Two Autopsy Cases of Primary Leiomyosarcoma of the Liver Superiority of Muscle-specific Actin Immunoreactivity in Diagnosis

Two autopsy cases of leiomyosarcoma of the liver in a 49-year old female and 63-year-old male are reported. Both of the liver tumors showed electron microscopically dense patches in the cytoplasm and intermediate junctions between the tumor cells, suggesting a smooth muscle cell origin, irrespective of their different histological features. The nature of both tumors was confirmed by positive immunoreactivity for muscle-specific actin in the tumor cells, whereas desmin immunoreactivity was labile in both cases, showing a higher diagnostic value of the former compared with the latter in these leiomyosarcomas. Both cases, showed extensive distant metastases in spite of an evident difference in their mitotic indices, indicating that this index is not reliable for judging the metastatic potential of these tumors. Acta Pathol Jpn 41: 461–465, 1991.     

大鼠再生肝对二乙基亚硝胺启动作用的敏感性

目的比较再生肝和正常肝对二乙基亚硝胺（ＤＥＮ）启动作用的敏感性。方法以２／３肝叶切除后８周末的大鼠为实验组,正常大鼠为对照组,作如下比较：肝重、常规组织学检查及３Ｈ－ＴｄＲ掺入试验;用修改的Ｓｏｌｔ－Ｆａｒｂｅｒ模型,通过对ＧＧＴ阳性癌前病灶的体视学测量,观察肝脏对ＤＥＮ的启动效应;在体内和体外（无血清原代培养肝细胞）经ＤＥＮ攻击后,以核酸原位缺口标记方法观察肝细胞ＤＮＡ的损伤程度。结果２／３肝叶切除后８周末的实验组肝脏的修复过程已完成,未见肝细胞继续增生的表现;经ＤＥＮ攻击后,实验组肝癌前病灶在数密度和体积密度上都显著高于对照组;无论在体内或体外接受ＤＥＮ攻击后,实验组肝细胞ＤＮＡ的损伤程度都显著大于对照组。结论即使再生过程已经完成,再生肝仍比正常肝具有较高的致癌敏感性,这与再生肝肝细胞在ＤＥＮ攻击后其ＤＮＡ损伤较重相关。     

Niemann-Pick disease

Summary The results of a complex analysis of liver tissue are presented (four biopsy and two autopsy samples) obtained from six patients with Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) with a gross deficiency of sphingomyelinase (SMase) accompanied by a typical increase in sphingomyelin (SM). There were five cases of NPD type A (four of them with an atypical, prolonged course) and one case of type B. By means of lipid histochemistry it was possible to demonstrate SM storage both in hepatocytes and in the reticuloendothelial system (RES) of the liver (Kupffer cells and portal macrophages) and to show in two siblings with NPD type A a so-far undescribed centrilobular storage pattern. Enzyme histochemistry revealed a secondary deficit of nonspecific esterase activity and acid -galactosidase in liver storage macrophages and varying degrees of suppression of hepatocytic enzyme activities as a reaction to lipid storage of sudden onset. Ultrastructurally, it was possible to demonstrate cholesterol in lysosomes by using digitonin fixation, the involvement of Ito cells in lipid storage, the aggregation of storage lysosomes with certain other organelles and their occasional connections with the endoplasmic reticulum. The problems of possible lipid extraction during processing were considered as a cause of pronounced lysosomal electron-lucidity and of the ultrastructural identification of the participating lipopigment. The significance of the findings is discussed in relation to the existing classification and, particularly, to the stored lipid dilemma of cases of NPD type C.     

The distribution of metastases in the liver

Summary Seventy-five livers with metastases were cut sagitally into 1 cm thick slices. A total number of 11,581 metastases sections was exactly mapped. There was an average of 154 metastases sections per liver. The average diameter of the metastases was 1 cm. 40% of the metastases reached to the hepatic surface, and 60% were invisible due to their deposition in the internal parenchyma. In 8% of the livers there were only superficial metastases (average 3.2 metastases), and in 12% were only deep metastases detected (average 2.6). The total number of superficial metastases increased with increasing diameter of the secondary tumors.An approximately homogeneous distribution of hepatic metastases within the liver parenchyma has been demonstrated.     

