Search

A 67-year-old male patient initially showed memory disturbance followed by tremors a year later. The symptoms rapidly aggravated to dementia and Parkinsonian symptoms, and the patient died 2 years and 6 months after the onset at the age of 69 years and 5 months. Autopsy revealed numerous senile plaques in the cerebral cortex and Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles in the inferior temporal lobe and hippocampus. A number of Lewy bodies were found in the cerebral cortex and brain stem. Lewy bodies were found abundantly in the third layer of the pyramidal cells in the gyrus parahippocamalis. The distribution of Lewy bodies in the cerebral cortex was similar to that of inflated cells in Pick's disease.

An ultrafiltration method employing a Centrifree filter for determining the unbound fraction of estradiol was studied. Centrifugation was performed under conditions similar to those in vivo. Good correlation was recognized between this method and the equilibrium dialysis. This method was employed to determine the unbound fraction of estradiol in the serum and the peritoneal fluid of 26 infertility patients classified according to their menstrual dates. The total estradiol and progesterone contents in the peritoneal fluid were high after ovulation. There was no significant difference in the percentage of unbound estradiol in the serum among various groups. In the peritoneal fluid, however, the percentage of unbound estradiol for the day 12-14 patients was 4.5 +/- 0.2% in contrast with 3.8 +/- 0.4% for the day 15-18 group (p less than 0.05) and 3.5 +/- 0.1% (p less than 0.05) for the day 19-28 group. Moreover, the fraction (4.5%) of unbound estradiol in the peritoneal fluid of a patient with luteinized unruptured follicle (LUF) syndrome was comparable with that of patients in the follicular phase. The difference between the percentage of unbound estradiol in the peritoneal fluid before and after ovulation is considered to be due to the transudation of follicular estradiol in the follicular phase and the exudation of estradiol from the corpus luteum into the peritoneal cavity in the luteal phase.

The apparatus to measure multi-point critical flicker fusion frequency (MCFF) was devised for more precise determination of the critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF). Using this apparatus, the variations in flicker value after the work load of the television (TV) game, the Kraepelin using the video display terminal (VDT-Kraepelin) and the paper-Kraepelin were examined in order to test its practical applicability. The following results were obtained. The degree of decrease in the CFF values of some peripheral eye fields was larger than that on the central field of both eyes (ordinary CFF) after work load. The variation rates of the central and the peripheral flicker values were measured before and after loading in each work, and the correlations of variation rates between two CFF values among them were calculated. The numbers of peripheral eye fields showing significant correlation of variation rates between two eye fields in the TV game and the VDT-Kraepelin, were greater than those in the paper-Kraepelin.

The involvement of macrophages in the induction of metallothionein (MT) synthesis by bacterial endotoxin was studied in vitro. Rat peritoneal macrophages were incubated with endotoxin. The incubation medium from endotoxin-activated macrophages accelerated MT synthesis by human hepatic Chang cells. However, the incubation medium from non-activated macrophages did not. Endotoxin added to the culture medium of Chang cells was ineffective in inducing MT synthesis. The contents of zinc, copper and cadmium, which are primary inducers of MT, in the incubation medium of macrophages in the presence of endotoxin were not different from those in the absence of endotoxin. These results suggest that MT synthesis is induced by endotoxin-treated macrophages.

Protective effects of clinically used drugs against adriamycin (ADM)-induced toxicity were studied in ICR mice. The control mice, which were administered 15 mg/kg of ADM twice, survived 7.48 +/- 1.99 days (mean +/- S.D.). The survival times of mice treated with the following drugs, expressed as a percent of that of the control group, were 293.6% for coenzyme Q10 (Co Q10, 2 mg/kg), 402.2% for dextran sulfate (MDS, 300 mg/kg), 121.6% for flavin adenine dinucleotide (20 mg/kg), 236.3% for adenosine triphosphate disodium (50 mg/kg), 213.7% for reduced glutathione (100 mg/kg), 121.6% for phytonadione (50 mg/kg), 155.2% for inositol nicotinate (Ino-N, 500 mg/kg), 335.5% for nicomol (1000 mg/kg), 157.5% for nicardipine (10 mg/kg) and 123.3% for dipyridamol (50 mg/kg). Anti-hyperlipemic agents such as MDS, nicomol, Ino-N and Co Q10 strongly protected against the ADM-induced toxicity, and the mice administered these drugs lived significantly longer than the control mice. The mechanism of the protective effect was discussed.

