Hepatocholangioadenoma in a pig.

A Landrace sow had several neoplastic nodules in the liver. Histopathologically, the individual nodules consisted of two types of closely associated neoplastic cells; one was of hepatocellular type, the other of cholangiocellular type. Based on this finding, the term "hepatocholangioadenoma" is considered to be appropriate for this tumour. Previously reported in man, the dog and the duck, a mixed type of primary hepatic neoplasm has now been found in the pig.

Preparation of virus-free pyridoxylated hemoglobin from the blood of HBV or HTLV-I healthy carriers.

One of our major aims was to find ways to utilize outdated or virus-contaminated blood. Pyridoxylated hemoglobin (PLP-Hb), a possible substitute for red cells as an artificial oxygen carrier was prepared from outdated human blood. By conjugation with polyethylene glycol (PEG), the biological half life was increased about 3 folds at 82% blood replacement in rats without significant side effects in vivo or in vitro. We next tried to prepare virus-free PEG-PLP-Hb from HBV or HTLV-I positive blood. A considerable amount of HBV (Dane particles) could be removed from HBV-positive red cells by washing and during the preparation of PEG-PLP-Hb. When the hemoglobin preparations containing Dane particles were filtered through a porous cellulose filter, BMM-30 (30 nm pore size, Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan), HBV-DNA in the filtered fractions became less than 0.33% of the initial amount. More than 96% of blood leukocytes could be removed with a leukocyte removal filter, Sepacell R-500 (Asahi Medical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). The leukocytes collected from filtrated fractions of HTLV-I positive blood did not survive beyond 3 days. Since transmission of HTLV-I occurs by cell to cell contact and is rare in cell-Free condition, it is unlikely that the PLP-Hb prepared from HTLV-I positive blood which is deprived of leukocytes transmits HTLV-I infection.