Effects of lansoprazole, clarithromycin and pH gradient on uptake of [14C]amoxycillin into rat gastric tissue

The effect of lansoprazole and clarithromycin on the uptake of [(14)C]amoxycillin into rat gastric tissue was investigated. After oral administration of [(14)C]amoxycillin, the levels of radioactivity in gastrointestinal tissue were two to 15 times higher than those in plasma. The level of radioactivity in glandular stomach was significantly higher when lansoprazole and [(14)C]amoxycillin were administered together. After intravenous administration of [(14)C]amoxycillin, there was less radioactivity in gastric tissue than after oral administration, and co-administration of lansoprazole and clarithromycin had no obvious effect. The gastric emptying rate of [(14)C]amoxycillin was not apparently affected by the co-administration of lansoprazole and clarithromycin. In vitro uptake of [(14)C]amoxycillin into gastric tissue depended on the pH, with uptake at pH 7.4 being four times greater than that at pH 4.0. The apparent synergic effects of lansoprazole are due to enhanced penetration of amoxycillin in gastric mucus and tissue by increasing intragastric pH and play an important role in the eradication of H. pylori.     

Intrascrotal hemangioma in a child: a case report

The patient was a boy two years and six months old. He was brought to our University Hospital with the chief complaint of scrotal mass for two years. On palpation, the mass was discriminated from the testis, epididymis and spermatic cord. The mass was followed by ultrasonography and we found two masses at the age of two years and six months. The tumors were surgically resected and they were 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 cm, 1.5 x 1.0 x 0.5 cm in size, respectively. Histopathological examination revealed venous and capillary hemangioma. We discuss this case, and review the literature.     

Fasting plasma mannose levels are associated with insulin sensitivity independent of BMI in Japanese individuals with diabetes

Background

Recently, an integrated network analysis has revealed dysregulation in the metabolism of mannose, a glucose epimer, in severely obese individuals without diabetes. In addition, fasting plasma mannose levels (M₀) are associated with insulin resistance independent of BMI. Since the association between mannose and insulin sensitivity (IS) in those with impaired glucose tolerance remains unknown, we aimed to investigate this association in individuals without severe obesity but with varying degrees of glucose tolerance.

Methods

Based on 75 g OGTT data in Japanese individuals without diabetic medication, individuals were classified as having normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose metabolism (IGM), or diabetes (DM). In each group, 25 individuals were consecutively recruited [total 75 individuals, age: 65?±?11 (mean?±?SD); BMI: 24.9?±?3.8 kg/m²]. QUICKI and Matsuda index (MI) were calculated as IS indices. M₀ was assayed using HPLC. Normally-distributed log_e-transformed (ln-) values were used for MI and leptin.

Results

In the simple regression analysis, ln-MI was negatively correlated with BMI (NGT: r?=???0.639, IGM: r?=???0.466, DM: r?=???0.613) and ln-leptin (NGT: r?=???0.480, IGT: r?=???0.447, DM: r?=???0.593) in all 3 groups. Ln-MI was not significantly correlated with M₀ in NGT (r?=?0.241, P?=?0.245) and IGT (r?=???0.296, P?=?0.152) groups, it was moderately and negatively correlated in the DM group (r?=???0.626, P?<?0.001). Similar results were obtained, when QUICKI was used instead of MI as an index of IS. In multiple regression analysis in the DM group, QUICKI (Q) and ln-MI (M) were independently predicted by BMI (Q: β?=???0.413; M: β?=???0.400) and M₀ (Q: β?=???0.413, M: β?=???0.426), accounting for 51.2% (P?=?0.0004) and 51.2% (P?=?0.0004) of the variability, respectively, which was larger than the prediction for BMI alone (Q: 38.4%, M: 37.6%).

Conclusion

Fasting plasma mannose was associated with IS independent of BMI in Japanese individuals with DM.