Metaplastic bony tissue along with hyperplastic mucosal epithelium showing no atypism was detected in biopsy materials from a Yamada type I gastric polyp. The tissue was metaplastic woven bone associated with calcification. Histogenesis of the bone formation is as yet unknown. This is the first reported case of the presence of metaplastic bone accompanied by hyperplastic gastric mucosa so far.

Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) were separated into sheep erythrocyte rosette-forming (Es+) and non Es+ cells by the Ficoll-Hypaque gradient sedimentation method. Thirty-eight percent of the Es+ cells formed rosettes with dog erythrocytes and were designated as Es+Ed+ cells. The remaining Es+ cells were designated as Es+Ed- cells. Only a few non Es+ cells formed rosettes with dog erythrocytes. Among Es+Ed+ cells, T4 antigen-positive cells were observed approximately 1.7 times as often as T8 antigen-positive cells, when measured by staining with OKT4 or OKT8 monoclonal antibody. Among Es+Ed- cells, however, T4 and T8 antigen-positive cells were observed in almost equal proportion. Preincubation of PBM with OKT11 monoclonal antibody, but not with OKT4 monoclonal antibody, inhibited the rosette formation with dog as well as sheep erythrocytes. These results indicated that Es+Ed+ cells were a subpopulation of T-cells in which a majority of the cells were T4 antigen-positive, and that the binding sites of dog erythrocytes on human T-cells was closely linked with that of sheep erythrocytes.

Temporal bone histopathological findings of two patients with trisomy 18 syndrome are described. Many of the abnormalities previously described were seen in the present cases; namely, atresia of the external auditory canal, aberrant course of the tensor tympani muscle, malformed stapes, aberrant course of the facial nerve with an obtuse angulation at the first genu and displacement of geniculate ganglion cells into the internal auditory canal, shortened cochlea with decreased spiral ganglion cell population, and vestibular anomalies, such as bony and membranous blockage of the superior semicircular canal. Moreover, an extremely underdeveloped malleus and incus continuous with a persistent Meckel's cartilage were observed.

Effects of afferent stimulation of the lingual nerve (LNAS) on gastrointestinal motility and the reflex pathways which mediate the response to LNAS were investigated in rats. LNAS induced excitatory, inhibitory or biphasic responses in the stomach, duodenum and proximal colon. These responses continued after bilateral vagotomy, but were abolished after additional bilateral splanchnicotomy or transection of the spinal cord between Th4 and Th5. The inhibitory, excitatory and biphasic responses induced by LNAS were not affected by decerebration. Both after administration of atropine (0.2 mg/kg, i.v.) and guanethidine (3-5 mg/kg, i.v.), LNAS-induced excitatory and inhibitory responses were abolished in most cases, but the slight inhibitory response in the stomach and duodenum to LNAS remained in a few cases. These results suggest that the reflex centers which cause LNAS-induced excitatory and inhibitory responses are located in the dorsal nucleus of vagus and that the reflex pathways include the vagus and splanchnic nerves.

Six pregnant women with convulsions between 25 to 40 weeks of gestation were experienced. Among them, 4 patients were diagnosed as having intracranial hemorrhage and two as simple eclampsia. With the aid of brain CT scan, one case of arteriovenous malformation was detected and treated surgically with good prognosis for both the mother and the fetus. Two patients were diagnosed to have cerebral hemorrhage with subsequent penetration into the lateral ventricles and were treated conservatively. Their fetuses were delivered alive by cesarean section, but the mothers expired. The other patient with cerebral hemorrhage was treated surgically, and both the mother and the fetus survived. One of the simple eclampsia patients was noted to have a growth retarded fetus at 32 weeks of pregnancy with subsequent intra-uterine death, but the mother recovered after conservative treatment. Another patient at 40 weeks of pregnancy was also treated conservatively and both the fetus and the mother survived. Brain CT scan findings differed between these two eclampsia patients; local brain edema for the second patient and generalized brain edema for the first patient. Thus more active application of brain CT scan is recommended in managing pregnant patients with convulsions.

