Fetal intraperitoneal injection of immunoglobulin diminishes alloimmune hemolysis.

We report a case of severe fetal anemia associated with maternal anti-M antibody that was treated by direct injection of pooled human immunoglobulin into the fetal abdominal cavity. Four treatments at a dosage of 2 g per-kg estimated fetal body weight were performed, and no side effects were observed. A healthy baby girl was delivered transvaginally at 38 weeks, with neither exchange transfusion nor phototherapy required. Follow-up over 12 months found no indications of anemia or developmental delay in the child. This is believed to be the first report of fetal anemia in a blood-type-incompatible pregnancy being treated successfully with only direct immunoglobulin injection into the fetus. The immunoglobulin may have functioned as a neutralizing antibody causing the anemia to improve.

Comparison of the expression of two immediate early gene proteins, FosB and Fos in the rat preoptic area, hypothalamus and brainstem during pregnancy, parturition and lactation.

Medial preoptic area (MPA), supraoptic nucleus (SON), magnocellular (MaPVN) and parvocellular (PaPVN) paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei, and mesencephalic lateral tegmentum (MLT) are involved in maternal behavior, parturition and lactation. This study investigated the FosB and Fos immunoreactivity in these regions of virgin, pregnant, parturient, lactating, and lactating-arrested rats. The patterns of FosB and Fos expression were compared between the sections taken from the same animals. Quantitative immunohistochemistry revealed a significant increase in the numbers of FosB-positive neurons in the MPA, SON, MaPVN, and MLT of parturient and lactating females as compared with pregnant or virgin animals. In lactating rats, the numbers of FosB-positive neurons in the MPA, PaPVN, and MLT were increased, but the numbers in the SON and MaPVN were decreased as compared with parturient females. Many Fos-positive neurons were also seen in parturient and lactating rats, and the patterns of Fos expression in each region were quite similar to those of FosB. Moreover, double-labeling immunohistochemistry revealed that: (1) many FosB-positive nuclei were observed in oxytocin and vasopressin neurons of the SON and PVN in parturient rats; (2) within FosB-positive neurons, 89.5% in the MPA, 86.8% in the MLT of parturient rats, and 92% in the MPA and 90.8% in the MLT of lactating animals were also Fos-positive. Only a small number of FosB and Fos-positive neurons were seen in females that were killed in the early stage of parturition. Removal of the litters immediately after parturition completely eliminated FosB and Fos expression in each region in the dams. Taken together, the present results suggest that FosB expression is co-involved with Fos in the neural activation during parturition and lactation in rats.

Expression cloning and signal transduction pathway of P2U receptor in mammary tumor cells.

Extracellularly applied ATP, UTP and UDP induce a transient increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration of mammary cells via a P2U receptor. The P2U receptor in the mammary tumor cell line MMT060562 was cloned and expressed in the human leukemia cell line K-562. The deduced amino acid sequence of the mammary tumor cell P2U receptor was 98% homologous with that of mouse NG108-15 cells. It was a member of the superfamily of GTP-binding-protein-coupled receptors. ATP and UTP induced the increase in the intracellular concentrations of Ca2+ and inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate in both mammary tumor cells and P2U-receptor-expressed K562 cells. Dose-response curves on the production of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate and Ca2+ by ATP and UTP were consistently similar. Injection of GTP enhanced the ATP-induced outward current and injection of GTP gamma S induced a repetitive outward current. Both pertussis and cholera toxins did not affect ATP-induced calcium increase. It was suggested that the P2U receptor coupled with pertussis- and cholera-toxin-insensitive GTP-binding proteins and activated phosphoinositide turnover.

Cord blood levels of calcium-regulating hormones and osteocalcin in premature infants.

We measured cord blood levels of calcium-regulating hormones and osteocalcin in 34 premature infants of various gestational ages. 1,25(OH)2D levels were low in mid-gestation and increased with advancing gestation. Parathyroid hormone levels were low, and calcitonin levels were high in mid-gestation. Both of them declined with advancing gestation. Osteocalcin levels were high in mid-gestation. They increased from 22 weeks through 27 weeks of gestational age, and decreased thereafter. Circulating osteocalcin is considered as a clinical marker of bone turnover. However, cord blood osteocalcin decreased between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation during which period calcium accumulation by the fetus increases. Therefore, cord blood osteocalcin does not appear to reflect fetal bone formation.

Clinical application of sapphire pins as an internal fixation device for the upper extremity.

Since June 1980, sapphire pins (monocrystalline alumina ceramic pins) have been used in 22 patients as an internal fixation device for hand and elbow problems. In our follow-up studies, good bone healing was observed in all cases except for one delayed union in a fracture of the diaphysis of the proximal phalanx. Radiographs showed no pin migration or osteolytic reaction around the pins. We therefore conclude that our device and its insertion technique can be successfully applied to intraarticular fractures and fractures in the vicinity of the joint.

[Nutritional support in critically ill patients; with special reference to fat emulsion and carnitine].

Energy metabolism of fat emulsion was studied in rats with septic condition. The results indicate that fat emulsion was rapidly eliminated from the blood stream and metabolized readily even in such condition. Based on these findings, we have actively employed fat emulsion clinically as an energy source of septic patients. In septic rats, it was demonstrated that levels of carnitine decreased and that this decrease was based upon a decrease of synthesis. When carnitine was administered together with fat emulsion, the energy metabolism returned to approximately normal level. This reports also describes the absorption and utilization of orally administered fat in septic rats.

Effect of DNA synthesis on induction of preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions in rat liver by a single dose of methylazoxymethanol acetate.

A single intravenous injection of methylazoxymethanol (MAM) acetate in doses of either 20 or 35 mg/kg body weight to male Sprague-Dawley rats induced altered liver cell foci and later, liver neoplasms in a dose related manner. Sequential observations in the rats given 35 mg/kg and thereafter fed an iron-loading diet revealed that the number of iron-excluding foci/cm2 increased with time. Partial hepatectomy (PH) before the high dose of MAM acetate resulted in 100% lethality while hepatectomy before the low dose carcinogen exposure lead to a higher incidence of neoplasms than in rats that received carcinogen alone. PH after either high or low dose carcinogen exposure did not result in a greater occurrence of liver neoplasms.

Effects of cations on dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol/water systems.

X-ray diffraction studies have been made on the effects of cations upon the dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine/water system, which originally consists of a lamellar phase with period of 64.5 A and of excess water. Addition of 1 mM CaCl2 destroys the lamellar structure and makes it swell into the excess water. The lamellar phase, however, reappears when the concentration of CaCl2 increases: a partially disordered lamellar phase with the repeat distance of 150-200 A comes out at the concentration of about 10 mM, the lamellar diffraction lines become sharp and the repeat distance decreases with increasing CaCl2 concentration. A small amount of uranyl acetate destroys the lameellar phase in pure water. MgCl2 induces the lamellar phase of large repeat distance, whereas LiCl, NaCl, KCl, SrCl2 and BaCl2 exhibit practically no effect by themselves. Addition of cholesterol to the phosphatidylcholine bilayers tends to stabilize the lamellar phase. The high-angle reflections indicate that molecular arrangements in phosphatidylcholine bilayers change at CaCl2 concentrations around 0.5 M. The bilayers at high CaCl2 concentration seem to consist of two phases of pure phosphatidylcholine and of equimolar mixture of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol.