Reference intervals of red blood cell parameters and platelet count for healthy adults in Japan.

Although it is known that red blood cell (RBC) parameters and platelet count depend on ethnicity and sex, their reference intervals in healthy Asian populations are limited. The aim of this study was to establish reference intervals for RBC parameters and platelet count for healthy adults in Japan. A total of 750 healthy adults (447 women and 303 men; median age 40 years (18-67 years) at seven Japanese centers who participated in regular medical checkups entered this study. Their RBC parameters and platelet count were measured using automated hematocytometers. The reference intervals of the RBC parameters and platelet count according to sex in healthy adults were determined. There was an age-specific decrease in RBC counts and an age-specific increase in mean corpuscular volume in men. This study emphasizes the need to consider sex and age in the clinical use of reference intervals of RBC parameters.

Reference intervals of white blood cell parameters for healthy adults in japan.

INTRODUCTION: While white blood cell (WBC) parameters have been suggested to depend on ethnicity and gender, reference intervals in healthy Asian populations are limited. The present study established reference intervals of WBC parameters for healthy adults in Japan. METHODS: A total of 750 healthy adults (447 women and 303 men; 18-67 years old, median 40 years old) at 7 Japanese centers who participated in regular medical checkups entered this study. The WBC parameters were measured using automated hematocytometers and blood film reviews by a manual microscopic examination. RESULTS: The reference intervals of the WBC parameters according to gender in healthy adults were determined. Age-specific decreases in WBC counts of both gender groups and in neutrophil counts of women were noted. Favorable correlations between the hematocytometer and microscopic methods were found in neutrophils, lymphocytes, and eosinophils but not in monocytes or basophils. CONCLUSION: This study suggests the need to consider gender and age in the clinical use of reference intervals of WBC parameters.

Dynamics of microdroplets over the surface of hot water.

When drinking a cup of coffee under the morning sunshine, you may notice white membranes of steam floating on the surface of the hot water. They stay notably close to the surface and appear to almost stick to it. Although the membranes whiffle because of the air flow of rising steam, peculiarly fast splitting events occasionally occur. They resemble cracking to open slits approximately 1 mm wide in the membranes, and leave curious patterns. We studied this phenomenon using a microscope with a high-speed video camera and found intriguing details: i) the white membranes consist of fairly monodispersed small droplets of the order of 10 µm; ii) they levitate above the water surface by 10 ~ 100 µm; iii) the splitting events are a collective disappearance of the droplets, which propagates as a wave front of the surface wave with a speed of 1 ~ 2 m/s; and iv) these events are triggered by a surface disturbance, which results from the disappearance of a single droplet.

[Usefulness of serum plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 for diagnosis and monitoring of late-onset sinusoidal obstruction syndrome after allogeneic stem cell transplantation].

Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) was originally defined as a clinical syndrome occurring by three weeks after transplantation; however, it occurs even after three or more weeks, and such cases are called late-onset SOS. We report here a case of late-onset SOS. The patient was a 17-year-old male with acute myeloid leukemia in second complete remission. He received a preparative regimen including busulfan followed by allo-peripheral blood stem cell transplantation from an HLA-matched sibling donor. On day 28 after transplantation, he developed hepatomegaly with pain. On day 33 PAI-1 level was increased. Two days later ascites developed, leading to a diagnosis of late-onset SOS. The symptoms improved with conservative therapy and the level of PAI-1 was normalized. When hepatic impairment appears three or more weeks after transplantation, late-onset SOS should be considered. PAI-1 is a useful marker for the diagnosis and follow up of late-onset SOS.

[A case of unresectable colon cancer responding to oral leucovorin+oral tegafur/uracil].

