CROSSOVER COMPARISON BETWEEN THE DEPRESSOR EFFECTS OF LOW AND HIGH WORK-RATE EXERCISE IN MILD HYPERTENSION

1. The relationship between work-rate and the antihypertensive effect of exercise in hypertensives, and the mechanism of that effect, were investigated by a crossover clinical trial. 2. Ten mild hypertensives were randomly divided into two groups. One group performed low work-rate exercise (LWE) on a cycle ergometer for 10 weeks (blood lactate threshold; ～50% of maximum oxygen consumption [V?_O2max]). After a 10 week interval without exercise training, these subjects were then switched to a high work-rate exercise (HWE) regimen (4 mmol/ L of blood lactate; ～75% of V?_O2max) for another 10 weeks. In the other group, the order of exercise training was reversed. Since two patients withdrew from the protocol during HWE periods, statistical analysis was performed on the data from the remaining eight patients. There were no order effects observed in any of the data from the two groups. 3. During both LWE and HWE, resting blood pressure (BP) fell significantly after the initiation of exercise therapy (P<0.05). Furthermore, the overall effects of 10 weeks of LWE and HWE on BP were not significantly different. 4. The work-rate at the lactate threshold, which reflects physical fitness, had increased significantly by 16 W (P<0.01) after the LWE period and by 11 W (P<0.01) after the HWE. 5. During the LWE period, changes in haemodynamic and humoral variables were not significant, except for a reduction in plasma norepinephrine at week 10 (P<0.05). In the HWE period, changes in haemodynamic and humoral variables were not significant. 6. Based on these findings, LWE is recommended for mild hypertensives because of its safety.     

Promoter methylation and protein expression of the E-cadherin gene in the clinicopathologic assessment of adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma, a relatively uncommon tumor of salivary glands, is characterized by a prolonged clinical course and a fatal outcome. The molecular events underlying their progression are unknown. In this study, we examined the methylation status of E-cadherin gene and its protein expression in 23 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma and correlated the results with the clinicopathologic factors to determine its role in these tumors. We also analyzed the effect of 5-azacytidine on the re-expression in a methylated cell line of adenoid cystic carcinoma for this gene. In our study, E-cadherin immunoreactivity, although heterogeneous, showed a progressive reduction with high histological grade and in metastatic and recurrent lesions. Promoter methylation was detected in 16 of 23 cases (70%), but there was no correlation with the histological grade or patient prognosis. Microdissection of immuno-negative cells in heterogeneous tumors showed positive methlyation. In the cell line from salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma with methylated E-cadherin, 5-azacytidine restored the E-cadherin expression. Our results indicate that: (1) E-cadherin gene promoter is frequently methylated in adenoid cystic carcinoma, leading to reduced E-cadherin expression, (2) variable E-cadherin expression might result from the intratumoral heterogeneity, and (3) increased extent of methylated areas may be associated with progression and advancement of the disease.     

Case of Heerfordt's syndrome with prolonged peripheral nerve involvement]

A 28-year-old man complaining of myiodesopsia was given a diagnosis of uveitis. Subsequently he complained facial nerve palsy and enlargement of parotid gland. Heerfordt's syndrome was diagnosed based on the results of several examinations. Facial nerve palsy, enlargement of the parotid gland and uveitis were improved by systemic corticosteroid therapy. At present he is receiving systemic corticosteroid therapy, but numbness in the mouth, thought to be the involvement of the trigeminal nerve, remains. Systemic corticosteroid therapy is usually effective for most cases with Heerford's syndrome. On the other hand, there are some cases with the prolonged peripheral nerve involvement despite systemic corticosteroid therapy, as seen in this case. If peripheral nerve involvement is prolonged, it is necessary to consider small-fibre neuropathy as one possible cause.     

Rapid and efficient generation of lentivirally gene-modified dendritic cells from DC progenitors with bone marrow stromal cells

Since dendritic cells (DC) play pivotal roles in both innate and adaptive immunity, DC can be a good target for immuno-gene therapy. However, the optimal generation method for gene-modified DC has not yet been well exploited. CD34+ cells from cord blood (CB), bone marrow (BM), or peripheral blood (PB) were expanded in a medium containing stem cell factor (SCF), flt 3 ligand (Flt3L) and thrombopoietin (TPO) with or without HESS-5, a murine BM stromal cell line, for 2 weeks (the first expansion step), then differentiated to DC in a medium containing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), flt 3 ligand (Flt3L), stem cell factor (SCF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-4, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 9 days (the second differentiation step). DC progenitors were transduced with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vectors at different time points during the second step. Use of HESS-5 during the first step resulted in more DC generation than without it (cell expansion: CB, 10,461 vs. 354-fold; BM, 962 vs. 225-fold; peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC), 8,506 vs. 240-fold; %DC: CB, 83.4% vs. 76.9%; BM, 83.6 vs. 69.8%; PBMC, 85.9 vs. 60.5%). Gene transduction to the in vitro expanded DC progenitors at day 3 during the second step, resulted in better final yield of the gene-modified DC than that to those at day 0 or day 6 (as much as 44% of DC expressed green fluorescence protein (GFP) as a transgene) and the transduction efficiency correlated with endocytic ability and percent of S phase. DC transduced with an HIV vector encoding a melanoma antigen, MART-1, were adequately recognized by specific anti-MART-1 CTL. The two-step culture method with HESS-5 is useful for rapid expansion of DC progenitors and subsequent lentiviral gene transduction to DC.     

A case of intramural uterine stromal tumor with epithelial differentiation.

A case of intrauterine tumor in a 62-year-old Japanese woman is presented. It was thought initially that this was a case of uterine tumor resembling an ovarian sex cord tumor. To examine the cytological features of the tumor cells, electron microscopical and immunohistochemical studies were done, and a hormone assay of the tumor tissue was performed. The tumor cells were rich in rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), mitochondria and microfilaments. Some tumor cells tended to form glandular patterns, but these epithelial elements were frequently scattered among fibrous stromal elements. Though many tumor cells with an epithelial appearance possessed a large quantity of cytokeratin and vimentin, they did not secrete estradiol, progesterone, testosterone or human chorionic gonadotropin. This case was finally diagnosed as an intramural uterine stromal tumor with epithelial differentiation after taking all the available data into consideration. This would be classified as an endometrial stromal tumor with epithelial elements, recently proposed and named by Clement and Scully.     

Refined mapping of eight cosmid markers on human chromosome 22

Summary Eight cosmid clones were regionally assigned to small subregions of chromosome 22 by hybridization with a total of 22 somatic cell hybrids. One cosmid was localized to the proximal part of 22q which contained the region commonly deleted in the DiGeorge syndrome. Seven cosmids showing restriction fragment length polymorphisms were localized to the telomeric region distal to the MB locus, which was reported to be frequently deleted in sporadic meningioma. These cosmids, when finely mapped and ordered, are considered useful for the identification of genetic alterations on this chromosome arm.