Case of severe ulcerative colitis successfully treated with intravenous cyclosporine without high dose corticosteroid]

A 44-year-old women developed marked myopathy one year earlier, when she was treated with intravenous prednisolone for acute severe exacerbation of ulcerative colitis. When she was admitted to our hospital for another severe exacerbation, intravenous cyclosporine A was administered as monotherapy because she could not tolerate corticosteroid. The treatment was successful and she obtained complete remission. Cyclosporine A monotherapy is considered to be a valuable alternative to proctocolectomy for severe ulcerative colitis patients who cannot tolerate corticosteroid.     

Myocardial 11C-diacylglycerol accumulation and left ventricular remodeling in patients after myocardial infarction.

Left ventricular (LV) remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) is a maladaptive process that increases the risk of heart failure and death. The myocardial phosphoinositide cycle, which is located downstream from several neurohumoral factors, plays a crucial role in LV remodeling. Our animal studies demonstrated that 1-[1-11C]butyryl-2-palmitoyl-rac-glycerol (11C-DAG) can be used to visualize regions with an activated phosphoinositide cycle. Therefore, we examined whether myocardial 11C-DAG accumulation assessed by PET is relevant to LV enlargement and systolic dysfunction in post-MI patients. METHODS: We performed PET with 11C-DAG in 13 post-anteroseptal MI patients and 4 healthy volunteers. We placed regions of interest on the noninfarcted myocardium and calculated the myocardium-to-left atrial (LA) chamber ratio of 11C-DAG accumulation. RESULTS: The myocardium-to-LA chamber ratio of 11C-DAG was significantly higher in the post-MI patients (mean +/- SD, 1.73 +/- 0.35) compared with that of the healthy volunteers (mean +/- SD, 1.25 +/- 0.13; P < 0.05). In the post-MI patients, the myocardium-to-LA chamber ratio of (11)C-DAG was significantly correlated with the LV end-diastolic volume index (r = 0.79, P < 0.01) and the plasma concentration of brain natriuretic peptide (r = 0.85, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with the LV ejection fraction (r = -0.69, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the myocardial 11C-DAG accumulation assessed by PET is relevant to LV enlargement, LV systolic dysfunction, and humoral activation in post-MI patients. This new imaging strategy based on intracellular signaling may contribute to the assessment and treatment of post-MI patients.     

Epinephrine is an enhancer of rat intestinal absorption.

Some physiological substances, including acetylcholine and nitric oxide, are useful candidates for stimulation of intestinal absorption of drugs. In the present study, we elucidated the ability of epinephrine (Epi) to stimulate the intestinal absorption of drugs. We evaluated the ability of Epi to enhance absorption of macromolecules using dextran (Mw 4000 Da), which is poorly absorbed from the intestine, as a model compound in situ in a closed loop of the rat jejunum. Treatment of the jejunum with Epi resulted in significant increase in absorption of dextran in a dose-dependent fashion. The area under the curve (AUC) from 0 to 4 h in the Epi-treated jejunum was 13-fold higher than that in the vehicle-treated jejunum. The absorption-enhancing activity of Epi was 40-fold higher than that of caprate, a clinically used absorption-enhancer of drugs. In the experimental conditions used in this study, histological injury of the mucosa and perturbation of the mucosal membrane were not observed in the Epi-treated jejunum. Treatment with an antagonist of alpha-adrenergic receptors attenuated the stimulation of intestinal absorption by Epi, and treatment with an agonist of alpha-adrenergic receptors resulted in enhancement of intestinal absorption. While an antagonist of beta-adrenergic receptors enhanced the absorption-enhancing effect of Epi, an agonist of beta-adrenergic receptors stimulated intestinal absorption. These results indicate that stimulation of adrenergic receptors may be a novel strategy for intestinal absorption of drugs.     

Augmentation and subsequent attenuation of Ca2+ current due to lipid peroxidation of the membrane caused by t-butyl hydroperoxide in the rabbit sinoatrial node.

Cellular electrophysiological effects of membrane lipid peroxidation by t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH) were studied in the rabbit sinoatrial (SA) node. Superfusion for 1-5 min with 300 microM TBH caused an initial increase and subsequent decrease in the spontaneous firing frequency of the SA node. Voltage clamp experiments revealed that TBH initially enhanced but later blocked the Ca2+ current. Thus, membrane lipid peroxidation appears to accelerate and then suppress physiological automaticity by causing biphasic changes in the Ca2+ current.     

Angiotensinogen gene polymorphism as a risk factor for ischemic stroke.

While gene polymorphism for angiotensinogen (AGT) is reported to contribute to the regulation of blood pressure and salt sensitivity, its effect on the risk of ischemic stroke remains controversial. We hypothesized that polymorphism of the AGT gene could be a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Major clinical risk factors and the AGT gene M235T polymorphism were examined in 147 consecutive stroke patients and 133 healthy age-matched controls. All patients were categorized into four stroke types (single lacuna, multiple lacunae, large-artery atherosclerosis and branch atheromatous disease in brainstem) and two vascular groups (large and perforating arterial lesions). The AGT gene M allele significantly increased the risk of single lacuna, multiple lacunae and small arterial lesions, in male patients (p=0.029, 0.031 and 0.026, respectively). Synergistic effects of the AGT gene polymorphism and clinical risks were not observed. In conclusion, AGT M allele may present a risk of lacunar infarctions in Japanese men, independent of hypertension.     

Human Tumor–infiltrating Lymphocytes Transfected with Tumor Necrosis Factor Gene Could Augment Cytotoxicity to Autologous Tumor Cells

Human tumor–infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) derived from pleural or ascitic fluid were incubated with recombinant interleukin 2 and transfected with human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) a gene by the lipofection procedure. The resulting TILs secreted significant amounts of TNF in the culture supernatant and exhibited cytotoxicity against established cell lines, such as K562 and Daudi, and autologous tumor cells. The TNF gene–transfected TILs exhibited an augmented killing of autologous tumor cells.