Microcystin-LR (MCLR) was injected into mice intratracheally, absorption from the lungs was easy and it was confirmed that both the cause of death and lethality dose level were the same as by intraperitoneal injection treatment. An immunostaining method revealed that there was a time lag of about 60 min before accumulation of MCLR, and that it caused bleeding in the liver. Clearance from internal organs took about 2 weeks; during the initial stage (the first 2 days), the small intestine, kidney, cecum and large intestine were already involved. However, even after 2 weeks, small amounts of MCLR were still present in epithelial cells in the gastrointestinal mucosa.

Absorption↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin, aclacinomycin A, and mitomycin C for cervical adenocarcinoma--a preliminary study.

Between 1989 and 2002, 28 patients with locally advanced cervical adenocarcinoma (bulky IB-IIIB) were recruited for a pilot study aimed at evaluation of the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin, aclacinomycin-A, and mitomycin-C (PAM), followed by radical surgery. This regimen was administrated intra-arterially or intravenously. In addition to patients treated with PAM, we retrospectively analyzed the prognoses of 26 patients in stage I and II, who had been treated between 1975 and 1981 with radical surgery with/without radiation therapy. Twenty-eight patients received PAM therapy as neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and 75.0% of the 16 intra-arterially infused patients showed a response, as did 66.7% of the 12 intravenously infused patients. There was a significant difference in the 5-year prognosis of stage II (PAM group, 72.9%; without-PAM group, 36.4%). The results suggest that, as the free space in the parametrium is widened by neoadjuvant chemotherapy with PAM, it is possible that the tumor could be completely resected by radical hysterectomy. Thus, neoadjuvant chemotherapy with PAM is expected to improve the survival rate of patients with advanced cervical adenocarcinoma by the preliminary study. However, the survival rates of stage II with lymph node metastasis in the without-PAM group seem low, and we must also consider that the various technologies to evaluate and treat the cervical adenocarcinomas, e.g. computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and surgical equipments, had improved during 1989-2002 than was the scenario during 1975-1981, and these improvements contributed to better prognosis. A prospective-randomized study is needed to assess the value of this approach compared with standard management.

Aclarubicin↗

PubMedDate not supplied

HMB-45 staining for cytology of primary melanoma of the vagina. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Malignant melanoma in the vagina is very rare, but its diagnosis is usually easy if a melanin pigment is present. With cytodiagnosis, however, it is difficult to differentiate amelanotic melanoma or scantily pigmented melanoma from other conditions. In the present case, monoclonal antibody HMB-45, the efficacy of which has been established in histologic studies, was used in the cytodiagnosis of amelanotic melanoma in the vagina. CASE: A woman, aged 78 years, presented with a brownish, nodular tumor, diameter 3 cm, in the vagina. Scraping smears with Papanicolaou staining showed nonepithelial malignant cells without granules suggesting melanin. Smears stained with HMB-45 showed positive immunoreactivity. The diagnosis underwent histologic confirmation of amelanotic melanoma on the initial biopsy. CONCLUSION: Cytodiagnosis was made with HMB-45, which proved very effective in the differential cytodiagnosis of amelanotic melanoma and scantily pigmented melanoma, particularly because it obviated the need for tissue invasion.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Electron microscopic examination of cytologic samples.

OBJECTIVE: To review the results of observations of cytologic samples performed in our laboratory by light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) performed in succession (LM-SEM-TEM examination) using the same cytologic sample and to assess the diagnostic value of this method of successive examination. STUDY DESIGN: Using a previously reported method of LM-SEM-TEM sample preparation and observation, we analyzed 201 cytologic specimens over a seven-year period (1986-1993) and investigated whether the histologic origin and malignancy can be estimated from SEM and TEM findings on the cells. RESULTS: Observations of many cytologic samples over a seven-year period (by LM, SEM and TEM) showed that several basic interpretations of cellular ultrastructure are possible. In cases where cell identification was difficult by LM, electron microscopic findings were sometimes useful for determining the biologic characteristics of cells and for estimating their tissue origin. Electron microscopic findings also provided important information for cytodiagnosis. CONCLUSION: SEM and/or TEM findings are useful for determining the morphologic (including biologic) characteristics of cells in cases where they cannot be determined by LM. With the accumulation of data on electron microscopic examination of cytologic samples, it is expected that in the future, electron microscopy will continue to provide new information that can be used to improve the accuracy of cytodiagnosis by LM.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A study on the pathogenesis of recurrent parotitis in childhood.

