Clinical features of oral allergy syndrome to plant foods allergens in Kanto regions]

BACKGROUND: Recently, it is recognized that the patients of oral allergy syndrome (OAS) to fruits are increasing. However, there are little knowledges of the background, character, and seriousness about these patients in Kanto regions. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the clinical features of OAS patients to plant origin foods in Kanto regions. METHODS: The patient, who visited Sagamihara National Hospital from 2000 to 2005 and developed some allergic symptoms to plant origin foods, were studied by a questionary survey. RESULTS: As for the 42 subjects, average age are 36 years old, male:female=8:34, merger of other allergic disease is 35 allergic rhinitis of 42 subjects (83%), 34 of asthma (81%), 14 of atopic dermatitis (33%). The causes of OAS symptoms are 32 rose-family fruits, 34 non-rose family fruits, 14 vegetables, 11 nuts, 2 grains subjects. As for the symptom, only in the oral and pharynx symptoms are found in 12, the systemic symptoms is 29, anaphylaxis is 11 subjects. Allergic rhinitis preceded on the 90% subjects with pollinosis, very high rate. On the other hand, the 20% of all subjects have no symptoms of allergic rhinitis. CONCLUSION: A nasal catarrh symptoms went ahead in most of the OAS subjects in Kanto regions. In addition, considering from some patients have no black alder pollinosis and/or are allergic to many non-rose-family fruits at high frequency, there might be a broad cross-reactivity between many pollens other than alder and plant origin foods.     

Invasive fungal infection following reduced-intensity cord blood transplantation for adult patients with hematologic diseases.

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is a significant complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); however, we have little information on its clinical features after reduced intensity cord blood transplantation (RICBT) for adults. We reviewed medical records of 128 patients who underwent RICBT at Toranomon Hospital between March 2002 and November 2005. Most of the patients received purine-analogbased preparative regimens. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was a continuous infusion of either tacrolimus 0.03 mg/kg or cyclosporine 3 mg/kg. IFI was diagnosed according to the established EORTC/NIH-MSG criteria. IFI was diagnosed in 14 patients. Thirteen of the 14 had probable invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and the other had fungemia resulting from Trichosporon spp. Median onset of IFI was day 20 (range: 1-82), and no patients developed IFI after day 100. Three-year cumulative incidence of IA was 10.2%. Four of the 13 patients with invasive aspergillosis (IA) developed grade II-IV acute GVHD, and their IA was diagnosed before the onset of acute GVHD. The mortality rate of IFI was 86%. Multivariate analysis revealed that the use of prednisolone >0.2 mg/kg (relative risk 7.97, 95% confidence interval 2.24-28.4, P = .0014) was a significant risk factor for IA. This study suggests that IFI is an important cause of deaths after RICBT, and effective strategies are warranted to prevent IFI.     

Different Ca2+ dynamics between isolated hippocampal pyramidal cells and dentate granule cells

The hippocampal formation contains a variety of neuronal types. The principal neurons are granule cells in the dentate gyrus and pyramidal cells in Ammon's horn. These two neuron types show distinct cell morphology and display a different vulnerability to ischemic injury or various neurotoxins. In order to illustrate the difference in the pathophysiological properties of these neurons, we established a method for separately culturing granule cells and pyramidal cells. They were prepared from the dentate gyrus and Ammon's horn of 3-day-old Wistar rat pups and maintained for 7–9 days in culture. After transient exposure to N-methyl-D-aspartate or glutamate, both the cultured neuron populations displayed somatic Ca²⁺ transients with similar amplitudes, but the subsequent recovery to baseline was about twice as fast in granule cells than in pyramidal cells. Similar results were obtained for K⁺ depolarization-induced Ca²⁺ elevation, suggesting that the relatively rapid Ca²⁺ clearance in granule cells is independent of Ca²⁺ influx pathways. The present study provides the first evidence for a difference in Ca²⁺ dynamics and homeostasis between granule and pyramidal cells and may represent a cellular basis for the differential vulnerability of hippocampal neurons.     

Ultrastructural myeloperoxidase activity and expression of myeloid-associated antigens in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Ultrastructural myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and myeloid-associated antigen (MyAg) expression were investigated in 12 adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Ultrastructural MPO was detected by 3 different methods. Immunophenotyping was performed by flow cytometry, using a series of monoclonal antibodies. Ultrastructural MPO-positive blast cells were detected in 6 patients (50%). In 5 of these 6 patients, the methods detecting both MPO and platelet peroxidase (PPO) activities found MPO-positive blast cells more frequently than those detecting MPO activity alone. In 2 patients (17%), at least one kind of MyAg was positive. Ultrastructural MPO activity was detected more frequently than MyAg expression in ALL patients. This method of detecting PPO and MPO is recommended for detection of ultrastructural MPO-positive ALL.     

Nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin in intestinal-type gastric carcinoma: correlation with early tumor invasion

Mutation of the adenomatous polyposis coli gene, which is known to be an early event in the carcinogenesis of intestinal-type gastric carcinoma, leads to accumulation of beta-catenin. In addition, beta-catenin has been found to activate down stream signaling molecules in the wingless/Wnt pathway. In this study, the clinical significance of nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin was evaluated in gastric carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining showed nuclear localization in 16 (12%) of 139 (94 intestinal-type and 45 diffuse-type) gastric carcinomas, and all 16 lesions with nuclear staining were intestinal-type adenocarcinomas. Of the 16 cases, 15 were in the early clinical stage. In the remaining case, the lesion had invaded the subserosal layer and showed strong nuclear staining at the invasive front. In 14 of the 16 cases with nuclear localization, there were no abnormal mobility shifts detected using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism analysis. This was confirmed using direct sequencing analysis, which revealed the wild-type sequence in the 12 cases tested. Nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin did not correlate with lymph node metastasis or 5-year survival. These findings suggest that high intranuclear levels of beta-catenin protein play an important role in early tumor growth and may function in initiation of invasive processes in intestinal-type gastric carcinoma.     

Cloning and characterization of the cDNA encoding the HA protein of a hemagglutination-defective measles virus strain

cDNA clones corresponding to the mRNA for the hemagglutinin of the hemagglutination-defective strain AK-1 of measles virus were isolated and characterized. Compared with the prototype Edmonstron strain, 60 nucleotide substitutions that resulted in 18 amino acid changes were detected. An additional potential N-linked glycosylation site was added by point mutation, which was supported by the observation that the hemagglutinin of the AK-1 strain was stained more heavily after NaDodSO₄PAGE and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining than the Edmonston strain. Computer-assisted analysis revealed that three reverse turns in the secondary structure had disappeared in the hemagglutinin of the AK-1 strain. Moreover, one of these structural changes occurred in the closely glycosylated region at amino acid residues 168–240, which appeared to be a biologically important functional domain. The isoelectric point calculated from the predicted amino acid sequence became about 1 pH unit more basic in the AK-1 strain than the Edmonston strain. This present study is the first sequence analysis of the hemagglutinin gene in a hemagglutination-defective strain of the measles virus.     

Ribosome-lamella complexes in a case of transitional cell carcinoma involving the prostate

We report ribosome-lamella complexes (RLC) in cancer cells of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the prostate in a 52-year-old Caucasian man. Histopathologically, cancer cells were proliferated in various-sized nests, mostly associated with central necrosis. Some invaded into the surrounding normal glandular space and the stroma, with occasional lymphatic invasion. Fine structural study of cancer cells revealed that cross-sectioned RLC as well as densely aggregated ribosomes were detected in their cytoplasm, situated close to, but not directly connected with, dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum. These were composed of a concentric alternative arrangement of both lamellae and ribosomes. In the central and surrounding parts of the RLC, ribosomes were observed, revealing a smooth transition to the ribosomal component of RLC in size and shape. The presence of both RLC and dense aggregation of ribosomes close to the rough endoplasmic reticulum suggests that their functions might be related to specific or aberrant protein synthesis under unknown conditions. Although RLC have been often reported in hematopoietic malignancies, their occurrence in the malignant epithelial component has been only reported in a case of pulmonary adenocarcinoma. This is the first report of RLC in TCC in the literature.     

Spatiotemporal changes of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor in rat hearts during postnatal development and in cultured cardiomyocytes of neonatal rat

Coxsackievirus B is the most common cause of viral myocarditis and is particularly virulent in neonates and children. Adenovirus is also a leading cause of the disease. The determinant of tropism for both viruses is considered to be the expression of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in target organs. However, developmental change and physiological localization of CAR in the heart are unknown. We examined expression levels of CAR in rat hearts by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis and found that CAR decreased gradually during postnatal development, although CAR was detectable, even in adults. Immunohistochemistry revealed CAR on the whole surface of cardiomyocytes in immature rat hearts. In contrast, CAR was detected predominantly on intercalated disks in the adult heart and was accumulated especially at the contact point between the cultured cardiomyocytes, even though they were prepared from the neonatal rat heart. In conclusion, CAR was expressed abundantly on the whole surface of cardiomyocytes in immature rat hearts. Both the expression level and the localization of CAR are possible determinants of the susceptibility to viral myocarditis of neonates and children.     

Rate-dependent changes in action potential duration and membrane currents in hamster ventricular myocytes

Hamsters are frequently studied as a model of cardiomyopathy, but the electrophysiological properties of a hamster heart are not well defined. We examined rate-dependent changes in action potentials and underlying ionic mechanisms in isolated ventricular myocytes from hamster hearts using the whole-cell configuration of the patch clamp technique. At 0.1 Hz stimulation, the mean action potential duration at 90% (APD90) and 20% (APD20) repolarization were 63+/-7 ms and 9+/-1 ms, respectively ( n=17). With increasing frequency of stimulation, APD progressively prolonged to 119+/-16 ms (APD90) and 36+/-7 ms (APD20) at 6.0 Hz. A further increase in the rate of stimulation to 8.0 Hz did not change APD significantly. Application of 4 mM 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) lengthened APD markedly and completely prevented the rate-dependent prolongation. Cd2+ (0.2 mM) shortened APD and generally attenuated the rate-dependent lengthening of APD up to 5.0 Hz, but unaffected the lengthening of APD with the further increase in the rate. At plateau voltages, there were two time-dependent currents, Ito1 and I(Ca,L). Recovery from inactivation for Ito1 had two components: t(slow)=980+/-129 ms accounting for 58% of the total fraction, and t(fast)=39+/-13 ms ( n=7). Recovery from inactivation for I(Ca,L) was rapid with t=20+/-4 ms ( n=6). Results suggest that the slow recovery from inactivation in Ito1 is the main reason for the rate-dependent prolongation of APD in hamster ventricular myocytes.