Cross-sectional study of allergic disorders associated with breastfeeding in Japan: The Ryukyus Child Health Study

Uncertainties remain as to whether breastfeeding is protective against childhood allergic disorders. Positive relationships of breastfeeding with asthma and atopic eczema were observed in two previous Japanese studies. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between the feeding pattern after birth and the prevalence of allergic disorders during the past 12 months in Japanese schoolchildren. Study subjects were 24,077 children aged 6-15 yr in Okinawa. The outcomes were based on diagnostic criteria from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Allowance was made for age, sex, number of siblings, smoking in the household, paternal and maternal history of asthma, atopic eczema, and allergic rhinitis, and paternal and maternal educational level. Breastfeeding, regardless of exclusivity, for 13 months or longer and exclusive breastfeeding for 4-11 months were independently associated with a higher prevalence of atopic eczema, particularly among children without a parental allergic history. A clear positive dose-response relationship was observed between prolonged duration of breastfeeding, regardless of exclusivity, but not exclusive breastfeeding, and the prevalence of atopic eczema. We found a significant positive trend for atopic eczema across the three categories (formula milk, partial and exclusive breastfeeding) in the first 4 months of life although the odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding was not statistically significant. No material association was found between the feeding pattern after birth and the prevalence of wheeze or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Prolonged breastfeeding may be associated with a higher prevalence of atopic eczema in Japanese children.     

Successful mitral valve repair for active infective endocarditis accompanied by anorexia nervosa

Infective endocarditis of the mitral area accompanied by anorexia nervosa is extremely rare. A 34-year-old Japanese woman presented with high fever and a heart murmur that had developed over the previous 2-month period. Echocardiography revealed mitral regurgitation and vegetation attached to the anterior mitral leaflet, which had markedly prolapsed to the left atrium. We removed the vegetation with a small part of the anterior mitral leaflet and successfully repaired the mitral valve. The patient showed good recovery, and the mitral regurgitation and left ventricular chamber size had satisfactorily decreased at 2 months after the operation.     

Effect of tacrolimus and partial hepatectomy on transthyretin metabolism in rats

Liver transplantation, which serves as treatment of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), and domino liver transplantation, which utilizes resected livers from patients with FAP for treatment of liver diseases, may induce changes in transthyretin (TTR), a pathogenic FAP-related protein. To evaluate this possibility, we performed a 70% hepatectomy or administered tacrolimus to Dark Agouti (DA) rats for 7 days and then measured changes in liver TTR mRNA levels and changes in serum TTR concentrations. After hepatectomy, TTR mRNA levels decreased by 77%; at day 3, they returned to preoperative levels. Except for slightly elevated serum TTR concentrations 12 h after operation, serum TTR levels remained unchanged. Thus, partial hepatectomy did not influence serum TTR concentrations. After tacrolimus administration, TTR mRNA declined by 56% 12 h after the experiment started; however, after day 3, a rebound phenomenon occurred until day 7. Tacrolimus may facilitate serum TTR degradation, although production of TTR in the liver also increased. This finding -- that TTR, the source of FAP-inducing amyloid, did not increase after transplantation -- may help post-transplantation treatment of patients who have FAP and other liver diseases.     

伊文氏蓝染色对大鼠脑内肿瘤生物学标记方法的研究

目的研究在大鼠脑内肿瘤模型中生物学染色标记脑内肿瘤的方法。方法选择F344大鼠,移植体外培养的RG2胶质瘤细胞制作脑内肿瘤模型,移植18d后经大腿静脉注射伊文氏蓝(Evans blue,EB)染色肿瘤组织,探讨生物学染色对脑内肿瘤的标示作用和手术中对肿瘤和周围正常脑组织鉴别的意义。结果EB浓度在100mg/kg时,肿瘤组织染色成鲜明蓝色,同时大鼠的皮肤和所有器官都被染色成蓝色;当浓度低于10mg/kg时,仅染色肿瘤组织而皮肤和其他器官不被染色;肉眼可鉴别的最低静注浓度为1.25mg/kg。肿瘤组织的染色效果持续到静注后96h。血清中EB浓度在静注后3h内迅速减少,之后呈缓慢代谢过程,静注后24h减少到静注浓度的38%,静注后24h EB在血清和肿瘤组织中的浓度差达到最大值。染色后在手术显微镜下进行肿瘤切除手术操作较未染色对照组明显容易,手术后切片组织学观察肿瘤被完全切除。结论EB生物学染色标记脑内肿瘤效果可靠,手术中作为肿瘤的标示鉴别肿瘤和周围正常脑组织的界限有效。     

Ross procedure in an infant weighing 4.5 kg

A 6 month-old male infant (weight: 4.5 kg) with congenital aortic stenosis underwent aortic valve replacement with a pulmonary autograft (Ross procedure). The right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) was reconstructed with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-valved equine pericardial conduit. At the age of 5, re-RVOT reconstruction with an equine pericardial patch bearing a PTFE monocusp was required because of severe pulmonary stenosis resistant to 2 attempts of percutaneous transluminal pulmonary valvotomy. Currently, at the age of 8, the degree of aortic regurgitation is trivial and the pulmonary autograft is free of functional deterioration despite somatic growth.     

