[A case report of radiation-induced cancer of the buccal mucosa, effectively treated with CF therapy].

We report favorable effect of combination chemotherapy with CDDP and 5-FU for a case of radiation-induced cancer of the left buccal mucosal membrane. A 71-year-old man underwent external-beam radiotherapy for a squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. He developed left buccal mucosal cancer 13 years after the start of this radiotherapy. One course of the therapeutic regimen consisted of CDDP 70 mg/m2/day drip infusion for 2 hours (day 1) and 5-FU 700 mg/m2/day drip infusion for 120 hours (days 1-5). The patient underwent 4 courses. A partial response was achieved after 1 course, after which additional treatment with the same regimen was made with favorable effect. Four years after the treatment, 2 courses of the same chemotherapy were performed because of a recurrence of radiation-induced cancer, with a complete response. No serious side effects appeared. A histopathological examination of the lesion showed no cancer tissue. The patient was alive and cancer free 4 years after the treatment, and has been followed.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone and its receptor in the cerebellum of inferior olive destroyed rat brain.

To study the pathophysiology of olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA), we destroyed inferior olive nuclei of male Wistar rats using 3-acetyl pyridine (3-AP) + harmaline + niacinamide. These rats showed a sluggish and ataxic gait. To elucidate the relationship between thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) in the Purkinje cell of cerebellum and the inferior olive nucleus, we investigated the concentrations of TRH in the cerebellar cortex, nuclei, and medulla oblongata including the inferior olive nuclei using radioimmunoassay method as well as TRH receptor in the Purkinje cells of cerebellum using immunohistochemical method. All statistical comparisons were done using non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U-test). We found that two weeks after the treatment, TRH concentrations in the cerebellar cortex as well as nuclei were significantly lower than in the controls but no significant difference in the medulla oblongata was observed between 3-AP treated rats and controls. Moreover, four weeks after the treatment, TRH-receptor positive Purkinje cell counts were significantly fewer than in the controls. These results suggest that TRH in the Purkinje cell of cerebellum may play a role in the ataxic gait observed in the rats whose inferior olive were destroyed.

[A case report of tongue cancer presenting with SSD type brain embolism induced by chemotherapy with CBDCA and 5-FU].

We report a case of tongue cancer presenting with SSD type brain embolism induced by chemotherapy with CBDCA and 5-FU (CF Therapy) A 35-year-old woman underwent CF therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Immediately after CF therapy, aphasia and serious exercise paralysis appeared. However, symptoms disappeared 2 days later and no abnormality was found by brain CT. We report that SSD type brain embolism is one of the noteworthy side effects of CF therapy.

Increased microvascular permeability and lesion formation during gastric hypermotility caused by indomethacin and 2-deoxy-D-glucose in the rat.

The relationship between lesion formation, gastric motility, and vascular permeability was examined in rats using indomethacin and 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG). Both indomethacin (25 mg/kg s.c.) and 2DG (100 mg/kg/h i.v.) produced gastric hypermotility and induced lesions, mostly confined to the rugal crests of the mucosal folds; the onset of hypermotility preceded appearance of the lesions in both cases. The mucosal microvascular permeability as determined by the amount of extravasated dye (Evans blue) was increased in response to these two agents, and the permeability responses also preceded appearance of the lesions. Both the increased vascular permeability and the severity of lesions were significantly reduced when the hypermotility was inhibited by pretreatment with atropine (3 mg/kg s.c.). The severity of the lesions were also markedly reduced or worsened, respectively, by hydrocortisone (10 mg/kg s.c.) or N-ethylmaleimide (10 mg/kg s.c.) at the doses that significantly decreased or enhanced the vascular permeability responses caused by indomethacin and 2DG. These results suggest that the enhanced gastric motility as induced by indomethacin and 2DG may cause microcirculatory disturbances in the specific sites of the mucosa (mucosal folds), probably by abnormal compression of the gastric wall, leading to the increased microvascular permeability and cellular damage.

Repair of mucosal damage induced by ethanol in the rat stomach. Effects of concentration, exposure period and prostaglandins.

We investigated the relationship between the severity of acute injury and the rapidity of mucosal repair in stomachs of anesthetized rats, and examined the influence of prostaglandins (PGs) on the process of restoration. Different degrees of mucosal damage were produced using ethanol and by varying the concentration (5-100%) and the exposure period (1-60 min). Exposure of the stomach for 10 min to ethanol induced hemorrhagic lesions and a reduction in the transmucosal potential difference (PD); its severity and its magnitude were increased in a concentration-related manner. After removal of ethanol, the reduced PD recovered quickly in the case of 5-25% ethanol, but it normalized slowly or did not show any recovery in the case of 50 or 100% ethanol, respectively. Histologically, ethanol at 5-25% produced various degrees of damage in the superficial epithelial cells, while the damage was deeper into the mucosa beyond the basal lamina after exposure to ethanol at 50% or greater. Similar phenomena were observed after exposure to 50% ethanol for various periods; the rapidity of PD recovery and mucosal restoration was faster when the exposure period was less than 2 min, and these parameters became slower as it was increased. Moreover, the PD recovery was significantly expedited or delayed, respectively, by 16,16-dimethyl PGE2 (30 micrograms/kg) or indomethacin (5 mg/kg), and the former counteracted the inhibitory effect of indomethacin. These results suggest that the process of mucosal regeneration may largely depend on the severity of damage initially formed, and probably involves factors sensitive to endogenous PGs.