Hyperbaric oxygen for anorexia nervosa.

Hyperbaric oxygen was given to a patient with anorexia nervosa who had developed postoperative ileus, resulting in not only improvement in ileus, but also enhancement of intestinal movement, inducing the feeling of hunger, and thereby increasing food ingestion. Hyperbaric oxygen may be effective as an initial treatment for anorectic patients showing severe bloating and resistance to food ingestion.

[A case of free rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm into the peritoneal cavity during posture change after induction of anesthesia].

We report a case in which posture change for radiography after induction of anesthesia caused free rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) into the peritoneal cavity, resulting in shock, although in the patient an AAA had ruptured into only the retroperitoneal space and hemodynamics had been stable preoperatively. The massive bleeding was controlled with autotransfusion using a washing salvaging autotransfusion device and a roller pump for hemodialysis. In addition, international mild hypothermia was effective for protection of the brain from suspected ischemia during shock. Meticulous attention should be paid for anesthetic management of patients with ruptured AAA even if their hemodynamic status is stable.

A new model of white matter injury in neonatal rats with bilateral carotid artery occlusion.

Periventricular leukomalacia is an important cause of cerebral palsy and characterized by cysts and coagulation necrosis in the periventricular white matter. Since no model of periventricular leukomalacia has been established in small animals, it is expected to establish a new model of white matter injury in immature rodents. Bilateral carotid arteries were occluded in neonatal rats at 5 days of age, and the brain neuropathologically examined at 7 days of age. Among 22 brains histologically examined, 20 (90.9%) had white matter changes including coagulation necrosis and cystic lesions in and around the internal capsule, while only two had small cerebral infarction and five showed some ischemic neurons in the cerebral cortex. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) decreased to about 25% of controls in the subcortical white matter in the animals with bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO). Amyloid precursor protein (APP) immunohistochemistry demonstrated various APP-immunoreactive axonal profiles in the internal capsule and the subcortical white matter, and stronger expression of APP in pyramidal neurons in the cerebral cortex of BCAO brains. These results indicated that the white matter is more vulnerable than the cerebral cortex in 5-day-old rats when CBF decreases to about 25% and suggested that this model is useful for investigating the white matter changes induced by cerebral hypoperfusion in the neonatal brain, since previous models of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in neonatal mice and rats revealed preferential susceptibility of the gray matter. It was also indicated that APP is a sensitive marker for mild axonal disruption in the white matter of the immature brain.

Non-carcinogenicity of capsaicinoids in B6C3F1 mice.

The carcinogenicity of a mixture of capsaicinoids (64.5% capsaicin and 32.6% dihydrocapsaicin) was examined in B6C3F1 mice. In a 13-week toxicity study, renal toxicity was observed in 1% capsaicinoid-treated males. Next, groups of 50 mice of each sex were given 0, 0.025, 0.083 or 0.25% capsaicinoids in powdered diet for 79 weeks and killed in week 83. Food intake was reduced in mice of all capsaicinoid-treated groups, especially females, because of the pungency of capsaicinoids, and inhibition of body weight gain was apparent in females. The numbers of tumour-bearing females in the high-dose groups were significantly lower than that in the controls, and the incidences of hepatocellular neoplasms in both sexes were negatively correlated with the dose of capsaicinoids (Cochran-Armitage trend test). Renal cell adenomas developed in one mouse each of 0.025 and 0.25% capsaicinoid-treated males. The incidences of other tumours were similar in the treated and control groups. Thus, the present study indicated that a mixture of capsaicinoids is not carcinogenic in B6C3F1 mice.

Immunoelectron-microscopic demonstration of NACP/alpha-synuclein-epitopes on the filamentous component of Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease and in dementia with Lewy bodies.

We examined brains from Parkinson's disease and from dementia with Lewy bodies (LBs) by using antibodies to NACP/alpha-synuclein. Immunohistochemically, all of the antibodies against the amino-terminal region, NAC domain, and carboxyl-terminal region of NACP labeled not only LBs, pale bodies (PBs), and dystrophic neurites, but also fine thread-like structures in the neuronal perikarya (perikaryal threads) in the hypothalamus and brainstem nuclei. On electron microscopy, immunoreactive products were found to label the 9 to 12 nm-thick filamentous component (LB-filaments) of LBs, PBs, and perikaryal threads. The NACP-immunoreactive perikaryal threads, consisting of small bundles of LB-filaments and randomly oriented LB-filaments, presumably represent an initial stage of LB- or PB-formation. The present study indicates that the entire molecule of NACP is involved in the neuronal filament-aggregating processes of LB disorders.

