Effects of food deprivation and high fat diet on opioid receptor binding in rat brain

The effect of food deprivation for 72 h or a high fat diet on [3H]naloxone binding in the discrete brain regions of male lean Zucker rats was studied. In the midbrain, both treatments increased Bmax for the high-affinity site with no change in Kd. In the cortex, the high fat diet increased Bmax for the high-affinity site. These results suggest that dietary manipulations could produce significant changes in the endogenous opioid system.     

Endosonographic study of anal sphincters in patients after surgery for Hirschsprung's disease

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate the relationship between endosonographic findings of anal sphincters and anorectal function in patients after surgery for Hirschsprung's disease. In addition, whether internal sphincterotomy or sphincterectomy was accomplished was examined in each procedure by anal endosonography. METHODS: Fifteen patients, aged 11 to 20 years, were examined. Nine patients underwent modified Duhamel's operation, three underwent Rehbein's operation with anorectal myectomy, and three underwent modified Martin's operation. All 15 patients were examined by anal endosonography using a sonographic scanner (Aloka SSD 2000) with a 7.5-MHz radial rotating endoprobe, clinical bowel assessment, and manometric study. RESULTS: After the modified Duhamel operation, anal endosonography showed an interruption of the external anal sphincter (EAS) in eight of the nine patients, as a high, mixed, or low echoic lesion in the hyperechoic band correlated to the EAS. The locations of the interruption were wide in patients with mild constipation. An interruption of the internal anal sphincter (IAS) was observed in all nine patients, as a hyperechoic lesion in the hypoechoic band correlated to IAS, which indicated internal sphincterotomy. After Rehbein's operation with anorectal myectomy, an interruption of EAS was observed in all three patients as a high or low echoic lesion in the hyperechoic band. An interruption of IAS was observed in all three patients. After the modified Martin's operation, an interruption of EAS was observed in two of the three patients as a high or low echoic lesion in the hyperechoic band. An interruption of IAS was observed in all three patients. CONCLUSION: Anal endosonography showed detailed distributions of EAS and IAS in patients after surgery for Hirschsprung's disease and complete internal sphincterotomy or sphincterectomy after these operations.     

Effect of combination therapy with a novel bisphosphonate, minodronate (YM529), and docetaxel on a model of bone metastasis by human transitional cell carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary tract is a chemosensitive tumor. Most deaths from TCC of the urinary tract are caused by metastasis, which is resistant to conventional chemotherapy. Frequent sites of metastases from TCC of the urinary tract are regional lymph nodes, liver, lung, and bone. Of these distant metastases, bone metastasis is consistently resistant to cisplatin-based conventional chemotherapy. Therefore, in this study, we investigated whether or not a newly developed minodronate, YM529, could prevent osteolytic bone metastasis of human TCC and also enhance the effect of docetaxel in a bone tumor model of athymic nude mice. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In the present study, we evaluated the effect of in vitro treatment with minodronate and/or docetaxel on the proliferation by cell count, the induction of apoptosis by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, and the biological activity of osteoclast by pit formation assay in human bladder cancer cell line, UMUC-14, and mouse osteoclast cells. In vivo, we examined the effect of minodronate in a bone tumor model of athymic nude mice, in which the percutaneous intraosseal injection in the tibia of UMUC-14, leads to osteolytic bone tumor, as a bone metastasis model. To examine whether or not minodronate could inhibit tumorigenicity and enhance the effect of the chemotherapeutic agent, docetaxel, we gave minodronate i.p. and/or docetaxel i.p. to nude mice 3 days after an intraosseal tumor implantation. Moreover, proliferation and the induction of apoptosis of cancer cells and osteoclasts in bone tumors were determined by immunohistochemistry and the TUNEL assay. RESULTS: In vitro: In vitro treatment with docetaxel inhibited proliferation and resorption pit-forming activity and induced apoptosis of mouse osteoclast cells and UMUC-14 cells. In vitro treatment with minodronate inhibited proliferation and activity and induced apoptosis of mouse osteoclast cells but not UMUC-14 cells. The treatment with minodronate enhanced the inhibition of proliferation and activity by docetaxel in osteoclasts. In vivo: In vivo combination therapy with docetaxel and minodronate significantly reduced the tumor incidence compared with the control (P < 0.05) and also growth of intraossal TCC in athymic nude mice compared with the control (P < 0.001), single therapy with docetaxel (P < 0.01), and minodronate (P < 0.05). Drug-induced body weight loss was not significantly different in any treatment group. Therapy with minodronate significantly enhanced inhibition of proliferation by docetaxel in osteoclasts of bone tumors compared with the control (P < 0.01), single therapy with docetaxel (P < 0.01), and minodronate (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These studies indicate that combination therapy with minodronate and docetaxel may be beneficial in patients with bone metastasis of human TCC in the urinary tract.     

Development of Graves' disease after subacute thyroiditis: two unusual cases.

This report describes two unusual cases of subacute thyroiditis from which Graves' disease with hyperthyroidism developed seven to eight years after complete recovery. The first case is a 45-year-old woman who developed hyperthyroidism seven years after recovering from subacute thyroiditis. This patient had a genetic predisposition to both subacute thyroiditis HLA-BW35 and Graves' disease (HLA-BW46). The second case is a 60-year-old woman who developed hyperthyroidism eight years after the episode of subacute thyroiditis; her HLA showed neither BW 35 nor BW 46. It has been reported that if hyperthyroidism is to develop following subacute thyroiditis it occurs within one year. Our observation indicates that it may occur seven or eight years later.     

Correction to: Association of initial prednisolone dose with remission,relapse, and infectious complications in adult‑onset minimal change disease

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology - In the original publication, the author has found few errors. The corrections are given below.     

Adenomatous goiter--concept, etiology, treatment

Adenomatous goiter has an accompanying tumor formation due to the overgrowth of the cells of the thyroid tissue. The tumor formation may be single or multiple. In Japan which is iodine-rich country, adenomatous goiter is not so much concerned because its incidence is relatively low and fundamentally benign disease. However, it has various interesting aspects or problems including the etiology of goiter or nodules, the progression to functioning nodules or non-functioning nodules, the development of cancer, thyroid hormone synthesis and therapeutic problems etc. We have to be more interested in this disease.