Applicability of automated tractography during acute care stroke rehabilitation

[Purpose] To assess the clinical applicability of a novel automated tractography tool named XTRACT during acute stroke rehabilitation. [Participants and Methods] Three patients with left hemisphere stroke were sampled. Diffusion tensor images were acquired on the second week, and automated tractography was then applied. Tractography images and fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the corticospinal tract (CST) and arcuate fasciculus (AF) were assessed in relation to hemiparesis and aphasia. [Results] Patient 1 was nearly asymptomatic; FA in the left CST was 0.610 and that in the AF was 0.509. Patient 2 had severe hemiparesis and mild motor aphasia. Tractography images of the CST and AF were blurred; FA in the left CST was 0.295 and that in the AF was 0.304. Patient 3 showed no hemiparesis or aphasia at initial assessment. Tractography image of the CST was intact but that of the AF was less clear; FA in the left CST was 0.586 and that in the AF was 0.338. Considering the less clear images of the AF and lower FA value in Patients 2 and 3, further examinations for aphasia were performed, which revealed agraphia. [Conclusion] Visualization and quantification of neural fibers using automated tractography promoted planning acute care rehabilitative treatment in patients with stroke.     

Permeability of the flavonoids liquiritigenin and its glycosides in licorice roots and davidigenin, a hydrogenated metabolite of liquiritigenin, using human intestinal cell line Caco-2

The present investigation focused on the transepithelial flux of liquiritigenin (LG), davidigenin (DG), liquiritin (LQ), and liquiritin apioside (LA) using the human colonic cell line Caco-2 as a model of human intestinal absorption. Apparent permeability coefficients (Papp) for the apical to basolateral flux of LG and DG were (16.0 +/- 0.727) x 10(-6) cm/s and (18.2 +/- 1.67) x 10(-6) cm/s, respectively. These Papp were higher than that of the transcellular transport marker propranolol (13.5 +/- 0.34) x 10(-6) cm/s (P < 0.01). Papp for the apical to basolateral flux of LQ and LA were (0.26 +/- 0.12) x 10(-6) cm/s and (0.075 +/- 0.005) x 10(-6) cm/s, respectively. These Papp were lower than that of the paracellular transport marker mannitol (0.64 +/- 0.04) x 10(-6) cm/s (LG, P < 0.01; LA, P < 0.001). These data suggested excellent absorption of LG and DG through the human intestinal epithelial cell line. On the contrary, poor absorption of LQ and LA was expected due to the little transepithelial flux of these compounds in the human colonic cell line Caco-2.     

Triglyceride Deposit Cardiomyovasculopathy with Massive Myocardial Triglyceride which Was Proven Using Proton-magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The patient was a 73-year-old man with a history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, rheumatoid arthritis, repeated percutaneous coronary intervention and percutaneous peripheral intervention procedures. He was frequently admitted to our hospital for congestive heart failure with orthopnea. The myocardial washout rate of iodine-123-β-methyl iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid was defective on scintigraphy. He was diagnosed with triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV). Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) indicated the level of myocardial triglyceride (TG) content to be extremely high (4.92%). This is the first report to confirm a massive accumulation of TG in the myocardium of a patient with TGCV using ¹H-MRS noninvasively.     

Serotonin 2A receptor gene polymorphism and personality traits: no evidence for significant association

A number of studies have observed associations between the serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor and mental disorders. Here, we investigated correlations between polymorphisms (-1438G/A and 102T/C) of the 5-HT2A gene and personality traits in healthy Japanese volunteers (n = 239). The personality traits were evaluated using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R). The -1438G/A and 102T/C were in complete linkage disequilibrium. There was a tendency for associations between the genotype and the scores for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism of the NEO PI-R (P = 0.028, 0.039 and 0.062, respectively; analysis of variance, uncorrected for multiple testing). Subjects with the A/A of -1438G/A (or T/T of 102T/C) appeared to be lower in Neuroticism and higher in Conscientiousness than the rest of the subjects. However, the results were statistically non-significant after Bonferroni's correction for multiple testing of the five scales of the NEO PI-R. Thus, the present study provided no evidence for statistically significant associations between the 5-HT2A polymorphisms and the personality traits.     

Gelatin hydrogels cross-linked by gamma-ray irradiation: materials for absorption and release of dye

Gelatin hydrogels cross-linked by y-ray irradiation using 60Co as gamma-ray source were prepared. As a model of controlled release of low-molecular-weight compounds, absorption and release of methylene blue, a water-soluble cationic dye, was investigated. Irradiated gelatin hydrogels did not redissolve at temperatures over 40 degrees C, while unirradiated gels were thermoplastic and reversibly changed the stage between gel and sol. Measurement of both the wet weight after swelling in distilled water and dry weight after freeze-drying showed that the higher-dose irradiation gave stiffer and more compact gels with the lower specific water content, irrespective of the absorbed dose rate. The time-course of absorption and release of methylene blue in aqueous solution was measured. Since absorption of dye into gelatin gels was much affected by liquid phase pH, amount of absorption was higher in pH above an IEP of gelatins. Moreover, the absorption and release of methylene blue with Type-B gelatin were higher than with Type-A gelatin, respectively. Therefore, absorption and release of the dye depend on the electrostatic interaction between the dye molecule and gelatin.     

