Cyclooxygenase-2 gene disruption attenuates the severity of acute pancreatitis and pancreatitis-associated lung injury.

Background & Aims: Cyclooxygenase (COX) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in prostaglandin production; the inducible isoform, COX-2, has been implicated in a variety of inflammatory processes. The role of COX in acute pancreatitis and pancreatitis-associated lung injury is not known.

Methods: Acute pancreatitis was induced in Swiss Webster mice or mice deficient in the COX-2 (Ptgs2) or the COX-1 (Ptgs1) genes.

A nested case-control study of risk factors for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma among human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I carriers in Japan.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the serological risk factors for development of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) among human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) carriers.

Methods: A nested case-control study was performed. The source population comprised 23,922 subjects who had either visited the outpatient clinic or who had received annual health check-ups at the K Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan, at least once during 1985-1996 (HTLV-I seroprevalence = 16.

The influence of inflammatory cytokines on estrogen production and cell proliferation in human breast cancer cells.

Estrogens play important roles in the development of breast cancer. Inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) exist at high concentrations in breast cancer tissue. Although these cytokines are thought to exert some effect on cancer growth, their precise mechanism is still unclear.

RU486 antagonizes the inhibitory effect of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha on interleukin-6 production in vascular endothelial cells.

Peroxisome proliferator-acitivated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a member of nuclear receptor superfamily. Recent studies have shown that the activators for PPARalpha inhibit the expression of some inflammatory molecules in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells, indicating the anti-inflammatory roles of PPARalpha on vascular walls. In this investigation, we showed that RU486, already proved to be an active anti-glucocorticoid and anti-progesterone agent, blocked the inhibition of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-stimulated interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by the PPARalpha activator fenofibrate in human umbilical vein ECs.

Cholinergic urticaria, a new pathogenic concept: hypohidrosis due to interference with the delivery of sweat to the skin surface.

Background: Acetylcholine has been suspected to be a pathogenetic factor for cholinergic urticaria (CU), without definite evidence. In contrast, there are scattered reports of CU associated with acquired generalized hypohidrosis. We have recently examined 2 patients with CU in both of whom we noticed the presence of extensive hypohidrosis that occurred only in winter.

[Drug resistance of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 and a possible relation of plasmids to the drug-resistance].

Antimicrobial susceptibility was examined using 89 enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 isolates obtained from diarrhea patients in Aichi Prefecture, Japan between June 1996 and June 1997. Among the 89 isolates, 15 (16.9%) were found to be resistant to 6 of 9 antibiotics examined.

Regulation of estrogen activity in human endometrium: effect of IL-1beta on steroid sulfatase activity in human endometrial stromal cells.

We investigated the effect of interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) on steroid sulfatase (STS) activity and the expression of STS mRNA in human endometrial stromal cells. Endometrial tissue samples were obtained from patients undergoing hysterectomy to remove uterine fibroids. Stromal cells were isolated from the tissue preparation and cultured.

A phase II study of doxifluridine in elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer: the Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study (JCOG 9410).

Background: A previous phase II study of doxifluridine in non-elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer demonstrated a favorable survival with mild toxicity, despite a low response rate. The objectives of this study were to evaluate efficacy and feasibility of this agent for elderly patients.

Methods: This study protocol required elderly patients, aged 76-80 years, with advanced gastric cancer and having no prior chemotherapy.

[Clinical study of dissection of the superior mesenteric artery].

Six patients with dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) who were treated at our hospital between 1993 and 1999 were studied. Hypertension was considered significant as a risk factor. The clinical features were characterized by severe abdominal pain which radiated posteriorly, back pain, weak bowel sounds and exacerbation by eating.

Absorption, transportation and digestion of egg white in quail embryos.

The present study was done to reveal how egg white is taken up by embryonic tissues, the pathway through which egg white is transported, and the location where it is digested during the development of the quail Coturnix japonica. Antiserum against quail ovalbumin was raised in rabbit and used as a probe. By immunoelectron microscopy, the uptake of ovalbumin on a small scale by receptor-mediated endocytosis was observed in the ectodermal cells of the yolk sac on days four to seven of incubation.

Purification of microcystins by DEAE and C(18) cartridge chromatography.

Microcystins (MCs) were purified by DEAE and C(18) cartridge chromatography. Addition of EtOH to the eluents (20%) in DEAE chromatography gave higher resolution than no addition of EtOH. The chromatogram showed three peaks: MC-LR; MC-LY and MC-LF; MC-LW.