Platinum levels in various tissues of a patient who died 181 days after cisplatin overdosing determined by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Platinum (Pt) levels were determined in various tissues and body fluids obtained from a patient who died 181 days after cisplatin overdosing. The symptoms of cisplatin overdose, however, might have almost disappeared by day 40, and the patient’s death was ascribed to the recurrence of malignant lymphoma. Determination of Pt derived from cisplatin was performed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) using silver (Ag) as internal standard. Pt and Ag complexed with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) in wetashed blood, and tissue solutions were extracted into isoamyl alcohol, and then acidified with oxalic acid. By injecting an aliquot of the isoamyl alcohol layer into a mass spectrometer in the direct flow injection mode, the quantitation was performed using the signals of Pt(DDC)₃ ⁺ and Ag(DDC)₂ ⁺ at m/z 639 and 403, respectively. The Pt levels ranged from 25ng/ml in blood to 2050ng/g wet weight in the liver of the patient, indicating that Pt remained at high levels in tissues, even after a period as long as 181 days after cisplatin overdosing.     

A case of immediate allergy to anisakis following saury intake]

We report here a 76-year-old male that presented with an immediate allergy to Anisakis following saury intake. Three and a half hours after eating pressed saury sushi, whole-body pomphus appeared including itching, facial dropsical swelling, and dyspnea. Diagnostic tests revealed specific IgE antibodies against anisakis simplex and a skin prick test was positive using an extraction of anisakis simplex. The results of skin prick tests using the body and internal organs of a saury were negative. Based on these results, we diagnosed the case as immediate allergy to Anisakis. Anisakis is parasitic to a diverse array of fish, and it seems rare that eating saury will induce an allergic response because the reported parasitic rate of Anisakis on saury is only 5%. In addition, as tropomyosin is currently considered to be the primary cause of allergies to Anisakis, renewed attention should be paid to other foods for which tropomyosin is also assumed to be a common antigen.     

Extremely Well Differentiated Papillary Adenocarcinoma of the Lung with Prominent Cilia Formation

We describe a 54-year-old woman with primary pulmonary adenocarcinoma showing a characteristic papillary architecture and prominent cilia formation. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and Leu Ml, and negative for lactoferrin and surfactant apoprotein. An ultrastructural study also indicated differentiation toward bronchial surface epithelial cells. To our knowledge, this type of neoplasm has not been reported as peripheral-type adenocarcinoma of the lung. Acta Pathol Jpn 42: 745–750, 1992.     

Purification of rabbit, rat and mouse protein C with the use of monoclonal antibody to human protein C, PC01

Ca(++)-dependent monoclonal antibody specific to gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) domain of protein C was produced. It did not cross-react to the other vitamin K-dependent plasma proteins but to protein C of the other species. Using this monoclonal antibody, PC01, rabbit (170 micrograms), rat (60 micrograms) and mouse (40 micrograms) protein Cs were isolated from 100 ml of their plasma by affinity chromatography. All of these protein Cs were two chain form linked by disulfide bond as well as human protein C and activated by thrombin-thrombomodulin complex. Rat and mouse protein Cs showed similar characters to human protein C. On the other hand rabbit protein C had different M(r) of heavy and light chains and showed lower anticoagulant activity compared with human protein C.     

Pharmacokinetic analysis of antibody localization in human colon cancer: Comparison with immunoscintigraphy

