Rapid hypertensinogenic effect of lead: studies in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

Chronic lead exposure may cause hypertension in normotensive rats. This hypertensinogenic effect has been attributed to perturbations in the renin-angiotensin axis, the contractile response of the vascular smooth muscle, or the intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis as a consequence of the inhibition of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity. In this study we examined the short-term effect of lead exposure on blood pressure, plasma renin activity, vascular contractility, and renal Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity and abundance in the spontaneously hypertensive rat. Our data indicate that modest lead exposure caused blood pressure elevation within two weeks in this rat strain that is genetically susceptible to the development of hypertension. This rapid blood pressure-elevating effect did not appear to depend on the mechanisms described in hypertension associated with more chronic lead exposure listed above. This acute model provides an additional approach to the study of lead-induced hypertension.     

Partial mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection and radiotherapy as a new treatment modality of breast cancer (I).

This is the first preliminary report among two consecutive papers. Partial mastectomy(PM), axillary lymph node dissection(AD) and radiotherapy (RT) were performed on seventeen operable breast cancer patients who had been admitted from April 1991 to March 1992 to the department of surgery, Yongdong Severance Hospital for improved cosmetic appearance and better survival rate. Of seventeen patients, 47% were T1 lesion and 76% were stage I and II. Extensive intraductal component(EIC) within or around the tumor was also analyzed. Twenty nine per cent of the patients were EIC positive. The mean number of axillary lymph nodes was 21.5 after PM with AD and 20.5 after mastectomy. For radiotherapy, 4,500 rad was delivered to the breast parenchyma and 1,600 rad of boost to the primary tumor site using the electron beam method after surgery. All patients have since been living well without any local recurrence and were satisfied with breast preservation for the one-year follow-up period. We concluded that the PM, AD and RT can be another surgical treatment modality of breast cancer. A longer follow-up data will be followed on the second paper.     

Fusiform posterior cerebral artery aneurysm treated with excision and end-to-end anastomosis. Case report

A case of a ruptured fusiform aneurysm of the posterior cerebral artery is reported. The aneurysm was excised and end-to-end anastomosis was carried out between the two ends of the posterior cerebral artery. There is no previous report of a posterior cerebral artery aneurysm treated with this technique. The pertinent literature is reviewed and the significance of this technique in the treatment of unclippable cerebral aneurysms is discussed.     

In vitro growth inhibition of neoplastically transformed cells by non-transformed cells: requirement for gap junctional intercellular communication

We examined whether the inhibition of neoplastically transformedcell growth by co-cultured non-transformed cells involved gapjunctional intercellular communication (GJIC). The growth ofpoorly communicating (     

Quantitative whole-body autoradiographic analysis of the tissue distribution of orally-administered [14C]cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic rats

The cholesterol-fed rat model has been used to examine the distribution of radiolabeled cholesterol by whole-body autoradiographic and quantitative videodensitometric methods. Animals were fed a hypercholesterolemic diet for 7 days, and were subsequently killed at 3, 6, 12, 24, or 72 h following a single oral dose of [14C]cholesterol. Maximum blood and tissue levels were observed at 12 h, while liver and adrenals were the most intensely labeled tissues. Liver maintained consistently high levels over the course of the study, while activity in other tissues declined moderately by 72 h, indicating the long half-life of cholesterol radioequivalents in tissue. The results of these experiments suggest that autoradiographic examination of cholesterol distribution in animals treated with pharmaceutical agents designed to modify cholesterol absorption or clearance will be useful in providing supplemental or confirmatory information on the drugs' mode of action.