Allogeneic bone marrow stromal cells promote glial-axonal remodeling without immunologic sensitization after stroke in rats

We evaluated the effects of allogeneic bone marrow stromal cell treatment of stroke on functional outcome, glial-axonal architecture, and immune reaction. Female Wistar rats were subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion. Rats were injected intravenously with PBS, male allogeneic ACI--or syngeneic Wistar--bone marrow stromal cells at 24 h after ischemia and sacrificed at 28 days. Significant functional recovery was found in both cell-treated groups compared to stroke rats that did not receive BMSCs, but no difference was detected between allogeneic and syngeneic cell-treated rats. No evidence of T cell priming or humoral antibody production to marrow stromal cells was found in recipient rats after treatment with allogeneic cells. Similar numbers of Y-chromosome+ cells were detected in the female rat brains in both groups. Significantly increased thickness of individual axons and myelin, and areas of the corpus callosum and the numbers of white matter bundles in the striatum were detected in the ischemic boundary zone of cell-treated rats compared to stroked rats. The areas of the contralateral corpus callosum significantly increased after cell treatment compared to normal rats. Processes of astrocytes remodeled from hypertrophic star-like to tadpole-like shape and oriented parallel to the ischemic regions after cell treatment. Axonal projections emanating from individual parenchymal neurons exhibited an overall orientation parallel to elongated radial processes of reactive astrocytes of the cell-treated rats. Allogeneic and syngeneic bone marrow stromal cell treatment after stroke in rats improved neurological recovery and enhanced reactive oligodendrocyte and astrocyte related axonal remodeling with no indication of immunologic sensitization in adult rat brain.     

Carney triad: case report and molecular analysis of gastric tumor

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the GI tract. Most of them are thought to be sporadic, but some arise in the settings of neurofibromatosis type I (NF-1) and the Carney triad. The Carney triad is a syndrome of unknown etiology, occurring predominantly in young females, comprising gastrointestinal stromal tumors, pulmonary chondromas, and extra-adrenal paragangliomas. GISTs of the Carney triad involve predominantly the body and the antrum of the stomach, are generally multifocal, and have a better prognosis than sporadic GISTs. We describe the clinical and pathological features of a case of Carney triad that featured multiple gastric GISTs, mediastinal paraganglioma, and esophageal leiomyoma. Ten years after gastric resection, the patient developed liver and peritoneal metastasis and was treated with Imatinib mesylate for 6 months with no change in the lesions. The molecular analysis of the GIST, the first reported in a gastric tumor from the triad, showed a wild-type KIT and PDGFRA genes.     

Defining endometrial cells: the need for improved identification at ectopic sites and characterization in eutopic sites for developing novel methods of management for endometriosis

Endometriosis is classically defined as ectopic growth of endometrial glands and stroma. Currently, histologic confirmation of laparoscopic findings is paramount for diagnosis of endometriosis and evidence is evolving suggesting that the pathogenesis of endometriosis is related to endometrial anomalies.     

‘Hair-on-end’ skull changes resembling thalassemia caused by marrow expansion in uncorrected complex cyanotic heart disease

Hair-on-end skull changes resembling thalassemia were rarely described in the 1950s and 1960s in children with cyanotic congenital heart diseases; these changes were described almost entirely in patients with tetralogy of Fallot or D-transposition of the great arteries. As these lesions have become correctable, the osseous changes, never common, seem now only to exist in a small number of patients with uncorrectable complex cyanotic congenital heart disease who survive in a chronic hypoxic state. We present two cases: a case of marked marrow expansion in the skull of a 5-year-old boy with uncorrectable cyanotic heart disease studied by CT, and a second case of an 8-year-old with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia studied by plain skull radiographs. The true incidence of these findings is unknown.     

Effect of Imatinib (STI571) on Metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: Report of a Case

The prognosis for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is poor. However, recent reports from Europe have described the effects of imatinib against metastatic GIST. We herein report the case of a Japanese patient treated with imatinib for advanced GIST. Imatinib at 400mg daily was given to an adult with multiple liver and peritoneal metastases 17 months after undergoing a GIST resection. The sum of the diameter of all target lesions decreased from 37.7 to 10.9cm at 6 months. Tinnitus (grade 2), which has not been reported elsewhere as an adverse effect, developed at 2 months. However, it did not require any treatment. Other adverse effects, nausea (grade 2) and anemia (grade 2), resolved spontaneously. Our results are consistent with previous reports that show imatinib to be effective for the treatment of metastatic GIST, and also suggest that imatinib at 400mg daily for more than 7 months is well tolerated in Japanese adults.     

脂肪前体细胞凋亡及其影响因素

脂肪前体细胞数量的多少直接影响脂肪细胞的数量,因而也与肥胖程度密切相关。脂肪前体细胞的凋亡受多种基因、因子及其他多方面因素的影响,是目前的研究热点,为肥胖和许多疾病的研究奠定了基础。     

Snaring of submucosal tumors of gastric fundus

Submucosal tumors of the stomach are not uncommon. We present two cases of iatrogenic perforation after snaring large polyps in the gastric fundus. We discuss the probable etiology and review the literature regarding iatrogenic perforation in this location. Submucosal polyps situated in the fundus may produce pseudopedicle. Therefore, we recommend these be treated with caution, and a combined endoscopic and laparoscopic approach is suggested.     

Glutathione S-transferase pi is upregulated in the stromal compartment of hormone independent prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: Glutathione S-transferase (GST) pi is a detoxifying enzyme abundant in normal prostate basal cells but only rarely expressed in prostate cancer cells. The current studies are the first to focus on GST pi in the stromal compartment of prostate tumors. METHODS: We employed immunohistochemical, immunofluorescence, and Western blot analysis to measure GST pi expression and subcellular localization in 21 primary and metastatic tumors from patients with hormone independent prostate cancer, as well as seven lymph node metastases and six prostatectomy specimens. RESULTS: GST pi was detectable in stromal cells in 17 of the 21 hormone independent prostate tumors. GST pi tissue distribution in hormone independent tumors coincided with vimentin staining, suggesting that GST pi is expressed by reactive fibroblasts and/or myofibroblasts. CONCLUSIONS: The current results suggest that prostate cancer cells induce an injury response in the stroma during progression to hormone independence, which results in GST pi expression. Stromal GST pi may contribute to chemoresistence of advanced prostate cancer.