Characterization of adenosine deaminase (ADA)-negative B-lymphoblastoid cells cocultured with ADA-positive fibroblasts

Abstract: A cell line, BAD05, derived from B lymphocytes of an adenosine deaminase (ADA; EC 3,5,4,4)-deficient patient could not proliferate in a serum-free medium containing 100 μmol/l deoxyadenosine. When BAD05 was cultured with ADA-positive fibroblasts, the proliferation of BAD05 was improved. BAD05 cell density increased when the initially mixed ratio of fibroblasts/BAD05 was 1/10 or higher, but decreased when the ratio was 1/20 or lower. Deoxyadenosine concentrations in the medium and ATP and deoxyATP (dATP) levels in the BAD05 were measured after 4 hours of coculture at initial BAD05 cell densities of 1 × 10⁵and 1 × 10⁶cells/ml. Deoxyadenosine concentrations in the medium decreased as the density of fibroblasts increased. The dATP level decreased as the mixed ratio rose. The ratio of fibroblasts/BAD05 rather than the cell density of fibroblasts had a larger effect on the dATP levels in BAD05. Under our experimental conditions, ADA-negative cells proliferated well when the ratio of ADA-positive cells/ADA-negative cells was over 1/10.     

Disorder in reciprocal innervation upon initiation of voluntary movement in patients with Parkinson's disease

Summary Reciprocal innervation of the soleus motoneurones upon initiation of voluntary ankle dorsiflexion was investigated in eight patients with Parkinson's disease. H-reflex and visually guided step tracking methods were used for testing moto-neurone excitability and for controlling the timing of movement initiation, respectively. While reciprocal inhibition appeared almost simultaneously with the agonist electromyographic (EMG) onset in normal subjects (Kagamihara and Tanaka 1985), facilitation appeared in the majority of patients under the same onset condition. It increased slowly, reaching a maximum at about 100 ms after the EMG onset. It then subsided slowly at around 200–300 ms, and was replaced thereafter by an inhibitory effect. No coactivation of the soleus muscle was detected electromyographically. The facilitation between the EMG onset and the onset of mechanical contraction was attributed to the direct effect of the descending command from the brain, suggesting a certain disorder in controlling the system for reciprocal innervation.     

Radiation Therapy Results for Patients Undergoing Inappropriate Surgery in the Presence of Invasive Cervical Carcinoma

Total vaginal or abdominal hysterectomy was considered an inadequate treatment method for invasive uterine cervix cancer. Usually the procedure was inadvertently performed on patients who were thought preoperatively to have benign or premalignant conditions. Between 1985 and 1993, 64 patients undergoing hysterectomy in the presence of invasive cervical cancer were treated with external radiation therapy and/or intracavitary radiotherapy. Preoperative diagnoses were carcinomain situ(36), severe dysplasia (2), and early invasive cancer (14), and others were benign disease. Overall 5-year survival and relapse-free survival rates were 75.8 and 77.5%, respectively. For patients in retrospective stage IA, IB, and IIB (gross residual after surgery), overall 5-year survival rates were 90.9, 88.8, and 27.9%, respectively. Thirteen patients developed treatment failure; most of them (10/13) were patients with gross residual disease. Patients with early invasive cervical cancer (stage IA) had no treatment-related failure. Prognostic factors affecting survival by univariate analysis were retrospective stage (P= 0.0000) and preoperative diagnosis (P= 0.0021). Tumor histology was marginally significant factor (P= 0.0938). By multivariate analysis, only retrospective stage was significant prognostic factor (P= 0.0001). Adjuvant radiotherapy appears to be an effective treatment method for patients with presumed stage IA and IB after inadvertent hysterectomy. Survival for patients with gross disease remaining after inappropriate hysterectomy is poor. So, early cancer detection and proper management with precise pretreatment staging is necessary to avoid inadherent hysterectomy, especially in cases of gross residual disease.     

Antioxidant activity from the stem bark of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Albizzia julibrissin</Emphasis>

The antioxidant activity of the stem bark from Albizzia julibrissin was evaluated for its potential to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, to inhibit the generation of the hydroxyl radical (*OH), total reactive oxygen species (ROS) and to scavenge authentic peroxynitrites (ONOO-). The methanol extract of A. julibrissin exhibited strong antioxidant activity in the tested model systems. Therefore, it was further fractionated using several solvents. The antioxidant activity of the individual fractions were in the order of ethyl acetate (EtOAc) > n-butanol (n-BuOH) > dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) > and water (H2O). The ethyl acetate soluble fraction, which exhibited strong antioxidant activity, was further purified by repeated silicagel, Sephadex LH-20 and RP-18 gel column chromatography. Sulfuretin (1) and 3',4',7-trihydroxyflavone (2) were isolated as the active principles. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited good activity in all tested model systems. Compound 1 exhibited five times more inhibitory activity on the total ROS than Trolox. Compound 2 showed six times stronger DPPH radical scavenging activity than L-ascorbic acid. These results show the possible antioxidant activity of the A. julibrissin crude extract and its major constituents.     

