[The relationship between stress and health indicators in an urban population--from a study of subjects selected by sex and age groups who underwent health check-ups in S city in Osaka Prefecture].

Many people in recent years are living under conditions involving various kinds of major and minor stress. This study was done to analyze how an urban population experience stress in daily life and to establish any relationship between the feeling of stress and people's daily habits or health conditions. The subjects were 2,234 residents, who availed themselves of general health check-ups in a city in Osaka Prefecture in 1992. The main results were as follows: 1) We designed and assessed a total stress score for causes of stress in daily life and a total depression score for the depression condition of subjects. 2) The proportion of subjects who showed a high total stress score decreased with age. The proportion of subjects who showed the highest total stress score was the largest in the age group of 40-49 years for men and of 30-39 years for women. 3) The proportion of subjects who had short working hours, much leisure time available, and low total depression score and complained much about health conditions increased with age. The proportion of subjects who had the longest working hours was the largest in the age group of 30-39, that of those who had little leisure time available and showed the highest total depression score was the largest in the age group of 40-49, and that of those who complained most about health conditions was the largest in the age group of 60-69 for men. The proportion of subjects who had the shortest sleeping hours and the longest working hours was the largest in the age group of 40-49, that of those who had little leisure time was the largest in the age group of 30-39, and that of those who showed the highest total depression score was the largest in the age group of 30-39 and 50-59 for women. 4) The total stress score showed significant relationships with the amount of leisure time available, the degree of complaints about health condition, and the total depression score for men and with sleeping hours, the amount of leisure time available, the degree of complaints about health condition and the total depression score for women. 5) The total stress score showed a significant correlation with high blood pressure for men and women. 6) The amount of leisure time available showed significant relationships with sleeping hours for men and working hours for men and women. The total depression score showed significant relationships with the degree of complaints of health condition for men and with sleeping and working hours, the amount of leisure time available and the degree of complaints of health condition for women.

Mitomycin C and cisplatin increase survival in a human pancreatic cancer metastatic model.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most intractable of all human cancers. We have previously developed a patient-like model of human pancreatic cancer by surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI). After SOI of the human tumor xenograft PAN-12-JCK into the tail of the nude mouse pancreas, mitomycin C (MMC) and cisplatin (DDP) were administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 4 and 6 mg/kg, respectively, on day-7. The mice were observed for 95 days. There was a statistically significant increase in disease-free and overall survival rates in the MMC- and MMC + DDP-treated groups. Local tumor growth was eliminated only in the group treated with MMC + DDP. Hepatic metastasis and peritoneal disseminations were completely inhibited by MMC but not DDP. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the SOI model of pancreatic cancer to study the differential efficacy of agents affecting primary tumor growth metastasis and survival, thus presenting an opportunity for the discovery of new agents for this highly resistant cancer.

[Therapeutic effect of donor leukocyte transfusion in relapsing marrow transplants in Japan].

The immune reactivity of allogeneic lymphocytes plays a major role in control of leukemia after bone marrow transplantation. We studies the efficacy of donor leukocyte transfusion (DLT) on acute and chronic leukemia in relapse after bone marrow transplantation in Japan. Sixty nine patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia (N = 17), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (N = 25), acute myelocytic leukemia (N = 26), myelodysplastic syndrome (N = 5), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (N = 2) and rhabdomyosarcoma (N = 1) were treated with transfusions of donor lymphocytes. Therapeutic effects were induced by donor leukocyte transfusion in 20 patients (29%) including 3 patients out of 4 (75%) with CML in cytogenetic and chronic phase relapse, 4 out of 5 (80%) patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, 3 out of 13 (23%) patients with CML in transformed phase, 5 out of 25 (20%) patients with acute myelocytic leukemia, and 4 out of 20 (20%) patients with acute lymphoblasic leukemia. Twenty two patients (30%) developed acute GVHD (> or = 2) and 6 out of 73 (8.2%) patients developed fatal GVHD after donor leukocyte transfusion. Patients relapsed within 6 months after marrow transplantation had a probability of having severe acute GVHD (> or = 2) after DLT. Fourteen out of 24 (58%) patients with GVL response were re-relapsed thereafter. Minimal dose of donor leukocytes infused in successfully treated 9 patients without cytoreductive therapy was 2 x 10(7)/kg in total and minimal dose of that in 6 patients with fatal GVHD was 7 x 10(7)/kg in total. The anti-leukemia effect of donor leukocyte transfusion was strongest against CML in cytogenetic and chronic phase and induce a durable complete remission.

