Association between thyroid cancer of cribriform variant and familial adenomatous polyposis.

A case of a 20 year old Japanese woman who developed thyroid cancer exhibiting unusual cribriform structures while being followed up for familial adenomatous polyposis/Gardner's syndrome is reported. The patient presented with osteomas, pigmented retinal lesions, and adenomas of the duodenum and the papilla of Vater, in addition to numerous adenomatous polyps in the colorectum. On ultrasonography, the thyroid cancer was localised to the right lobe and was identified as an irregular, internal echo tumour with a peripheral hypoechoic zone, measuring 1.8 cm in diameter. Histological examination of the resected tumour showed a concomitance of papillary proliferation and cribriform structures with follicles of varying sizes. These features can be distinguished from sporadic thyroid cancer.     

Relationship between core temperature and skin blood flux in lower limbs during prolonged arm exercise in persons with spinal cord injury

The purposes of the present study were to examine the response of the skin blood flux (SBF) in the paralyzed lower limbs of persons with spinal cord injury (PSCI) and to clarify the relationship between the SBF and core temperature during prolonged arm exercise. Eight male PSCI with lesions from T6 to L5 and six male control subjects (CS) participated in this study. The subjects rested for 60 min and then performed arm-cranking exercise at 20 W for 30 min at 25 °C. The tympanic membrane temperature (T _ty) and SBF in the anterior thigh (SBFT) and in the posterior calf (SBFC) were continuously measured throughout the experiment. The SBFC did not change in either PSCI or CS during the experiment. The SBFT in four PSCI with high lesions (T6 to T12), remained unchanged during exercise. The SBFT in the other four PSCI with low lesions (T12 to L5, SBFT+) began to elevate markedly when the T t, exceeded a threshold temperature of 36.69 °C. The pattern of increase of SBFT in SBFT+ was similar to that in CS, although onset of the increase in SBFT was delayed and the peak of SBFT during exercise was significantly lower in comparison with the CS. We consider that these differences between the SBFT+ and CS were largely attributable to the lowerT _ty in the former group, which took a prolonged time to reach the threshold of 36.69 °C.     

Comparative anatomical studies of thyroid and thymic arteries: I. Rat (Rattus norvegicus albinus)

The thyroid and thymic arteries were investigated in 50 male and 50 female rats. In more than 70% of the animals, on both sides the cranial thyroid artery forms a common trunk with the ascending pharyngeal artery. The caudal thyroid artery arises not from the deep cervical but from the pericardiacophrenic artery. It may be replaced, however, by a branch of some other artery, such as the brachiocephalic, subclavian, vertebral, or ascending cervical, suggesting a shift of its origin from the internal thoracic artery to the thyrocervical trunk as in man. All the thoracic lobes of the thymus are supplied directly by a thymic branch of the internal thoracic artery or indirectly by a branch of the pericardiacophrenic artery. More than half of the specimens have a cervical thymic lobe of variable size, which is supplied by a branch of the cranial thyroid, external carotid, and/or occipital arteries. Some of these thymic arteries, except those from the external carotid and occipital arteries, reach the thoracic lobe. The thoracic lobes lacking a cervical lobe may be supplied by the thymic branch arising only from the cranial thyroid artery. Other anomalous arteries supplying the thoracic lobe are derived from the superficial cervical and/or the right common carotid arteries. These results show that the thymic arteries of rats are basically similar to those of man, although they display a clear difference in their frequency and origin.     

IgE-mediated14C-serotonin release from passively sensitized rat mast cells: Comparative kinetic study with formaldehyde and ice-cold methods

The kinetics of IgE-mediated release of serotonin from passively sensitized rat mast cellsin vitro was studied by stopping¹⁴C-serotonin release with the application of formaldehyde fixative or ice-cold mast cell medium (MCM). Antigen dose-release curves of¹⁴C-serotonin and/or histamine were comparable when mediator release was terminated with either formaldehyde at a final concentration of 1% or ice-cold MCM 15 min after antigen challenge. However, the kinetic study of immunological mediator release stopped by formaldehyde showed that the addition of antigen resulted in a progressive increase of released¹⁴C-serotonin for 7 min, the release curve being sigmoidal, whereas the application of ice-cold MCM artificially enhanced¹⁴C-serotonin and histamine release in the first 2 min. The results suggest that stopping IgE-mediated release of¹⁴C-serotonin with formaldehyde is a simple, rapid and accurate method of studying the kinetics of mediator release from mast cells.     

Hypercomplex models of insulin and glucose dynamics: Do they predict experimental results?

A hypercomplex circulation and organs model of glucose and insulin dynamics is presented. The model is based on physiological parameters, incorporating blood and plasma flow rates, circulatory paths, intra- and extravascular glucose and insulin spaces, as well as the specific organs and tissues involved both with insulin disappearance and with glucose production or uptake. Its simulations readily lend themselves to physiological interpretation. To explore its validity, the model was assigned parameters typical of a 12 kg dog and was arranged to accept known glucose and insulin infusions from two different experiments on pancreatectomized diabetic animals. It predicted the observed glucose and insulin concentrations as well as uptake rates for both moieties in the individual organs and tissues. This confirmed the ability of the model to predict with consistency the group mean outcomes of both experiments when differing routes (portal or peripheral) of infusion were applied. Excellent agreement was achieved for the studies. The model isolates glucose uptake in the periphery, the liver, the brain, and the gut and allows a direct comparison of glucose disposal along various routes. Thus, the total amount of glucose uptake by peripheral, insulin-dependent tissues is directly calculated to be 30% of an intravenous glucose load, with peripheral infusion, which is higher than that with portal infusion (18%). This investigation was conducted as a project of the Artificial Pancreas Programme and is supported in part by a grant MA5767 from the Medical Research Council of Canada and a negotiated contract No. NO1-AM-9-2201 from The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.     

Injection-site granulomas resulting from the administration of both leuprorelin acetate and goserelin acetate for the treatment of prostatic cancer.

Although injection-site granulomas caused by leuprorelin acetate have been reported, there have been no reports of granulomas caused by both leuprorelin acetate and goserelin acetate. An 81-year-old man presented with subcutaneous nodules of the abdominal wall and upper arm, where 11.25 mg of leuprorelin acetate had been injected for the treatment of prostate cancer. Because of these nodules, treatment was changed to goserelin acetate. Nevertheless, he presented with another subcutaneous nodule at the injection site. Histological examination showed that these nodules consisted of numerous giant cells that were CD3-positive T lymphocytes and CD68-positive histiocytes associated with granulomatous changes. The granulomas had likely been caused by delayed-type hypersensitivity to leuprorelin acetate injection. The granuloma that formed after goserelin acetate injection might thus have developed owing to the immunogenicity of the previous leuprorelin acetate injections. The patient underwent surgical castration. The present case suggests that both leuprorelin acetate and goserelin acetate can cause injection-site disorders.