[Solitary capillary hemangioma in the lung: report of a case].

We report a case of pulmonary solitary capillary hemangioma of 59-year-old woman who visited our hospital for an abnormal chest shadow. She had no symptoms, but a computed tomography (CT) revealed a small irregular nodule at the periphery of right S9. Early lung cancer was suspected. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) was performed for the difinitive diagnosis and treatment in January, 2008. Macroscopically, the nodule showed ill defined margin and irregular in shape. Partial resection of the lung was performed and the histopathological diagnosis was solitary capillary hemangioma. Postoperative course was uneventful and there is no signs of recurrence.

Distribution, structure, organ-specific expression, and phylogenic analysis of the pathogenesis-related protein-3 chitinase gene family in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) pathogenesis-related (PR)-3 chitinases, like other PR proteins, are each coded by one of the genes of a multigene family in the plant genome. We assembled the database information about rice PR-3 chitinase sequences. A total of 12 PR-3 chitinase loci (Cht1 to Cht12) were found deployed in the rice genome. Some of the loci were occupied by 2 or more alleles. For all the loci expect Cht4, Cht5, Cht6, and Cht11, the amino acid sequence was polymorphic between japonica and indica varieties of rice, but glutamic acid acting as a catalytic residue was completely conserved in all the loci expect Cht7. All the genes except Cht7, which was not tested in this study, were transcripted in some organs (leaf, sheath, root, and meristem) of rice plants. These results suggest that chitinase proteins encoded by the genes at these loci have important biological effects, at least antifungal activities, on rice plants. We also proposed a new classification of rice PR-3 chitinases based on their domain structures. This classification was consistent with the results of phylogenetic analysis of rice chitinases.

Prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in tumor tissue of patients with colorectal cancer.

To establish the prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) concentration in tumor tissue (T-CEA), normal colonic mucosa (N-CEA) and pre-operative serum (S-CEA), we studied 79 patients who underwent resections for colorectal cancer. The patients were separated into groups reflecting laboratory values lower or higher than a diagnostic value (S-CEA) or the median value of the entire population (T-CEA, N-CEA). A high S-CEA predicted for more advanced stage (p = 0.028), whereas no association was noted between stage and CEA concentration for T-CEA and N-CEA groups. The high S-CEA and T-CEA groups had a worse clinical outcome (p=0.0036 and p=0.024, respectively), while survival of high versus low N-CEA groups did not differ. By Cox's regression analysis, high T-CEA concentration was an independent variable for poor outcome (Hazard ratio, 3.15), while S-CEA and N-CEA were not. In conclusion, a high T-CEA concentration was the only independent predictor of poor outcome after resection for colorectal cancer.

[Plasma levels of soluble fibrin in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation].

Soluble fibrin(SF) is formed in the early-activated state of blood coagulation and quantitative measurement of SF shows high potential as a parameter for the diagnosis of suspected disseminated intravascular coagulation(DIC). The aim of the present study is to evaluate the usefulness of a newly developed SF test utilizing SF specific monoclonal antibody(F405). Among hemopoietic and non-hemopoietic tumor patients, 249 patients with suspected DIC were collected. The SF level showed a good correlation with the DIC score and the SF levels in DIC patients were significantly higher than those in s-DIC and pre-DIC patients. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) analysis also showed that the specificity and sensitivity of the SF assay were higher than those of thrombin-antithrombin complex(TAT). In conclusion, these results indicate that the SF assay is a highly precise method for the diagnosis and screening of DIC stages.

Efficient callus induction and plant regeneration from filaments with anther in lily (Lilium longiflorum Thunb.).

Bulb scale propagation makes it difficult to obtain a large number of bulblets from disease-free stocks in a short time. The establishment of improved micropropagation procedures by in vitro culture is therefore desirable. Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum Thunb.) filaments with and without anther were excised and cultured in vitro with different media and culture conditions. In cultures of filaments with anther, callus developed and led to bulb, shoot, and root formation, whereas in cultures of filaments lacking anther, callus development did not occur. Among the various media tested, the B5 medium combined with darkness and the N6 medium combined with darkness or light, both supplemented with 9% sucrose, proved to be superior. A total of 1260 plants were regenerated from callus, acclimatized under a mist, and transferred to the greenhouse with a 100% success rate. No morphological abnormalities were observed among plants regenerated from filament-derived callus and all plants displayed isozyme banding patterns identical to the original cultivar. Chromosome observations revealed that all callus-regenerated plantlets tested were diploid (2n=24). The results suggest that in vitro culture of filaments with anther can be cultured for mass propagation.

A new blood compatible and permselective hollow fiber membrane for hemodialysis.

