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.     

Speckle interferometry by using virtual speckle pattern based on Carré algorithm

Dynamic deformation measurement with a large deformation is effectively performed by using virtual speckle patterns. The virtual speckle pattern has been generally produced by using the operation based on Fourier transform. However, it takes a long calculating time to produce a virtual speckle pattern, because the method requires Fourier transform operation at each pixel of CCD. In the proposed method, virtual speckle patterns are produced by Carré algorithm without any operation by Fourier transform. The method is applied to the in-plane deformation measurement in this paper. As the results, it is confirmed that the calculating cost of virtual speckle patterns is improved remarkably, and that the measurement accuracy of the new method is also equal to the ordinary methods. It is also confirmed that the proposed method will expand the use of the speckle interferometry based on virtual speckle pattern technology.     

Streptozotocin-induced diabetic cynomolgus monkey is a model of hypertriglyceridemia with low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol

BACKGROUND: Cardiac allograft rejection is accompanied by cellular infiltration and tissue edema resulting in myocardial relaxation abnormalities. Doppler tissue imaging is capable of measuring myocardial relaxation velocities and is useful in the detection of heart rejection. However, the influence of ventricular loading conditions on myocardial relaxation velocities has not been studied. This study is performed to determine whether myocardial relaxation velocities are affected by left ventricular loading conditions. METHODS: Twenty heart transplant recipients without evidence of rejection by endomyocardial biopsy underwent preload and afterload reduction with nitroglycerin. The pulmonary wedge pressure was reduced from 18.2+/-0.9 to 12.0+/-0.9 mm Hg 9 (p=0.001) and the mean blood pressure from 130.0+/-5.6 to 116.1+/-7.0 mm Hg (p=0.001). Pulsed-wave Doppler tissue imaging was performed before and after administration of nitroglycerin, and the peak myocardial relaxation velocities of the inferior wall were measured. RESULTS: Myocardial relaxation velocities did not change with the administration of nitroglycerin; 0.188+/-0.009 to 0.178+/- 0.006 m/sec (p=0.4) in spite of a significant reduction in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. Furthermore, there was no correlation between pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, mean arterial pressure, wall stress, and myocardial relaxation velocities. CONCLUSIONS: Loading conditions on the left ventricle have no influence on myocardial relaxation velocities. Therefore in heart transplant recipients changes in myocardial relaxation velocities by Doppler tissue imaging may be useful in the diagnosis of rejection, in spite of diverse loading conditions.     

Tumor necrosis factor alpha-mediated tumor regression by the in vivo transfer of genes into the artery that leads to tumors

We report that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha induced a strong antitumor immune reaction when it was produced in arteries leading to tumors by gene transfer in vivo. We used a mouse model carrying a sarcoma-180 tumor in the right footpad and injected the fusogenic liposomes encapsulating the human TNF-alpha gene into the right femoral artery. Under this condition, human TNF-alpha was detected only in the artery leading to the tumor and in the tumor. There was a significant regression in tumor growth when the TNF-alpha gene was delivered into the right femoral artery, with 4 of 11 mice completely cured. No regression was observed when the TNF-alpha gene was delivered into the left femoral artery or into the tumor or when the luciferase gene was administered. Tumor regression was inhibited by the injection of anti-TNF-alpha, anti-CD4, or anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody, and CD8+ T cells accumulated in the tumors of TNF-alpha-treated mice. These results suggest that TNF-alpha expressed locally in the arteries leading to tumors efficiently suppresses tumor growth through reinforcement of an antitumor immune reaction. The significance of this phenomenon for cancer gene therapy was discussed.     

Gout and atherosclerosis

Recently atherosclerotic diseases, such as coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease have been considered as an important complication of hyperuricemia and gout. However, it is still controversial whether or not hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor of atherosclerotic diseases. On the other hand, several risk factors for coronary heart disease, for example hyperlipidemia and hypertension, are frequently observed in the patients with gout. Atherosclerosis in relation to hyperuricemia was discussed in view of definite and probable risk factors.     

Effect of KCA-098, a new benzofuroquinoline derivative, on bone mineral metabolism

The effect of 3,9-bis(N,N-dimethylcarbamoyloxy)-5H-benzofuro[3,2-c]quinoli ne-6-one designated as KCA-098) on the bone mineral metabolism of chick embryonic bone was examined. KCA-098 dose-dependently inhibited bone resorption of cultured chick embryonic femora and calvariae. It increased the length, dry weight, and calcium and phosphorus contents of 9-d-old chick embryonic femurs cultivated for 6 d, indicating that it stimulated bone formation. These results show that KCA-098 has the unique effects of inhibiting bone resorption and stimulating bone formation of chick embryo. In addition, in an in vivo experiment, oral administration of KCA-098 (3.0 mg/kg/d) for 16 weeks led to an increase in calcium and phosphorus content as well as an increase in the amount of force required to break the femur from ovariectomized rats, suggesting that it may be useful for the treatment of bone diseases.     

The novel compound NO-1886 increases lipoprotein lipase activity with resulting elevation of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and long-term administration inhibits atherogenesis in the coronary arteries of rats with experimental atherosclerosis

We have discovered a novel compound, NO-1886, which possesses a powerful lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity-increasing action. Administration of NO-1886 increased LPL activity in the postheparin plasma, adipose tissue, and myocardium of rats, and produced a reduction in plasma triglyceride levels with concomitant elevation of HDL cholesterol levels. Administration of NO-1886 increased LPL enzyme mass in postheparin plasma and mRNA activity in epididymal adipose tissue, and it was concluded that the mode of action of this compound is stimulation of tissue LPL synthesis. We also conducted long-term studies to assess the impact of increases in LPL activity and HDL levels on the development of atherosclerotic lesions in rats. Administration of NO-1886 for as long as 90 d significantly decreased the degree of atherosclerotic changes in the coronary arteries of vitamin D2-treated, cholesterol-fed rats. Statistical analysis indicated that increased concentration of HDL is the factor contributing mostly to the prevention of coronary artery sclerosis. In summary, the results of our study indicate that compound NO-1886 increases LPL activity, causing an elevation in HDL levels, and that long-term administration of NO-1886 to rats with experimental atherosclerosis provides significant protection against the development of coronary artery lesions.     

Generation of metastatic variants of Eker renal carcinoma cell lines for experimental investigation of renal cancer metastasis

We and others have demonstrated that a mutation in Tsc2 is the rate-limiting step for renal carcinogenesis in the Eker rat model. Although inactivation of Tsc2 results in development of renal tumors, it is not sufficient for metastatic renal cell carcinomas (RCs) in the Eker rat. To investigate the additional genetic event(s) necessary for cancer metastasis, we have established highly metastatic S-Lk9d-SLM cell lines from a non-metastatic RC cell line (Lk9dL) by co-implantation with a foreign body (gelatin sponge). Since these cell lines were remarkably different in metastatic performance (all and none, respectively) despite having the same genetic background, they should be useful experimental tools to investigate metastasis-promoting events in renal carcinogenesis.