T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with add(1)(p36) and del(12)(p11) following acute myelocytic leukemia with partial deletion of 9p

We describe the case of a 40-year-old man whose disease was initially diagnosed as acute myelocytic leukemia. The patient achieved remission with chemotherapy, but relapsed shortly afterwards with an acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. He died of intracranial bleeding. Karyotyping analysis showed a del(9p?) as a common abnormality in the leukemic cells at onset and relapse. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis demonstrated allelic loss of the CDKN2A gene in cells from both stages of the disease. At relapse the leukemia cells had additional abnormalities such as add(1)(p36) and del(12)(p11). We postulate that the loss of CDKN2A is involved in leukemogenesis but does not determine the lineage of the leukemic cells. Instead, abnormalities of genes at 1p36, 12p11, or both may be involved in driving a lymphoid phenotype.     

Protodioscin isolated from fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum L.) induces cell death and morphological change indicative of apoptosis in leukemic cell line H-60, but not in gastric cancer cell line KATO III

Protodioscin (PD) was purified from fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum L.) and identified by Mass, and 1H- and 13C-NMR. The effects of PD on cell viability in human leukemia HL-60 and human stomach cancer KATO III cells were investigated. PD displayed strong growth inhibitory effect against HL-60 cells, but weak growth inhibitory effect on KATO III cells. Morphological change showing apoptotic bodies was observed in the HL-60 cells treated with PD, but not in KATO III cells treated with PD. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the hypodiploid nuclei of HL-60 cells were increased to 75.2, 96.3, and 100% after a 3-day treatment with 2.5, 5, and 10 microM PD, respectively. The fragmentation by PD of DNA to oligonucleosomal-sized fragments, that is a characteristic of apoptosis, was observed to be both concentration- and time-dependent in the HL-60 cells. These findings suggest that growth inhibition by PD of HL-60 cells results from the induction of apoptosis by this compound in HL-60 cells.     

No difference in serum leptin concentrations between urban-dwelling Austronesians and Non-Austronesians in Papua New Guinea.

Pacific Islands populations can be broadly divided into Austronesians (AN) and Non-Austronesians (NAN); obesity and type 2 diabetes are prevalent in the former, although leptin levels in both groups have seldom been investigated. Thirty-seven (20 male and 17 female) adult pairs, matched by age and percent body fat, from AN-speaking Balopa and NAN-speaking Huli, all of whom migrated to settle in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, were selected for comparison of their serum leptin concentrations. The Balopa did not differ significantly from the Huli in age (30.5 +/- 9.7 and 30.0 +/- 8.7 years for males, 33.7 +/- 8.9 and 34.1 +/- 7.5 years for females, respectively) or percent body fat (19.4 +/- 5.6 and 18.8 +/- 4.6 for males, 34.1 +/- 6.2 and 33.3 +/- 5.0 for females), although the BMI of females was lower in the Balopa (26.4 +/- 4.9) than in the Huli (29.7 +/- 4.7) (P = 0.02). In both ethnic groups, females had markedly higher leptin concentrations than males, but there was no significant inter-group difference in males (3.5 +/- 2.6 and 3.1 +/- 4.7 ng/ml, P = 0.14) or females (22.7 +/- 12.9 and 19.7 +/- 11.9 ng/ml, P = 0.40), after controlling for lifestyle factors and serum lipids. Multiple regression analysis revealed that significant predictors of leptin concentration were % body fat (beta = 0.58), sex (male, 0; female, 1; beta = 0.27), and smoker status (non-smoker, 0; smoker, 1; beta = -0.15) (R(2) = 0.80), implying that the leptin concentration was primarily determined by lifestyle-derived body fatness. In conclusion, the NAN populations do not endogenously differ in leptin status from the AN populations, who have been recognized as a typical group with a "thrifty" genotype.     

Administration of thyroxine in treated Graves' disease. Effects on the level of antibodies to thyroid-stimulating hormone receptors and on the risk of recurrence of hyperthyroidism

