Rupture of the ascending aorta after surgical resection for lung cancer--a case report

A rupture of the ascending aorta which occurred in a woman on the 13th postoperative day following a right upper lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection for lung cancer is reported herein. Fortunately, the patient was rescued from a cardiac tamponade and hemothorax by emergency operation. The operative findings suggested a traumatic rupture of the aorta, however, lymph node dissection of the mediastinum could not be excluded as a possible cause. Therefore, careful mediastinal lymph node dissection should be carefully performed in operations for lung cancer.     

Mouse monoclonal antibody (FKH1) detecting human melanoma-associated antigens

A mouse monoclonal antibody, FKH1, was produced to detect cytoplasmic melanoma-associated antigen. FKH1 was raised using cultured human melanoma cell line KHm-6 as an immunogen. Reactivity of this antibody was assessed by immunohistochemical techniques against cell lines and normal and neoplastic tissues. Positive reactions were seen against 5 human melanoma cell lines. It stained cytoplasm of melanoma cells in a diffuse and granular pattern in indirect immunofluorescence. Immunoelectron microscopy showed diffuse distribution of immunoreactant in the cytoplasm of KHm-1 cells excluding melanosomes and other organelles. Reactivity against frozen and alcohol-fixed, paraffin-embedded melanocytic tumors was also tested with IIF or indirect or avidin biotinylated horseradish peroxidase complex immunoperoxidase techniques. All cases of frozen sections from benign and malignant melanocytic tumors showed positive staining with FKH1. In fixed tissues, however, reactivity was 11 of 14 (79%) in malignant melanoma and 28 of 42 (67%) in other melanocytic tumors. FKH1 did not react against normal melanocytes and nonmelanocytic tumors except APUDoma and 2 glioblastoma cell lines. It failed to stain the B-16 mouse melanoma cell line, neuroblastoma cell line, breast carcinoma cell line, and T-cell lymphoma cell line. Normal human peripheral nerves were nonreactive with FKH1. In immunoelectroblot study, FKH1 bound with proteins having molecular weight of 71,000 and 55,000 extracted from KHm-6 cells. It was suggested that FKH1 is a useful monoclonal antibody in diagnostic study of human malignant melanoma specimens.     

Intra-corporeal robot-assisted versus open radical cystectomy: a propensity score-matched analysis comparing perioperative and long-term survival outcomes and recurrence patterns

International Journal of Clinical Oncology - To compare perioperative and long-term oncological outcomes and recurrence patterns between robot-assisted radical cystectomy with intra-corporeal...     

Extracts of Momordica charantia suppress postprandial hyperglycemia in rats

Momordica charantia (bitter melon) is commonly known as vegetable insulin, but the mechanisms underlying its hypoglycemic effect remain unclear. To address this issue, the effects of bitter melon extracts on postprandial glycemic responses have been investigated in rats. An aqueous extract (AE), methanol fraction (MF) and methanol insoluble fraction (MIF) were prepared from bitter melon. An oral sucrose tolerance test revealed that administration of AE, MF or MIF each significantly suppressed plasma glucose levels at 30 min as compared with the control. In addition, the plasma insulin level at 30 min was also significantly lower after MF administration than in the control in the oral sucrose tolerance test. By contrast, these effects of bitter melon extracts were not observed in the oral glucose tolerance test. In terms of mechanism, bitter melon extracts dose-dependently inhibited the sucrase activity of intestinal mucosa with IC(50) values of 8.3, 3.7 and 12.0 mg/mL for AE, MF and MIF, respectively. The fraction with a molecular weight of less than 1,300 (LT 1,300) obtained from MF inhibited the sucrase activity most strongly in an uncompetitive manner with an IC(50) value of 2.6 mg/mL. Taken together, these results demonstrated that bitter melon suppressed postprandial hyperglycemia by inhibition of alpha-glucosidase activity and that the most beneficial component is present in the LT 1,300 fraction obtained from MF.     