[Adjuvant therapies in combination with pancreatectomy for carcinoma of the pancreas].

In the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, surgical resection is the only curative strategy. However, the long-term survival rate after pancreatectomy remains poor, and most patients died of loco-regional and/or hepatic recurrence. Thus, we should perform effective adjuvant therapies in combination with surgery, in order to completely prevent these two types of cancer relapse. The present article is designed to introduce the recent reports on the adjuvant chemo-and/or radio-therapies for this cancer. As for loco-regional control, extended pancreatectomy plus chemoradiation seems to be most promising, and preoperative chemoradiation will be more popular in the near future. In order to decrease hepatic metastasis, our "2-channel chemotherapy", a continuous infusion of 5-FU via both hepatic artery and portal vein, is very promising. If postoperative survival is improved by combining these two types of regional therapy, the role of pancreatectomy will be enlarged and more widely understood in the near future.

Inhibition by shi-quan-da-bu-tang (TJ-48) of experimental hepatocarcinogenesis induced by N-nitrosomorpholine in Sprague-Dawley rats.

The effect of Shi-Quan-Da-Bu-Tang (TJ-48) on hepatocarcinogenesis induced by N-nitrosomorpholine (NNM) was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were given drinking water containing NNM for 8 weeks, and also from the start of the experiment, regular chow pellets containing 2.0 or 4.0% TJ-48 until the end of the experiment. Preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions staining for the placental type of glutathione-S-transferase (GST-P) or gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) were examined histochemically. In week 15, quantitative histological analysis showed that prolonged administration of either 2.0 or 4.0% TJ-48 in the diet significantly reduced the size, volume and/or number of GST-P-positive and GGT-positive hepatic lesions. This treatment also caused a significant increase in the proportion of interleukin-2 receptor-positive lymphocytes among the lymphocytes infiltrating the tumours as well as a significant decrease in the labelling index of preneoplastic lesions. These findings indicate that TJ-48 inhibits the growth of hepatic enzyme-altered lesions, and suggests that its effect may be in part due to activation of the immune system.

Inhibition by xiao-chai-hu-tang (TJ-9) of development of hepatic foci induced by N-nitrosomorpholine in Sprague-Dawley rats.

The effect of Xiao-chai-hu-tang (TJ-9) on hepatocarcinogenesis induced by N-nitrosomorpholine (NNM) was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were given normal chow pellets containing 0.5% or 1.0% TJ-9 until the end of the experiment, and drinking water containing NNM for 8 weeks. Pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions staining for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) or the placental type of glutathione-S-transferase (GST-P) were examined histochemically. In Week 15, quantitative histological analysis showed that prolonged treatment with 0.5% TJ-9 significantly reduced the number and volume of GGT-positive and GST-P-positive hepatic lesions. Treatment with 1.0% TJ-9 inhibited the development of GGT-positive and GST-P-positive lesions, but was less effective than 0.5% TJ-9. Administration of 0.5% TJ-9 also caused a significant increase in the proportion of helper T lymphocytes and a significant decrease in the labeling index of pre-neoplastic lesions. These findings indicate that TJ-9 inhibits the development of hepatic foci.

Protective effect by potassium chloride against gastric carcinogenesis induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The effects of oral potassium supplementation on the enhanced induction of gastric carcinogenesis by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and the norepinephrine concentration in their gastric wall were investigated. The SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) as controls were given a solution of the carcinogen for 25 weeks and then 1% KCl solution or tap water to drink. In Week 52, the incidence of gastric cancers and their number per rat and the norepinephrine concentration in the gastric wall were significantly greater in SHR than in WKY. Prolonged oral treatment of SHR with potassium significantly reduced the incidence of gastric cancers and their number per rat, as well as the blood pressure and the norepinephrine concentration in the antral portion of the gastric wall. These findings indicate that prolonged treatment with KCl attenuated the enhancement of gastric carcinogenesis by MNNG in SHR.