Roentgenologic, histopathologic, electron microscopic, virologic and immunologic studies were performed to investigate the etiologic features of recurrent parotitis in children. When examined sialographically and histopathologically, it was considered that pathologic changes in the parotid gland had developed as latent chronic inflammation with mild glandular destruction long before the disease became manifest clinically with acute exacerbation. Proliferation of the duct epithelium in the regenerative process and increase of intraductal pressure due to obstruction of the salivary outflow were assumed to be the causative factors of dilative changes of the peripheral ductal system. Investigation of complement fixation antibody, hemoagglutination inhibition antibody and neutralization antibody responses to mumps virus showed that onset of the disease was unrelated to mumps infection in the majority of cases. Increase of complement fixation antibody titer to various viruses was observed in many cases during acute exacerbation, and were considered to have brought about secondary ascending bacterial infection of the parotid gland by lowering of the systemic resistance. Comparison of serums IgA, IgG, IgM and salivary IgA in these patients with those of control children did not reveal participation of immunodeficiency in the development of this disease. But judging from the results of the long-term clinical follow-up study it was difficult to disregard the possibility that physiological immaturity of the immune response in young children may play some role in onset and recurrent exacerbation of the disease.

Antibodies, Viral↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Origin of an 84-kDa protein with ABH blood-typing antigen activity in human seminal plasma.

In order to investigate the origin of an 84-kDa protein with ABH blood-typing antigen activity (p 84) and its concentration in human seminal plasma, a monoclonal antibody (mAb p 84) was produced. The protein was recognized in breast milk as well as in seminal plasma by an indirect, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using this mAb. mAb p 84 identified 84-kDa and 83-kDa forms of the protein in seminal plasma and breast milk, respectively, on immunoblotting. The mean concentration of p 84 in seminal plasma was 949 microg/ml (n = 54 subjects). There was no significant difference in the concentration of p 84 between individuals who secreted (Se) or did not secrete (non-se) the ABH antigen into their seminal plasma, nor were there any significant correlations between the concentration of p 84 and the total seminal protein concentration. An immunohistochemical study using mAb p 84 with light microscopic detection showed that p 84 was located in the cytoplasm of the inner layer of pseudostratified cuboidal epithelial cells of the seminal vesicles, but no immunoreactivity was found in the prostate. These data indicate that p 84 originates from a single tissue, the seminal vesicles, and suggest that p 84 is an ABH epitope-bearing protein that has not previously been identified but possesses some immunological properties similar to those of lactotransferrin.

ABO Blood-Group System↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Morphology of adenocarcinoma in situ and microinvasive adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. A cytologic and ultrastructural study.

Adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and microinvasive adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix and normal endocervical columnar epithelium were studied by cytology, morphometry and electron microscopy to identify differentiating features and to ascertain the cellular origin of cervical adenocarcinoma. Smears from AIS showed the characteristic cytology, consisting of glandular rosettes, palisading and crowded sheets; most nuclei had a relatively uniform oval shape. Smears from microinvasive adenocarcinoma showed more crowded sheets, with enlarged, round and irregular-shaped nuclei and prominent oval nucleoli. These nuclear features were confirmed by the morphometric results. Ultrastructurally, reserve cells in the normal tissues contained tonofibers and secretory granules and showed squamous and adenomatous features. The ultrastructural features of microinvasive adenocarcinoma were similar to those of well-differentiated invasive adenocarcinoma. The cells from both contained tonofibers and secretory granules. These findings suggested that the reserve cell is the cell of origin for cervical adenocarcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Peritoneal washing cytology at second-look laparotomy in cisplatin-treated ovarian cancer patients.

