Estimation of the reticuloendothelial function by positron emission computed tomography (PET) study in chronic liver disease

We have developed a new liver scanning agent (Ga-68 human serum albumin microspheres) in a convenient kit for use in positron emission computed tomography (PET). In this study, this scanning agent was evaluated for clinical usefulness as a function test for the reticuloendothelial system. A dose of 5 micrograms/kg (1-2 mCi) of Ga-68 microspheres was injected intravenously to 25 patients, 11 with chronic hepatitis and 14 with liver cirrhosis, and 5 normal volunteers for PET imaging of the liver and spleen using HEADTONE-III (SET 120W). The volumes of the liver and the spleen and the uptakes of Ga-68 microspheres were calculated as an index of the reticuloendothelial system function. In liver cirrhosis the liver volume estimated by PET was decreased and the spleen volume was increased. Both the liver uptake rate and differential absorption ratio (DAR) of the radioactivity were decreased corresponding with the degree of chronic liver disease. The spleen uptake rate was increased with progression of chronic liver diseases, but there was no difference in DAR between normal volunteers and patients with chronic liver disease. it was concluded that PET using Ga-68 microspheres is useful in the evaluation of the function of the reticuloendothelial system.     

Microencapsulated enzyme systems for the acceleration of cheese ripening

Enzymes and substrates encapsulated in either milkfat-coated microcapsules or liposomes have been investigated for potential use as agents to accelerate cheese ripening. Milkfat-coated microcapsules have been used to efficiently encapsulate cell-free extracts, viable cells, purified enzymes, and spores. Encapsulation efficiency was dependent on the conditions used during capsule production. Addition of these microcapsules to cheese has resulted in increased levels of flavour compounds such as diacetyl, acetoin, methanethiol, and methyl ketones, compared to levels in control cheeses. Limitations due to cofactors have been overcome by co-encapsulating enzymes which recycle needed cofactors. Liposomes have been used to carry cell-free extracts and enzymes into cheese. Trials with different types of liposomes revealed that enzymes could be entrapped more efficiently and liposomes retained in the cheese curd better when multilammelar vesicles rather than small unilamellar vesicles or reverse phase evaporation vesicles were used. The stability of liposome preparations was found to be adversely affected by increased pH, temperature, and sodium chloride concentrations, as well as by negative surface charge. Encapsulation efficiency was found to increase by using a dehydration-rehydration procedure for liposome preparation. Temperature sensitive liposomes were investigates as a means of obtaining controlled release of the enzymes into the cheese.     

Survey of anti-human T-cell leukemia virus type I antibody in family members of patients with adult T-cell leukemia

To evaluate the intrafamilial clustering of HTLV-I, we examined the sera or plasma of 296 healthy family members of patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) for anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Of 296 subjects, 132 (44.6%) had anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Fifty-nine (41.0%) out of 144 males and 73 (48.0%) out of 152 females were seropositive. The positive rates of antibody to HTLV-I increased with age, especially between the 30-39 and the 40-49 age groups. Five out of 6 fathers, 3 out of 4 mothers, 31 (60.8%) out of 51 spouses, 40 (63.5%) out of 63 siblings and 46 (33.8%) out of 136 children of patients with ATL had anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Of 74 children with an ATL father, 14 (18.9%) were seropositive, while 32 (51.6%) out of 63 children with an ATL mother were seropositive. This difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.001). Of those children with an ATL father, 12 (26.1%) out of 46 whose mothers were HTLV-I carriers had antibodies to HTLV-I. In contrast, none of the 13 children whose mothers were not carriers were seropositive. These results supported the hypothesis that the mother-to-child transmission is one of the most important modes of HTLV-I transmission. In wives of male patients with ATL, the positive rate of antibody to HTLV-I was 65.6% (21/32), and in husbands of female patients, it was 52.6% (10/19). The high positive rate of antibody to HTLV-I not only in wives of male patients but also in husbands of female patients suggests that either HTLV-I is more frequently transmitted from wives to their husbands than we had originally expected, or that ATL may develop even in wives who acquire HTLV-I from their husbands after marriage.     

Early Gastric Lymphoma Coexisting with Reactive Lymphoreticular Hyperplasia (RLH) -A Case Report-

A 34-year-old female visited our hospital because of epigastralgia. We performed an upper gastrointestinal x-ray examination, and both conventional endoscopy and dye-spraying endoscopy (indigo-carmine contrast method). We diagnosed early gastric lymphoma which simulated Borrmann 3 type gastric cancer with IIb type early gastric cancer on the middle body and reactive lymphoreticular hyperplasia (RLH) of cobble stone-like granular pattern by endoscopic appearance on the lower body. Although dye-spraying endoscopy showed the details of the mucosa, it was very difficult to diagnose the lesions correctly by gross appearance alone. Because gastric lymphoma arises from the mucosal or submucosal layer and spreads in the mucosa diffusely, ultrasonic visualization by echo-endoscopy might be useful in the diagnostic procedure. We report a case of early gastric lymphoma coexisting with RLH; both lesions showed uncommon endoscopic features.     

