Clinicopathological features of myeloid/natural killer (NK) cell precursor acute leukemia.

Four patients (three males and one female) were diagnosed as myeloid/natural killer (NK) cell precursor acute leukemia in our department. Two patients showed the extramedullary involvement at initial presentation. Leukemic cells expressed CD7, CD33, CD45 and CD56 in all patients. Additionally, CD13, CD34, HLA-DR, cytoplasmic CD3 and myeloperoxidase were expressed in some patients. Trisomy 10 was found in two patients, which has not been reported in this disease. Therefore, myeloid/NK cell precursor acute leukemia might be rather heterogeneous especially in chromosomal abnormality though it seemed to constitute the distinct clinical entity among acute myeloid leukemia of M0 subtype.

Resting 123I-BMIPP scintigraphy for detection of organic coronary stenosis and therapeutic outcome in patients with chest pain.

PURPOSE: Resting 123I-BMIPP scintigraphy can detect coronary artery disease based on persistent abnormality of myocardial fatty acid metabolism after transient ischemia. The present study aimed to determine the value of resting 123I-BMIPP scintigraphy in diagnosing coronary artery disease and predicting the therapeutic outcome in patients with chest pain symptom. METHOD: Five hospitals participated in this study, and scintigraphic and angiographic studies were performed in 104 patients without myocardial infarction. Twenty of them had non-coronary artery disease (chest pain syndrome), 26 had stable effort angina, 35 had unstable angina with organic coronary lesions, and 23 had vasospastic angina without significant organic stenosis. RESULTS: Overall sensitivity for diagnosing angina pectoris (stable, unstable and vasospastic) was 45%, and overall specificity for excluding non-coronary artery disease was 80%. The incidence of positive 123I-BMIPP was 54% among patients with organic coronary stenosis (50% in stable angina and 61% in unstable angina with organic stenosis), but it was low (22%) in vasospastic angina without organic stenosis. Patients with advanced coronary stenosis and multi-vessel disease were found to have a higher incidence of positive 123I-BMIPP. A positive 123I-BMIPP result was correlated with a higher rate of subsequent intervention therapy (catheter intervention or CABG) than a negative result (48% versus 27%, p = 0.03 at one month; and 63% versus 35%, p = 0.008 at one year). CONCLUSION: Resting 123I-BMIPP scintigraphy was valuable in detecting advanced coronary lesions in angina patients associated with a high incidence of subsequent intervention therapy.

Expression of T-cell-associated antigens in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

We performed the immunophenotyping of 101 patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) using two-colour flow cytometry (FCM) and found that lymphoma cells coexpressed at least one kind of T-cell-associated antigen (T-Ag; CD2, CD5, CD7) in 25 patients (24. 8%). Among these three T-Ags, CD5 was the most frequently expressed, in 21 patients (20.8%), followed by CD7, expressed in five patients (5.0%), and CD2, which was expressed in two patients (2.0%). Two kinds of T-Ag were simultaneusly expressed in three patients (CD2/CD5, CD2/CD7, and CD5/CD7, each expressed in one patient). Concerning the expression pattern of T-Ag, there were no significant differences between lymph nodes and extranodal organs in the three patients with T-Ag-positive B-NHL (T-Ag(+) B-NHL) who were analysed. When comparing the clinical features between T-Ag(+) B-NHL and T-Ag-negative B-NHL (T-Ag(-) B-NHL), extranodal involvement and higher International Prognostic Index (H and H.I.) were significantly frequent in the former subgroup (P = 0.0119 and P = 0. 0302 respectively).

Dimethylarsenics reveal DNA damage induced by superoxide anion radicals.

We previously reported that DNA single-strand breaks (ssb) induced by exposure to dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) were enhanced by the presence of paraquat (PQ), a superoxide anion radical 0 -(2)-producing agent, in cultured human alveolar type II (L-132) cells in vitro. In the present study, we examined the effect of sequential exposure of the cells to PQ and then DMAA under conditions causing no ssb by each alone, and observed a remarkable occurrence of ssb. The result suggests that 0 -(2) caused DNA damage, which became detectable as ssb by the treatment using DMAA. The DNA damage induced by the exposure to PQ alone was different from that by DMAA; PQ-induced damage was fully repaired after 24 h, while DMAA-induced damage was repaired only partially, and aphidicolin, an inhibitor of repair-serving DNA polymerases alpha, delta and/or epsilon, inhibited only the latter repair but not the former. These findings indicate that the DMAA treatment may be an effective tool to reveal DNA damage induced by 0 -(2), which to date has not been sufficiently clarified.

DNA-strand breaks induced by dimethylarsinic acid, a metabolite of inorganic arsenics, are strongly enhanced by superoxide anion radicals.

We previously reported that dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA), a major metabolite of inorganic arsenics, induced DNA single-strand breaks (ssb) both in vivo and in cultured alveolar type II (L-132) cells in vitro, possibly via the production of dimethylarsenic peroxyl radicals. Here, the interaction of superoxide anion radicals (O2-) in the induction of ssb in L-132 cells was investigated using paraquat, an O2(-)-producing agent. A significant enhancement of ssb formation was observed in the DMAA-exposed cells when coexposed to paraquat. This enhancement occurred even when post-exposed to DMAA after washing, suggesting that the DMAA exposure caused some modification of DNA such as DNA-adducts, which was recognized by active oxygens to form ssb. An experiment with UV-irradiation, which was likely to induce ssb at the modified region, supported the possibility of DNA modification by DMAA exposure. An ESR study indicated that O2- produced by paraquat in DMAA-exposed cells was more consumed than in non-exposed cells, assumingly through the reaction with the dimethylarsenic-modified region of DNA. The species of active oxygens were estimated by using diethyldithiocarbamate, aminotriazole, diethylmaleate, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), gamma-irradiation and ethanol. O2- but neither H2O2 nor hydroxyl radicals was very likely to contribute to the ssb-enhancing action of paraquat.

