Clinicopathological and Endoscopic Studies on Gastric Cancer Located; the Cardia

Abstract: In this study the definition of cardiac cancer (histologically adenocarcinoma) was taken to be a cancerous lesion, the size of which is less than 4 cm and the center of which is located within 2 cm from the esophagocardiac junction. 42 patients (0.8%) fit the above definition of cardiac cancer out of 4,958 patients with solitary gastric cancer operated on at the National Cancer Center Hospital daring the period between 1962 and 1988. The clinicopathological and endoscopic findings of these 42 patients were compared with those of 132 patients with gastric cancer located in the upper third of the stomach other than in the cardia (cancer in the other C-area). In the group with cardiac cancer, the male patients (M/F ratio: 3.7), the elderly patients (mean age: 61.3 years), a differentiated type of adenocarcinoma (90%), lesions located at the lesser curvature (62%) and the elevated type of lesion were found to predominate. The incidence of early cancer (60%) and the incidence of small lesions less than 2 cm (32%) in diameter were lower than in the patients with cancers in the other C-area. In the group with cardiac cancer, however, the incidence of such types of early cancer as the depressed lesion, a small lesion less than 2 cm in diameter and lesions difficult to diagnose endoscopically, have been increasing. In recent years, cardicac cancers have been found not only on the lesser curvature, but also in different areas of the cardia. These results suggest an improvement in endoscopic diagnosis for cardiac cancer. To make early detection more precise, it will be indispensable not to overlook even faint or indistinct mucosal abnormalities at the area adjacent to the esophagocardiac junction.     

Functional Competence of Dendritic Cells of Ageing C57BL/6 Mice

Highly polymorphic age-dependent differences in progression of T and B cells have been found in various strains of inbred mice. In the immune system of C57BL/6 mice these occur first in B cells and, later in life, in T cells. In this paper, we have examined the progression in the functional capacity of C57BL/6 dendritic cells (DC). Age-dependent changes were found in the syngeneic mixed leucocyte reaction, in which the stimulatory capacity of DC increased with age. This increase was independent of the age of the donor of the serum that was added to the culture, and occurred when young donors provided the T cells. Age-dependent changes in DC properties were not detected in terms of direct plaque-forming response, response to concanavalin A, or in the allogeneic mixed leucocyte reaction.     

Chronic Treatment with Prazosin Causes a Subtype-specific Increase in the α1-Adrenoceptor Density of the Stressed Rat Cerebral Cortex

The effects of chronic treatment with prazosin and of immobilization stress on the α₁-adrenoceptor subtypes in rat cerebral cortex have been examined. Prazosin-treated rats were allowed free access to tap water containing two different concentrations of prazosin (16 or 156 mg L^?) for 5 weeks. The mean plasma concentrations of prazosin were 5 ng mL^? in groups treated with a low dose and 8 or 14 ng mL^? in those treated with a high dose. Immobilization stress (2 h day^?, 2 weeks) or chronic treatment with a low dose of prazosin caused no significant change in the affinity for [³H]prazosin or in the maximum number of α₁-adrenoceptor sites (B_max). However, treatment with prazosin (low dose) combined with stress increased the density of α₁-adrenoceptors with low affinity for prazosin. Treatment with a high dose of prazosin increased the density of α_1L-adrenoceptors, irrespective of stress loading. The densities of α_1A- and α_1B-adrenoceptors with high affinity for prazosin were increased only after treatment with a high dose of prazosin in combination with stress. These results indicate that three distinct α₁-adrenoceptor subtypes, α_1A, α_1B and α_1L, might be affected differently by treatment with prazosin and by stress.     

Progressive prosopagnosia at a very early stage of frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Background: The present paper describes a patient with a right temporal lobe variant (RTLV) of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Methods: The study was undertaken when the patient was completely independent in her environment and had not complained of any cognitive problems. Results: Under general neuropsychological assessment, the patient showed no notable deficit other than a difficulty in recognizing famous people by looking at photographs of their faces. Subsequent in‐depth evaluation indicated prosopagnosia: the patient presented with an impaired ability to recognize the faces of famous people and family members, whereas her visuospatial abilities were intact. Because the patient was able to recognize familiar people by their voices, the impairment was not a general loss of knowledge about people, but an inability to access this knowledge from visual stimuli (i.e. via the visual modality). The patient also exhibited a ‘within‐category’ learning deficit; however, her ability to learn from ‘across‐category’ visual stimuli remained intact. Conclusions: Overall, the results of the present study support the proposed model of RTLV of FTLD, where the first sign would be the disruption of face recognition components, leading to a selective form of associative prosopagnosia. Further, the co‐occurrence of face and ‘within‐category’ object learning deficits favor an interpretation in which a more generalized deficit occurs ‘earlier’ in the sequence of events associated with the object recognition process.     

Possible correlation between polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor-beta gene and the clinicopathological features of bladder cancer in Japanese patients

OBJECTIVES: In a variety of cancers, several polymorphisms of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) genes have been reported to result in different clinical outcomes. We investigated whether a polymorphism of the TNF gene is associated with a susceptibility to bladder cancer and its disease status. METHODS: Polymorphisms in the TNF-alpha gene promoter (-308 bp) and the NcoI site in the first intron of the TNF-beta gene were analyzed in 141 Japanese patients with bladder cancer and 173 Japanese controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The correlations between the polymorphisms of the TNF genes and the clinicopathological features were analyzed. RESULTS: The number of cases and controls with TNF-alpha2 was too small to be assessable. In contrast, the TNF-beta1/2 genotype at the NcoI site in the first intron conferred a 1.71-fold increased risk of bladder cancer compared to the TNF-beta2/2 genotype. In the bladder cancer group, patients with the TNF-beta1 allele had a significantly higher risk for a high-grade tumor (grade 3) or carcinoma in situ (CIS) than those without the TNF-beta1 allele. Moreover, in the superficial bladder cancers, patients with the TNF-beta1 allele showed a significantly higher intravesical recurrence rate than those without the TNF-beta1 allele. CONCLUSION: This polymorphism in the TNF-beta gene appears to be associated with tumor occurrence and disease status, such as the tumor grade and the presence of CIS. Further study with an increased sample size is warranted.     

不同血清型的重组腺相关病毒载体对成熟肌纤维转导的研究

目的探讨不同血清型对成熟肌纤维的转导效率.方法我们用不同的血清型AAV（rAAV-1,rAAV-2,rAAV-3和rAAV-5）表达LacZ和GDNF基因研究在小鼠骨骼肌转导效率,转基因表达用组化方法或ELISA来评定. 结果在3周龄的小鼠中,LacZ组化染色显示rAAV5在慢和快的肌纤维中都有效的转导,而rAAV2和rAAV3优先在慢纤维中转导.在8周龄的小鼠（成年鼠）中,rAAV3和rAAV5在慢纤维和快纤维中都有效的转导.用rAAV3-LacZ或rAAV5-LacZ优先转导的慢纤维与rAAV2相比没有显著性差异.用8周龄的小鼠肌肉注射不同血清型的rAAV-GDNF后,结果显示rAAVl-GDNF表达最高;rAAV2、rAAV3和rAAV5在骨骼肌的表达也有效.结论在肌肉基因转导中,rAAV3和rAAV5介导的载体都是有效的,能克服rAAV2所受到的限制.