Impact of muscle volume loss on acute oral mucositis in patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy after oral cancer resection.

This study evaluated the association between skeletal muscle mass depletion and severe oral mucositis in patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy after oral cancer resection. Skeletal muscle mass was evaluated in 60 patients using the skeletal muscle index, which was based on skeletal muscle cross-sectional area (on computed tomography) at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. In accordance with the grading criteria of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, patients with a grade ≥3 were defined as having severe oral mucositis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate independent risk factors for severe oral mucositis. Eleven patients (18.3%) were diagnosed with low skeletal muscle mass. Severe oral mucositis occurred in 17 (28.3%) patients, and the mean skeletal muscle index was 42.8 cm2/m2. A low skeletal muscle mass (hazard ratio 18.1; P=0.001) and a chemotherapy regimen consisting of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin (versus cisplatin only) (hazard ratio 5.5; P=0.015) were independent risk factors for severe oral mucositis. Future prospective studies are warranted to identify effective pre- and perioperative exercises and nutrition programmes to increase low skeletal muscle mass and reduce the incidence of severe oral mucositis in patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy after oral cancer resection.

Accessory carotid body within the parathyroid gland III of the chicken.

In the chicken, the cranial and caudal parathyroid glands (parathyroid gland III and IV), which are connected to each other, are located adjacent to the carotid body. In the present study, we found that a mass of glomus cells surrounded by a thick layer of connective tissue was frequently distributed within the parathyroid gland III. The glomus cells in the parathyroid III, as well as those of the carotid body, expressed intense immunoreactivity for serotonin, chromogranin A, and tyrosine hydroxylase but no immunoreactivity for neuropeptide Y. The cells possessed long cytoplasmic processes containing dense-cored vesicles of 70-220 nm in diameter, and were in close association with sustentacular cells. In and around the glomus cell clusters of the parathyroid III, dense networks of varicose fibers showed immunostaining with the monoclonal antibody TuJ1 to a neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin isotype, c beta 4. Furthermore, the distribution was also detected of numerous galanin-, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-, substance P-, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-immunoreactive fibers.

Glomus cell differentiation in the carotid body region of chick embryos studied by neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin isotype and Leu-7 monoclonal antibodies.

Development of the carotid body and the glomus cell groups in the wall of the common carotid artery and its branches was examined in chickens at various developmental stages by immunohistochemistry using three different monoclonal antibodies, i.e., anti-neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin isotype (TuJ1), anti-rat brain beta-tubulin, and anti-Leu-7 (HNK-1) antibodies. All the antibodies reacted with neurons. The carotid body anlage was first discerned at 6 days of incubation at the lateral portion of the third branchial artery. The cells and nerve fibers immunoreactive for TuJ1, brain beta-tubulin and Leu-7, which were connected with the distal ganglion of the vagus nerve, were found around the carotid body anlage at this stage. Within the carotid body anlage, no immunoreactivity yet appeared. The immunoreactive cells were accumulated around the carotid body anlage until 8 days of incubation. From 9 days of incubation, the immunoreactive cells continuing with the distal vagal ganglion began to enter into the carotid body anlage and also dispersed widely along the common carotid artery and its branches, giving rise to the glomus cells. At 12 days of incubation, a large portion of the carotid body was occupied by the immunoreactive cells. Thus, the present study evidences that the glomus cells in the carotid body and around the arteries are emigrés that arrive in each residential place from the distal vagal ganglion. Immunoreactivity for TuJ1, brain beta-tubulin, and Leu-7 in the glomus cells started to decrease at late stages of embryonic development. After hatching, no TuJ1-immunoreactive cells were detected in the carotid body region.