Vascular reconstruction of carotid artery invaded by extensive parotid gland carcinoma.

A 63-year-old male with the left parotid gland carcinoma was operated with the reconstruction of the left carotid artery after the left radical neck dissection. The greater saphenous vein was used for the vein graft between the left common carotid artery and the medial cerebral artery. Postoperatively, a temporary loss of consciousness and a half body paresis of the contralateral side occurred, but they were recovered completely in 12 hours. Postoperative angiography showed a good blood flow in the reconstructed vessel.

[Open laparoscopy, a report of 12 cases in gynecology--with special reference to the diagnosis and treatment of infertility].

Open laparoscopies were performed on patients with eleven infertilities and one ectopic pregnancy in our gynecology clinic. Eight cases of endometriosis were revealed in eleven severe infertile patients. There were three cases of different findings between preoperative hysterosalpingograms and chromotubations under laparoscopies. One case of ectopic pregnancy was cured by salpingectomy after diagnostic laparoscopy. All 12 patients had N2O gas pneumoperitoneum under endo-tracheal intubated anesthesia. One case with both halothane and N2O anesthesia became temporarily hypothermic during open laparoscopy. Indications of gynecologic laparoscopy, characteristics of open laparoscopy and its comparison with closed laparoscopy are discussed.

[Methodological study for human in-vitro fertilization related to maturity of gametes].

The correlations with maturity of gametes and fertilizability was studied. Specimens of semen were treated by several methods for induction of capacitation and acrosome reaction (AR). Follicular oocytes were recovered with endoscopic aspiration procedures, and divided to two groups: 1, maturing in vivo (preovulatory) and 2, immature. Immature oocytes were divided further into two subgroups: 1, germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and 2, first polar body formation (FPB), after maturation culture. The sperms treated with the centrifuge-trypsinization-layering method showed a higher incidence of in-vitro fertilization (69.2%) and cleavage (51.3%) of human preovulatory eggs compared with other capacitation inducing methods. It was found that human spermatozoa that have undergone the acrosome reaction prior to zona attachment are capable of fertilizing eggs under the in vitro conditions. On the estimation of fertilizability with reference to egg maturity, 52.5% (21/40) of IMIV-GVBD and 64.7% (22/34) of IMIV-FPB eggs were fertilized. However, only 12.5% (5/40) of IMIV-GVBD and 11.8% (4/34) of IMIV-FPB eggs cleaved. These results showed that IMIV eggs had fair fertilizability, but no developmental capacity after the first cleavage. This may due to prematurity of the cytoplasm in IMIV eggs.

[Deoxyribonucleic acid and protein synthesis in delayed mouse blastocysts in vitro].

Developmental ability, DNA and protein synthesis were examined in mouse blastocysts which were delayed by proteinase inhibitors (nitrophenol-p-guanidino benzoate (NPGB) & soybean trypsin inhibitor. Cell division is depressed in the culture which contains proteinase inhibitors: Delayed blastocysts showed no increase in number after 5 days of culture. Mitotic figures were absent 120 hours after culture. On the other hand, most of the blastocysts showed a substantial increase in number in the first few days following the onset of delay. The DNA synthesis of nuclei in delayed blastocysts was measured by autoradiography incorporating [3H]-TdR. Although the incorporation rate was 54 +/- 8 cells/embryo (83 +/- 7%) on the first day of culture, it was decreased to 1/3 (36 +/- 5, 24 +/- 1%) on the 10th day of culture. Protein synthesis was measured with the incorporation rate of [35S]-methionine. The incorporation rate of delayed blastocysts declined sharply on the 5th day of culture (1.6 +/- 0.4 pmol/embryo/hr.) in contrast to that of normal implanted blastocysts (2.5 +/- 0.3 pmol/embryo/hr.). Qualitative changes in synthesized protein were estimated by SDS-PAGE. About 110 of the autoradiographic bands on 1-D gel were observed in the 4th day blastocysts, and actin is the major protein synthesized, located between 50,000 and 55,000 daltons. No differences in these bands were seen between normal and delayed blastocysts. However, two-dimensional gel showed that the qualitative patterns of protein synthesis of delayed embryos are significantly different from those of normal implanted blastocysts. In delayed blastocysts, trophoblast-specific spots varied versatile. Above all, protein synthesis of trophoblast in delay is selectively suppressed by proteinase inhibitors, but not ICM. Therefore, delayed blastocysts are not always metabolically dormant.

[Pharmacokinetics of FT-207 rectum suppository in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. (II) Pharmacokinetics in continuous administration at a daily dose of 1 gram].

FT-207 rectum suppository at a daily dose of 1 g was repeatedly administered to patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Total doses ranged from 7 to 41 g. The following pharmacokinetic results were obtained in comparison with single administration. The blood level of FT-207 showed its peak of 35 to 37 mcg/ml at 4 hours after administration, of which half-time was 11 to 12 hours. The blood level of 5-FU showed its peak of 0.038 to 0.041 mcg/ml at 2 to 4 hours after administration, of which half time was more than 24 hours. Inter-individual differences were less than those of single administration. The level of FT-207 in tumor tissue was 14.2 mcg/g which was 15 times higher than that single administration. The level in healthy uterine cervix was 18.1 mcg/g which was 12 times higher that of single administration. The level of 5-FU in tumor tissue was 0.359 mcg/g which was 5 times than that of single administration. The level in normal tissue was 0.15 mcg/g which was 3 times higher than that of single administration. The level of 5-FU in tumor tissue was 7.8 to 8.4 times higher than that in blood. There was no difference in concentrations of both FT-207 and 5-FU between metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes.