Active production of anti-human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) IgM antibody in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy

We investigated the presence of anti-human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) IgM in sera and cerebrospinal fluid from patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) by Western blot analysis. Analyses of 36 serum samples revealed that most patients (31/36; 86.1%) had anti-HTLV-I IgM, whereas only four of 23 (17.4%) HTLV-I carriers had it. In studies of cerebrospinal fluid, anti-HTLV-I IgM was detected in 24 of 36 (66.7%) HAM patients, whereas none was detected in nine HTLV-I carriers. The differences were statistically significant (p less than 0.01). These results suggest that persistent active replication of HTLV-I occurs in the central nervous system as well as in the peripheral blood of HAM patients, and may contribute to the development of HAM.     

Suppressive effect of lentinan on pulmonary metastases in murine tumors

Lentinan has been shown to have a suppressive effect on the natural pulmonary metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma, though its effect seems to depend on the timing of the administration. Administration of lentinan after the amputation of tumor was found to be more effective than before administration. Additionally, lentinan also has shown a marked suppressive effect on the pulmonary metastasis of MC-CS-1 fibrosarcoma, a high sensitive tumor for lentinan in any administration examined. These date suggest the usefulness of lentinan in suppressing tumor metastasis.     

Clinical and epidemiological aspects of enteritis due to Salmonella hadar. II. Environmental contamination by Salmonella hadar in Shizuoka Prefecture--studies on the feasibility of reducing S. hadar infection]

A systematic examination was performed for environmental food contamination by Salmonella in poultry farms, broiler chickens, broiler processing plants and meat on the market. Salmonella was isolated from 219 of 1197 samples and the serotypes showed a wide distribution. (Table 1-1). S. hadar accounted for 37.1% (96) of all isolations (259). The contamination rate of broiler chickens on arrival at broiler processing plants is relatively low. However, in the broiler processing plants, containers, processing machinery, cooling water and slaughters were highly contaminated by Salmonella, S. hadar being the most prominent serotype in the plants. 64% of chicken meat on the market was contaminated by Salmonella, S. hadar being the second most prominent serotype. 11% of the pork and none of the beef or horseflesh was contaminated by Salmonella. These results indicate that poultry is the main source of S. hadar infection in humans. However, no S. hadar was isolated from cultures of 119 samples of feed for chickens from each delivery (Table 1-1). Thus, as the main source of infection by S. hadar of broiler chickens, an association with the feed seems to be ruled out. S. hadar was isolated at three of 18 poultry farms within Shizuoka Prefecture. Follow-up studies were performed at the three poultry farms which revealed that in two of them, Salmonella was completely eradicated on completion of disinfection. In the other one farm, which is still being disinfected, various strains of Salmonella including S. hadar still survived. We conclude that the main cause of the problem is the magnification of contamination of Salmonella-free material during the process at the broiler processing plants.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Study on reoperation in cardiac disease]

Between January in 1988 and September in 1990, 65 patients underwent reoperation for acquired heart disease. Previous operations were closed mitral commissurotomy in 19, open mitral commissurotomy in 19, mitral valve replacement in 22, aortic valve replacement in one, and mitral repair in 4. After median sternotomy performed by hand-operated chisel and hammer, minimized dissection of the adhesive lesion was achieved. During the sternotomy, two patients required additional right thoracotomy because of marked median sternal adhesion and major cardiovascular injury occurred in three patients. Cardioplegic solution was introduced in normograde fashion except in two patients. In two patients with previous MVR by porcine prosthesis severe calcification was found in the left atrial wall and the prosthesis was not removed in one. Postoperative complications were low cardiac output syndrome requiring intra-aortic balloon pumping in two, re-thoracotomy due to hemorrhage in one, and mild air embolism without neurological damage in two. There was one early death (1.5%) but no late death. Although perioperative complication seemed to increase in reoperation, post-reoperative results was as good as those in the primary cardiac operation and reoperation on cardiac surgery should be performed before losing the indication for operation.     

In vivo measurement of spatial dose distribution with thermoluminescent sheet around high dose-rate intracavitary source: application to rectal cancer.