[Vimentin and desmin expression in the type 2 fibers in muscle biopsies from myotonic dystrophy patients].

Immunoreactivity for the intermediate filament proteins vimentin and desmin was assessed in the type 2 fibers of biceps brachii muscle biopsies from 20 adults with myotonic dystrophy (MD). Some type 2C fibers showed strong reactivity with both anti-vimentin and anti-desmin, suggesting that they were regenerating fibers. Some type 2A and 2B fibers of various diameter were weakly reactive with anti-vimentin, but none of the type 1 fibers were reactive with anti-vimentin. Hardly any reactivity with anti-vimentin was demonstrated in patients in the younger age group (10-29 years) with mild illness, but vimentin-positive type 2 fibers increased in the age groups 30 years of age and older. The mean diameters of type 2A and type 2B fibers in vimentin-positive patients were larger than in vimentin-negative patients. In the patients in the 30 years of age and older group, the vimentin-negative patients had more severe muscle weakness than the vimentin-positive patients. These findings suggest a possible relationship between the process of regeneration in type 2 fibers in adult MD patients and the increase in their mean diameter.

Relation between bronchoscopic findings and tumor size of roentgenographically occult bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma.

A total of 105 lesions in 98 patients with roentgenographically occult bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma were examined. The relationship of bronchoscopic findings to the depth of invasion into the bronchial wall and the length of longitudinal extension along the bronchus was documented. From viewpoints of the degree of difficulty of bronchoscopic detection and with reference to the height of the lesions, the bronchoscopic findings were classified into three categories: remarkable, minute, and hidden. Of the 105 lesions, 55 (52%) were remarkable, 27 (26%) were minute, and the remaining 23 (22%) were hidden. Of the 23 hidden lesions, 12 were within and 11 were beyond the range of endoscopic visibility. The maximal depth of bronchial invasion (mean +/- standard error) was 3.07 +/- 0.40 mm in the category designated remarkable and 1.62 +/- 0.47 mm in the category designated minute. The depth was 0.93 +/- 0.36 mm in the hidden lesions within the range of endoscopic visibility and 0.78 +/- 0.21 mm in the hidden lesions beyond the range of endoscopic visibility. The maximal length of longitudinal extension along the bronchus was 19.6 +/- 1.5 mm in the remarkable lesions, 9.9 +/- 1.4 mm in the minute lesions, 5.5 +/- 1.0 mm in the hidden lesions within the range of endoscopic visibility, and 8.6 +/- 2.1 mm in the hidden lesions beyond the range of endoscopic visibility. It is useful for predicting the depth of invasion to classify bronchoscopic findings into these three categories for the study of roentgenographically occult bronchogenic squamous cell carcinomas.

Blood pressure changes following extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for urolithiasis.

Hypertension after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has been a controversial subject. Changes in blood pressure were studied in 262 patients (mean age 47.8 years) 18.6 months after ESWL. According to World Health Organization criteria the number of patients who showed a decrease exceeded those who showed an increase in blood pressure. The patients who have been on antihypertensive therapy showed a significantly greater decrease in blood pressure than those without medication. Of 192 normotensive patients diastolic pressure increased 1.2 mm. Hg and 2 (1.0%) had hypertension 18.4 months after ESWL. Annualized increase in diastolic pressure and new onset of hypertension were calculated to be 0.78 mm. Hg and 0.65%, respectively. Significant elevation of diastolic pressure was noted in the patients who received a larger number of shock waves. Blood pressure should be carefully followed after ESWL especially in patients who have been treated by a greater number of shock waves.

Intrapair differences of physical aging and longevity in identical twins.

The genetic and environmental contributions to physical aging (hair graying, balding, presbyopia) and longevity (age at death) were examined by within-pair comparison in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins in later adulthood. Physical aging was investigated on 135 pairs of adult twins aged over 50. Hair graying and hair loss (baldness) showed significantly higher rates of concordance in the MZ twins than in the DZ twins. The intrapair difference of the degree of hair graying was negligible in 79%, slight in 15% and striking in 5% among the MZ pairs; while negligible in 40%, slight in 50% and striking in 10% among the DZ pairs. The intrapair difference of the degree of hair loss was negligible in 92%, slight in 8% (and striking in none) among the MZ pairs; while negligible in 69%, slight in 25% and striking in 6% among the DZ pairs. The age at onset of presbyopia showed a slightly higher rate of concordance in the MZ than in the DZ pairs. Longevity (age at death) was surveyed on 184 pairs of twins who died at over 40 years of age. The intrapair difference of longevity was 6.65 +/- 5.6 years (maximum 18.0; minimum 0.04) in the MZ pairs, and 8.66 +/- 7.2 years (maximum 18.6; minimum 2.9) in the DZ pairs. The MZ pairs showed a slightly smaller within-pair difference of longevity than the DZ pairs.

