To assist in the evaluation of inflammatory changes of the affected bowel, we classified the transabdominal ultrasonographic findings into types A-C. We compared the in vivo and in vitro sonographic images to the histopathologic findings of resected specimens. A total of 22 bowel specimens (five normal, 12 with Crohn's disease, five with ulcerative colitis) were examined sonographically with a 3.75-MHz curved and a 7.5-MHz linear array scanner; histologic examination of the same area of tissue was performed afterwards. These three examinations corresponded well to each other. Our classification scheme is useful in quantifying the severity of inflammatory changes in the affected bowel.

Colitis, Ulcerative↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic ability of high-frequency ultrasound probe sonography in staging early gastric cancer, especially for submucosal invasion.

BACKGROUND: Advances in gastrointestinal endoscopy have resulted in endoscopic mucosal resection becoming the main therapy for many early gastric cancers confined to the mucosa and, in some cases, of minimal submucosal invasion. Thus, preoperative determination of the depth of the cancer is important. We compared the results of high-frequency ultrasound probe sonography with those of histologic study to clarify the usefulness of identifying of submucosal invasion and determining the depth of early gastric cancer. METHODS: Subjects were 295 patients diagnosed with early gastric cancer who had undergone endoscopic mucosal or surgical resection. High-frequency ultrasound probe sonographic findings were compared with histologic findings. RESULTS: The muscularis mucosae was visualized in 63% of cases of early gastric cancer. By construction on receiver operator characteristics curve, we determined that submucosal invasive cancer could be diagnosed by high-frequency ultrasound probe sonography to a depth of about 600 microm. There was no case in which invasion deeper than 1000 microm was diagnosed as a hypoechoic area limited to the mucosal layer or a fan-shaped hypoechoic area in the submucosal layer. The depth of early gastric cancer was accurately determined in 90% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: High-frequency ultrasound probe is a useful tool for accurately determining the depth of invasion of early gastric cancer when its limitations are understood.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nesidioblastosis and mixed hamartoma of the liver in Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome: case study including analysis of H19 methylation and insulin-like growth factor 2 genotyping and imprinting.

An infant with persistent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, diffuse nesidioblastosis, and mixed hamartoma of the liver (MHL), in addition to demonstrating clinical, pathologic, and molecular manifestations of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), is the subject of this report. H19 methylation assay and allelic expression analysis for insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) indicated that the patient was mosaic for paternal isodisomic cells and normal cells in lung tissue, nontumoral liver tissue, tissue from the MHL, and pancreatic tissue. We propose that abundant IGF2 expression during development due to paternal isodisomy resulted in hepatomegaly and islet cell hyperplasia, which led to nesidioblastosis. MHL, by contrast, may have resulted from a decrease in disomic cells, compared with nontumoral liver tissue, which showed an increase in disomic cells. Thus, somatic mosaicism may result in unbalanced tissue growth, which may contribute to the formation of MHL in BWS.

Allelic Imbalance↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Functional expressions of fms and M-CSF during trophoectodermal differentiation of human embryonal carcinoma cells.

A human embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell line, NCR-G3 (G3), is capable of differentiating into a variety of cell types in vitro, including epithelial, muscle, neural and trophoectodermal cells. The production of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a trophoectoderm-specific hormone, begins 7 days after retinoic acid (RR1) treatment and peaks on day 12-13. In this study, we used G3 cells to investigate the biological significance of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), also called colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), and fms, a receptor tyrosine kinase for M-CSF. The mRNA of c-fms is constitutively expressed in both undifferentiated and differentiated G3 cells. Immunoprecipitation with anti-fms antibodies or flow cytometry revealed that differentiated G3 cells express fms on the cell surface. However, we were unable to demonstrate expression of fms on the surface of undifferentiated G3 cells. Expression of M-CSF mRNA and protein, however, was upregulated by RA treatment prior to hCG production. In order to investigate whether expression of both molecules is biologically functional in G3 cells, we conducted experiments using anti-M-CSF and fms antibodies with neutralizing activity and gene transfer to achieve over-expression of fms in G3 cells. As a result, we observed that hCG production following treatment with both neutralizing antibodies was more than 90 per cent inhibited, and that hCG production increased significantly as a result of over-expression of fms in G3 cells. Our results enabled us to show that M-CSF and fms play important functional roles in the differentiation of G3 cells into trophoectoderm. G3 cells are well suited to serve as an experimental model of human early embryogenesis and of placental differentiation.

Carcinoma, Embryonal↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Involvement of EAT/mcl-1, a bcl-2 related gene, in the apoptotic mechanisms underlying human placental development and maintenance.

The EAT/mcl-1 gene was isolated during the early differentiation of a retinoic acid-induced human embryonal carcinoma cell line to the trophectoderm lineage. EAT/mcl-1, a bcl-2 related gene, is involved in the genetic pathway of apoptosis; this suggests a role for apoptosis and the involvement of this gene in early placental development. In the current investigation, we analysed expression of EAT/mcl-1 at the mRNA level by Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization, as well as at the protein level, by immunoblot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Our results identified constant expression of this gene in the placenta throughout pregnancy as well as a shift in its localization from the cytotrophoblast in the first trimester to the syncytiotrophoblast in the third trimester. In addition, there was an inverse correlation between EAT/mcl-1 expression and TaT-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labelling (TUNEL) reactivity in trophoblasts in the first trimester. These results suggest a role for EAT/mcl-1 in both early placental development in regulating trophoblast differentiation as well as a role for this gene in placental maintenance in regulating the process of trophoblast turnover.

Apoptosis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Simultaneous detection of platelet-associated antigen and platelet peroxidase on buffy coat cells from bone marrow in two patients with pediatric acute megakaryocytic leukemia.

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Antigens, Human Platelet↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma preceding medulloblastoma.

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Child, Preschool↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Immunohistochemical study of thymic B cells in myasthenia gravis and ulcerative colitis.

The phenotypes of B cells and dendritic cells in human thymus were examined immunohistochemically using various monoclonal antibodies. Normal thymus contained a few B lymphocytes recognized by CD19, CD20, CD22, L26 and LN-2, which were localized in the medulla. These B cells were negative for LN-1, L30 and CD11c (Leu M5). Activated B cells recognized by CD23 (B6) and L29 antibodies were not present in normal thymus. Dendritic cells stained by CD11c were weakly positive for L26 and CD20. There was no difference in the distribution of dendritic cells between normal thymus and thymus from the patients. In the thymus from patients with myasthenia gravis, numerous B cells were demonstrated in the medullary area and lymphoid follicles. Activated B cells were seen mainly in the germinal center of lymphoid follicles and were scarce in the medulla. Many B cells were also found in the medulla and lymphoid follicles of the thymus from patients with ulcerative colitis. However most of those B cells were not activated, even in the lymphoid follicles. These results suggest that thymic B cells may contribute to the induction of immune abnormalities in patients with myasthenia gravis and those with ulcerative colitis, however, the mechanisms by which thymic B cells participate in the pathogenesis of these two diseases would be different.

B-Lymphocytes↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ossifying lipoma independent of bone tissue.

A 46-year-old Japanese male was referred to a local hospital because of a firm, nontender mass on his neck. On physical examination, the tumor was soft, well demarcated, 3 x 2 cm in size and located in the submucosal region. It was entirely separate from the vertebrae. The resected tumor was shown to be a lipoma with focal ossification. Ossifying lipomas are rare, and the cases which are independent of bone even more so. A literature review revealed that ossifying lipoma independent of bone tissue has been reported in only 8 cases, and, interestingly, all of them occurred in the head and neck region.

Head and Neck Neoplasms↗