A new simplified catalyzed signal amplification system for minimizing non-specific staining in tissues with supersensitive immunohistochemistry

We investigated non-specific staining in a catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD) reaction and improved its blocking methods in supersensitive immunohistochemistry, based on our simplified catalyzed signal amplification (CSA) system (Hasui et al. 2002). In the CARD reaction using biotinyl tyramide, non-specific staining could be reduced by pretreatment with a casein solution or 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA)-phosphate buffer saline (PBS) with 0.1% Tween 20. In the CARD reaction using FITC-labeled tyramide, non-specific staining could be blocked by pretreatment with 0.3% BSA-PBS with 0.1% Tween 20 or 3% polyethylene glycol-PBS with 01% Tween 20. Thus, our new simplified CSA system features: 1) destruction of the endogenous peroxidase activity; 2) blocking of the nonspecific reaction of the primary antibody; 3) a primary antibody reaction; 4) blocking of the non-specific reaction of the polymer reagent by casein treatment; 5) a polymer reaction; 6) blocking of the non-specific reaction of CARD reaction by casein treatment; 7) a CARD reaction; and 8) detection of deposited tyramide. This new system proved useful for detecting an extremely low amount of antigen in the endogenous biotin-rich tissues such as the gastrointestinal tract and liver. By this method, the Ki67 antigen in the G1 phase cell cycle could be detected and a metabolic disorder of the Ki67 antigen was implicated in a carcinoid tumor in the stomach. We believe that this new simplified CSA system represents a new standard of supersensitive immunohistochemistry for use in light-microscopic investigation.     

Human BMP-2 gene transfer using transcutaneous in vivo electroporation induced both intramembranous and endochondral ossification

It has been generally accepted that bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) can induce osteogenesis in skeletal muscles via endochondral ossification. However, it is not clear how the ossification process occurs after the BMP-2 gene transfer to skeletal muscles in rats using in vivo electroporation. In this study, we evaluated the ossification process by BMP-2 gene transfer using in vivo electroporation. The gastrocnemius muscles of Wistar rats were injected with human BMP-2 gene expression vector (pCAGGS-BMP-2), followed by electroporation under the condition of 100 V, 50 msec per 1 sec, x8. Light and electron microscopic and radiographic analyses were performed at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days after treatment. At 7 days, no sign of cartilage and/or bone formation was detected. However, at 10 days after in vivo electroporation, soft X-ray analysis revealed small lucent areas around the plasmid-injected region. Clusters of both cartilage tissues, leading to endochondral ossification and intramembranous bones of various sizes, were observed between muscle fibers. RT-PCR detected osteocalcin mRNA, showing bone formation at 10 days. Our findings strongly suggest that BMP-2 gene transfer using in vivo electroporation induces not only endochondral ossification but also intramembranous ossification.     

A case of a placental site trophoblastic tumor

A rare placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) in a 39-year-old female was studied. This tumor, protruding into the uterine cavity, was histologically similar to tumors in previously reported cases of PSTT. Ultrastructurally, the characteristic finding was the presence of perinuclear filaments. Also, the tumor cells were strongly positive for hPL by immunohistochemical method. These findings suggest that this was a tumor caused by neoplastic proliferation of the extravillous intermediate trophoblast.     

The assessment of cell proliferation during 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene-induced hamster tongue carcinogenesis by means of histone H3 mRNA in situ hybridization

The aim of this study was to investigate cell kinetics and ultrastructural changes during carcinogenesis using a hamster 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA)-induced tongue cancer model. Five squamous cell carcinomas, five dysplastic epithelia, seven hyperplastic epithelia, and four normal epithelia were obtained from 21 hamster tongues by applying 1.0% acetone solution of DMBA on the left lingual mucosa after scratching with a root canal broach. Ultrastructural examination revealed that the number of microvilli increased, whereas that of desmosomes decreased during carcinogenesis. Cell proliferation was analyzed by means of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization (ISH) for histone H3 mRNA. The BrdU and histone H3 mRNA labeling indices (LIs) were lowest for normal epithelium, higher for hyperplastic and dysplastic epithelia, and highest for squamous cell carcinoma. Cytoplasmic histone H3 mRNA and nuclear BrdU were localized in virtually identical areas of serial sections. The correlation coefficient for the relationship between these two LIs was 0.97 (P 0.001). These results suggest that the assessment of cell proliferation using H3 mRNA ISH will be a useful technique for investigating biological behavior during carcinogenesis.