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Maximal expiratory volume-time and flow-volume (MEVT and MEFV) curves were constructed from the measurements of young male nonsmoking, mild and moderate asthmatic patients (mean age, 29.7 yrs.). Eleven parameters of the pulmonary function tests, two MEVT, six MEFV, and three mean time constant (MTC) parameters, were calculated from the curves. These parameters were used in 15 analyses through the all possible selection procedure (APAP) discriminating between mild and moderate asthmatics. The probability of misclassification was computed with each of the eleven parameters, and all eleven probabilities thus obtained were compared with each other. This procedure showed us that the probability of misclassification ranged from 30.83% to 45.40% and that the most useful parameter was MTC50-25. The probability of misclassification computed using all eleven parameters (total parameter group) was 15.90%. The discriminant analysis indicated that the flow-volume patterns varied according the severity of bronchial asthma, thus, the flow-volume curve was considered to be important in analyzing the severity of bronchial asthma.

Repair polymerases participating in unscheduled DNA synthesis in isolated liver nuclei, bleomycin-treated permeable cells and in ultraviolet-irradiated living cells were studied using two specific inhibitors of DNA polymerases, aphidicolin and 2', 3'-dideoxythymidine-5'-triphosphate. Unscheduled, i.e., repair, DNA synthesis in rat liver nuclei, and in bleomycin-treated permeable SR-C3H/He and XC cells was mostly attributed to DNA polymerase beta. Unscheduled DNA synthesis in human liver nuclei, bleomycin-treated permeable HeLa and HEp-2 cells, and in ultraviolet-irradiated HeLa, HEp-2 and XC cells was partially inhibited by the polymerase alpha-specific inhibitor, aphidicolin. The results suggested that both DNA polymerase alpha and beta participated in unscheduled DNA synthesis, though the respective degrees of participation differed depending on cell type and the nature and degree of DNA damage.

We studied the effects of a splenectomy in combination with immunotherapy on the survival of patients who had undergone a total gastrectomy. It was found that a splenectomy was not effective against advanced gastric cancer at stage III, and that the spleen should be retained for immunotherapy. Splenectomy for gastric cancer at terminal stage IV, particularly in combination with immunotherapy, produced not only augmentation of cellular immunity, but also increased survival.

Central fibromas developing from within the jaw bone are comparatively rare in contrast to fibromatoid lesions in other parts of the oral region. We report a 13-year-old girl with a central fibroma which developed in the jaw bone.

Levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured by radioreceptor assay (RRA) in 25 normal controls and in 121 patients with various central nervous system disorders. CSF-GABA levels could be measured down to 5 pmoles/ml reliably by this assay. In normal controls, the mean (+/- SEM) GABA level in CSF was 127 +/- 5.2 pmoles/ml. There was no correlation between age, sex and the CSF-GABA level in normal controls. The lowest CSF-GABA level, which was 60 +/- 6.0 pmoles/ml, was observed in alcoholic patients suffering from cerebellar ataxia. The CSF-GABA levels were quite low in patients with Alzheimer's disease, late cortical cerebellar atrophy, neuro-Behcet's syndrome, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, Huntington's chorea, Parkinson's disease and cerebral hemorrhage. On the other hand, the CSF-GABA levels of meningitis patients were significantly increased. These findings suggest that measuring the CSF-GABA level is quite beneficial in the diagnosis and pathophysiological determinations of some diseases.

45Ca uptake and histamine release was examined in mast cells from rats sensitized with ovalbumin and Bordetella Bertussis as an adjuvant. The uptake of 45Ca by the mast cells was significantly increased by stimulation with ovalbumin as was the release of histamine from the mast cells. Nifedipine, a calcium antagonist, inhibited the increase in both 45Ca uptake and histamine release stimulated by ovalbumin, though the effect on 45Ca uptake was stronger than that on histamine release.

