Identification and evaluation of antioxidants in Japanese parsley

Two cultivars of Japanese parsley were harvested in different seasons; their antioxidant capacities were evaluated by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) methods, and the contents of hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidants were compared. Japanese parsley possessed potent antioxidant capacities both in hydrophilic and lipophilic extracts when evaluated by ORAC methods. LC/MS/MS analyses revealed that chlorogenic acid and four kinds of quercetin glycosides were major antioxidants in the hydrophilic extract. Lutein was the main contributor to the antioxidant capacity of the lipophilic extract. Antioxidant capacities of the hydrophilic extracts of both cultivars tended to be higher in winter because of the increase in the contents of chlorogenic acid and quercetin glycosides. An obvious trend in the lipophilic antioxidant capacities or lutein contents was not observed irrespective of the cultivar.     

Postoperative development of sarcopenia is a strong predictor of a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and upper gastric cancer

Background

There were few studies assessed the postoperative sarcopenia in patients with cancers. The objective of present study was to assess whether postoperative development of sarcopenia could predict a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction, (AEG) and upper gastric cancer (UGC).

Pituitary stalk meningioma: case report

We report a 45-year-old woman with a meningioma which was in contact with only the pituitary stalk on MRI. As the pituitary stalk has no dura mater, we suggest this tumour may have originated from the arachnoid membrane of the pituitary stalk. Though some reports have shown that meningiomas can arise from sites lacking a dural component, this is the first report of a meningioma originating from the pituitary stalk. Received: 21 December 1995 Accepted: 26 February 1996     

Surgical treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection following infrainguinal arterial reconstruction.

A 64-year-old man was referred to our hospital with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection following infrainguinal arterial reconstruction. As repeated MRSA sepsis occurred, we decided to remove the infected graft with distal revascularization via circuitous graft tunneling to avoid serious infections and allow limb salvage. An iliofemoro bypass was performed via an extra-anatomical bypass, from just below the iliac crest into the musculus quadriceps femoris using an 8 mm-ringed polyester gelatin polypropylene tube graft, with complete debridement of a groin infection. Postoperative 3-dimentional CT angiography revealed that the prostheses was patent and the patient had an uneventful postoperative course. We concluded that this extra-anatomical bypass was a safe procedure and an excellent option for patients with an infected vascular prosthetic graft in the groin after previous revascularization, like in our case with no available autogeneous vein grafts.     

Upper thoracic myelopathy caused by vertebral collapse and subluxation in rheumatoid arthritis: report of two cases

We report two cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with upper thoracic myelopathy and a review of the literature. Clinical data of a 47-year-old woman (case 1) and a 54-year-old woman (case 2) are described. Case 1 showed a transverse-type myelopathy at the T2 segment level of the spinal cord and case 2 had the same type of myelopathy at the T4 segment level. Case 1 had anterior vertebral subluxation of C7 due to marked vertebral collapse and Case 2 had subluxation of T2 with vertebral destruction. These two patients had the mutilating type of RA with multilevel spontaneous fusion in the cervical spine. The lesions in the thoracic spine might be caused by the severe destructive inflammation that is characteristic in mutilating disease. The vertebral collapse might lead to subluxation of the upper thoracic vertebra, resulting in spinal cord compression. Upper thoracic subluxation might be caused by vertebral collapse due to RA and the increased motion as a compensation for decreased mobility caused by spontaneous fusion in the cervical spine.     

Collagen synthesis activities of chondrocytes from histologically distinct zones of chick embryo tibia

Monolayer cultures of 12-day chick embryo chondrocytes from the regions of dividing (zone 1), elongated (zone 2), and hypertrophied (zone 3) chondrocytes in the tibial cpiphyseal growth plate were analyzed for their capacity to synthesize types II, IX, X, and XI collagens. Synthesis of types II and IX collagens was markedly elevated in the zone 2 culture, while type X collagen synthesis was maximal in zone 3. Type XI collagen was synthesized at low rates in all cultures, with some elevation of its rate in zones 2 and 3. In terms of mol percent of total collagen synthesis, types II and IX collagens decreased from zone 1 to zone 3, while type X collagen increased progressively. Thus, the composition of the extracellular collagens produced by the different zones changed markedly during chondrocyte differentiation. In addition, type X collagen was released exclusively into the culture medium, whereas type XI collagen was retained in the extracellular cell-associated matrix. In contrast, types II and IX collagens were found in both the culture medium and the cell matrix pools. Although types II and IX collagens showed similar changes during differentiation, the synthetic molar ratios of these two collagens varied from 3 to 18 in different cultures, suggesting that the synthesis of these two products is not tightly coupled in these cells.