胃癌大肠转移的X线钡灌肠表现

目的:分析胃癌大肠转移的X线钡灌肠表现。方法:104例胃癌入院术前检查发现结肠转移或胃癌术后转移入院治疗的病例。分析钡灌肠初次发现大肠转移征象的年龄、发现胃癌原发病变距初次发现大肠转移的间隔时间、转移病变的发生部位和病变造成的X线钡灌肠图像上的肠管变形和粘膜面的改变。结果:104例胃癌结肠转移,男67例,女37例。胃癌术前检查中发现结肠转移者32例,术后发现的大肠转移中,多数转移发生在手术后3年内(占91.3%)。胃癌原发灶的肉眼形态BorrmannⅢ型(28例)和BorrmannⅣ型(65例)者占89.4%,组织学中以低分化腺癌和印戒细胞癌为主要成分者占91.3%。X线钡灌肠检查显示大肠转移的好发部位为横结肠(80),其次为直肠(50)。转移灶可累及多节段肠管,其中横结肠中1/3段(47),横结肠左1/3(44),横结肠右1/3(39)和直肠腹膜返折之上(39)。X线显示肠管单侧变形者227处,双侧变形者96处。黏膜面表现为梳齿状黏膜纹聚集改变253处,颗粒结节状改变23处,外压性改变20处,弥漫性改变62处。结论:胃癌大肠转移的好发部位为横结肠和直肠,结肠黏膜面的梳齿状黏膜纹聚集为胃癌大肠转移的主要X线钡剂灌肠表现。     

Histochemical studies on hyaluronic acid in the developing human retina

Changes in the distribution of hyaluronic acid in the developing human retina were investigated histochemically with alcian blue staining and theStreptomyces hyaluronidase digestion method using 56 human embryos and fetuses ranging from 5 to 41 weeks of gestational age. Hyaluronic acid was first detected in the inner layer of the retina at 12 weeks. The site of accumulation extended towards the outer layer by 20 weeks. At the neonatal stage, longitudinal fibers, possibly the processes of Müller cells, were proved to contain hyaluronic acid. These findings suggest that Müller cells produce hyaluronic acid transiently from 12 weeks’ gestation to the neonatal stage.     

Gene polymorphism of myospryn (cardiomyopathy-associated 5) is associated with left ventricular wall thickness in patients with hypertension.

We examined a gene polymorphism of a novel Z-disc-related protein, myospryn (cardiomyopathy-associated 5). We focused on one haplotype block associated with a tag single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that covered 16 of 27 coding SNPs with linkage disequilibrium (minor allele frequency 0.413). Screening a myospryn polymorphism (K2906N) in a general health check-up of a rural Japanese population revealed an association with cardiac diseases (p=0.0082). In further analysis of the interaction between K2906N and cardiac function in patients, K2906N was associated with the anteroseptal wall thickness of the left ventricle in a recessive model (p=0.0324) and with the ratio of the peak velocity of the early diastolic filling wave to the peak velocity of atrial filling (A/E) (p=0.0278). In an association study based on left ventricular wall thickness, we found a significant difference in the K2906N genotype between controls and patients with cardiac hypertrophy. These results suggest that the K2906N polymorphism could be clinically associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction independent of known parameters. Although the precise mechanism underlying this association remains to be elucidated, treatment with angiotensin II induced an increase in heart myospryn mRNA level in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that the polymorphism of myospryn is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, and an association between a Z-disc protein and cardiac adaptation in response to pressure overload.     

A case of acute hepatitis E associated with multidrug hypersensitivity and cytomegalovirus reactivation

A 65-year-old Japanese man was hospitalized because of acute hepatitis and severe cholestasis due to hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection combined with a drug reaction to a cold preparation. He died of disseminated intravascular coagulation and severe intestinal bleeding due to systemic cytomegalovirus reactivation following the development of severe eruptions with marked eosinophilia due to drug hypersensitivity to taurine and ursodeoxycholate preparations. The close interaction between viral infection or reactivation and drug hypersensitivity was considered as a pathophysiology in this case, which emphasizes the need for further study of the immunological mechanism of the interaction.     

Characteristics of young-onset hypertension identified by targeted screening performed at a university health check-up.

Since the prevalence and clinical characteristics of young-onset hypertension are still to be elucidated, we performed targeted-screening at an annual university health check-up for two consecutive years. Out of 16,464 subjects in 2003 and 17,032 in 2004 that were aged less than 30 years, 22 and 26 students (all males) exhibited high blood pressure (BP), respectively, on three occasions during casual BP measurements at the Tohoku University Health Center (systolic and diastolic BP of 140 and/or 90 mmHg or greater, respectively). These students were asked to measure their BP at home, and 9 subjects in total were diagnosed as having essential hypertension (EH). The remaining students were diagnosed as having white coat hypertension (WCH). In 8 out of 9 EH students, their father and/or mother had also been treated with antihypertensive medication. Adjustment by attendance ratio for each BP measurement suggested that the incidence of EH was around 0.1% and that of hypertension (EH and WCH) was around 0.5% in university students aged less than 25 years, since most of the subjects and hypertensive students were between 18 and 24 years old. Body mass index of the EH, which was more than 25 kg/m2 (overweight), was significantly higher than that with WCH. In conclusion, the combination of repeated casual BP measurements and home BP effectively identified young-onset EH. The clinical parameters indicated that male gender, genetic background, and excessive weight were risk factors for young-onset hypertension.     

