Case of dermatomyositis complicated with massive pleural effusion that preceded the myopathy]

A 36-year-old man was admitted to a hospital with complaints of fever, polyarthralgia and dyspnea. Erythema was observed on his face, extensor surface of the fingers and extremities, and a chest X-ray revealed massive bilateral pleural effusion. He had no sign of myopathy at this point. Pleural fluid was proved to be exudative and contained extremely high levels of hyaluronic acid. He was also complicated with interstitial pneumonitis and was given a pulse therapy with methyl prednisolone followed by daily administration of 55 mg prednisolone (PSL). Twenty days after the commencement of the therapy, pleural effusion decreased but muscle weakness gradually appeared, accompanied by elevation of myogenic enzymes. Myogenic changes on electromyogram, and irregularity of the muscle fibers with slight inflammatory cell infiltrates in a biopsy specimen were demonstrated. He was transferred to our hospital, and a diagnosis of dermatomyositis was made. Later, pleural effusion waxed and waned depending on the dosage of PSL, but no other causative disorder was demonstrated by extensive examinations. This case indicates that the pleuritis could be one of the vasculitic manifestations of dermatomyositis.     

Animal study on the role of serotonin in depression

1. In our series of experiments the role of serotonin in human depression was studied by using animal models of depression.

2. The results of these studies support the hypothesis that some types of human depression may be primarily due to an excessive transmission of serotonin at the synapse.     

Cortical reflex myoclonus in adult onset Huntington's disease]

We report a case of cortical reflex myoclonus in adult onset Huntington's disease (HD). The patient is a 51-year-old woman. Chorea and myoclonus were observed on her face and extremities. Neurophysiological tests showed C reflex and abnormal waves preceding myoclonus by jerk-locked back averaging method but no giant somatosensory evoked potential. Gene analysis revealed the prolongation of CAG repeats (13/44) in IT15 gene. Oral administration of clonazepam was transiently effective for myoclonus. We should inscribe that the cortical reflex myoclonus may exceptionally manifest in HD.     

Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor of the Breast: A Case Report

A 66-year-old woman time of 10 days. One month after radicalmastectomy, there was local recurrence, followed by multiplepulmonary metastases, and the patient died of respiratory failure5 months after surgery. The gray-white-colored tumor measured13x12x;10 cm, and its border was well defined. The tumor wascomposed of diffusely growing round or polygonal cells withvesicular nuclei, prominent nucleoli, and ample cytoplasm containingeosinophilic inclusions. Lymph node involvement was widespread.Both vimentin and keratin were clearly demonstrated by immunohistochemicalstaining. Ultrastructural studies revealed that the MRT cellscontained cytoplasmic whorls of intermediate filaments.     

Seborrhoeic Dermatitis: Treatment with Anti-Mycotic Agents

In order to elucidate the effectiveness of anti-mycotics in treating seborrhoeic dermatitis, an attempt was made to isolate Malassezia from seborrhoeic lesions of patients of seborrhoeic dermatitis. The results revealed that, in male patients, 46/49 cases were positive for Malassezia furfur on the face and 30/48 cases were positive for M. furfur on the scalp. In female patients, 7/13 cases were positive for M. furfur on the face, and 6/17 cases were positive for M. furfur on the scalp. Anti-mycotic agents were excellent in 50% and good in 31% of the spore-positive cases, yielding an overall efficacy rate of 81%. In contrast, the treatment of the face with vehicle alone showed only one excellent result out of 8 cases. Although clinical improvement was rapid on the side treated with a topical corticosteroid in the half-side-test, numerous fungal elements remained. While the improvement with anti-mycotic agents was slower than that with the corticosteroid, clinical improvement became evident by the third week of administration and fungal elements disappeared.     

Amiloride inhibition of responses of rat single chorda tympani fibers to chemical and electrical tongue stimulations