Combination adoptive immunotherapy with chemoradiotherapy in oral carcinomas

Background The antitumor effects of adoptive immunotherapy in combination with chemoradiotherapy were investigated in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Inductive chemoradiotherapy with peplomycin, 5-fluorouracil and⁶⁰Co was given to 56 patients [CRI(−)group]. A local injection of adoptive lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells (≈2×10⁸ cells) and small doses of interleukin-2(≈3×10⁵ U) and interferon-gamma (≈2×10⁵U) was given to 40 other patients in combination with the chemoradiotherapy [CRI(+) group]. Results Clinically, CR, PR, and LR were observed in 15 (37.5%), 24 (60.0%), and 1 (2.5%) of the patients in the CRI (+) group, respectively; and in 14 (25.0%), 38 (67.9%), and 4 of the patients (7.1%) in the CRI (−) group. The histopathological effects were correlated with the tumor remission rate, with lethal degeneration (grades III and IV), and prominent degeneration (grade IIB) in the tumor cells noted in 20 (50.0%) and 16 (40.0%) of the CRI(+) patients, respectively; and in 21 (37.5%) and 29 (51.8%) of the CRI (−) patients. Immunohistochemically, a prominent decrease of proliferating cell nuclear antigenpositive cells with a reciprocal increase of Le^Y-positve cells was induced by the chemoradioimmunotherapy. DNA fragmentation was observed in the mutant type p53-negative tumors in the CRI(+) group. Conclusion Adoptive immunotherapy with LAK cells and cytokines in combination with chemoradiotherapy induces advantageous anticancer effects resulting from necrosis and apoptosis.     

WIDESPREAD ECZEMA VACCINATUM ACQUIRED BY CONTACTS A Report of an Autopsy Case

A4-moth-old male infant predisposed to allergic dermatitis acquired widespread eczema vaccinatum by contacts with a recently vaccinated sibling. He died of acute purulent peritonitis following a perforation of multiple duodenal ulcers. Fluorescence immunocytochemical and electron microscopic studies on the skin lesions revealed the presence of viral antigens and numerous virus particles compatible morphologically with those of the mature form from the same batch of smallpox vaccine given to the sibling. A large number of virus particles in the developmental form were also predominantly scattered in the cytoplasm of cells at the stratum malpighii of the epidermis as well as in neutrophils and macrophages in the skin lesions. The virus isolation from the skin lesions was done by using the HeLa cells and the human embryonic lung fibroblasts. No abnormal laboratory data were noted in immunoglobulins. On the basis of atrophy of the thymus and other lymphatic tissues and an appearance of large pyroninophilic cells in association with blastoid transformation, the authors discussed a possible participation of the disturbance of cellular immunity secondary to the virus infection in the development of the disease. ACTA PATH. JAP. 29 : 435–455, 1979.     

Rapid diagnosis of human herpesvirus 6 infection by a novel DNA amplification method, loop-mediated isothermal amplification

A novel nucleic acid amplification method, termed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), which amplifies DNA with high specificity, efficiency, and rapidity under isothermal conditions, may be a valuable tool for the rapid detection of infectious agents. LAMP was developed for human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), and its reliability was evaluated in this study. Although LAMP products were detected in HHV-6 B and HHV-6 A DNA, they were not detected in HHV-7 and human cytomegalovirus DNA. The sensitivity of the original HHV-6 LAMP protocol was 50 copies/tube. In order to increase the method's sensitivity, HHV-6 LAMP was modified by increasing the primer concentration. As a result of the modification, sensitivity increased to 25 copies/tube. After these initial validation studies, 13 patients with fever were tested for HHV-6 by viral isolation, serological analysis, and HHV-6 LAMP. In three of the eight patients with primary HHV-6 infection, HHV-6 DNA was detected in whole blood by the original HHV-6 LAMP protocol in not only the acute phase but also the convalescent phase. HHV-6 DNA was detected by modified HHV-6 LAMP in all eight plasma samples collected in the acute phase; however, no HHV-6 DNA was detected in plasma samples collected in the convalescent phase. Although HHV-6 DNA was detected in both the acute and convalescent phases of whole-blood samples in patients with past HHV-6 infection, it was not detected in plasma samples that did not contain latent viral DNA. Thus, detection of HHV-6 DNA in plasma by using this modified HHV-6 LAMP protocol is appropriate for diagnosis of active HHV-6 infection.     

Dominant-Negative Rho, Rac, and Cdc42 Facilitate the Invasion Process of Vibrio parahaemolyticus into Caco-2 Cells

To clarify the invasive process of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, an invasion assay was performed using cells expressing dominant negative small GTPases of the Rho family. This assay showed that the dominant negative host phenotype facilitates bacterial invasion, suggesting that the mechanism of V. parahaemolyticus invasion differs from that reported for other invasive bacteria.