The extra-anatomical bypass formation and the exclusion of thoracic aortic aneurysms by the "paired clamp method" applied to the thoracic aorta of mongrel dogs, and the development of hind leg paralysis was studied experimentally in relation to the ratio between the mean excluded cavity pressure and the mean aortic pressure ratio (EA-ratio). The relationship between thrombus formation in the excluded cavity and the EA-ratio was also studied. Animals were divided into 4 groups: Group 1 underwent the cross-clamping of the descending thoracic aorta for 8 min; Group 2 underwent exclusion of the entire thoracic aorta under permanent bypass; Group 3 underwent ligation of 2/3 of the proximal intercostal arteries which branched from the excluded thoracic aorta; and Group 4 underwent division of the excluded thoracic aorta into 3 parts by ligation. No animals in group 1 developed paralysis. When EA-ratios were higher than 0.48, animals in groups 2 and 3 were not paralyzed, whereas all but 1 animals with EA-ratios lower than or equal to 0.48 were paralyzed. There was statistically significant difference between the EA-ratio of the non-paralyzed animals and that of the paralyzed animals in groups 2 and 3. Four out of 5 animals in group 4 were paralyzed. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the EA-ratio in these 4 paralyzed animals and that in the non-paralyzed animals in groups 2 and 3. When the EA-ratio was lower than or equal to 0.59, all but 1 excluded cavities of groups 2 and 3 animals were fully thrombosed 7 or 8 days after the operation. None of these animals showed the aggravation of the paralysis during the observation period and, conversely, the paralysis of almost all animals was ameliorated. These results suggested that the EA-ratio is useful in predicting the development of paralysis and thrombus formation in the excluded cavity after the operation of thoracic aortic aneurysms by the "paired clamp method".

The adductor pollicis muscle was studied in fifty hands of Japanese adult cadavers of both sexes. The radial portion of the oblique head of the adductor pollicis muscle has carpal and metacarpal origins and an insertion into the wing tendon of the extensor apparatus. This portion was located dorsal to the palmar metacarpophalangeal articular nerve and superficial palmar metacarpal artery. Thus, the radial portion of the oblique head of the adductor pollicis muscle (more strictly, the slips dorsal to the palmar-penetrating twig of the ulnar nerve) is similar to the palmar interosseous muscles, except that its slips cannot be clearly distinguished from each other.

A line of chick embryo cells (CEC) was obtained from CEC treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). The cells, designated CHCC-OU2, were contact-inhibited, formed no colony in soft agar and did not produce tumors when inoculated into syngeneic chickens. The electron microscopic examination and reverse transcriptase assay showed no virus production from the cells. Subgroup A avian sarcoma virus (ASV) and Newcastle disease virus replicated well in the cells of this cell line.

Thirty-eight patients were operated on for mitral stenosis between March 1979 and September 1981. Thirty-six of them were examined as to their age, symptom duration, chest roentgenograms, electrocardiograms and echocardiograms to obtain various indices of left ventricular function. The usefulness of these indices as preoperative risk factors for predicting postoperative low cardiac output syndrome (LOS) was investigated. Cases which had values of ejection fraction, cardiac index, percent fiber shortening or mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening less than 0.45, 2.0 l/min/m2, 25% and 0.80 circ/sec, respectively, in the preoperative echocardiographic examination were associated with a greater chance of postoperative LOS. Each of these factors was independently useful as a risk factor in cardiac surgery for mitral stenosis. Moreover, it was revealed that the combination of a preoperative percent fractional shortening (%FS) of less than 30% and a cardiac index smaller than 2.0 l/min/m2 indicated a strong predisposition toward postoperative LOS.