The oncogenicity of xenotropic pseudotype Kirsten murine sarcoma virus (MSV) was investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats. When fetal or newborn rats were inoculated intracerebrally with xenotropic pseudotype MSV, brain tumors developed after about one month. Tumors were induced both in the cerebrum and the cerebellum. Histologically, the tumors were predominantly glioblastoma multiforme and hemangioendotheliomas. In cerebellar lesions, malignant transformation of vascular endothelial cells, polycystic areas and numerous giant cells were noted. Proliferation of Purkinje cells was also observed in some of the cerebellar tumors. Inoculation of the same virus by other routes, such as s.c., i.p. and i.m., also caused cerebral and cerebellar tumors. Brain tumors thus induced were transplantable subcutaneously into suckling rats.

That blood transfusions aid kidney graft survival is well known. Our data show that blood transfusions, except for the red blood cell component, promote growth of transplanted tumors in mice. These clinical and experimental observations suggest that blood transfusions may induce some immunological tolerance.

Characteristics of muscarinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors were studied in the rat central nervous system (CNS) using 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB), an antagonist of muscarinic ACh receptors. Scatchard analysis indicated that the rat CNS had a single 3H-QNB binding site with an apparent dissociation constant (Kd) of 5.0 X 10(-10) M. Li+, Zn++ and Cu++ had strong effects on 3H-QNB binding which indicates that these metal ions might play important roles at muscarinic ACh receptor sites in the brain. Since antidepressants and antischizophrenic drugs displaced the binding of 3H-QNB, the anticholinergic effects of these drugs need to be taken into account when they are applied clinically. The muscarinic ACh receptor was successfully solubilized with lysophosphatidylcholine. By gel chromatography, with a Sepharose 6B column, the solubilized muscarinic ACh receptor molecule eluted at the fraction corresponding to a Stokes' radius of 6.1 nm. With the use of sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation, the molecular weight of the solubilized muscarinic ACh receptor was determined to be about 90,000 daltons. The regional distribution of 3H-QNB binding in rat brain was examined, and the highest level of 3H-QNB binding was found to be in the striatum followed by cerebral cortex and hippocampus, indicating that muscarinic ACh mechanisms affect CNS function mainly through these areas.

A tumor of nerve origin is relatively rare in the oral region. We report a neurofibroma of the tongue observed in a 34-year-old woman.

A total of 252 bladder-washing and voided specimens from normal, and inflammatory and malignant lesions were examined by a direct mapping technique, i.e., a combined use of light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A newly-designed mesh, which consists of a piece of gelatine-covered, osmium-impregnated and polylysine-coated glass-slip with 42 compartments/25 mm2, was used in this study. This mesh permitted us to directly correlate LM and SEM images, which resulted in a shortening of the observation time. Malignancy of exfoliated urothelial cells has been determined on the basis of the presence or absence of pleomorphic microvilli as observed by SEM. Subsequently, a new "SEM grading" system for human urinary cytology was proposed. The direct mapping technique has enhanced the accuracy of the diagnosis over conventional methods, especially in cases of noninvasive, low-grade malignant tumors of the urinary bladder.

Sulfated acidic mucopolysaccharides have been found to be significant components of "protein plugs" in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The precise identification of the mucopolysaccharides and their distribution within the protein plugs may clarify the pathogenesis of the plugs. Pure pancreatic juice from five patients with chronic pancreatitis was obtained by endoscopic retrograde catheterization of the papilla of Vater. Enzymes for digestion of the plugs included hyaluronidase of the bovine testes and streptomyces hyalurolyticus, chondroitinase ABC and AC, and sialidase (neuraminidase). Our study indicated that: I) Sialic acid is distributed throughout the plugs and may be a major component, followed by a lesser amount of chondroitin sulfate B. 2) Chondroitin sulfate A, C, D and E and chondroitin may be minor components. 3) Hyaluronic acid is negligible in the plugs.

The O2- production by neutrophils was examined in 4 cases of refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB) in order to evaluate the possible causes of enhanced susceptibility to infection and to gain some informations on the differentiation of neutrophils in this hematological disorder. In three of the four RAEB cases there was little O2- production by neutrophils, in addition to there being morphological anomalies of the neutrophils such as a Pelger-Huet-like anomaly, granular deficiency and binucleated cells. These results suggest that the impairment of O2- production by neutrophils in RAEB is one of the possible causes of susceptibility to infection and also suggest that the differentiation of neutrophils in this hematological disorder is faulty. The estimation of O2- production by neutrophils may be a useful diagnostic method for preleukemia.

