[Toxemie of pregnancy and magnesium].

As the understanding for the mechanism of absorption and metabolism has not been clarified adequately, a lot of works about these issues are still carrying on. Changes in maternal blood and intracellular magnesium concentration during the early stage of pregnancy suggest magnesium may play important roles around the period of implantation. Alternation in absorption of the mineral from colon, in levels of maternal blood and those of intracellular magnesium, or in urinary excretion of magnesium during pregnancy suggest that contents of magnesium in the whole maternal body tend to be decreased with the course of pregnancy. On the other hand, in preeclamptic women lack of magnesium is existed showing a pathological level compared to normal pregnant women. The magnesium deficiency is speculated to have a relation with vascular hypertonus or eclamptic seizures. Magnesium sulfate is frequently used for first choice drug, as it is effective to improve the hypertension of preeclampsia, to prevent or to cure the seizures of eclampsia. The administration of magnesium sulfate to preeclamtic women is reasonable to improve magnesium deficiency, which may be one of pathophysiological aspects of preeclampsia.

Peripheral blood concentrations of adiponectin, an adipocyte-specific plasma protein, in normal pregnancy and preeclampsia.

Insulin resistance increases during the normal course of pregnancy, and is considered an important cause of complications including gestational diabetes mellitus, pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia (PE). Adiponectin, an adipocyte-specific plasma protein, is thought to enhance insulin sensitivity; another adipocytokine, leptin, also is thought to promote insulin sensitivity. We determined peripheral blood concentrations of adiponectin and leptin in 40 healthy nonpregnant women with a body mass index (BMI)<25, 40 healthy pregnant women with prepregnancy BMI<25, and 15 PE patients with prepregnancy BMI<25. Serum adiponectin concentrations were lower in the healthy pregnant group than in the nonpregnant group (9.40+/-4.43 versus 13.15+/-6.69 microg/mL, p<0.01), but difference disappeared after correction for haematocrit. Serum leptin concentrations were high in the normal pregnant group after correction for haematocrit (10.08+/-6.58 versus 6.24+/-3.61 ng/mL, p<0.05). Corrected after haematocrit, serum adiponectin in PE patients was higher than healthy pregnant women at 28 to 40 gestational weeks (17.46+/-11.81 versus 9.33+/-4.47 microg/mL, p<0.01). Leptin in PE was higher than in the normal pregnant group (21.15+/-19.89 versus 11.77+/-6.25 ng/mL, p<0.05), also after correction for haematocrit. These results suggested a metabolic shift in normal pregnant women and PE patients mediated through adipocytokines.

Age-dependent decreases of sulfur and magnesium in human round ligaments of the uterus and relationships among elements.

To elucidate the compositional change of ligaments with aging, the authors investigated both age-related changes of elements and relationships among elements in the round ligaments of the uterus (round ligaments) by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The bilateral round ligaments were resected from 20 cadavers and also from the uteri removed surgically from 11 patients bearing uterine myoma or cancer. Thirty-one subjects ranged in age from 34 to 92 yr. It was found that both S and Mg decreased gradually in the round ligaments with aging, but Ca, P, Zn, Fe, and Al did not change significantly with aging. Regarding the relationships among elements, very significant direct correlations were found among the contents of Ca, P, S, and Mg in the round ligaments, whereas significant inverse correlations were found between the contents of Zn and elements, such as Ca, P, S, and Mg. It should be noted that there was an extremely significant direct correlation between Ca and P contents in the round ligaments.

High accumulation of calcium in human uterine artery with aging.

To elucidate compositional changes of the rami of the internal iliac artery with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of the calcium content in the uterine, internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. After an ordinary dissection was finished, the uterine, internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries were resected from 10 female subjects, and the internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries were resected from 10 male subjects. The female subjects ranged in age from 52 to 96 yr, and the male subjects ranged in age from 63 to 88 yr. The calcium content in the uterine artery began to increase in the seventies and increased markedly in the nineties. In the internal pudendal artery, the calcium content hardly increased up to the eighties and increased significantly in the nineties. In contrast, the calcium content did not change in both the umbilical and obturator arteries with advancing age. It was found that the average content of calcium was the highest in the uterine artery and decreased in the order internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries. The average content of calcium in the uterine arteries corresponded to 46-fold the amount of the women's obturator arteries, in which it was the lowest. In the cases of men, the average content of calcium was higher in the order of the internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries. Regarding the average content of calcium, the order internal pudendal, umbilical, and obturator arteries of the men was consistent with that of the women.

Maternal listeriosis in pregnancy associated with measles virus infection.

A case of maternal listeriosis associated with measles infection is described. Maternal listeriosis without fetal or neonatal involvement is relatively rare. This case was diagnosed early and treated appropriately, and the baby showed no symptoms or signs of feto-maternal infection.

Study on the Mechanism of the Bone Formation Process by 17beta-estradiol during Rat Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Culture.

