A new choleretic effect of folinic acid

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In the chemotherapy of recurrent gastric cancer with 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid, an interesting phenomenon, the reduction of jaundice and improvement of liver function, was observed. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of this phenomenon, and to confirm a choleretic effect of folinic acid. METHODOLOGY: The bile duct of anesthetized rats was catheterized, and bile was collected. Bile volume and total bile acid production following intraperitoneal administration of folinic acid were determined and compared to those of control rats. RESULTS: Both bile volume and total bile acid production increased following intraabdominal administration of folinic acid. CONCLUSIONS: Folinic acid has a newly described pharmacologic effect of stimulating bile acid-dependent choleresis. It is possible that folinic acid may become a new drug for the treatment of jaundice or for the improvement of overall liver function.     

Genetic polymorphisms of cytochrome P4502E1 related to the development of alcoholic liver disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Because heavy drinkers do not always develop alcoholic liver disease (ALD), genetic factors may be involved. Cytochrome P4502E1 is the main enzyme that oxidizes ethanol in the non-alcohol dehydrogenase pathway. Recently, the presence of genetic polymorphisms of this enzyme was confirmed. In the present study, the genotypes of P4502E1 were analyzed in patients with or without ALD. METHODS: After extraction of DNA from white blood cells, genotypes of P4502E1 were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphisms using two endonucleases. The genotypes were separated into three types: type A, type C (homozygous for the c1 or c2 gene), and type B (heterozygous for both genes). RESULTS: In 50 patients with ALD, the prevalence of type A was 16% and that of the c2 gene was 84%. The genotypes in 10 heavy drinkers without ALD were all type A. In 34 patients with non-alcoholic liver disease and in 88 patients without hepatobiliary disease, the prevalence of type A was 65% and 71%, respectively, indicating a significantly higher prevalence of the c2 gene in ALD. In healthy nonalcoholics, the prevalence of type A was 62%-68%. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that polymorphisms of P4502E1 may be related to the development of ALD.     

Cystic lymphangioma of the tunica vaginalis testis. A case report

A 42-year-old man who complained progressive enlargement of an intrascrotal mass visited to our hospital. Preoperative sonography revealed multiple cystic masses adjacent to the left testis. Total surgical excision was performed. The cystic masses were arising from tunica vaginalis testis. Histopathologically, a cystic lymphangioma was diagnosed because of the morphological features and the immunohistochemical stainings of CD34 and Factor VIII related antigen which were observed positive reactions in endothelial cells of the cysts.     

Magnetostatic wave resonators using microstrip disk

The authors propose a magnetostatic wave resonator using yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) film with a microstrip disk. Assuming a magnetic wall at the edge of the disk, a dispersion relation is derived and solved numerically to obtain the resonant frequency. Resonant mode charts are given for various parameters of resonator. The quality factor is also given as a function of the resonator dimensions. Resonant characteristics are confirmed experimentally using 40-μm- and 13.5-μm-thick YIG films with 5-mm-diameter strip disk at S band     

Asymmetric anionic polymerization of n-diphenyl-methylitaconimide with chiral ligand-organometal complex

Summary Asymmetric anionic polymerizations of achiral N-diphenylmethylitaconimide (DPII) were performed with chiral ligand — organometal complexes in toluene. The obtained poly(DPII)s exhibited molecular weights of 1.5 × 10³ to 6.3 × 10³ and specific rotation between +7.5 to −18.4° (THF). The chirality of polymer was significantly affected by the organometals and chiral ligands. The poly(DPII) obtained with (4S)-2,2′-(1-ethylpropylidene)bis(4-benzyl-4,5-dihydrooxazole) (Bnbox) / n-butyllithium (n-BuLi) exhibited the highest specific rotation (−18.4°). The optical activities of the poly(DPII)s were attributed to configurational chirality of the main chain more than conformational chirality, judged from NMR, circular dichroism (CD) and GPC analyses using UV and polarimetric detectors. Received: 10 January 2002/ Revised: 12 April 2002/ Accepted: 22 April 2002     