Usefulness of home blood pressure measurement in the morning in type 2 diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE: Recently, repeated home blood pressure (HBP) measurements in the morning for a long period have been shown to have a stronger predictive power for mortality in patients with hypertension than occasional casual/clinic blood pressure (CBP) measurements. We studied whether HBP in the morning in type 2 diabetic patients is useful for prediction of diabetic complications. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The occurrence of diabetic complications (nephropathy, retinopathy, coronary heart disease [CHD], and cerebrovascular disease [CVD]) were examined in relation to morning HBP as well as to CBP in 170 type 2 diabetic patients treated with antidiabetic and antihypertensive drugs. Blood pressure was measured at the clinic during the day and at home after awakening in the morning. Clinic hypertension (CH) and morning hypertension (MH) were defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or =130 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > or =85 mmHg. The relation of CH and MH to the prevalence of these events was examined. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the prevalence of nephropathy, retinopathy, CHD, and CVD between the two groups with (n = 131) and without CH (n = 39), whereas the prevalences of these events in the patients with MH (n = 97) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in those without MH (n = 73). The prevalence of nephropathy was highly associated with systolic MH. CONCLUSIONS: Elevations of HBP in the morning in diabetic patients are strongly related to microvascular and macrovascular complications, especially nephropathy. It is concluded that the control of MH may prevent vascular complications in type 2 diabetic patients.     

High-risk populations for nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

To determine the population at high risk of nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on hospital patients admission, a nasal swab was taken from the following patients: (1) those aged 70 years or over (age 70), (2) non ambulatory receiving regular home visits by nurses and physicians (visiting), (3) residents of nursing homes (nursing home), (4) patients from other hospitals (another Hp), and (5) those scheduled for surgery (presurgery). Between March and July 2000, a total of 412 patients were admitted and 136 were enrolled. MRSA was isolated from 12 (8.8%) patients. The number of patients positive for MRSA in the five groups, age 70, visiting, nursing home, another Hp, and presurgery, were 3 of 68, 3 of 21, 2 of 3, 3 of 9, and 1 of 35, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that living in a nursing home [odds ratio (OR) = 32.82, P = 0.010] or coming from another hospital (OR = 14.55, P = 0.0043) were high risk factors with for nasal carriage of MRSA. Furthermore, patients ages were further divided into three categories, 79, 80–89, 90, and regarded as independent high risk factors (OR = 3.08, P = 0.043). The results were that advanced living in a age (80, 90), living in a nursing home or coming from another hospital are high risk factors of nasal carriage of MRSA on hospital admission.     

Automated Neuron Tracing Methods: An Updated Account

The reconstruction of neuron morphology allows to investigate how the brain works, which is one of the foremost challenges in neuroscience. This process aims at extracting the neuronal structures from microscopic imaging data. The great advances in microscopic technologies have made a huge amount of data available at the micro-, or even lower, resolution where manual inspection is time consuming, prone to error and utterly impractical. This has motivated the development of methods to automatically trace the neuronal structures, a task also known as neuron tracing. This paper surveys the latest neuron tracing methods available in the scientific literature as well as a selection of significant older papers to better place these proposals into context. They are categorized into global processing, local processing and meta-algorithm approaches. Furthermore, we point out the algorithmic components used to design each method and we report information on the datasets and the performance metrics used.     

The novel monoclonal antibody 9F5 reveals expression of a fragment of GPNMB/osteoactivin processed by furin‐like protease(s) in a subpopulation of microglia in neonatal rat brain

To differentiate subtypes of microglia (MG), we developed a novel monoclonal antibody, 9F5, against one subtype (type 1) of rat primary MG. The 9F5 showed high selectivity for this cell type in Western blot and immunocytochemical analyses and no cross‐reaction with rat peritoneal macrophages (Mφ). We identified the antigen molecule for 9F5: the 50‐ to 70‐kDa fragments of rat glycoprotein nonmetastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB)/osteoactivin, which started at Lys¹⁷⁰. In addition, 9F5 immunoreactivity with GPNMB depended on the activity of furin‐like protease(s). More important, rat type 1 MG expressed the GPNMB fragments, but type 2 MG and Mφ did not, although all these cells expressed mRNA and the full‐length protein for GPNMB. These results suggest that 9F5 reactivity with MG depends greatly on cleavage of GPNMB and that type 1 MG, in contrast to type 2 MG and Mφ, may have furin‐like protease(s) for GPNMB cleavage. In neonatal rat brain, amoeboid 9F5+ MG were observed in specific brain areas including forebrain subventricular zone, corpus callosum, and retina. Double‐immunοstaining with 9F5 antibody and anti‐Iba1 antibody, which reacts with MG throughout the CNS, revealed that 9F5+ MG were a portion of Iba1+ MG, suggesting that MG subtype(s) exist in vivo. We propose that 9F5 is a useful tool to discriminate between rat type 1 MG and other subtypes of MG/Mφ and to reveal the role of the GPNMB fragments during developing brain. GLIA 2016;64:1938–1961