The blood levels of amino acids, ammonia and pancreatic hormones following the intragastric and intravenous administration of a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)-enriched solution were comparatively investigated in control subjects and patients with liver cirrhosis. There was no essential difference in the time course of serum amino acid and blood ammonia levels between the intragastric and intravenous infusions. Elevation of serum insulin concentrations in cirrhotic patients was significant only immediately after the administration through the enteral route. However, plasma glucagon levels increased similarly when the BCAA-enriched solution was administered through either route. The results indicate that both enteral and intravenous infusions will have similar therapeutic effects on the impaired protein metabolism in cirrhotic patients with protein-calorie malnutrition.

Metastatic neuroblastoma cells in bone marrow aspirates were examined by the formaldehyde induced fluorescence histochemical method. With this method we could easily identify abnormal cells as metastatic neuroblastoma cells by observing catecholamine green colored fluorescence in their cytoplasma. This formaldehyde induced fluorescence histochemical method is significantly useful for the diagnosis of metastatic neuroblastoma of the bone marrow.

We studied the effect of glycyrrhizin, a compound known as an anti-inflammatory and antiallergic drug, on the membrane permeability change induced by phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and on platelet aggregation. Glycyrrhizin was found to inhibit the PLA2-induced carboxyfluorescein (CF) release from D,L-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes. Part of this inhibitory effect of glycyrrhizin on PLA2 is accounted for by the physical state of the substrate, the DPPC liposome membrane. Glycyrrhizin also inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation in a concentration dependent manner, which may in part account for its inhibitory effect on PLA2.

Direct drain of the cystic duct and drain of the biliary tract through an internal fistula into the duodenum in a 81-year-old man were endoscopically diagnosed without an operation.

This report concerns an unusual case of adult T cell leukemia (ATL) complicated with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS). The surface markers of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) and lymph node cells, both of which mainly consisted of leukemic cells, were examined. The effect of these cells on the pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-induced IgG synthesis by normal PBM also was studied. The leukemic cells formed rosettes with sheep red blood cells (SRBC; E) and expressed T cell antigen, Leu-1, and DR antigen. The detection of cell surface antigens was carried out by employing monoclonal antibodies against these antigens. We diagnosed this case as DR positive ATL. In terms of the immunoregulatory function of these leukemic cells, the co-culture experiments showed that these cells had some suppressive effect on the PWM-induced IgG production by allogeneic normal PBM.

A chronic epileptic focus was induced by a microinjection of ferric chloride solution into the sensorimotor cortex of rats. Two types of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded from the cortex near the injection site. In animals showing an initial positive-negative biphasic SEP, spikes appeared in electrocorticograms (ECoGs) more frequently on the side ipsilateral to the injection site than on the contralateral side, whereas in animals showing an initial negative monophasic SEP, spikes appeared more frequently on the contralateral side.

A previous study has shown that a single injection of ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA) produces hepatic parenchymal iron loading in rats. The present paper reports on iron uptake by rat liver and iron toxicity in the liver after a single injection of Fe-NTA (7.5 mg Fe/kg B.W.). Iron uptake was examined with 59Fe-NTA and Fe-[14C]-NTA. Thirty percent of the injected 59Fe was incorporated in the liver non-heme iron fraction at 3 h and retained for 240 h. Only 1% of the 14C injected as Fe-[14C]-NTA was taken up by the liver at 3 h. Gel filtration with a Sephadex G-25 column of the supernatant fraction of the liver obtained 3 h after the injection showed two peaks of 14C activity. One was eluted in the void volume, and the other corresponded to [14C]-NTA. The former had a molecular weight of 5,000-10,000 as determined with a Sephacryl S-300 column and also had 59Fe activity. The electron spin resonance spectra showed that the generation of a free radical in the liver was initiated within 1 h of the iron administration. The free radical generated in the serum by Fe-NTA was revealed to be superoxide by the spin trapping method. These results suggest that Fe-NTA transfers iron to transferrin in the serum and induces hepatic iron loading. Small amounts of the injected iron were taken up by the liver as Fe-NTA and generated superoxide which may have induced lipid peroxidation of the cellular membranes.