Isolation and Characterization of Influenza C Viruses in the Philippines and Japan

From November 2009 to December 2013 in the Philippines, 15 influenza C viruses were isolated, using MDCK cells, from specimens obtained from children with severe pneumonia and influenza-like illness (ILI). This is the first report of influenza C virus isolation in the Philippines. In addition, from January 2008 to December 2013, 7 influenza C viruses were isolated from specimens that were obtained from children with acute respiratory illness (ARI) in Sendai city, Japan. Antigenic analysis with monoclonal antibodies to the hemagglutinin-esterase (HE) glycoprotein showed that 19 strains (12 from the Philippines and 7 from Japan) were similar to the influenza C virus reference strain C/Sao Paulo/378/82 (SP82). Phylogenetic analysis of the HE gene showed that the strains from the Philippines and Japan formed distinct clusters within an SP82-related lineage. The clusters that included the Philippine and Japanese strains were shown to have diverged from a common ancestor around 1993. In addition, phylogenetic analysis of the internal genes showed that all strains isolated in the Philippines and Japan had emerged through reassortment events. The composition of the internal genes of the Philippine strains was different from that of the Japanese strains, although all strains were classified into an SP82-related lineage by HE gene sequence analysis. These observations suggest that the influenza C viruses analyzed here had emerged through different reassortment events; however, the time and place at which the reassortment events occurred were not determined.     

Immunofluorescence staining of renal biopsy samples in patients with diabetic nephropathy in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus using monoclonal antibody to reduced glycated lysine

This is the first report on immunofluorescence staining of renal biopsy samples in human diabetic nephropathy (DN) using monoclonal antibodies to reduced glycated lysine. In order to detect the localization of glycated lysine in the mesangial matrix and/or the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), we examined immunofluorescence staining using antibodies against reduced glycated lysine in the glomeruli of 16 patients with DN and ten age-matched patients with diffuse mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis without IgA deposition (DPGN) as controls. In the early stage of DN, immunofluorescence microscopy revealed the presence of intense staining for reduced glycated lysine in the GBM as well as in part of the tubular basement membrane, but not in the mesangial area. In contrast, immunofluorescence microscopy revealed less staining for glycated lysine in the GBM in the advanced stage of DN, and no reaction with any part of the renal tissue in patients with DPGN. It was concluded that detection of reduced glycated lysine in GBM in the early stage of DN might be associated with the initial pathogenesis of this disease.     

Retention of NMDA receptor NR2 subunits in the lumen of endoplasmic reticulum in targeted NR1 knockout mice

Glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, and the N-methyl-D-aspartate-selective glutamate receptor (NR) consisting of the NR1 subunit and an NR2 or NR3 subunit plays crucial roles in synaptic transmission, plasticity, and learning and memory. By using a knockout mouse strain, in which the NR1 gene deletion is primarily targeted to the CA1 pyramidal cells of the hippocampus, we investigated the in vivo effect of the loss of the NR1 subunit on the cellular expression and intracellular distribution of the NR2 subunits. The NR1 gene deletion had no apparent effect on the levels of NR2A or NR2B mRNA but led to severe reductions of NR2A and NR2B protein in dendrites of CA1 pyramidal cells. This reduced dendritic distribution of the NR2 subunits accompanied their robust accumulation in perikarya, where they were condensed in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum as electron-dense granules. These granules were also observed in CA1 pyramidal cells of the control mice but they were much fewer and contained no detectable levels of the NR2 subunit. The effect of the NR1 knockout on intracellular localization of the NR2 subunits was specific in that no such effect was observed for the GluR1 and PSD-95, two other major postsynaptic proteins. These results suggest that the NR1 subunit plays a crucial role in the release of the NR2 subunit from the endoplasmic reticulum in hippocampal pyramidal cells in vivo, and when the NR1 subunit is unavailable, the NR2 subunits are retained and aggregate into intracisternal granules.