Pathological and biochemical studies on a case of Pick disease with severe white matter atrophy

We report on a male patient with Pick disease who had shown severe white matter atrophy and dilatation of the lateral ventricle in the frontal lobe from an early stage. Upon admission to our hospital 2 years after disease onset, the patient showed apathy, and MRI revealed severe atrophy of the cortex and white matter of the frontal lobe. He died at age 74, 11 years after disease onset. Autopsy revealed severe atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes, severe loss of white matter in the frontal lobe, dilatation of the lateral ventricles, and cortical thinning. Histopathological examination showed severe loss of myelinated fibers in the frontal white matter and severe neuronal loss with gliosis in the frontal and temporal cortices. Many Pick bodies were seen. Our patient had a rare case of Pick disease predominantly affecting the frontal lobe with severe involvement of the white matter from an early stage. This case suggests that myelinated fibers in the white matter as well as cerebral neurons are primarily affected in Pick disease.     

Hypertonic saline alters electrical barrier of the airway epithelium.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of tonicity changes in nebulizer solutions and irrigations on nasal mucosa is not well known. The present study aims to determine the basic mechanism of hypertonic solution on airway epithelial barrier. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We investigated the electrical potential difference (PD) that is influenced by both active transport and the transepithelial electrical resistance of the epithelial mucosa in the human nose in vivo. The short circuit current (SCC) revealed net ion transport across the epithelium in the guinea pig trachea in vitro. Finally, the size dependency of macromolecules across the tracheal mucosa was determined in vitro using FITC-labeled dextrans of different sizes. RESULTS: PD was significantly decreased after topical application of hypertonic solution both in human and in guinea pig nose. SCC was significantly decreased after application of hypertonic solution. The transport of these dextrans from the basolateral to the apical side was not increased significantly after apical application of hypertonic saline. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertonic saline enhances the electrical permeability of the airway epithelial mucosa but not transport of macromolecule in the short term.     

A case of primary ureteral carcinoma in the duplicated renal pelvis and ureter diagnosed by transurethral uretero-renoscopy

We present a case of primary ureteral carcinoma in the duplicated renal pelvis and ureter diagnosed by transurethral uretero-renoscopy. The case was of a 78-year-old man with the complaint of sudden asymptomatic macrohematuria. An excretory urogram strongly suggested the presence of duplication of the right collecting system, and cystoscopy revealed a gross hematuria from the right ureteral orifice. A retrograde ureteropyelogram revealed incomplete duplication of the right renal pelvis and ureter fused at about the ureter crossing over the iliac vessels, and a polyp-like filling defect in the lower segment of duplicated ureter at about 4 cm from the fusion of the ureters. Transurethral uretero-renoscopy was employed to investigate the filling defect, and a papillary tumor extended into the lower segment of duplicated ureter was revealed. Tumor was resected by a rigid operating instrument under transurethral uretero-renoscopy. The pathological diagnosis was grade I-transitional cell carcinoma of the ureter, so that right total nephroureterectomy with partial cystectomy was carried out subsequently. Surgical specimen after right total nephroureterectomy with partial cystectomy showed no other tumor in the pelvis or ureter macroscopically, and histopathological studies of surgical specimens were no evidence of malignancy. We believe that transurethral uretero-renoscopy significantly increases the diagnostic accuracy in determining the nature of upper urinary tract lesions, and this procedure is indispensable in the diagnosis of ureteral tumors. The present case was the 7th case of primary ureteral carcinoma in the duplicated renal pelvis and ureter in the Japanese literature.     

Role of macrophage and smooth muscle cell apoptosis in association with oxidized low-density lipoprotein in the atherosclerotic development.

To examine the role of the apoptosis of macrophages and smooth muscle cells in the development of atherosclerosis, human aortic tissues with intimal lesions were immunostained with antibodies against terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL), single-stranded DNA (clone F7-26), and active caspase-3. Apoptotic cells were detected in the intima using both TUNEL and single-stranded DNA, however, the latter method was the more sensitive one for detecting apoptotic cells in the early stages of atherosclerosis. The number of apoptotic cells increased as the disease progressed. It implies that the apoptosis of intimal cells is involved in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. In addition, quantitative analyses of the cell types undergoing apoptosis using double-immunostaining revealed that the susceptibility of macrophages and smooth muscle cells to apoptosis was greater specifically in atheroma than in the other atherosclerotic lesions, and macrophages were more susceptible to apoptosis than smooth muscle cells. The frequency and spatial distribution of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) (FOH1a/DLH3)-positive cells were examined by immunohistochemistry, and the results resembled those of apoptotic cells. The number of oxLDL-positive cells in the intima significantly correlated with the susceptibility of smooth muscle cells, but not with that of macrophages, to apoptosis. These results suggest that oxLDL affects the apoptosis of smooth muscle cells during the atherosclerotic development.