Reference values for bisphosphoglycerate mutase protein content and specific activity in human erythrocytes

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) gastritis has been reported in transplant patients. Symptoms are considered nonspecific, and gastroscopy with biopsy is usually performed to establish the diagnosis. Three patients are described here 1 to 3 months after solid organ transplantation, with primary CMV gastritis, confirmed by gastroscopy, histopathologic examination and cultures. The clinical presentation in all three cases was sharp epigastric pain that decreased in a supine position, increased while sitting and further increased when standing or walking. The epigastric pain completely resolved after treatment with ganciclovir. To the best of our knowledge, such postural epigastric pain has not been described as a specific symptom in any other clinical entity and may be a unique sign of primary CMV gastritis.     

Serum concentrations of apolipoproteins in patients with thyroid dysfunction

We measured serum concentrations of apolipoproteins (apo A-I, A-II, B, C-II, C-III and E) in patients with thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism; n = 44, hypothyroidism; n = 15) and in normal subjects (n = 89). We found that apoA-II, B and C-III concentrations revealed significant difference among three groups of the normal (apoA-II; 31.4 +/- 4.9 mg/dl, apoB; 85.8 +/- 16.3 mg/dl, apoCIII; 7.45 +/- 2.99 mg/dl), hyperthyroidism (apoA-II; 29.8 +/- 5.4, apoB; 63.4 +/- 18.9, apoC-III; 6.28 +/- 2.45) and hypothyroidism (apoA-II; 27.5 +/- 5.3, apoB; 108.0 +/- 30.9, apoC-III; 9.43 +/- 2.74). Thyroid hormones showed clear negative correlation to apoB (r = 0.70, p < 0.001). Furthermore, apoC-III was also found to be negatively correlated with thyroid hormone concentrations (r = 0.47, p < 0.001).     

Two cases of cerebral aneurysm detected after recanalization of the middle cerebral artery]

Two cases of aneurysm incidentally detected after recanalization of middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion are reported. Patient 1 was a 62-year-old male with sudden onset of left hemiparesis. We performed emergent intravascular surgery. The initial cerebral angiography revealed occlusion at the M1 portion of the right MCA. After partial recanalization with a microcatheter, carotid angiography revealed a right M1-M2 junction aneurysm. Due to the risk of aneurysmal rupture, the thrombolytic procedure was stopped. Follow up angiography after 1 month revealed complete recanalization of the right MCA and a persistent aneurysm. Patient 2 was a 65-year-old male with left hemiparesis. The initial cerebral angiography revealed occlusion at the M1 portion of the right MCA. After 1 month follow-up cerebral angiography revealed spontaneous recanalization of the right MCA and an incidental aneurysm at the M1-M2 junction. Neck clipping of the aneurysm was performed. When using a microcatheter or microballoon catheter to treat arterial occlusion, surgeons should consider the possibility of a rupture of a hidden aneurysm.     

Hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis with spinal epidural granulomatous lesion

A 67-year-old woman with a one-year history of tinnitus and headache had multiple cranial nerve palsies of V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and spastic paraparesis. She also had a secretory otitis media. Gd-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed hypertrophy of the dura of the posterior fossa and spinal epidural mass which extended from C7 to T10. A biopsy of the epidural mass showed chronic granulomatous change. These lesions were completely cured with administration of antibiotics. We believe this case of double-lesion of hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis and spinal epidural granulomatous lesion originated from a bacterial infection secondary to the secretory otitis media.     

Reinitiation of spermatogonial mitotic differentiation in inactive old BDF1 mouse seminiferous tubules transplanted to W/Wv mouse testis

The seminiferous epithelia of old mice (33 mo of age) are composed of spermatogonia and Sertoli cells. Histochemical examination using the anti-c-kit monoclonal antibody demonstrated that the number of differentiating type A spermatogonia decreases with age. To elucidate the differential activity of old mouse spermatogonia, we transplanted extremely thin seminiferous epithelia of old BDF, mice into W/Wv mouse testes and examined whether or not they could reinitiate differentiation. Artificially cryptorchid mice were used as the control. At 2 wk after transplantation, spermatocytes and round spermatids were detected in transplanted seminiferous tubules of the control, whereas the most advanced spermatogenic cells in those of old mice were spermatocytes. At 4 wk after transplantation, although elongated spermatids were detected in transplanted tubules of the control, haploid cells (spermatids) were still undetectable in those derived from old mice. Thus, meiosis was never restored, although spermatogonia of old mice can reinitiate differentiation into spermatocytes under suitable testicular conditions. Since it has been reported in several mammalian species that age-related changes in the testicular microenvironment lead to the gerontal cessation of spermatogenesis, the present results suggest that both a defective extratubular environment and a defective intratubular environment may cause the cessation of spermatogenesis in old BDF, mice.     

Intravascular ultrasound in determining the end point of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging was used to measure internal luminal area immediately after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in 83 patients (59 males, 24 females, mean age 63 +/- 12 years) with angina pectoris to determine the need for additional intervention. The effectiveness of these interventions to prevent restenosis was also studied. Thirty-five patients (42%) with insufficient dilatation revealed an internal luminal area less than 5 mm2 or luminal stenosis greater than 60% as evaluated by IVUS imaging following the procedure. The luminal area increased from 4.5 +/- 1.1 to 7.9 +/- 2.8 mm2 and the percentage luminal stenosis improved from 66 +/- 9% to 54 +/- 9% in patients who underwent further dilatation with a larger size balloon, longer dilatation time, directional coronary atherectomy, or stenting. The insufficient dilatation group exhibited hard plaque and calcification more frequently than in the other group (48 patients, 58%) in whom sufficient dilatation of the target lesion was achieved. The incidence of restenosis in the sufficient dilatation group was 25%, compared to 33% of the patients receiving additional treatment after IVUS imaging and 42% in the 192 patients who underwent PTCA without IVUS imaging. IVUS imaging is a useful method for evaluation of complex luminal morphology to decrease the incidence of restenosis and for determination of the end point and the extent of dilatation required.     

Reduction of ischemic brain injury by topical application of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) plays important roles in the survival and recovery of some mature neurons under pathological conditions. However, the effect of GDNF in ameliorating ischemic brain injury has not been well documented. Therefore, we investigated a possible effect of GDNF on the changes of infarct size, brain edema, DNA fragmentation, and immunoreactivities for caspases after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats. METHODS: For the estimation of ischemic brain injury, we calculated the infarct size of MCA region and also measured the brain water content as edema formation at 24 hours after the MCAO. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin in situ nick labeling (TUNEL) staining was performed for the detection of DNA fragmentation. Immunoreactivities for caspase-1 (ICE), caspase-2 (Nedd-2), and caspase-3 (CPP32) were stained. RESULTS: Both infarct size and brain edema after permanent MCAO were significantly reduced by topical application of GDNF (48% and 30% decreases, P=0.01). TUNEL staining and immunoreactivities for caspases were markedly induced at 12 hours after permanent MCAO in the vehicle-treated animals. However, the spatial distribution of those immunohistochemically positive cells was dissociative in each caspase. Induction of TUNEL staining and immunoreactivities for caspases-1 and -3 was greatly reduced with GDNF treatment, whereas the reduction of caspase-2 staining was only minimum. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the reduction of infarct size and brain edema by GDNF was greatly associated with the reduction of DNA fragmentation and apoptotic signals predominantly through caspases-1 and -3 cascades.     

Phase and magnetic properties of iron oxide clusters in 20CaO·20SiO2·7Fe2O3·6FeO glasses

The annealing of 20CaO·20SiO₂·7Fe₂O₃·6FeO glasses at 973K in vacuo produced clusters of iron oxide, the shape of which was nearly spherical and the diameter distributed in the narrow range 25–115Å. The phase of clusters was identified to be Fe³⁺(Fe³⁺ _{poststagger|1.30}Fe²⁺ _{poststagger|0.55}V_0.15)·O₄ in the inverse spinel structure based upon the Mössbauer spectra and x-ray diffraction profiles. The clusters exhibited superparamagnetism and their effective anisotropy energy constant was inversely proportional to the cluster diameter. The magnetization of the glasses measured by a vibrating sample magnetometer was 7.2 × 10^-6 Wbmkg^-1 at 10 kOe at room temperature and smaller than the value calculated assuming that the whole clusters have superparamagnetism. These results suggest the pinning of spins near the cluster surface.