Balloon angioplasty for pulmonary artery stenosis after lung transplantation

We report here a successful case of balloon angioplasty for a stenosis of the pulmonary artery after lung transplantation. A 49-year-old patient with end stage diffuse bronchiectasis with sinusitis underwent bilateral living donor lobar lung transplantation. After treatment of postoperative right pneumothorax, a perfusion lung scan revealed deficient perfusion in the left lung. Pulmonary angiography showed a severe stenosis in the left pulmonary artery just distal to the anastomosis. Percutaneous balloon angioplasty improved both pulmonary perfusion and respiratory function.     

Interstitial Deletion of the Long Arm of Chromosome 8 without Langer-Giedion Syndrome

Abstract: A case of interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 8 is reported. A chromosome analysis by a high resolution banding revealed the abnormal karyotype, 46, XY, del (8) (qll.2ql3). Although some reports describe an association of 8q deletion with the Langer-Giedion syndrome, this patient did not have the typical features of this syndrome. It was noted that the patient had amino aciduria, EEG and ECG abnormalities together with other pathological findings.     

Value of prostate specific antigen α1-antichymotrypsin complex for the detection of prostate cancer in patients with a PSA level of 4.1–10.0ng/mL: Comparison with PSA-related parameters

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of prostate specific antigen alpha1-antichymotrypsin complex (PSA-ACT) in the differential diagnosis of prostate cancer in patients with a PSA level of 4.1-10.0 ng/mL compared to several PSA- and PSA-ACT-related parameters. METHODS: Serum samples were obtained from 103 patients with no evidence of malignancy on biopsy and 29 with histologically confirmed prostate cancer. All patients had pretreatment serum PSA levels between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL. The different forms of serum PSA, including total PSA (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA) and PSA-ACT were measured using immunofluorometric techniques with different monoclonal antibodies against PSA and ACT. Furthermore, tPSA and PSA-ACT densities of the whole prostate (PSAD and ACTD, respectively) and the f-to-tPSA and the f-to-PSA-ACT ratios (F/T ratio and F/ACT ratio, respectively) were calculated. RESULTS: The differences between patients with prostate cancer and benign prostatic disease were significant with respect to all six parameters examined in this study. Analysis of receiver operating characteristics revealed that the areas under the curve for PSA-ACT, ACTD and the F/ACT ratio were larger than those for tPSA, PSAD and the F/T ratio, respectively. However, there were no significant differences in discrimination between benign and malignant diseases among these six parameters. CONCLUSIONS: In patients who have an intermediate serum PSA level, PSA-ACT and its associated parameters may not be significantly superior in the differential diagnosis between prostate cancer and benign prostatic diseases compared to tPSA and its traditional relatives.     

Multiple opsin mRNA species in bovine retina

Two retina specific cDNAs have been isolated by differential colony hybridization to retina and brain, and one of them, pCR-394, was identified as an opsin cDNA. By Northern hybridization experiment, the opsin cDNA hybridized to two species of bovine mRNA, one approximately 18 S (1800 bp) and the other 22 S (2600 bp). Using pCR-394 as a probe two opsin clones, R-5 (about 1200 bp) and LR-8 (about 2500 bp), were isolated from a cDNA library which was prepared by the method of Okayama-Berg. Each had a different length of 3'-untranslated DNA. The nucleotide sequences of R-5 and LR-8, as well as Northern and Southern hybridization experiments suggest that at least two species of opsin mRNA are expressed from a single gene. When the effects of illumination were examined by Northern hybridization and translation assays, the ratio of the two opsin mRNA species was changed between light- and dark-adapted eyes.     

Sex hormone receptors in human thyroid tissues

The behavior of sex hormone receptors was studied in the cytosol of thyroid tissue samples in order to clarify the effects of sex hormones on diseases of the thyroid. Androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PgR) were assayed using the dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) method and analyzed by the method of Scatchard. Androgen receptor, ER, and PgR were negative in all of the cytosol prepared from normal thyroid tissues. However, the positive rates for the receptors in the neoplastic and nonneoplastic tissues were 22% for AR, 29% for ER, and 18% for PgR. Especially, the incidence of ER was significantly higher in neoplastic lesions than normal tissues. These data suggest that sex hormones, especially estrogen, may play a role in diseases of the thyroid.     

Effect of selenium on blood pressure,urinary sodium excretion and plasma aldosterone in cadmium-treated male rats

The present study was carried out to help elucidate the possible mechanisms underlying the effect of Cd and the interaction of Se with Cd on blood pressure. Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, Cd-treated, Se-treated, Se-and Cd-treated. Cd and Se were administered at doses of 1.0 mg/kg body weight by subcutaneous injection of aqueous solutions of CdCl₂·2×1/2 H₂O and Na₂SeO₃, respectively. Injections were made either alone or in the Cd+Se treated group, simultaneously at 12–h intervals for 7 consecutive days. All animals were then maintained without further treatment for an additional period of 18 days. Treatment with Cd and Se separately lowered the blood pressure on days 3 and 8, but these levels increased and were significantly higher than that in control rats by day 26. Plasma aldosterone concentrations increased and urinary Na excretion decreased from day 1 to 3 in rats treated with Cd and Se separately. Thereafter, increased water retention precedes the onset of increased blood pressure. From these findings, we suggest that in rats treated with Cd and Se separately the increase in plasma aldosterone is a main factor for decreased urinary Na excretion and increased retention of water, and these factors may be associated with an increase in blood pressure. The treatment with Cd and Se simultaneously decreased urinary Na excretion and increased the plasma aldosterone concentration and water retention before the onset of increased blood pressure. These findings suggest that the increase in the blood pressure in these rats might be the result of the same mechanisms as in the rats treated with Cd alone. Se administered simultaneously with Cd ameliorates the Cd-induced decrease in blood pressure on days 3 and 8 but did not ameliorate the Cd-induced increase in blood pressure on day 26. The Cd concentration in the serum of rats treated with Cd and Se simultaneously was markedly higher than that in the serum of rats treated with Cd alone on day 3, suggesting that a Cd–Se complex in serum would be formed. The effect of Se in preventing a Cd-induced decrease in blood pressure may be associated with the formation of a Cd-Se complex in the serum on day 3. On the other hand, after termination of treatment with Cd and Se there was no significant difference in the Cd concentrations in the serum between the rats treated with Cd alone and the rats treated with Cd and Se together. These findings suggest that a Cd–Se complex formed in serum on day 3 might be dissociated by day 26.     

Free radical chain oxidation and hemolysis of erythrocytes by molecular oxygen and their inhibition by vitamin E

Erythrocytes of vitamin E-deficient rats and normal rats were oxidized at 37 degrees C by molecular oxygen using a free radical initiator. The erythrocytes were oxidized by a free radical chain mechanism with kinetic chain length considerably larger than 1 and resulted in hemolysis. Vitamin E suppressed both oxidation and hemolysis, but the extent of hemolysis was determined primarily by the extent of oxidation independent of the presence or absence of vitamin E.