Allodynia in the flank after thalamic stroke.

Lesions responsible for thalamic pain are often thought to involve the ventral posteromedial nucleus and ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus. We describe two patients with allodynia and hyperpathia in the contralateral flank caused by a small lesion in the posteroventral part of the thalamus. When considered with the literature, involvement of the ventral posteroinferior nucleus may be responsible for this unique post-stroke pain syndrome.     

Ubiquitin-related cytoskeletal abnormality in frontotemporal dementia: immunohistochemical and immunoelectron microscope studies

Although reports of dementia lacking the distinctive non-Alzheimer-type histopathology have been increasing, the concept is still far from clear. It has become apparent that this population shows neuropathological heterogeneity, and some recent reports have proposed a classification or criteria for these disease conditions. Of the reported cases, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) of motor neuron disease is unique in that the neurons of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex have ubiquitin-related abnormalities. Recently, a new ubiquitin-related abnormality, characterized by ubiquitinated inclusions in the neurites, has been found in some FTD cases. Using immunoelectron microscopy with immunogold particles, we have found that in these two disease conditions ubiquitinated inclusions consist of abnormal filaments of 10–15 nm in diameter. Our results support the speculation that there is a close relationship between ubiquitin and abnormal filaments in these two types of FTD, indicating that cytoskeletal-related disorders may underlie certain types of FTD. Received: 30 October 1996 / Revised, accepted: 15 January 1997     

Clinical features of familial moyamoya disease

Objects This study aims to clarify the genetic background of moyamoya disease by comparing clinical features between familial and sporadic cases to reveal the responsible genes for familial moyamoya disease.Methods This study included 155 Japanese patients with moyamoya disease, which included 24 familial cases (10 family pedigrees) and 131 sporadic cases. Clinical features were compared between the familial and sporadic cases.Results and conclusion A female preponderance was significantly more prominent in the familial than in the sporadic group (P=0.0421). Mean age at onset was significantly lower in familial than in sporadic cases (P=0.004). In eight parent–offspring pairs, mean age at onset was significantly lower in the second than in the first generation (P<0.0001). These results suggest that familial moyamoya disease is associated with genetic anticipation and female predominance and that a genetic analysis study focused on expanded triplet repeats may clarify the pathogenesis of the disease.     

In vitro and in vivo activities of sedecamycin against Treponema hyodysenteriae.

Sedecamycin (lankacidin A), one of the lankacidin-group antibiotics, showed potent activity against Treponema hyodysenteriae. The MICs of sedecamycin against 79 field isolates of T. hyodysenteriae ranged from 0.78 to 12.5 micrograms/ml, the MIC for 90% of the strains tested (MIC90) being 3.13 micrograms/ml. The protective and therapeutic effects of sedecamycin were compared with those of carbadox, tiamulin, and lincomycin against experimental infection with T. hyodysenteriae in mice. The protective effect of sedecamycin was similar to that of carbadox, two times more potent than that of tiamulin, and three times greater than that of lincomycin. In the therapeutic test, sedecamycin showed activity similar to that of carbadox and was two times more active than both tiamulin and lincomycin. At doses of 10 mg or more of sedecamycin per kg, the recurrence of shedding of T. hyodysenteriae into the feces of mice was not detected for at least 8 weeks postmedication.     

The long-term follow-up results of elective surgical treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysms.

This study was aimed at evaluating early and long-term follow-up results of surgical reconstruction of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). A consecutive series of 392 patients who underwent elective abdominal aortic repair from 1974 to 2000 was reviewed retrospectively. The mean age was 69.8 years (range 34-90), with 329 males and 63 females. The hospital mortality rate was 3.8% (15/392). Of the 203 patients that died during the follow-up period, 28% (56/203) were due to atherosclerotic diseases and 25% (51/203) were malignancies. The Patients whom underwent AAA surgery associated with ischemic heart disease had a 5-, 10-, and 15-year survival rate of 62%, 30%, and 9%, respectively. On the other hand, a survival rate of those not associated with ischemic heart disease were 71%, 38%, and 16%. The patients associated with aortoiliac occlusive disease in AAA surgery had a 5-, 10-, and 15-year survival rate of 51%, 11%, and 0%; those without aortoiliac occlusive disease had a survival rate of 72%, 43%, and 18%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the ischemic heart disease and the non-ischemic heart disease, the aortoiliac occlusive disease and the non-aortoiliac occlusive disease in long-term survival rates respectively. These findings demonstrate that AAA patients associated with ischemic heart disease or aortoiliac occlusive disease are at a higher risk than those with AAA alone. Therefore, AAA patients with aortoiliac occlusive disease and or ischemic heart disease should be managed more intensively before, during and after the operation.     

Different manners of sarcoglycan expression in genetically proven α-sarcoglycan deficiency and γ-sarcoglycan deficiency

We investigated the expression of α-sarcoglycan, β-sarcoglycan, γ-sarcoglycan, and δ-sarcoglycan immunohistochemically in three patients with mutations of the α-sarcoglycan gene and a patient with a mutation of the γ-sarcoglycan gene. Although each of the four sarcoglycans were decreased on the muscle membranes of all the patients, different expression patterns for each were seen among the patients. In patients with mutations of the α-sarcoglycan gene, β-, γ- and δ-sarcoglycans were relatively preserved as compared to greatly reduced α-sarcoglycan. However, the patient with a mutation of the γ-sarcoglycan gene showed marked reduction of γ-sarcoglycan as compared to partially preserved α- and β-sarcoglycans, and well-preserved δ-sarcoglycan. These results suggest that each sarcoglycan component in sarcoglycanopathy does not decrease in the same manner, and that mutations of the sarcoglycan gene can be predicted, at least in part, by means of sensitive immunohistochemistry for each sarcoglycan. Received: 28 October 1997 / Revised, accepted: 11 March 1998     

Evaluation of denture cleansers with and without enzymes against Candida albicans

The fungicidal effect on Candida albicans was evaluated for denture cleansers with and without enzymes (alkaline peroxide type), Three cleansers with proteolytic enzymes showed little yeast lytic ability, while one cleanser with yeast lytic and proteolytic enzymes and one cleanser without enzymes showed slight yeast lytic ability. The results suggested that the activity depended on alkaline peroxide rather than on enzymes. Five denture cleansers showed strong effects.