TLR2和TLR4在原发性肝癌中的表达

目的：本研究通过检测原发性肝癌Toll样受体2（TLR2）和Toll样受体4（TLR4）的表达，分析其与临床病理生理因素的关系，探讨TLR2，TLR4在原发性肝癌疾病过程中的可能作用。方法：采用免疫组化法和实时荧光定量PCR分别在蛋白水平及mRNA水平检测原发性肝癌组织和配对癌旁组织TLR2、TLR4的表达。结果：原发性肝癌组织在蛋白水平和mRNA水平TLR2和TLR4的表达均明显低于癌旁组织（P<0.01）。但免疫组化结果显示不论是肝癌组织还是癌旁组织，TLR2和TLR4的表达均明显高于正常肝组织（P<0.01，P<0.05），有门静脉分支癌栓的患者癌组织TLR4的表达强度低于无门静脉分支癌栓的患者（P<0.05）。结论：肝癌组织TLR2和TLR4的表达与癌旁组织相比受到相对抑制，但高于正常肝组织，TLR2和TLR4信号途径可能参与了原发性肝癌的病理过程。     

Anatomic bases for liver transplantation

Summary This study gathers the anatomic implications for a good liver transplantation. During hepatic removal a left hepatic a.exists in 20% of cases; a right hepatic artery originating from the superior mesenteric a. (SMA) can be the only arterial supply in 9% of cases; the whole lesser omentum has to be removed and the SMA from 6 cm to its origin. The SMA must be freed from the celiac ganglia and its ostium removed with the celiac trunk in an aortic patch cut on the anterior side in order to avoid the renal ostia. During total hepatectomy, dissection of the portal triad is often difficult because of portal hypertension dilating accessory portal veins (parabiliary arcade) and pedicular lymphatics. Nerve plexuses are thick in front of the hepatic artery or behind the portal triad. Transection of triangular ligaments leads to the retrohepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) that must be freed from its posterior tributaries (right suprarenal vein and inferior phrenic veins flowing either into the IVC or into the hepatic veins). One big problem during hepatic replacement is the biliary anastomosis which must be well irrigated. In the recipient, dissection up to the hilum preserves hepatic and pancreatico-duodenal pedicles. The biliary tract of the graft must be cut low, behind the pancreas, and several centimeters of the gastroduodenal artery must be preserved to save hepatic and gastroduodenal pedicles.

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Bases anatomiques de la transplantation hépatique

Résumé Ce travail rassemble les notions anatomiques nécessaires au bon déroulement d'une transplantation hépatique. Le prélèvement du greffon doit enlever tout le petit omentum contenant une éventuelle a. hépatique gauche née de l'a. gastrique gauche (20%) et emporter l'a. mésentérique supérieure jusqu'à 6 cm de son origine pour ne pas oublier une a. hépatique droite née de cette dernière: son ostium est pris avec le tronc clique dans un patch aortique découpé sur la face antérieure. Lors de l'hépatectomie totale, la dissection du pédicule hépatique est rendue délicate par l'hypertension portale qui dilate les veines portes diets accessoires (arcade parabiliaire) et les lymphatiques pédiculaires. Les plexus nerveux sont riches devant l'artère hépatique et derrière le pédicule. La section des ligaments triangulaires droit et gauche amène à la veine cave inférieure (VCI) rétro-hépatique qu'il faut libérer de ses afférences postérieures (en particulier la veine surrénale principale droite toujours haut située et les veines phréniques inférieures qui s'abouchent soit dans la VCI soit dans les veines hépatiques du carrefour). Lors du remplacement, l'anastomose biliaire doit être vascularisée. Chez le receveur la dissection jusqu'au hile permet de conserver les pédicules. La voie biliaire du greffon doit être coupée bas derrière le pancréas et les premiers centimètres de l'artère gastro-duodénale conservés pour préserver les pédicules hépatique et pancréaticoduodénal.

     

Behavioral and neurochemical effects induced by subchronic combined exposure to toluene at 40 ppm and noise at 80 dB-A in rats

We investigated whether exposure to noise, in addition to its well-known potentiating effect on toluene-induced ototoxicity, may also exacerbate behavioral disturbances and brain neurochemical alterations produced by subchronic exposure to low toluene concentration. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated whether subchronic combined exposure (16 weeks, 104 h per week) to noise at 80 dB-A and toluene at 40 ppm potentiates the recently reported neurotoxic effects of subchronic exposure to 40 ppm toluene. Locomotor and rearing activities, sensitization to narcosis induced by acute toluene at high concentration, and tyrosine and tryptophan hydroxylase activities in the caudate-putamen and hippocampus were investigated in both male and female rats. Our results confirm that subchronic exposure to 40 ppm toluene significantly decreases rearing activity and leads to a sensitization to toluene-induced narcosis, as evaluated by loss of righting reflex, but fails to demonstrate any adverse effect of noise, alone or in combination with toluene. Given that toluene has addictive properties, the lack of potentiating behavioral and neurochemical effect of noise is discussed with regards to a recent study that has shown that methamphetamine neurotoxicity is potentiated by exposure to loud noise.     