Chromosomal mapping of two genetic loci associated with blood-pressure regulation in hereditary hypertensive rats.

The spontaneously hypertensive rat and the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat are useful models for human hypertension. In these strains hypertension is a polygenic trait, in which both autosomal and sex-linked genes can influence blood pressure. Linkage studies in crosses between the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat and the normotensive control strain Wistar-Kyoto have led to the localization of two genes, BP/SP-1 and BP/SP-2, that contribute significantly to blood pressure variation in the F2 population. BP/SP-1 and BP/SP-2 were assigned to rat chromosomes 10 and X, respectively. Comparison of the human and rat genetic maps indicates that BP/SP-1 could reside on human chromosome 17q in a region that also contains the angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene (ACE). This encodes a key enzyme of the renin-angiotensin system, and is therefore a candidate gene in primary hypertension. A rat microsatellite marker of ACE was mapped to rat chromosome 10 within the region containing BP/SP-1.

[A case report of hepatoma with a giant splenic aneurysm both treated by TAE therapy].

A case of a 49-year-old woman who was found to have a giant splenic aneurysm during the course of TAE therapy for hepatoma and who was given TAE therapy using 47 steel coils is reported. The splenic arterial embolization therapy using steel coils proved effective for preventing the rupture of an aneurysm and for inhibiting hypersplenism. In addition, no serious adverse effect was observed.

An estimation of a model explaining the mechanism causing neurotic disorders using a theory of fuzzy sets.

Constructing and estimating a model to explain the mechanism of neurotic disorders is important and significant. The model helps the rearrangement or representation of knowledge obtained from professional physicians. However, it is a very difficult problem, because the objects requiring analysis are mental activities of human beings, and they originally include a comparatively large variance between individuals. The object data were obtained from patients with neurotic disorders who were diagnosed by several doctors for 10 years in a subagricultural areas in Japan. We analyzed the data and calculated the weights attached for personal information depending upon the similarity between the information and the kinds of neurotic disorders using the theory of fuzzy sets. From the results of our analysis, we constructed and estimated a model explaining the mechanism causing neurotic disorders as several linear equations. From data processing points of view, the estimation we attempted is placed in a kind of effective data compression with respect to discrete statistical data.

Transmitter biochemistry and histochemistry of the hypoplastic cerebellum in mice after neonatal administration of cytosine arabinoside.

Administration of cytosine arabinoside, a DNA polymerase inhibitor, to mice (50 mg/kg body weight) on postnatal days 2, 3 and 4 resulted in severe hypoplasia of the cerebellar cortex accompanied by a large decrease in the cerebellar DNA and RNA contents. On postnatal days 10, 20, 30 and 70, concentrations of the putative neurotransmitters, noradrenaline and serotonin, were significantly increased in the affected cerebellum. In contrast, gamma-aminobutyric acid concentration was little changed, although a decrease in the content of gamma-aminobutyric acid per cerebellum was observed from postnatal day 20. No changes were found in the concentrations of these transmitter candidates nor in dopamine in the cerebral cortex or the brain stem. Histofluorescence observations revealed abnormally dense noradrenergic fibers in a poorly organized cerebellar cortex. The distribution of these fibers was characterized by a honeycomb pattern in the Purkinje cell and granular layers, and a dense plexus in the lower part of the thin molecular layer. However, the significance of neither the density of the noradrenergic fibers nor their abnormal distribution was apparent from the results of this study.

Studies on antibiotics BN-227 and BN-227-F, new antibiotics. I. Taxonomy, isolation and characterization.

The two new antibiotics, BN-227 and BN-227-F, were isolated from the fermentation broth of Pseudomonas sp. BN-227. BN-227 has a molecular formula C7H9NO3, and melts at 115 degrees C. BN-227-F has a molecular formula C21H24N3O9Fe, and melts at 156 degrees C. BN-227-F is a chelate compound consisting of three similar ligands (antibiotic BN-227) and ferric ion. The two antibiotics have antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.