A case of cytokeratin 20-positive large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast

We report a rare case of large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast. A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a firm mass in the right breast. Mammography revealed a high-density mass with specula, and ultrasonography showed a heterogeneous hypoechoic mass with irregular margin and posterior acoustical shadowing. She underwent breast-conserving surgery with axillary lymph node dissection. Histopathologically, the tumor consisted of large cells with polygonal and prominent nuclei and a small amount of eosinophilic cytoplasm, and these cells showed palisading arrangement with fibrous stroma. The tumor cells were positive for neuroendocrine markers such as NSE, synaptophysin, CD56 (NCAM), but not for chromogranin A. Interestingly, the tumor cells showed reactivity for cytokeratin 20 but not for cytokeratin 7. The immunostaining pattern is different from the usual adenocarcinoma of the breast. The patient received postoperative radiotherapy and was given adjuvant chemotherapy. She has remained disease-free for 44?months.     

Frequency and Risk Factors of Various Complications After Computed Tomography–Guided Radiofrequency Ablation of Lung Tumors

Objective To retrospectively determine the frequency and risk factors of various side effects and complications after percutaneous computed tomography–guided radiofrequency (RF) ablation of lung tumors. Methods We reviewed and analyzed records of 112 treatment sessions in 57 of our patients (45 men and 12 women) with unresectable lung tumors treated by ablation. Risk factors, including sex, age, tumor diameter, tumor location, history of surgery, presence of pulmonary emphysema, electrode gauge, array diameter, patient position, maximum power output, ablation time, and minimum impedance during ablation, were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Total rates of side effects and minor and major complications occurred in 17%, 50%, and 8% of treatment sessions, respectively. Side effects, including pain during ablation (46% of sessions) and pleural effusion (13% of sessions), occurred with RF ablation. Minor complications, including pneumothorax not requiring chest tube drainage (30% of sessions), subcutaneous emphysema (16% of sessions), and hemoptysis (9% of sessions) also occurred after the procedure. Regarding major complications, three patients developed fever >38.5°C; three patients developed abscesses; two patients developed pneumothorax requiring chest tube insertion; and one patient had air embolism and was discharged without neurologic deficit. Univariate and multivariate analyses suggested that a lesion located ≤1 cm of the chest wall was significantly related to pain (p < 0.01, hazard index 5.76). Risk factors for pneumothorax increased significantly with previous pulmonary surgery (p < 0.05, hazard index 6.1) and presence of emphysema (p <0.01, hazard index 13.6). Conclusion The total complication rate for all treatment sessions was 58%, and 25% of patients did not have any complications after RF ablation. Although major complications can occur, RF ablation of lung tumors can be considered a safe and minimally invasive procedure.     

Adenocarcinoma of the minor duodenal papilla: report of a case

We report a case of adenocarcinoma of the minor duodenal papilla, a rare type of duodenal neoplasm. A 76-year-old man with a history of surgery for rectal cancer and gastric cancer was referred to us after a follow-up upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed an abnormal elevation in the minor duodenal papilla. The pathological diagnosis of a biopsy specimen was adenocarcinoma. Preoperative examination of other organs revealed a tumor in the ascending colon, which was also identified as adenocarcinoma. We performed synchronous pancreatoduodenectomy and ileocecal resection with lymph node dissection. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen revealed that the papilla tumor arose from the duodenal mucosa and infiltrated the submucosa of the duodenal wall, but not the pancreatic parenchyma. Based on these findings, we diagnosed primary adenocarcinoma of the minor duodenal papilla. To our knowledge, this is only the sixth such case reported in the English-language literature, and we review all six cases after this case report.     

Pancreatic schwannoma: Report of a case

Among pancreatic neoplasms, pancreatic schwannoma is quite rare. We report a case of solitary pancreatic schwannoma, plus a literature review of this tumor. A 71-year-old woman was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography as having a pancreatic tumor and was hospitalized in our department at Kumamoto University Hospital on January 26, 2006. Abdominal computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and endoscopic ultrasonography all showed this tumor, which was located in the body of the pancreas, to have cystic and solid components, and with a septum in the cystic part of the lesion. The tumor, preoperatively identified as a mucinous cystic neoplasm, was clearly separated from the normal pancreatic parenchyma. We performed a spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy with a lymph node dissection on February 7, 2006. A histopathological examination of the resected specimen by means of hematoxylin and eosin revealed the tumor to consist of two parts: one with a compact spindle cell pattern (Antoni type A), and the other showing degeneration of fat (Antoni type B). We also found positive results for immunohistochemical staining for S-100 and vimentin. These findings confirmed the tumor’s classification as a pancreatic schwannoma.