An inhibitor of cytotoxic functions produced by CD8+CD57+ T lymphocytes from patients suffering from AIDS and immunosuppressed bone marrow recipients

An inhibitor of the cytotoxic functions (ICF) mediated by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- or HLA-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, natural killer and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells is secreted by CD8⁺CD57^? T lymphocytes, a subset expanded during infection with HIV and after bone marrow transplantation. We previously showed an apparent molecular mass of 20–30 kDa for this soluble glycosylated concanavalin A-binding inhibitor which is distinct from known cytokines. Here, we report a characterization of the mechanism of action of this CD8⁺CD57⁺ ICF. We show that the ICF-induced inhibition of LAK cell cytolytic activity is transient, with a spontaneous recovery of cytolytic potential after 18 h. When testing interactions of ICF with a large set of cytokines we found that the ICF-mediated inhibition of cytotoxic functions is antagonized by two cytokines: recombinant interleukin (rIL)-4 and recombinant interferon (rIFN)-γ. Finally, we show that ICF acts at the level of cytolytic effector cells, where it induces a significant increase of cyclic AMP (cAMP) level. In contrast, no modification of either cell surface antigen expression or of target/effector cell conjugate formation could be evidenced. Addition of rIL-4 and rIFN-γ reverses such an increase of cAMP levels and in parallel restores the cytolytic activity. Altogether, these data demonstrate that the glycoprotein ICF produced by CD8⁺CD57⁺ cells (1) inhibits cell-mediated cytotoxicity by sensitizing cytolytic effector cells to the cAMP pathway, and (2) is part of a cytokine network controlling cell-mediated cytotoxic functions.     

Transplantation of Pacinian corpuscles of the rat into the brain

Summary In adult inbred rats of the AVN strain, branches of the crural interosseous nerve were dissected out from donors and transplanted into the brain of recipients, together with a cluster of Pacinian corpuscles, (either into a suction cavity or the cerebral cortex) into a slit 1–2 mm deep. The grafts were fixed and processed for electron microscopy 10 days to 6 months after the operation, and their ultrastructure was examined. Sporadic axons of small diameter grew into the nerve branches of some of the grafts from 11 days onward, and became myelinated during the 2nd month after the operation, but none of the transplanted Pacinian corpuscles became reinnervated. The corpuscles, however, survived denervation and grafting. Most of them retained a well-preserved inner core and an intact capsule, consisting of a normal complement of 29.2±1.0 (mean ±SE) capsular layers (n=8), as did the corpuscles previously examined after denervation in situ. Some of the corpuscles underwent degenerative changes, presumably due to a delayed or restricted revascularization. In this group of corpuscles, the inner core underwent disintegration and was gradually replaced by collagen fibrils, whereas the capsule remained preserved but the number of its layers eventually reduced by 40%. It is assumed that the lack of reinnervation of the grafted Pacinian corpuscles was due to the paucity of regenerating axons, and their failure to form correct projections along those Schwann cell columns connected with the corpuscles.     

Distribution of the [3H]-label from low doses of radioactive ochratoxin a ingested by rats,and evidence for DNA single-strand breaks caused in liver and kidneys

The distribution of a single low dose of [³H]ochratoxin A (OTA) in different tissues of male Wistar rats, after administration by intubation, was investigated after 5 h, 24 h and 48 h. This dose corresponds to concentrations encountered in naturally contaminated feed (4 ppm). The distribution of [³H]-label varied with the time elapsed after administration; at 5 h the highest specific label was found in the stomach contents and in decreasing order in: intestinal contents, lung, liver, kidney, heart, fat, intestine, testes, and the lowest in muscles, spleen and brain. With exception of brain, fat, stomach and lung, all tissues showed maximum levels at 24 h, after which time the label decreased steadily, whereas in fat it increased.After a 12-week feeding experiment, with doses of 288.8 g/kg corresponding to an intake of 4 ppm in feed each 48 h, the DNA in liver and kidneys was investigated for damage. By the alkaline elution method combined with micro-spectrofluorimetric determinations of DNA, evidence for DNA single-strand breaks was obtained. These findings support reports on the carcinogenic action of OTA.