Amiloride inhibition of single fiber responses of the rat chorda tympani to ionic chemical and electrical tongue stimulations was studied. Amiloride reduced responses to both chemical and electrical stimulations with NaCl or LiCl in most of the single fibers. However, the magnitude of reduction of the response by amiloride varied among the fibers and was greater for chemical than electrical stimulation with NaCl in each fiber. Thirty-two single fibers were divided into two groups, such as 18 high (HAS) and 14 low amiloride-sensitive (LAS) fibers. Percent responses (control, 100%) of the former group to chemical stimulus with NaCl after amiloride ranged from 1.1 to 42.5%, while those of the latter from 72.8 to 108.0%. In HAS fibers, amiloride also reduced responses to KCl and CaCl2, but to a smaller degree than those to NaCl and LiCl. Fifteen out of 18 HAS fibers more strongly responded to a chemical stimulus with 0.1 M NaCl than 0.01 M HCl, while the opposite was true for 13 out of 14 LAS fibers, although the threshold concentration for NaCl was rather lower in LAS fibers than in HAS fibers. These results suggest that there exist at least two different receptor mechanisms for NaCl or LiCl which are amiloride-sensitive and -insensitive, and the observed differences in relative specificities to ionic taste stimuli and sensitivities to amiloride among rat chorda tympani fibers are possibly due to a disproportional distribution of these two receptors.     

Inhibition of inward rectifier K+ currents by angiotensin II in rat atrial myocytes: lack of effects in cells from spontaneously hypertensive rats.

We examined the effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) on inward rectifier K+ currents (IK1) in rat atrial myocytes. [125I]Ang II-binding assays revealed the presence of both Ang II type 1 (AT1) and type 2 (AT2) receptors in atrial membrane preparations. Ang II inhibited IK1 in isolated atrial myocytes with an IC50 of 46 nmol/l. This inhibition was abolished by the AT, antagonist RNH6270 but not at all by the AT2 antagonist PD123319. Treatment of cells with pertussis toxin or a synthetic decapeptide corresponding to the carboxyl-terminus of Gialpha-3 abolished the inhibition by Ang II, indicating the role of a Gi-dependent signaling pathway. Accordingly, Ang II failed to inhibit IK1 in the presence of forskolin, dibutyryl-cAMP or protein kinase A catalytic subunits. In spite of the increased binding capacities for [125I]Ang II, Ang II failed to affect IKI in cells from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). AT, immunoprecipitation from atrial extracts revealed decreased amounts of Gialpha-2 and Gialpha-3 proteins associated with this receptor in SHR as compared with controls. The reduced coupling of AT, with Gialpha. proteins may underlie the unresponsiveness of atrial IK1 to Ang II in SHR cells.     

Classification of human liver transplant recipients by their preoperative CD8+ T cell subpopulation and its relation to outcome.

The primed status of T cells is markedly different among liver transplant recipients, due to a lifetime of antigen exposure and reduced thymopoiesis by aging, and diseases. This study aims to characterize the preoperative immunological status of CD8+ T cell subpopulations and relate it to the outcome for liver transplant recipients. We classified 112 liver transplant recipients into 5 groups, based on hierarchical clustering of the CD8+CD45 isoform proportion of T cells. In Groups I and II (pediatric), the naive T cell proportion was more than 50%. In adult recipients, Group III was characterized by a naive T cell proportion of 50%, Group IV had the greatest effector/memory T cells (EM), and Group V had the greatest proportion of effector T cells. In Groups IV and V, the effector T cell proportion was considerably higher, and was accompanied by marked downregulation of the CD27+CD28+ subsets and upregulation of interferon gamma (IFN)-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and perforin expression. Group V recipients tended to be complicated postoperatively, with a significantly reduced survival rate (1 yr, 66.8%) and markedly reduced Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status.     

Electrogastrographic activity in patients who received proximal gastrectomy plus jejunal interposition or total gastrectomy plus jejunal interposition.

Electrogastrograms (EGGs) were recorded in patients both before and after receiving proximal gastrectomy plus jejunal interposition (PGJI) or just after receiving total gastrectomy plus jejunal interposition (TGJI). Intraluminal pressure was also recorded in some postoperative patients. The EGG 3 cpm component (2.5-4.9 cpm) remained after PGJI, but subsequently decreased with a significant reduction in the preoperative to postoperative ratio of the 3 cpm components (P<0.05). The mean frequency of the 3 cpm components increased significantly after PGJI (P<0.05) and its instability factor increased. The EGG 10 cpm components became relatively dominant compared to other frequency components in 2 out of 8 of patients having PGJI but the mean amplitude of 10 cpm decreased. In TGJI patients, only the 10 cpm component was conspicuous in EGG as in the case of total gastrectomy and Roux en Y anastomosis procedures. The spectral frequencies of intraluminal pressure in the interposed jejunum were similar to the EGG of 10 cpm components both in the case of PGJI and TGJI patients. In conclusion, surface EGG could record the electrical activities of the interposed jejunum more easily in patients having had TGJI than in PGJI.