In vitro dopamine biosynthesis in the median eminence of rat hypothalamic slices: Involvement of voltage-dependent Ca channels

Equimolar replacement of Na⁺ in medium with choline chloride or sucrose and experimental manipulations known to increase [Na⁺]_i, such as ouabain addition and K⁺ deprivation from medium, caused a marked increase in in vitro DOPA synthesis in the median eminence of rat hypothalamic slices in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. These results suggest that a Na⁺−Ca²⁺ exchange mechanism is closely involved in the regulation of dopamine biosynthesis in tuberoinfundibular neurons.     

Sequential internal mammary-coronary artery bypass

A total of ten patients have undergone sequential bypass grafting of the internal mammary artery (IMA) to the coronary arteries at Osaka Medical College. Operative procedures included left IMA bypass to the left anterior descending (LAD) artery and its major diagonal branch in six patients; to the obtuse marginal branch and diagonal branch in three patients; and to the first and the second diagonal branches in one patient. The right internal mammary artery was concomitantly utilized in 4 patients and saphenous vein graft was also utilized in 6 patients. Postoperative angiographic studies were performed in nine patients within 6 months after operation and in all 18 sites of IMA anastomoses, the IMA sequential grafts were patent. Since sequential IMA-coronary bypass technique means the increase of arterial graft, we believe that this technique should be used for multivessel coronary revascularization especially in younger patients.     

Visualization of blood flow in abdominal tumors by the ultrasonic pulsed Doppler method

The clinical utility of visualizing the blood flow in the margin and inside of tumors by ultrasonic pulsed Doppler method (UPDM) was evaluated in 54 patients (85 lesions) with various abdominal tumors. It was proved that UPDM was able to evaluate the vascularity of the tumor and the surrounding vascular system. These results indicate that this method may be applied clinically for judging the effects of and the indications for the transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) therapy. It is also suggested that UPDM may be applied in the differential diagnosis of tumors according to the changes of blood velocity and wave patterns.     

Prognostic study of ovarian clear cell carcinoma

Prognostic studies were performed on 17 cases with clear cell carcinoma of the ovary. The results are follows: 1) The average age was 45.9 years and ranging from 35 to 57 years. 2) Regarding the FIGO clinical stage, all of 5 patients with stage I and 3 of 5 with stage II survived over 2 years, while all of patients with stage III and 2 with stage IV were dead within 2 years. 3) Of 9 patients who had complete resection for primary operation, 8 (89%) survived over 2 years. All of 8 patients who had incomplete resection were dead within 2 years. 4) All cases had been received various chemotherapy; CQ + 5-FU (n = 5), CPM + ADM + CDDP + 5-FU (n = 7), 5-FU + CPM + MMC (n = 2), CDDP (n = 1), CDDP + MMC + 5-FU (n = 1), MCNU + VCR + 5-FU (n = 1), but none of them improved the prognosis of this histological type. 5) With or without administration of CDDP, there was no significant difference in the prognosis. These results suggest that early diagnosis of disease, curative surgical resection and selection of effective chemotherapeutic agents are important things to improve prognosis of clear cell carcinoma of the ovary.     

A primary gastric adenosquamous carcinoma with remarkable lymphatic metastasis diagnosed by the stomach and lymph node biopsy

This report describes the case of a 74-year-old female, who had been admitted to hospital because of epigastralgia and appetite loss. An ultrasonogram and a CT scan of the abdomen revealed a remarkable lymph node metastasis. Through an upper gastrointestinal tract (UGI) X-ray, a Borrmann III type gastric carcinoma was detected. Under endoscopic guidance, a gastric and a lymph node specimen were taken and biopsied, revealing a keratinous, well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, leading to a diagnosis of a primary gastric adenosquamous carcinoma with a remarkable lymphnode metastasis. After chemotherapy, a CT scan, a UGI X-ray, and an endoscopic examination revealed distinct tumor reduction.     