The use of peritoneal washing cytology during second-look laparotomy in 58 cisplatin-treated ovarian cancer patients was evaluated. Washing was performed for the 41 patients who showed no gross evidence of persistent disease. Peritoneal washing cytology was positive in 8 of 18 cases with histologically identified residual disease and in 4 of 23 cases without residual disease. However, three of the four cytologically positive patients without other evidence of disease later died of recurrences. The five-year survival rate of the 23 patients who showed no residual carcinomas macroscopically was 60.9%; when their washing cytologies were negative, there was a 73.7% five-year survival rate. These findings indicate that, despite its limitations, a peritoneal washing cytology at the time of second-look laparotomy is important to assess the response to treatment and to evaluate the prognosis of patients with ovarian cancer.

Cisplatin↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Postoperative changes in vaginal smears after vaginal reconstruction with a free skin graft.

Surgical vaginal reconstruction was performed by a free skin graft in two patients without a vagina. The postoperative changes in vaginal smears collected from the artificial vaginas were observed for about two years. Marked operation-induced inflammatory changes were observed until the second postoperative month. After the third postoperative month, the background became relatively clear. Cyanophilic and eosinophilic superficial cells, intermediate cells and Döderlein bacilli were observed occasionally in addition to keratotic cells. Six to 12 months after surgery, the vaginal smears showed little abnormality, except for the presence of keratotic cells. The changes in the vaginal smears after the third month show that the artificial vaginal epithelium changed cytologically to an almost normal vaginal mucosa that, although not histologically complete, responded to hormones. The presence of Döderlein bacilli suggests that the regional environment of the artificial vagina was almost the same as that of the normal vagina.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cervicovaginal and endometrial cytology in ovarian cancer.

The clinical significance of cytologic examination was studied in 114 patients with ovarian cancer who had received preoperative cytologic examinations. The overall positive rate of the cytologic examinations was 26.3% (30 of 114): 22 (19.3%) of the 114 cases had positive cervicovaginal smears while 13 of 31 endometrial aspiration smears (41.9%) were positive. The positive rate was not related to the volume of ascites but rather to its presence or absence. Thus, if ascites was observed, the positive rate was about 2.1 times higher than if it was absent. In two of four cases of ovarian cancer with no endometrial invasion but a positive cytologic examination of ascitic fluid, fallopian tube specimens contained cancer cells; this suggests that ovarian cancer cells may reach the cervix and/or vagina by passing through the fallopian tube, particularly if ascites is present. Since cytologic examination, especially of endometrial aspiration smears, shows a high positive rate if ovarian cancer cells are observed in the abdominal cavity, cytology should be used as an important ancillary method for the assessment of ovarian cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Transmission and scanning electron microscopic study of the same cytologic material.

The same cytologic material was successively examined by light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). After the SEM examination, the specimens were rehydrated for a long period of time to allow the penetration of Epon 812 into the cells. The TEM examination showed the cell organelles to be comparatively well preserved. These consecutively performed LM-SEM-TEM examinations provided useful information on cytologic subjects, especially concerning the origin of the cells.

Cell Nucleus↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cytologic diagnosis of primary tubal cancer.

A study was made of the 128 cases of primary tubal cancer reported to date in Japan, especially of the 61 cases with a preoperative cytologic examination, which was positive for malignancy in 28 cases (45.9%). A positive cytologic diagnosis was made on the cervicovaginal smear in 37.9% of the 58 cases so examined and on the endometrial smear in 80.0% of the 15 cases so examined. Of the 12 cases with positive endocervical smear cytologies, 11 were without endometrial invasion and 4 had no cancer cells in the cervicovaginal smear. Histologic examination of endometrial curettage specimens was positive for cancer in 8 (23.5%) of 34 cases so examined. Endometrial invasion by cancer cells was seen in 11.1% of the surgically extirpated endometrial specimens. The results of this study suggest that cytologic diagnosis is one of the most reliable methods for detecting primary tubal cancer before a surgical operation is undertaken. Its efficacy might be improved by more careful sampling and study in patients suspected of having primary tubal cancer.

Endometrium↗