     

Risk of concomitant carcinoma in situ determining biopsy candidates among primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients: Retrospective analysis of 173 Japanese cases

Objectives:   To determine candidates for bladder biopsies among Japanese primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients according to the risk of concomitant carcinoma in situ (CIS).
Methods:   Between January 1992 and August 2006, 173 primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer cases underwent transurethral resection of the bladder tumor with bladder biopsies for the detection of CIS. Correlations between biopsy results and preoperative/pathological features were retrospectively analyzed.
Results:   Positive cytology was statistically associated with the presence of concomitant CIS in multivariate analysis ( P  < 0.01). Abnormal cystoscopic appearance outside the tumor almost achieved statistical significance in multivariate analysis among preoperative factors ( P  = 0.06). In our series, one (12.5%) of eight low-risk, 18 (24.7%) of 73 intermediate-risk and 41 (59.4%) of 69 high-risk cases had CIS in normal-looking sites, respectively. In cases with a single papillary tumor and negative cytology, one of 16 (6.3%) had concomitant CIS in their biopsy specimens at the normal-looking sites.
Conclusions:   All non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients with positive cytology are candidates for additional random biopsies. Targeted biopsies should be performed for all suspicious areas in the bladder mucosa. Random biopsies should be considered in cases with the macroscopic types of cancer for predicting intermediate- and high-risk cancer.     

Sensitization to enhanced green fluorescence protein minor histocompatibility antigen by gene transduction into dendritic cells and peritoneal exudate macrophages

Enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) has been widely applied to gene transduction in cellular and molecular biology as a reporter element. When applied to cell transplantation, it raises fundamental issues concerning cell-associated antigens, in particular, a model of minor histocompatibility antigen(s). Although it is well known that immunological behavior of minor histocompatibility antigens mimic tumor associated antigens (TAA), identified genes coding minor histocompatibility antigens are few and far between. Inasmuch as immunity and tolerance to TAA are provided by immunological behavior of minor histocompatibility antigen such as histocompatibility antigen of the Y chromosome, H-Y, it occurs to us that transgenic as well as transduced EGFP provides a useful model system to be applied to tumor immunology. In this respect, genetic modification of specialized antigen-presenting cells (APC), i.e., dendritic cells (DC), such as gene transduction of EGFP into DC, would provide one of the most important strategies in transplantation as well as tumor immunology inasmuch as DC play a key role in initiating primary immune responses, As far as gene transduction into DC is concerned, others have reported that successful gene transduction occurs in DC by adenoviral vector systems. However, our previous studies concerning EGFP transduction into DC suggested that this view should be carefully examined and interpreted. Employing adenoviral and lentiviral vector systems as well as specialized APC of rat DC and peritoneal exudate macrophages (PEM), EGFP-transduced APC were examined to determine whether and to what extent the EGFP-transduced APC were able to sensitize non-transgenic littermates against transgenic EGFP as antigen(s). Thus EGFP-transgenic cardiac isografts were transplanted to non-transgenic littermates and examined to determine if sensitization of non-transgenic littermate recipients with the EGFP-transduced APC was able to reject the test grafts in an accelerated manner. In this study, we examined this and provide further evidence that widely used viral vector systems are unable to transfer the reporter gene EGFP into mature rat DC generated from bone marrow cells (BMC), driven by Flt3/Flk2 ligand and IL-6. Nevertheless, successful gene transduction was obtained by either applying a lentiviral vector system to the developing DC progenitor cells during a long-term culture of rat BMC or by applying an adenoviral vector system to PEM. Thus, successful gene transduction into specialized APC was verified by in vivo priming of non-transgenic littermates with the EGFP-transduced APC, followed by accelerated rejection of EGFP-transgenic cardiac isografts.     

Optokinetic nystagmus: the effects of stationary edges, alone and in combination with central occlusion

In Experiment 1 we investigated the independent and combined effects of horizontal OKN of stationary edges and occlusion of the central retina. For a display 60 degrees wide moving at 30 degrees/sec a symmetrically placed pair of vertical nonoccluding bars suppressed OKN when near the center of the display but had no effect when 30 degrees apart. A 7 degrees-high 60 degrees-wide central occluder reduced OKN gain by 37%. However, a central occluder with edges only 30 degrees wide abolished OKN. In Experiment 2 this interaction between central occlusion and stationary edges was confirmed with a wider display over a range of stimulus velocities and configurations. A functional explanation of this interaction is presented.