BACKGROUND. Antibodies to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptors that stimulate the thyroid gland cause hyperthyroidism in patients with Graves' disease, and their production during antithyroid drug treatment is an important determinant of the course of the disease. One factor that might contribute to the persistent production of antibodies to TSH receptors is stimulation of the release of thyroid antigens by TSH during antithyroid drug therapy. We therefore studied the effect of the suppression of TSH secretion by thyroxine on the levels of antibodies to TSH receptors after thyroid hormone secretion had been normalized by methimazole. METHODS AND RESULTS. The levels of antibodies to TSH receptors were measured during treatment with methimazole, either alone or in combination with thyroxine, in 109 patients with hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease. The patients first received 30 mg of methimazole daily for six months. All were euthyroid after six months, and their mean (+/- SD) level of antibodies to TSH receptors decreased from 64 +/- 9 percent to 25 +/- 15 percent (P less than 0.01; normal, 2.9 +/- 1.4 percent). Sixty patients then received 100 micrograms of thyroxine and 10 mg of methimazole and 49 received placebo and 10 mg of methimazole daily for one year. In the thyroxine-treated group, the mean serum thyroxine concentration increased from 108 +/- 16 nmol per liter to 145 +/- 11 nmol per liter (P less than 0.01), and the level of antibodies to TSH receptors decreased from 28 +/- 10 percent to 10 +/- 3 percent after one month of combination therapy. In the patients who received placebo and methimazole, the mean serum thyroxine concentration decreased and the level of antibodies to TSH receptors did not change. Methimazole, but not thyroxine or placebo, was discontinued in each group 1 1/2 years after the beginning of treatment. The level of antibodies to TSH receptors further decreased (from 6.6 +/- 3.2 percent at the time methimazole was discontinued to 2.1 +/- 1.2 percent one year later) in the patients who continued to receive thyroxine, but it increased (from 9.1 +/- 4.8 percent to 17.3 +/- 5.8 percent during the same period) in the patients who received placebo. One patient in the thyroxine-treated group (1.7 percent) and 17 patients in the placebo group (34.7 percent) had recurrences of hyperthyroidism within three years after the discontinuation of methimazole. CONCLUSIONS. The administration of thyroxine during antithyroid drug treatment decreases both the production of antibodies to TSH receptors and the frequency of recurrence of hyperthyroidism.     

Two case reports of childhood liver cell adenomas harboring beta-catenin abnormalities

The benign epithelial neoplasm liver cell adenoma is rare, especially in childhood. We report 2 such cases, 1 of which was associated with Prader-Willi syndrome. Differential diagnosis of the liver cell adenomas on the basis of histopathologic findings proved difficult and was based on the absence of cellular and nuclear atypia, mitotic activity, and invasive growth. In both cases, immunohistochemical staining demonstrated the nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin, and in 1 case, the tumor cells carried a mutation of the beta-catenin gene. Recently, disregulation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, attributable to abnormalities of the beta-catenin gene, has been reported to be a major event in the development of hepatocellular carcinomas and hepatoblastomas. Our report may be the first to describe the beta-catenin abnormalities in childhood liver cell adenoma. These findings imply that abnormalities of beta-catenin can be an early initiating event in human liver tumorigenesis.     

Morphological characteristics of Schwann cells in the islets of Langerhans of the murine pancreas.

The present study demonstrated the three-dimensional architecture of peri-insular nerve plexuses in the murine pancreas by the combined use of light microscopy of S-100 immunostained sections, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of thin sections, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of KOH digested tissues. By light microscopy of thin sections immunostained with anti-S-100 antibody, Schwann cells were often found on the margin of the islets as if delimiting the islet and exocrine parenchyma. In thick sections, Schwann cells of the islet connected their thin and slender processes with each other to form a delicate network on the surface of the islet. By TEM, Schwann cells were observed as an attenuated sheet that invested the surface of the islet. Axon terminals were usually found on the outer surface of these membranous Schwann cells. SEM of KOH digested tissues revealed that nerves reaching the islet spread on the insular surface. Schwann cells in this portion extended their thin membranous processes, which directly covered the basal part of several endocrine cells as a whole. Numerous axons with varicosities were usually found on the surface of these membranous Schwann cells, but sometimes crept beneath them. These findings indicate that "the interstitial cells" described by light microscopists are peculiar-shaped Schwann cells present in the islets. The functional significance of the rich innervation of the islets is also briefly discussed in the present study.     

2-O-methylisohemigossylic acid lactone, a sesquiterpene, isolated from roots of mokumen (Gossampinus malabarica) induces cell death and morphological change indicative of apoptotic chromatin condensation in human promyelotic leukemia HL-60 cells

2-O-methylisohemigossylic acid lactone, a sesquiterpene, was purified from roots of mokumen (Gossampinus malabarica) and identified by Mass, and (1)H- and (13)-NMR. This sesquiterpene displayed strong growth inhibitory effect against human promyelotic leukemia HL-60 cells. Apoptotic morphological change of the nucleus, including chromatin condensation was induced in the HL-60 cells treated with the sesquiterpene. The fragmentation of DNA by the sesquiterpene to oligonucleosomal-sized fragments, a characteristic of apoptosis, was observed to be dose- and time-dependent in the HL-60 cells. Inhibitors of caspases suppressed the DNA fragmentation induced by the sesquiterpene. These findings suggest that growth inhibition by the sesquiterpene of HL-60 cells results from the induction of apoptosis by the sesqui-terpene, and that caspase cascade is involved in the induction of apoptosis by the compound in the HL-60 cells.