For intracavitary high dose-rate radiation therapy, a thermoluminescent [TL] sheet for in vivo measurement of spatial dose distribution around source has been recently developed. The TL sheet was found to have a linear response with a very wide dynamic range from at least 0.002 cGy to 5000 cGy for 60Co gamma-rays. This TL sheet (40 cm x 50 cm x 200 microns), which is composed of Teflon mixed with BaSO4:Eu doped powder, is very flexible and can be cut to the desired size. In addition, this sheet is easy to handle because of its insensitivity to room light. The spatial dose distribution is displayed in a color mode by using a newly developed TL sheet readout system. For a clinical application, the TL sheet was wrapped on an applicator for intracavitary radiation therapy of a rectal cancer and was inserted into the rectum. The location of the TL sheet could be confirmed with diagnostic X ray film. After irradiation with high dose-rate 60Co source, the in vivo relative dose distribution on the surface of the rectum was determined. This TL sheet provided a convenient means of measuring the relative dose distributions around 60Co sources of various patterns in intracavitary radiation therapy.     

Clinico-pathological study of collagen-related pulmonary lesions in cases of open lung biopsy]

We studied the clinico-pathological correlation of collagen disease-related pulmonary lesions to examine the pathological and radiological features of collagen lung, and the effect of steroid therapy. Ten open lung biopsy cases were examined; 4 male, and 6 female. The mean age was 55 years old. Seven cases developed pulmonary shadows after the diagnosis of collagen disease, and 3 cases showed pulmonary shadow prior to diagnosis. Pathologically, 6 cases proved to be bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP), 3 cases were chronic interstitial pneumonia (UIP), and 1 case was acute interstitial pneumonia. All cases had inflammatory thickening of the interstitium involving the pleura, bronchial wall, and perivascular connective tissue. Half of the cases had bronchiolar inflammatory lesions. Radiologically BOOP cases showed either localized ground glass shadows, or diffuse reticulonodular shadows predominantly in the lower lung fields with shrinkage of affected areas. UIP cases showed reticulonodular shadows, and active UIP cases showed overlapping ground glass shadows. Steroids were administered in cases of BOOP and active UIP, and all cases showed improvement. We consider that open lung biopsy is of use in the diagnosis of some cases and in assessing whether steroid therapy is indicated.     

Effect of myasthenic IgG on degradation of junctional acetylcholine receptor

We investigated the effect of the lgG from patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) on the degradation of normal rat junctional acetylcholine receptor (AChR) labeled with ¹²⁵l-α-bungarotoxin (BuTx) and calculated the degradation rate (DR). The DR for the lgG from these patients was significantly higher than that from healthy volunteers and patients with other autoimmune diseases. For MG, DR was significantly correlated with the severity of the disease but not with anti-AChR antibody titer. DR was accelerated by lgG from patients with generalized MG whose antibody titers were in the normal range and by lgG from patients with ocular MG. These results indicate that measurement of the DR of junctional AChR in normal rats is more closely correlated with the severity of the disease than is measurement of anti-AChR antibody and that the former is a sensitive and confirmatory method for evaluating MG. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Establishment of dental epithelial cell line (HAT-7) and the cell differentiation dependent on Notch signaling pathway

Rat incisors grow continuously throughout life. Producing a variety of dental epithelial cells is performed by stem cells located in the cervical loop of the incisor apex. To study the mechanisms for cell differentiation, we established a dental epithelial cell line (HAT-7) originating from a cervical loop epithelium of a rat incisor. Immunochemical studies showed that HAT-7 produced the cells expressing amelogenin, ameloblastin, or alkaline phosphatase (ALP). To illustrate a role of Notch signaling in the determinant of the cell fate, we examined expression patterns of Notch1 and Jagged1 in HAT-7 density dependently. At lower cell density, Notch1- or Jagged1-expressing cells were not seen. However, when they were fully confluent, cells began to express Notch1 or Jagged1 strongly. Some ALP-positive cells were almost consistent with Notch1-expressing cells but not Jagged1-expressing cells. These results suggested that the determinant of direction of differentiation was associated with Notch signaling pathway.