Use of Rokitamycin dry syrup in cases of upper deep cervical lymphadenitis and otitis media with exudatives

Dry syrup of Rokitamycin (RKM.DS), a new macrolide antibiotic with 16-membered ring developed by Toyo Jozo Co., Ltd., was used on cases of upper deep cervical lymphadenitis (UDCL) and of otitis media with exudatives (OME) likely caused by chlamydia infections, and its clinical effects were investigated. 1) In four cases of UDCL (C. psittaci infections), daily doses of 20.0-28.6 mg/kg were administered for 10-42 consecutive days and good efficacies were observed with two cases of excellent results and two cases of good results. 2) In one case of OME (C. trachomatis infection) a daily dose of 30.0 mg/kg was administered for 15 consecutive days and good effectiveness was observed. 3) No side effect was observed in any of the cases. From the above results, it became clear that RKM.DS could effectively used as a therapeutic agent for UDCL and OME in children.     

A case of tracheoesophageal fistula in Beh?et's disease repaired with pericardial patch and gastric roll

A 23-year-old man suffering from Beh?et's disease developed a tracheoesophageal fistula. Subtotal esophagus was stripped and replaced with a gastric tube along greater curvature. The defect of membranous portion of the trachea (2 X 1 cm) was closed with a pedicled pericardial patch and covered with omentum. Transient postoperative recurrent nerve palsy was recovered in about 2 months. He is going well without any significant complaints. He received steroid hormone administration and platelets transfusion because of complicated ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).     

A norbergenin derivative inhibits neuronal cell damage induced by tunicamycin

Several chemically synthesized compounds were examined for protective effects against the cell damage in tunicamycin-treated human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells. Among the compounds tested, an antioxidant, Norbergenin-11-caproate (10 microM), exhibited complete protection against the cell growth inhibitory effect of tunicamycin but did not inhibit the induction of Bip/GRP78 mRNA by tunicamycin. Both norbergenin-11-caproate and alpha-tocopherol completely inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species induced by tunicamycin, however, alpha-tocopherol inhibited tunicamycin-induced cell damage only partially, even at 100 microM. These findings suggest the potential of Norbergenin-11-caproate for therapeutic application in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-dependent diseases implicating a specific mechanism other than anti-oxidative one.     

A case of successful removal of a ureteral stone by using the Rutner balloon dilatation helical stone extractor: accompanied with percutaneous nephrolithotomy

A case of successful removal of a residual upper ureteral stone (9 X 6 mm) by Rutner balloon dilatation helical stone extractor which moved from renal pelvis during percutaneous nephrolithotomy for right renal pelvic stone (12 X 11 mm), is reported. This is the first successful case in Japan.     

Detection of platelet consumption in aortic graft with 111In-labeled platelets

Increased platelet consumption in two patients with aortic grafts was detected by scintiphotography using ¹¹¹In-labeled autologous platelets. There was shortened platelet survival time in these patients. These findings might suggest that platelet consumption in aortic protheses is related to thrombogenesis.     

Use of technetium-99m as a radioactive label to study migratory patterns of leukocytes

Technetium-99m had been used as a radioactive label to study the migratory patterns of neutrophils. In a previous in vitro study, neutrophils were labeled with Tc-99m and infused into patients with and without various hematological disorders. Increased pulmonary localization was detected by scintillation camera within 10 min; this decreased gradually within 3 hr. Accumulation was seen in the liver and spleen at 3 hr. The same results were noted by using neutrophils labeled with Tc-99m sulfur colloid. In a patient with severe ulceration in the oral cavity, due to acute leukemia, Tc-99m-labeled transfused neutrophils that were collected by filtration leukopheresis were concentrated in the infected lesions.     

TRAIL-induced cell death cooperates with IFN-gamma activation in the graft-versus-tumor effect against colon tumors

The graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect that occurs following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is currently being subjected to intensive investigation because of clinical evidence for GVT efficacy against leukemia. In this report, we investigate the efficacy and molecular mechanisms of GVT against solid tumors, using a modification of the mouse parent-to-F1 BMT model. Mouse Colon26 cells in which tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor expression was stably knocked down were transplanted to investigate the role of the TRAIL-TRAIL receptor system in the GVT effect. In addition, Fas ligand-(FasL) deficient mice on a C57BL6 (B6) background were used as donors, to determine the significance of the Fas-FasL system for the antitumor effect. The group that received B6 DLI followed by preconditioning with 950 rad irradiation underwent tumor reduction associated with the induction of IFN-gamma, TRAIL and tumor-cell apoptosis. In vitro cultured Colon26 cells were resistant to TRAIL but susceptible to the combination of IFN-gamma and TRAIL in a TRAIL-dose-dependent manner. The infusion of lymphocytes from FasL-defective donors reduced the tumor progression, although efficacy was decreased in the TRAIL receptor knockdown tumors but not in wild-type ones, compared with infusion of B6-derived lymphocytes. The findings indicate that GVT activity against subcutaneous colon tumors is efficiently induced by preconditioning with irradiation and allogeneic DLI, and that TRAIL and IFN-gamma act cooperatively in the antitumor effect.