A rapid method was devised for the detection of virus particles in wart specimens. The upper layer of warts was cut perpendicularly to the surface, and the freshly cut surface was lightly touched to an electron microscope grid. The grid was then stained with a small drop of phosphotungstate and observed electron microscopically. On the specimen grid thus prepared, papillomavirus particles were easily discriminated from tissue debris. Papillomavirus particles were detected in 71% of verrucae plantares, 78% of verrucae palmares, 50% of verrucae vulgares and 75% of condylomata acuminata by the present method.

Protection of Escherichia coli NIHJ and C57BL mice from the effects of 60Co gamma-rays provided by S-alk(en)yl-L-cysteines and their hydantoin derivatives was examined. E. coli (10(6) cells/ml) suspended in a 20 mM aqueous solution of one of the drugs was irradiated with 60 Gy of gamma-rays. Five week-old male mice were exposed to 5.0-9.5 Gy of gamma-rays after a single intraperitoneal injection of 0.75 mmol/kg body weight of each compound. In both E. coli and mice, S-allyl compounds afforded more effective radioprotection than S-propyl compounds. The replacement of the alpha-hydrogen of S-substituted cysteines by methyl groups decreased the radioprotective effect. Hydantoin derivatives were much more radioprotective than the original sulfur-containing amino acids. Especially, DL-5-allylthiomethyl-5-methylhydantoin had a remarkable radioprotective effect in mice. The gamma-radiolysis mechanism of thiomethylhydantoin derivatives was discussed in connection with the radioprotective effect of the drugs.

Antibody-dependent macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity was studied to determine the significance of cytophilic anti-thyroglobulin antibody (ATgA) present in the sera of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Effector cells were normal human monocytes or guinea-pig peritoneal exudate cells, and target cells were human thyroglobulin(Tg)-coated chicken erythrocytes. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by morphological observation and by 51Cr-releasing assay. Normal human monocytes rapidly destroyed ATgA-bound Tg-coated chicken erythrocytes by extracellular cytolysis and by phagocytosis. On the contrary, human monocytes "armed" with cytophilic ATgA destroyed Tg-coated chicken erythrocytes slowly and to a lesser extent, and only by extracellular cytolysis. When normal monocytes or peritoneal exudate cells were incubated with Tg-coated chicken erythrocytes in the presence of the sera of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, phagocytosis occurred rapidly, but extracellular cytolysis developed rather slowly. These data suggest the possibility that human monocytes participate in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vivo, which may be an important destructive mechanism in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. It is also possible that ATgA cytophilic for monocytes render non-immune peripheral monocytes cytotoxic against Tg-bearing cells.

To investigate factors involved in excision repair DNA synthesis, a soluble extract was prepared from permeable mouse sarcoma (SR-C3H/He) cells by homogenization and ultracentrifugation. DNA synthesis measured by using native calf thymus DNA as the template-primer and the extract as the polymerase source showed low activity. The DNA synthesis was enhanced more than ten-fold by the addition of an appropriate concentration of bleomycin, a radiomimetic DNA-damaging drug. Using selective inhibitors of DNA polymerases, it was shown that the DNA polymerase involved in the bleomycin-induced DNA synthesis was DNA polymerase beta. In addition to DNA polymerase beta, an exonuclease which converts bleomycin-damaged DNA into suitable template-primers for repair DNA synthesis appeared to be present in the permeable cell extract.

The difference in the physiological condition of drivers of manual transmission buses (MTB) and automatic transmission buses (ATB) was examined from the viewpoint of occupational health. This study was based on a self-administered questionnaire which involved items concerning subjective fatigue complaints. No differences in the mental fatigue and stress between MTB drivers and ATB drivers were observed. Although ATB drivers tended to feel less physical fatigue than MTB drivers, the difference was not statistically significant. From these results, it was suggested that there was little difference in the subjective fatigue between ATB drivers and MTB drivers.