The biodistribution and imaging characteristics of the 111In-labeled anti CEA monoclonal antibody ZCE-025 were studied in five patients with suspicion of colorectal carcinoma. Evaluation included antibody pharmacokinetics and assessment of antibody distribution in surgical specimen, making a comparison with whole-body imaging with a gamma camera. ZCE-025 localization in tumors was demonstrated by gamma-camera imaging in 4 of the 5 patients, corresponding to surgical findings. Persistent accumulation of 111In in the lymph nodes was observed in one patient, whereas surgical exploration of these lymph nodes showed no gross or microscopic evidence of metastases of colon carcinoma. Analysis of individual plasma by size exclusion HPLC showed two radioactivity peaks, labeled antibody and free DTPA. No transchelation of 111In to circulating transferrin was observed. The blood clearance was fitted to a two-compartment equation and its half-lives were found to be 10.8 +/- 8.7 h and 69.5 +/- 21.8 h for t1/2 alpha and t1/2 beta, respectively. Total urinary excretion averaged 0.3% of the injected dose/h with a small patient to patient variation. At 24 hrs postadministration the predominant radiolabeled species in urine was free DTPA. Thereafter, radioactivity in urine was partly present as a low molecular weight catabolic product. No apparent correlation between CEA content and uptake of 111In-ZCE-025 in tumors resected by surgery could be found. How 111In-labeled antibody is accumulated into tumors as well as into some nontumor tissues needs further study.     

Detection of beta-lactamase-producing strains isolated from urinary tract and their drug susceptibility

A total of 518 bacterial strains isolated from the urine of patients with various urological diseases in our Urological Department between November, 1987 and February, 1989 were studied for their beta-lactamase production and susceptibility to various antimicrobial agents was determined. beta-lactamase activity was determined by the acidometry disc method. There were 241 gram-positive cocci, 276 of gram-negative rods and 1 Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Thirty-four percent of the gram positive and 76.3% of gram negative rods produced beta-lactamase. S. aureus (81.3%), S. epidermidis (65.1%) in gram-positive cocci, E. cloacae (100%), S. marcescens (100%), C. freundii (100%), P. aeruginosa (97.2%), P. Rettgeri (88.9%), E. gergoviae (85.7%), K. oxytoca (84.6%), M. morganii (81.8%) and E. coli (69.0%) in gram-negative rods produced beta-lactamase at a higher rate. beta-lactamase produced by gram-positive cocci was entirely penicillinase, and that produced by gram-negative rods only penicillinase in 4.0%, only cephalosporinase in 44.2% and both in 25.4%. In S. aureus and S. epidermidis, the isolated rate of strains resistant to ampicillin (p less than 0.01) and piperacillin (p less than 0.05) in the beta-lactamase producing strains was significantly higher than that in the beta-lactamase non-producing strains. In E. coli, the isolation rate of strains resistant to ampicillin and piperacillin in the penicillinase-producing strains was significantly higher than in the penicillinase non-producing strains (p less than 0.01). But both cephalosporinase-producing strains and beta-lactamase non-producing strains showed high susceptibility to cephalothin. These results suggest that the penicillinase might present a clinical problem in the treatment of urinary tract infections by S. aureus, S. epidermidis and E. coli.     

Development of the articular cavity in the rat temporomandibular joint with special reference to the behavior of endothelial cells and macrophages

Previous developmental studies on the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) have proposed several hypotheses on the formation of its articular cavity. However, detailed information is meager. The present study examined the formation process of the articular cavity in the rat TMJ by immunocytochemistry for CD31, RECA-1, and ED1, which are useful cellular markers for endothelial cells and monocyte/macrophage lineages, respectively. The upper articular cavity formation had begun by embryonic day 21 (E21) and was completed at postnatal day 1 (P1) in advance of the lower cavitation; the latter took place from P1 to P3. The occurrence and distribution pattern of the CD31-, RECA-1-, and ED1-positive cells differed between the upper and lower articular cavity-forming areas: the ED1-positive cells exclusively occurred in the area of the prospective upper articular cavity prior to its formation, while no ED1-positive cell appeared in the lower cavity-forming area. In contrast, the CD31- and RECA-1-positive endothelial cells were restricted to the lower cavity-forming area (never the prospective upper cavity) at E19 and diminished thereafter. Throughout the cavity formation, we failed to find any apoptotic cells in the cavity formation area, indicating no involvement of apoptosis in the cavity formation in TMJ. The present findings on the behaviors of endothelial cells and ED1-positive cells show a possibility of different mechanism in the cavity formation between the upper and lower articular cavities in the rat TMJ. The appearance of ED1-reactive cells and temporal vascularization may play crucial roles in the upper and lower articular cavity formation, respectively.