The patient was a 63-year-old man,who first visited our hospital with the chief complaints of left lower quadrant pain and abdominal distension that had developed around November 13, 2004. On close examination, he was diagnosed with sigmoid colon cancer, multiple liver metastasis, and subileus due to a lung metastasis. His operation took place on December 12 of the same year. Intraoperatively, the sigmoid colon was firmly fixed to the retroperitonium, there was a hard node in the pouch of Douglas, and that part of the jejunum was involved. The lesion was judged to be unresectable,and thus loop colostomy, partial jejunectomy and gastrojejunostomy were performed. After the surgery,the patient was treated with 4 courses of therapy with oral Leucovorin (LV, 75 mg) +oral tegafur/uracil (UFT, 400 mg). As a result, the tumor marker levels decreased markedly, the lung metastasis was no longer observed and the liver metastases became smaller. Therefore, a second-look operation was performed on May 30, 2005. This time it was relatively easy to free the sigmoid colon. The node in the pouch of Douglas was no longer observed, and there were only 2 metastatic lesions in the liver (1 each in S 2 and S 6). Sigmoidectomy and partial hepatectomy were performed, and the stoma was closed. The patient made good progress after the operation and was discharged on the 11 th POD. At present he is receiving chemotherapy with UFT+oral LV as an outpatient. As this therapy is relatively easy to perform and imposes only a small burden on patients,we think that it may be effective not only as adjuvant chemotherapy but also as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in some patients.

[Aggressive phase multiple myeloma with post-renal acute renal failure due to multiple extramedullary plasmacytomas].

A 63-year-old woman was diagnosed as having multiple myeloma (MM), IgG-kappa type, stage IIIA, in October 2003. She achieved partial response after receiving three courses of VAD therapy and one course of high dose dexamethasone therapy (HDD); maintenance therapy consisted of melphalan and prednisolone. In November 2004, the patient developed spinal canal stenosis that required surgery. At the end of December 2004, the patient developed renal dysfunction that progressed to anuria. A CT scan showed multiple retroperitoneal masses that impinged on and obstructed both ureters and caused bilateral hydronephroses. Renal function improved after a right percutaneous nephrostomy and chemotherapy consisting of HDD, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and doxorubicin. Nevertheless, the patient died due to MM in February 2005. On autopsy, multiple retroperitoneal and pelvic plasmacytomas with 13q- and t(4;14) (p16;q32) were found. Our patient is a rare case that, in the terminal stage of MM, developed aggressive phase multiple myeloma with extramedullary plasmacytomas that caused acute renal failure due to compression on both ureters.

Prognostic implications of p21 (Waf1/Cip1) immunolocalization in multiple myeloma.

Protein p21 (Waf1/Cip1) plays a critical role in controlling the cell cycle especially as a check point of G1 and is intimately associated with important cellular activities including differentiation, senescence, tumorigenesis, and apoptosis. In the present study, we examined the expression of p21 in multiple myeloma (MM) cells for prognostic evaluation. The immunocytochemical localization of p21 could be categorized into nuclear and cytoplasmic types. The nuclear-type p21 localization was correlated with the severity of MM and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and p53. Patients with the nuclear-type p21 localization survived significantly shorter than those with the cytoplasmic-type localization. Thus, the present study suggests that p21-immunolocalization can be a useful prognostic marker of MM.

Effects of tea constituents on cell cycle progression of human leukemia U937 cells.

Tea and tea constituents are known to induce apoptosis in a variety of cancerous cells, suggesting their beneficial effects as chemopreventive agents. Previous studies have shown that low molecular weight constituent catechins and high molecular weight fractions of tea have the apoptosis-inducing activity, but that their action mechanisms may be different. Since cell cycle arrest is known to be one of the underlying mechanisms of apoptosis, we examined the effects of these tea constituents on cell cycle progression of human leukemia U937 cells. The results showed that the high molecular weight fractions of green tea and black tea caused G2/M arrest associated with up-regulation of p21/Waf1, but that epigallocatechin gallate, a major component of green tea catechins, gave little effects of cell cycle progression and p21/Waf1 expression. Thus, the present results suggest the difference in the apoptosis-induction mechanism between the two types of tea constituents.

Identification of 6-methylsulfinylhexyl isothiocyanate as an apoptosis-inducing component in wasabi.

The ethanol extract from Japanese horseradish wasabi was found to inhibit cell proliferation in human monoblastic leukemia U937 cells by inducing apoptotic cell death. Separation by methods including silica gel chromatography and preparative HPLC gave an active compound, which was identified as 6-methylsulfinylhexyl isothiocyanate (6-HITC). Several lines of evidence indicated that 6-HITC induced apoptosis in U937 cells and human stomach cancer MKN45 cells. Thus, 6-HITC is potentially useful as a natural anti-cancer agent.