Glial expression of cytokines in the brains of cerebrovascular disease patients

We examined the immunohistochemical localization of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, lymphotoxin and interferon-γ in 22 autopsy brains of patients with either cerebrovascular disease (CVD) or other neurological diseases as well as 2 non-neurological control brains. These cytokines were coexpressed mostly in the microglia/macrophages and in a few astroglia in the brains with acute cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. In cases with cerebral infarction, they were observed as early as 33 h after the onset of the illness and persisted for up to 40 days after the onset. In one patient with cerebral hemorrhage who survived for 4 h, the cytokine-immunoreactive glial cells were confined to the margins of the hematoma. In contrast, the cytokine-immunoreactive glia were distributed diffusely in one patient with cerebral hemorrhage who died 12 days after the onset of the illness. Labeling for these cytokines was weak in the glial cells of control brains and those with neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy, in so far as there were no concomitant acute CVD foci. The present results indicate that proinflammatory cytokines are up-regulated in the brains of patients with acute stroke, and suggest an early inflammatory response in human CVD. Received: 26 February 1996 / Revised, accepted: 29 March 1996     

Relevance of periglomerular myofibroblasts in progression of human glomerulonephritis

To clarify the pathological and clinical significance of periglomerular alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA)-positive cells, we examined 51 needle-biopsy specimens from patients with human glomerulonephritis. Immunoelectron microscopy confirmed these cells were myofibroblasts showing characteristic features with abundant alpha-SMA-positive thin myofilaments. Nonsclerotic glomeruli with periglomerular myofibroblasts were larger in the Bowman's capsular planar area than nonsclerotic glomeruli without periglomerular myofibroblasts (24.7 +/- 6.0 x 10(3) microm2 v 19.9 +/- 8.5 x 10(3) microm2; P < 0.01). We studied the correlation between the clinical prognosis and the extent of periglomerular myofibroblasts in 24 patients with IgA nephropathy. Patients were divided into two groups; those with plasma creatinine levels within normal range at biopsy and significantly elevated at follow-up were designated group 1 (poor prognosis), and patients with plasma creatinine levels within normal range at biopsy and not significantly elevated at follow-up were designated group 2 (fair prognosis). In the kidneys of group 1 patients, periglomerular alpha-SMA was expressed more intensively than it was in the kidneys of group 2 patients (alpha-SMA expression score, 1.0 +/- 0.48 v 0.52 +/- 0.54; P < 0.05). These findings indicate that periglomerular myofibroblasts appeared surrounding the nonsclerotic hypertrophic glomeruli, which may lead finally to glomerulosclerosis. This report suggests that interaction between the glomerular cells and the periglomerular myofibroblasts may have a role in the progression of glomerular diseases.     

Fractionation and characterization of urinary heparan sulfate excreted by patients with Sanfilippo syndrome

Urinary heparan sulfates (HS) from two siblings with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) III-B were fractionated by chromatography with Dowex 1 and Sephadex G-50. Their Mr ranged from 1600 to 8000, and 95% of them were included in the region less than 5000. Fractions with lower Mr contained larger amounts of O-and N-sulfates. The chemical analysis and deaminative cleavage of HS suggested that an intact HS molecule was composed of some blocks rich in GlcNAc and GlcUA and other blocks rich in GlcNS, IdUA and O-sulfate. GlcNAc-UA-GlcNS-UA-GlcNAc-UA-GlcNAc was found to be a major oligosaccharide of HS with Mr less than 1800. Trisaccharides, GlcNAc-GlcUA-aMan and GlcNAc-IdUA-aMan, were released from the nonreducing end of HS-oligosaccharides by deaminative cleavage. They carried 0-3 moles of ester sulfate. GlcNAc-IdUA-aMan was more sulfated than the other. The release of significant amounts of nonsulfated trisaccharide conform to the enzyme defect in this disease. Urinary HS obtained from another patient with MPS III were examined by the same way. Although the patient was not examined enzymatically, the structure of urinary GAG suggested a defect of alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase in the patient.