Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I Shikata.
A 70 year-old-Japanese man underwent gastrectomy for early gastric cancer with preoperative hypocellular marrow. Three weeks later, acute myelomonocytic leukemia developed with tetrasomy for chromosome 8 (48,XY,+8,+8). The patient died of leukemia on the 33rd postoperative day. Whether or not the operation triggered the leukemia remains unknown.
A prospective study of comparable Japanese and British breast cancer patients treated by radical mastectomy confirmed previously reported findings that sinus histiocytosis and germinal center hyperplasia are more frequently seen in axillary lymph nodes from Japanese than in those from British patients. In Japanese, but not British, cases of either of these two morphologic findings had favorable prognostic significance for recurrence. Sinus histiocytosis also had favorable prognostic significance in Japanese cases for five year survival. In a separate review of axillary nodes from Japanese autopsy cases sinus histiocytosis was absent, suggesting that this finding in Japanese breast cancer cases was related to presence of the disease.
From 1982 to 1986, 1230 sudden death cases were autopsied in Osaka Medical Examiner's Office. Among them, 810 cases were sudden cardiac deaths (SCD) including coronary heart disease (77%), cardiomyopathy (7%), valvular disease (3%). All SCD cases were dead within 24 hours of the appearance of the fatal symptoms, and most of them (72%) were considered instantaneous death. Many of the fatal symptoms began in bed (31%), at bath (17%), at toilet (8%), or at work (8%). Thirty-four percent of them were thought by themselves or by their families to be healthy before the death. Hypertension (38%), coronary heart disease (13%) and diabetes mellitus (11%) were the major past history recorded. Microscopic observation of the hearts of 200 cases autopsied in 1986 showed various cardiac lesions: hypertrophy, atrophy, degenerations of myocytes, cellular and fatty infiltrations of the interstitium. According to their cardiac lesions and degrees of severity of coronary sclerosis, patients who died suddenly were divided into 8 groups as follows: 1. myocardial infarction (41) 2. myocarditis (6) 3. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (19) 4. chronic ischemia with severe coronary sclerosis (65) 5. chronic ischemia with moderate coronary sclerosis (27) 6. small vessel disease (18) 7. amyloidosis (1) 8. unknown (23). These results suggest that coronary heart disease and hypertension play an important role in SCD.
From 1982 to 1986, there were 1230 sudden death cases autopsied in Osaka Medical Examiner's Office. Among them, 810 cases were classified cardiac deaths (SCDs) such as coronary heart disease (77%), cardiomyopathy (7%), valvular disease (3%). All SCD cases were dead within 24 hours after the appearance of the fatal symptoms, and most of them (72%) were supposed to be instantaneous death. Many of the fatal symptoms began in bed (31%), at bath (17%), at toilet (8%) or at work (8%). 34% of them were thought to be healthy by themselves or by their family members before their deaths. Hypertension (38%), coronary heart disease (13%) and diabetes mellitus (11%) were their major past histories recorded. Cardiac lesions such as myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and atherosclerosis of coronary artery were frequently admitted in SCD. SCD has been vigorously studied for a long time in various fields including legal medicine, and it has also attracted a great deal of public attention recently. To clarify the causes and the mechanisms of SCD, investigations of the actual situation of SCD cases is essential. Therefore, 1230 autopsy cases of SCD in Osaka Medical Examiner's Office for recent five years were statistically investigated.
Lethality and change in body temperature in mice were examined after subcutaneous injection of d-methamphetamine and morphine alone or in combination. The LD50 values for methamphetamine and morphine were calculated to be 95 and 670 mg/kg body wt., respectively. When a non-lethal dose of morphine (300 mg/kg) was administered with various doses of methamphetamine, the LD50 for methamphetamine was reduced to 5 mg/kg, indicating a marked potentiation of toxicity by combined use of both drugs. Injection of 5 mg/kg of methamphetamine produced slight hyperthermia, while 300 mg/kg of morphine decreased the body temperature of mice. However, when both drugs were used concomitantly, a marked increase in body temperature was observed. Hyperthermia was also observed when the dose of morphine was reduced to 50 mg/kg. It is postulated that hyperthermia is probably one of the contributory factors in the potentiated toxicity by combined use of morphine and methamphetamine.
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We isolated a cDNA clone, pAH1005, originating from the 6.8-kilobases mRNA of the rat ascites hepatoma cell line, AH60C. The sequence was highly expressed in various tumor tissues and tumor lines in rats, mice and humans. In rats, the expression of the sequence was also observed in fetal liver of 7 and 10 days of gestation, to some extent in the regenerating liver, yet was sparse in normal adult tissues. Additionally, this expression was induced when adult rat hepatocytes in primary monolayer cultures proliferated by the addition of epidermal growth factor and insulin. Southern blot analysis showed no major gene amplification and rearrangement between DNAs from hepatoma and normal liver of the same species. In addition, in vitro nuclear transcription assay revealed that a genomic clone corresponding to the pAH1005 hybridized to the nascent RNA from isolated nuclei of AH60C but not from those of normal rat liver. All these observations suggest that the expression of the conserved sequence we isolated is closely associated with cell growth and is regulated at the transcriptional level.
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The locomotor activity of mice was recorded after administration of d-methamphetamine-HCl (1.5, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 mg/kg body weight) and/or ethanol (0.8 and 1.6 g/kg body weight). Mice injected with lower doses of d-methamphetamine (1.5 or 2.5 mg/kg) showed a marked increase in locomotor activity, while in those with higher doses of d-methamphetamine (5.0 or 7.5 mg/kg), locomotor activity was not further enhanced, but slightly decreased. Administration of ethanol inhibited the stimulated locomotor activity caused by low doses of d-methamphetamine (1.5 or 2.5 mg/kg), while the stimulation of motility after higher doses of d-methamphetamine (5.0 or 7.5 mg/kg) was potentiated by administering ethanol. Although apparent inhibition and stimulation of d-methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity of mice due to ethanol was observed, it is suggested that mice administered ethanol showed the decreased sensitivity to d-methamphetamine by plotting total locomotor activity of mice against doses of d-methamphetamine administered. The half maximum effective dose of d-methamphetamine for locomotor activity was increased from 1.5 mg/kg to 3.0 mg/kg by concomitant administration of 1.6 g/kg ethanol.
Autopsy findings on a man who fell from a height due to acute toluene poisoning while painting are described. Gas chromatographic examination revealed that the toluene concentrations of his blood, lung, liver and brain were 48, 35, 65 and 80 micrograms/g, respectively. These toluene levels were not enough to be definitely lethal, but were high enough to anesthetize the central nervous system.
A case of fatal suicidal ingestion of "Super Blue (Gun Blue)" (gun-blueing) is presented. Post-mortem examination of the patient revealed pulmonary edema with pleural effusion and congestion of the kidney. Necrosis of proximal tubules was found in the kidney by histological examination. "Super Blue" contains 4% selenious acid and 2.5% cupric sulfate in HCl. Levels of selenium and copper in tissues of the toxic case and normal individuals were determined. The selenium levels of tissues of the patient were 9-90-fold higher than that of normal subjects, whereas concentrations of copper were about 2-fold compared to that of control levels. The highest levels of selenium in the tissues of the patient were found in the lung, kidney and stomach contents.
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Experiments by the vascular perfusion technique in isolated hind leg of the dog showed that after addition of various vasoactive drugs to the perfusate, fibrinolytic activity (plasminogen activator level) of the effluent was elevated. The effects of the drugs were completely inhibited only by the specific blocker of their receptor on the vascular wall. High K+ level of the perfusate also induced abundant release of plasminogen activator from the vascular wall.
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