Springtime pollinosis and oral allergy syndrome in Sapporo.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this present study was to investigate pollinosis in the spring and oral allergy syndrome (OAS) in Sapporo to utilize it for future treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of the patients referred to our out-patient clinic during April and May in 1999. all those that were suspected to have pollinosis were asked to fill in a questionnaire. A 101 patients (30 males and 71 females) with a mean age of 33 years (range 7-74 years) answered the questionnaire. In all, the patients specific IgE tests were performed. RESULTS: The most common allergen was birch, affecting 54 of 87 patients (62%). In 61% of patients with birch allergy, we observed fruit and vegetable allergy. Among them, apple was the most prevalent allergen (97%), followed by peach (67%), cherry (58%), pear (40%), plum (40%) and melon (33%). The sensitivity of skin prick test with commercial extract to apple was low (11%). CONCLUSION: Patients with birch pollen allergy had OAS much more frequently than ever reported in Japan, although OAS has not widely been known in Japan. Patients with birch pollen allergy should be informed about the possibility of hypersensitivity to certain fruits.

Mesenchymal dysplasia of the placenta.

A severe case of placental mesenchymal dysplasia occurred in association with intrauterine fetal death (IUFD). The gravida-1, para-1 mother was a 26-year-old Japanese. The first pregnancy was unremarkable and a healthy female infant was delivered. The present pregnancy had been uneventful until 34 weeks of gestation when IUFD was detected. The 1516-g (mean +/- SD, 2050 +/- 387 g) stillborn infant had no external abnormalities and the karyotype was 46,XX. The placenta was markedly enlarged (1050 g; mean +/- SD, 452 +/- 202 g), and approximately 80% was occupied by extraordinary enlarged villous structures with a myxoid appearance. Histologically, the dysplastic villi had myxoid stroma and a decreased number of, occasionally obliterated, fetal vessels. There was no abnormal trophoblastic proliferation. Large-sized fetal vessels in the chorionic plate frequently contained organized thrombi. This is the first case of placental mesenchymal dysplasia, which possibly lead to the IUFD.

[A longitudinal cohort study on the relation between physical condition and masticatory ability in the elderly].

The present study was conducted to determine the relation between physical condition and masticatory ability. The subjects were residents over 65 years old living in three different areas in Sagae City. The physical conditions assessed were height, weight, rate of body fat, grip strength, and bone mineral density. Masticatory ability was evaluated by the test jelly method. The results were as follows: 1) There was a difference in physical condition among subjects from the three residential areas. 2) For males, the group who maintained their masticatory ability exhibited better physical condition than those who did not. As for females, however, the physical condition was more strongly affected by age than masticatory ability.

Promoting effects of bile acid load on the occurrence of cholangiocarcinoma induced by diisopropanolnitrosamine in hamsters.

This study was performed to clarify the promoting effects of primary or secondary bile acid load on the occurrence of cholangiocarcinoma, using Syrian golden hamsters. These hamsters received subcutaneously diisopropanolnitrosamine (DIPN) once weekly for 10 weeks, and simultaneously were given a standard pellet diet (control group) containing taurocholic acid (TCA group) or deoxycholic acid (DCA group). The rates of cholangiocarcinoma at 20 weeks were 23% in the control group, 60% in the TCA group and 59% in the DCA group. There were significant differences between the control and the TCA or DCA groups (p < 0.05). The rates of proliferation of bile ductules or hyperplasia of the bile duct epithelium and the bromodeoxyuridine labeling indices of bile duct epithelial cells were high in both groups treated with bile acids, compared with those in the control group. Regarding the composition of bile acids in the intraductal bile, the TCA and DCA groups revealed a decrease in primary bile acids and an increase in DCA. These results suggest that both TCA and DCA given orally promote the occurrence of DIPN-induced cholangiocarcinoma.

[Evaluation of intraoperative intraperitoneal administration on anti-cancer drug for gastric cancer].

This study was undertaken in order to evaluate the effect of intraoperative intraperitoneal (IP) administration of cisplatin (CDDP) and/or mitomycin C (MMC) on patients who underwent an operation for gastric cancer, compared with an untreated group. There were no differences between the effect of CDDP and that of MMC. No differences were found between the survival rate of IP and untreated group in no liver and no peritoneal metastasis cases, nor in non-resection cases. However, the median survival time was longer at 377 days in IP group than at 213 days in the untreated group (p less than 0.1). The free CDDP levels in the serum after 50 mg IP injection remained effective for 15-30 min. On the other hand, the MMC levels in the serum after 20 mg IP proved in effective.

[Clinical effect of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer--comparisons of between tegafur (FT) and UFT].

A randomized controlled study was conducted on a FT 600 mg/day daily oral administration group and a UFT 400 mg/day daily oral administration group as an adjuvant chemotherapy after curative operation for colorectal cancer patients with injection of Mitomycin 30 mg (20 mg during operation and 10 mg on the day following), and the results were examined. FT and UFT were administered orally for one year from the 3rd week after operation. The 5-year survival rate was slightly higher in the UFT administration group. Five-year survival was 82.7% for colon cancer and 82.1% for rectal cancer in the UFT administration group, against 72.6% and 72.0 % in the FT administration group. The same trend was observed when the survival rate was studied by various factors such as the size of tumor, depth of cancer invasion of the wall, histological type, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and the degree of progression. There was no difference between both groups in the patterns and times of recognition of the recurrences and in the appearance rate of side effects. The results suggest that UFT 400 mg/day is equal to or better than FT 600 mg/day in therapeutic effect for colorectal cancer patients, although the UFT dose is only 2/3rd the FT dose.