Uptake and excretion of 67Ga-citrate in malignant tumors and normal cells

Using in vivo and in vitro experimental models, the uptake and excretion of ⁶⁷Ga-citrate in tumor cells and normal cells were studied. The timelapse accumulation of ⁶⁷Ga in the tumor of rats bearing Yoshida sarcoma reached its peak 24 h after the administration of ⁶⁷Ga and gradually decreased thereafter. However, the excretion of ⁶⁷Ga from the tumor was less than that from normal lung. For culture cells in vitro, the uptake of ⁶⁷Ga increased with lapse of contact time between ⁶⁷Ga and the cells, but there was no distinct difference between the results for tumor cells and normal skin fibroblasts. The excretion of ⁶⁷Ga from the cells tended to decrease with prolongation of the contact time, the excretion from tumor cells being only about 10% after a contact time of 24 h. This indicated a significant delay in excretion in comparison with that of normal skin fibroblasts. This delay in the excretion of ⁶⁷Ga may be an important factor in the tumor accumulation of ⁶⁷Ga.     

Beh?et's disease and streptococcal infection

The streptococcal antigen was determined in the plasma of 26 patients with Beh?et's disease, 30 patients with other uveitis (tuberculosis: 7, sarcoidosis: 6, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada's disease: 6, toxoplasmosis: 6, trauma: 5), and 63 normal subjects with matched ages. The antigen titer in Beh?et's patients, either during ocular attack or remission, was significantly higher than that in the normal control subjects (P less than 0.0001) and that of other uveitis subjects (P less than 0.001). Time-course study in the Beh?et's disease cases showed that the titer was the highest during the attack and then decreased gradually as the ocular inflammation subsided. It was also found in two cases that the titer increased markedly just before the ocular attacks. There was no difference between the titer in other uveitis cases and that in the controls. By electron microscope, streptococcal L form-like structures were observed in the plasma and leukocyte layer of the blood of Beh?et's patients sampled during the ocular attacks. Streptococcal infection may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of Beh?et's disease.     

Hereditary factors in Takayasu disease. III. Polymorphism of human complements

Genetic polymorphisms in C2, C4, C6, C7 and BF alleles of human complement were studied in 80 Japanese patients with Takayasu disease, and compared with those of 433 normal Japanese. Statistically significant high frequencies of C4A2 (chi 2: 27.2; p less than 0.01) and C4BQ0 allotype (chi 2: 8.7; p less than 0.01) were found in patients with Takayasu disease. Furthermore, all patients carrying C4A2 were found to be associated with C4BQ0. In addition, patients with HLA Bw52 were strongly associated with C4A2BQ0. In 5 patients homozygous C4BQ0 was found. These data suggest that some genetic factor(s) may contribute to the pathophysiological condition of Takayasu disease, which is strongly associated with the complotype of HLA Bw52-C4A2BQ0.