were frequently observed in late-onset disease and the severe generalized form (P<0.01). In 4 of 7 ocular MG patients without anti-AChR antibodies, low but appreciable levels of anti-SE antibodies were found. In 73% (11/15) of generalized MG patients treated with prednisolone and thymectomy, anti-SE antibody titres changed in association with those of anti-AChR antibodies and with the clinical course. Both antibody titres increased synchronously in patients who developed crises.     

Morphological and functional aspects of two different types of hair cells in the goldfish sacculus

1. With the use of whole-cell mode of the patch-clamp method, we examined the electrical responses of hair cells enzymatically isolated from the goldfish sacculus. 2. Hair cells from the rostral saccule had a short cell body and were ovoidal or eggplantlike in shape, whereas hair cells from the caudal saccule had a variable shape. Many had a longer cell body and were cylindrical or gourd-like in shape, but some short hair cells were also present in the caudal saccule. 3. The short hair cells had a resting potential of about -75 mV. In current-clamp experiments, these hair cells elicited damped oscillatory-potential changes of a relatively small amplitude in response to a depolarizing current. A current in the opposite direction produced a slow hyperpolarization, much larger in amplitude. 4. Resonant frequency of the short, or the oscillatory, type of hair cells ranged from 40 to 200 Hz or higher. However, resonance was generally of a poor quality as compared with that noted for hair cells in the turtle cochlea or frog sacculus. 5. The long hair cells had a resting potential of -90 to -100 mV. In current-clamp experiments, these hair cells elicited an all-or-none spike approximately 50 mV in amplitude in response to a depolarizing current. The spike was usually followed by a plateau, which was maintained for the duration of the depolarizing pulse. In some hair cells, damped slow oscillatory waves were evoked at a rate of 5-15 Hz. On the other hand, a hyperpolarizing current produced potential changes much smaller in amplitude. 6. Voltage-clamp experiments showed that Ca2+-activated K+ channel and A-current, especially its high-threshold subclass, were involved in the generation of outward rectification in the oscillatory-type hair cells. On the other hand, Na+, in addition to Ca2+, was involved in the generation of spike in the spike-type hair cells. Spike potentials were elicited even in the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX), but the rate of rise was slower as compared with the intact spikes. 7. The spike-type hair cells had an inwardly rectifying K+ channel similar to that noted in the tunicate egg and chick vestibular hair cell. However, the oscillatory-type hair cells had an inwardly rectifying channel similar to the hyperpolarization-activated current, Ih, of the rod inner segment, or sinoatrial nodal cell, or lacked the inwardly rectifying channel. Differences in the resting membrane potential between the oscillatory- and spike-type hair cells are probably related to differences in the inwardly rectifying channels. 8. Effects of sound stimulation were simulated by injecting a half-wave rectified sinusoidal current of various frequencies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Follow-up study in a patient with Setleis syndrome

We report on an 8-year-old Japanese boy with Setleis syndrome. The patient had a very characteristic “coarse” facial appearance, bitemporal “forceps marks,” skin aplasia, sparse hair, and skin hypo- and hy-perpigmentation. He also had previously undescribed manifestations, including an aberrant hair pattern of the forehead, linear skin lesions on the forehead, short palpebral fissures, a small skin tag on the right cheek, cone-shaped teeth, and pectus carinatum. Dermatoglyphic studies documented aberrant distal palmar creases (simian crease variant), 8 arches, and reduced total finger ridge count. When serial photographs were reviewed, his facial characteristics became more obvious with increasing age. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The dimerization of 1-alkynes by rhodium(I) catalysts. Effect of phosphorus ligands on regioselectivity

The dimerization of 1-alkynes by rhodium(I) complexes in the presence of phosphorus ligands is described. The products are linear and branched dimers, the ratio of which is correlated with the electronic parameters, v_CO of Ni(CO)₃L, of the ligands L, but no simple correlation is apparent between their steric parameter and the selectivity. Electron-donating ligands promote the formation of the linear dimer. The substituents of the 1-alkynes also affect the distribution of linear and branched dimers. Electron-donating substituents prefer linear isomer to branched one. The reactivity of the substituted 1-alkynes (R? C?C? H) increased with substituent R in the order