Productin of Basic Fetoprotein in Human Peripheral Lymphocytes during Blastic Transformation

To clarify the significance of basic fetoprotein (BFP) in lymphocytes, we investigated whether BFP is produced in lymphocytes during blastic transformation. Peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from 14 adults were cultured under the stimulation of lectins. The concentration of BFP in the culture medium (extracellular BFP) was estimated serially. The incorporation of [6-³ H] thymidine was assayed simultaneously. The intracellular BFP was measured by dual flow cytometry for DNA and BFP. A lymph node was studies immunohistochemically. Serum BFP was measured in four cases of lumphocytic leukaemia. In two cases, dual staining was performed. The intracellular BFP of the mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes was increased within 24 h. The extracellular BFP was increased exponentially from 72 h. The extracellular BFP at 96 h did not correlate with the [³H]-thymidine incorporation. The intracellular BFP increase began in G₁ phase. Immunostaining showed that the B cells also produced BFP. The
serum BFP level in leukaemia was high in 1 of 4 cases and the leukaemic cells in two cases showed high intracellular BFP content. These observations indicate that BFP is produced in activated human lymphocytes and in lymphocytic leukaemic cells. The production of BFP during blastic transformation will be a useful new in vitro model for studying the biological role of BFP, and BFP labelling may offer some new possibilities for study of lymphocytes.     

Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Increased Toxicity of 2-sec-Butylphenyl Methylcarbamate (BPMC) by Fenitrothion Pretreatment in Mice

Pharmacokinetk Analysis of Increased Toxicity of 2-sec-ButylphenylMethylcarbamate (BPMC) by Fenitrothion Pretreatment in Mice.TSUDA, S., MIYAOKA, T., IWASAKI, M., AND SHIRASU, Y. (1984).Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 4, 724–730. The potentiating effectof O,O-dimethyl O-(3-methyl-4-nitrophenyl) phosphorothioate(fenitrothion) on the toxicity of 2-sec-butylphenyl methylcarbamate(BPMC) in male mice was analyzed pharmacokinetically. The animalspretreated by dietary administration of 1000 ppm fenitrothionfor 1 week (4.4% of the po LD50 daily) did not show toxic symptomsexcept for a slight decrease in body weight In the fenitrothion-pretreatedmice, toxicity of fenitrothion was not changed but a fivefoldpotentiation was observed in po and ip acute lethality and athreefold potentiation of iv lethality of BPMC. Toxic signsafter BPMC administration were similar regardless of fenitrothionpretreatment or of route of administration. Fenitrothion pretreatmentfollowed by BPMC administration (20 mg/kg po or 8 mg/kg iv,approximate LD5 in the pretreated mice) significantly increasedthe plasma BPMC concentration and the total area under the plasmaconcentration versus time curve (AUG_0-. The pretreatment increasedthe oral AUC_0-, more greatly than the iv AUC_0-, (for po, 6.3-fold;for iv, 2.0-fold). The oral systemic availability of BPMC (fractionreaching systemic circulation) was increased by fenitrothiontreatment to 3.3-fold. These results suggest that a major causeof the potentiation may be the increase in amount of BPMC inthe systemic circulation.     

Injection Sclerotherapy for Recurrent Esophageal Varices after Surgical Procedures

Abstract: Thirteen patients, who had recurrent esophageal varices after esophageal transection or esophagoproximal gastrectomy were treated by endoscopic injection sclerotherapy. Four patients successfully underwent emergency sclerotherapy to control active variceal hemorrhaging. Three of these patients and the remaining nine patients (including six rebleeding patients who were conservatively treated) underwent elective sclerotherapy. None of the patients had variceal rebleeding in the follow-up study with sclerotherapies. Only one patient with recurrent varices did not undergo any additional sclerotherapy following emergency treatment. In this study, no deaths occured nor any major complications. Minor complications such as low grade fever and chest pain were observed, but they were transient and disappeared within 2 or 3 days without specific treatments. It is concluded that endoscopic injection sclerotherapy is considered to be the most effective procedure for recurrent varice following surgery.     

Surface antigen expression on bladder tumor cells induced by bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG): A role of BCG internalization into tumor cells

BACKGROUND: The antitumor mechanisms of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) against bladder cancer is still unclear. We previously reported that BCG was internalized by and survived within murine bladder tumor cells (MBT-2) for at least 40 days. In the present study, we investigated the effect of BCG on the surface antigen expression of bladder tumor cells and the characteristics of these cells as antigen-presenting cells in vitro. METHODS: Surface antigen (major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class II, CD1, CD80 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1)) expression on BCG-treated murine (MBT-2) and human (T-24, J82) bladder tumor cells were analyzed using flow cytometry. The production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) from murine lymphocytes sensitized with BCG or BCG-treated tumor cells were also investigated. RESULTS: The expressions of MHC Class II, CD1, CD80 and ICAM-1 were augmented in all of the bladder tumor cell lines used; however, they were augmented to varying degrees among the cell lines that were treated with live BCG. Heat-killed BCG had little or no effect. When murine lymph node cells sensitized with BCG or BCG-treated MBT-2 cells were cocultured with BCG-treated MBT-2 cells, significant amounts of IL-2 and IFN-gamma were produced in the culture medium. CONCLUSIONS: BCG induced the augmented expression of surface antigens, such as MHC Class II, CD1, CD80 and ICAM-1, of bladder tumor cells. Furthermore, BCG-treated MBT-2 cells could stimulate BCG-sensitized lymphocytes to produce IL-2 and IFN-gamma. These results strongly suggest that bladder tumor cells gained the characteristics and functions of antigen-presenting cells (APC).     

Injection Sclerotherapy for Esophageal Varices Associated with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Liver Cirrhosis

Survival period, causes of death and variceal rebleeding in 20 patients with esophageal varices associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of injection sclerotherapy. The first injection sclerotherapy successfully stopped active variceal bleeding in all seven emergency cases. These were followed up as elective cases later on. The remaining 13 patients, who had a history of variceal bleeding, were treated as elective cases from the beginning. Endoscopic evaluation of the varices was performed at intervals of six months to one year, after the first sclerotherapy, and recurrence was treated by elective sclerotherapy. 85% of the patients died within one year. Three out of 20 cases were still alive until this study was performed. But, whereas 17 patients died mainly due to hepatic failure and hepatocellular carcinoma, only one patient died due to variceal rebleeding. No deaths were observed to have been directly due to sclerotherapy or its complications. Hence we think that injection sclerotherapy should be considered one of the treatments for esophageal varices in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis.     

Folded skin with an underlying cutaneous smooth muscle hamartoma

We report a 3-month-old male infant with marked folding of the skin, who manifested mental retardation and delayed growth at the age of 31 months. Histological examination of the folded skin disclosed smooth muscle hamartomatous changes. To our knowledge, this represents the third reported case of folded skin with an underlying smooth muscle hamartoma.