The aim of this study is to clarify the mechanism of bone formation by using 17beta-estradiol (E2) during rat bone marrow stromal cell culture. Stromal cells were separated from female rat femora (seven weeks old), and were cultured in an Eagle Minimal Essential Medium (MEM) containing 15% fetal calf serum (FCS). After confluence, the cells were subcultured in a MEM containing 15% FCS (sex steroids removed by charcoal treatment) with dexamethasone, Na betaglycerophosphate and ascorbic acid phosphate for 18 days. They were then cultured in medium containing E2 or insulin-like growth factor-Iota (IGF-Iota) alone or with anti-IGF-Iota antibody. On the 14th day, the formation of white colored nodules showing positive ALP activity in ALP staining and showing calcium deposition in alizarin red S staining was observed in each culture system, indicating the beginning of calcification. The addition of E2 (10-7M or 10-8M), or IGF-Iota (10 and 100 ng/ml) enhanced ALP activity and calcium content significantly, but 17alpha-estradiol did not. Anti-IGF-Iota antibody significantly inhibited enhancing effects of E2 and IGF-Iota on ALP activity and calcium deposition. Incubating with E2 alone (10-8M), the medium IGF-Iota concentration and IGF-I mRNA expression in the cells were significantly increased on days 10~14, but the expression of IGF-Iota receptor mRNA had not changed. These results suggest that E2 participates in bone formation by promoting IGF-Iota production in the bone marrow stromal cells just before calcification starts.

Mirimostim (macrophage colony-stimulating factor; M-CSF) improves chemotherapy-induced impaired natural killer cell activity, Th1/Th2 balance, and granulocyte function.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of mirimostim (macrophage colony-stimulating factor; M-CSF) on immunological functions after chemotherapy. The percentage of natural killer (NK) cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), NK cell activity, T-helper cell 1/T-helper cell 2 (Th1/Th2) ratio, and superoxide anion production by granulocytes (granulocyte function) were measured as immunological parameters before and after chemotherapy in 44 patients with primary ovarian cancer who received at least three consecutive courses of postoperative chemotherapy. Patients were observed during the first course of chemotherapy, and 39 patients who presented grade III or IV neutropenia were entered into this study and randomly allocated to an M-CSF-administered group (group 1; 19 patients) and a non-M-CSF-administered group (group 2; 20 patients) for the second course. For the third course, a crossover trial was conducted. In the observation period, chemotherapy significantly impaired the immunological parameters. In particular, those parameters were significantly decreased at day 14 compared to the level before chemotherapy. The values of the parameters of group 1 were significantly higher than those of group 2. In the course of chemotherapy during which M-CSF was administered, 19 of the 39 patients presented grade IV neutropenia, and received granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) between days 7 and 14. We compared the changes of those immunological parameters in the M-CSF alone group and the M-CSF + G-CSF group, and found that the concomitant use of G-CSF did not further improve the parameters. These results indicate that chemotherapy markedly impaired the immunological functions, and that the administration of M-CSF significantly improved the impaired immunological functions.

A girl with bilateral ovarian tumours: Frasier syndrome.

UNLABELLED: Frasier syndrome (FS) is characterised by male pseudohermaphroditism, slowly progressing nephropathy and frequent development of gonadoblastoma. The Wilms' tumour suppressor gene (WT1 gene) plays an important role in the development of the urogenital system and the gonads. A splice mutation in intron 9 of the WT1 gene was recently described in patients with FS. We analysed the WT1 gene of a Japanese patient with male pseudohermaphroditism, steroid resistant-nephr-opathy and gonadoblastoma by the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing and detected a heterozygous point mutation in intron 9. CONCLUSION: analysis of the Wilms' tumour suppressor gene in a patient with Frasier syndrome by the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing detected a + 5G -->A transition at a position of the second alternative splice region of exon 9, important for predicting the risk of the occurrence of Wilms' tumour.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor restored chemotherapy-induced granulocyte dysfunctions: role of IL-8 production by monocytes.

We evaluated the influence of M-CSF treatment on granulocyte functions in patients with ovarian cancer. Eighteen patients with ovarian cancer received two consecutive courses of chemotherapy (16 cases, CAP therapy and two cases, CP therapy) at 4-week intervals. M-CSF (8 million U/day) was infused for 7 days starting from the next day after chemotherapy. Superoxide anion production by isolated peripheral blood granulocytes, their phagocytosis, and expression of cell adhesion molecules such as CD11a, CD11b, and CD18 on granulocytes were measured by flow cytometry. Cytokine (IL-8, G-CSF, and GM-CSF) levels in peripheral blood monocyte (PBM) culture supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 5 out of 18 cases. The levels of CD11a, CD11b and CD18 expression on peripheral blood granulocytes and superoxide anion production by granulocytes were significantly suppressed by chemotherapy without CSF support. The levels of CD11a and CD18 expression on granulocytes were significantly enhanced by administration of M-CSF. When M-CSF was added to cultured PBM, the level of IL-8 in the supernatant increased with the concentration of M-CSF. When IL-8 was added to cultured granulocytes, the levels of CD18 expression on granulocytes and superoxide anion production by granulocytes were significantly increased. These observations suggest that M-CSF enhances the production of IL-8 from monocytes in vivo, thereby improving chemotherapy-induced granulocyte dysfunction.