Combined surgery for coronary artery disease and thoracic aortic disease

Combined surgery in 6 cases who had coronary artery disease and thoracic aortic disease simultaneously was analyzed. Case # 1 had ascending aortic replacement under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest because of iatrogenic aortic dissection caused by aortic clamp during the routine coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Case # 2 had DeBakey type II chronic dissection. Case # 3 had type I aortic dissection 4 years after the initial CABG. Both case # 2 and # 3 had ascending aortic replacement under retrograde cerebral perfusion along with CABG. Transverse aortic replacement was performed in case # 4, # 5 and # 6 under selective cerebral perfusion along with CABG. Case # 4 was associated with ascending-transverse aortic aneurysm. Case # 5 had aortitis syndrome complicated with severe coronary ostial stenosis and cervical branch stenosis. Case # 6 also had aortitis syndrome, severe coronary ostial stenosis, heavily calcified ascending-transverse aorta, and mitral and aortic regurgitation. This case had mitral and aortic valve replacement additionally. Case # 2 died of low cardiac output syndrome and multi-organ failure postoperatively. Case # 4 did not recover from profound shock that followed the preoperative acute myocardial infarction. The problems of low cardiac output syndrome caused by long interval of ischemic cardiac arrest, and also the problems of proximal anastomotic site of saphenous vein grafts were discussed.     

Electrochemical characteristics of iron carbide as an active material in alkaline batteries

Electrochemical properties of iron carbide (Fe₃C) for use as an alkaline battery anode were investigated during charge–discharge cycles. Results of electrochemical measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy suggested that Fe₃C is oxidized irreversibly to Fe₃O₄ during discharge processes and that the produced Fe₃O₄ is subsequently changed to Fe(OH)₂ and Fe during the charging process, raising the discharge/charge capacity in further galvanostatic cycles. In addition, the electrode particles were observed to be less than 100 nm in diameter and to be highly dispersed on the surface of carbon black. These phenomena seems to be caused by dissolution and deposition of Fe(OH)₂ and Fe via intermediate iron species, leading to exposure of a fresh Fe₃C surface to the electrolyte after the second discharge.     

A case of ventricular septal perforation treated surgically with an infarction exclusion technique

We report an 85-year-old woman with postinfarction interventricular septal perforation. She underwent successful emergent surgical treatment by a slightly modified method based on David-Komeda's procedure. Perforation in this case occurred four days after acute myocardial infarction. Preoperative Qp/Qs was 2.58, and pulmonary artery pressure was 34/25 mmHg. The area of infarction was large, and the perforation was the linear type 2.5 cm long near the apex. A probe was not able to pass through the perforation due to its complicated configuration. A double Xenomedica patch was sutured on the left side of the interventricular septum without excising the infarcted area. The suture line was placed on healthy myocardium apart from the infarcted area. The Xenomedica patch was sandwiched between the closure line of the ventriculotomy. Four days after surgery, residual shunt was observed by echocardiogram, but this subsequently disappeared on the 17th postoperative day. The patient was discharged from our hospital on the 57th postoperative day, and is now doing quite well.     

Mass Current at a Domain Wall in Superfluid 3He A-Phase

In the superfluid ³He A-phase, the amplitude and direction of angular momentum by topological edge mass current coincide with the expected amplitude and direction of ground-state angular momentum by Cooper pairs. The topological mass current also flows at a domain wall in the A-phase, namely, an interface between the A-phases with the opposite direction of l-vector. We show that the amplitude of the topological mass current at the energetically favorable domain wall is almost equal to that at the specular edge; however, the topological mass current flows toward the opposite direction expected from angular momentum of Cooper pairs. Thus, the direction of topological mass current cannot be fixed only by the topological nature which is related to angular momentum of Cooper pairs.     

Reconstitution of hepatic tissue architectures from fetal liver cells obtained from a three-dimensional culture with a rotating wall vessel bioreactor

Reconstitution of tissue architecture in vitro is important because it enables researchers to investigate the interactions and mutual relationships between cells and cellular signals involved in the three-dimensional (3D) construction of tissues. To date, in vitro methods for producing tissues with highly ordered structure and high levels of function have met with limited success although a variety of 3D culture systems have been investigated. In this study, we reconstituted functional hepatic tissue including mature hepatocyte and blood vessel-like structures accompanied with bile duct-like structures from E15.5 fetal liver cells, which contained more hepatic stem/progenitor cells comparing with neonatal liver cells. The culture was performed in a simulated microgravity environment produced by a rotating wall vessel (RWV) bioreactor. The hepatocytes in the reconstituted 3D tissue were found to be capable of producing albumin and storing glycogen. Additionally, bile canaliculi between hepatocytes, characteristics of adult hepatocyte in vivo were also formed. Apart from this, bile duct structure secreting mucin was shown to form complicated tubular branches. Furthermore, gene expression analysis by semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed the elevated levels of mature hepatocyte markers as well as genes with the hepatic function. With RWV culture system, we could produce functionally reconstituted liver tissue and this might be useful in pharmaceutical industry including drug screening and testing and other applications such as an alternative approach to experimental animals.