The authors have prepared a blood compatible and highly permselective hemodialysis membrane composed of polyether segmented nylon. This block copolymer was synthesized by polycondensation of bis-3-aminopropyl-poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTMO) and poly(imino-1,3-bismethyl-cyclohexyl-iminoisophtharoyl) (NyBl) prepolymer obtained by polycondensation of 1,3-bis(aminomethyl)cyclohexane (B) and isophthalic acid (I). The molecular weight (MW) calculated from the number of end-groups was 16,000-21,000. In vitro blood compatibility was evaluated in terms of platelet adhesion onto the surface. PTMO-NyBl surfaces showed excellent platelet adhesion preventing properties. The PTMO-NyBl hollow fiber membrane was obtained by a dry-wet spinning process. The membranes had higher permeability coefficients for macromolecules ranging from MW 10,000 to 20,000 than polysulfone hollow fiber membrane (PS membrane), and had acceptably low albumin permeability for use as a dialysis membrane. The ex vivo blood compatibilities of PTMO-NyBl membrane and PS membrane were investigated by extracorporeal circulation in a pig model. The PTMO-NyBl membrane gave excellent results when assessing hemodialysis leukopenia, oxidative burst, and free platelet count decrease.

Anal metastasis from carcinoma of the lung: report of a case.

We report herein the case of a 75-year-old man who developed anal canal metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Initially, he underwent a right middle and lower lobectomy combined with left atrial wall resection under cardiopulmonary bypass. He presented 3 months later with an anal polyp which had prolapsed and bled, for which he underwent a transanal polypectomy. Histologically, the polyp was classified as squamous cell carcinoma and considered to be a metastasis from the primary lung cancer. He is presently well with no signs of recurrence 9 months after his initial operation. To our knowledge, there has been no other case of anal metastasis from lung cancer ever reported.

[Detection of chromosomal aberration using fluorescence in situ hybridization in DNA diploid colorectal carcinomas].

Numerical aberrations of chromosomes can be detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), using chromosome-specific probes. It is possible to observe this in solid tumors from which it is very difficult to obtain metaphase nuclei. The present study employed surgical specimens from 15 cases of colorectal carcinoma, all of which showed DNA diploidy. In the same samples, we analyzed chromosomal numerical aberration by FISH according to the method of Pinkel et al. Biotinylated DNA probes specific to chromosome #7, #11 and #17, were used. The hybridization spots were observed by fluorescent microscopy. As a result, the numerical aberrations of chromosomes detected by FISH were found in DNA diploid cases by FCM. They were trisomy and monosomy. These results indicate that FISH is useful to detect the chromosomal aberrations of DNA diploid cases.

Comparison of pepsin and trypsin digestion on paraffin-embedded tissue preparation for DNA flow cytometry.

Preparation with enzymes plays an important part in obtaining good results in cellular DNA content measurements from paraffin-embedded tissue using flow cytometry. Therefore, we have compared two groups of DNA histograms obtained with pepsin (Hedley method) and trypsin digestion (Schutte method). Samples of five tumor types were compared: eight lung, seven breast, five thyroid, seven stomach, and six colon cancer cases. All samples were stained with propidium iodide (PI). The incidence of DNA aneuploidy determined by the Schutte method indicated a higher ratio in four tumor types than that determined by the Hedley method. Concerning the coefficient of variation (CV) used to estimate the quality of the DNA histogram, the diploid G1 peak determined by the Schutte method produced a smaller CV in five tumor types than did the Hedley method. This Schutte method had especially good results in lung and thyroid cancer. Furthermore, the amount of debris (background) determined by the Schutte method indicated a decrease in four tumor types compared with the Hedley method. In cell-cycle analysis of ten DNA diploid cases, DNA histograms by the Hedley method showed an increased S-phase fraction due to an overlapping of debris and aggregated cells. These results indicate that preparation by trypsin digestion is a method superior to pepsin digestion when the sample from paraffin-embedded tissue is stained with PI for the purpose of DNA content measurement.

[Studies on tissue concentration of tegafur, 5-fluorouracil, uracil after UFT administration together with the study of microangiography of colorectal cancer].

In order to elucidate the effect of tumor vascularity on a various regimens concentration in tumor tissue, correlation among tegafur, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), uracil concentrations in tissue and the microangiography were examined in 27 patients with colorectal cancer after preoperative administration of UFT (400 mg/day for 7 days). The concentrations of tegafur, 5-FU and uracil in tumor were higher than those in normal tissue (p < 0.01). There was no definite correlation between tissue concentration in each regimen and the extra or intramural vascular changes. A significant high concentration of 5-FU was found in the protuberant cancer and the ulcerative cancer with horizontal growth than that in the ulcerative cancer with vertical growth (p < 0.05). The present study indicates that the vascular changes within a tumor and the vascular pattern of tumor may be a contributing factor affecting the tissue concentration in the regimens.