Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Y Kitano.
We report a case with rapidly growing subcutaneous and intra-muscular tumours that were identical histopathologically to a pre-existing left atrial myxoma. No invasion of visceral organs or skeleton was found. This is a very rare case of metastasizing myxoma with wide dissemination and rapid metastastic growth, despite the benign appearance of the original tumour.
Active forms of vitamin D3, 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 and 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, were administered in an open-design study to 40 patients with psoriasis vulgaris in three ways: to 17 patients 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 was given orally at a dose of 1.0 micrograms/day for 6 months, to four patients 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 was given orally at a dose of 0.5 microgram/day for 6 months, and 19 patients were given 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 applied topically at concentration of 0.5 microgram/g of base for 8 weeks. Improvement was observed at the end of the individual study periods in 13 (76%) patients in Group 1 with a mean period of treatment (+/- SD) of 2.7 +/- 0.6 months, in one patient in Group 2 at 3 months after the start of treatment, and in 16 (84%) patients in Group 3 when the chemical was applied for 3.3 +/- 1.2 weeks. No side-effects were observed in any of these trials. These data suggest that psoriasis may respond to active metabolites of vitamin D3 and that abnormalities in vitamin D metabolism or in responsiveness of the skin cells to active metabolites of vitamin D may be involved in the pathogenesis of this skin disease.
A new type of human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV-38b, was isolated from patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis and was molecularly cloned. This HPV was shown by hybridization experiments to have almost no sequence homology with other types of reported HPVs, but did show homology with HPV-38, which was recently isolated from a melanoma. A physical map and a rough genetic map of the organization of this HPV are presented.
Hydrolysis of 17-butyrate 21-propionate (HBP) by human keratinocytes was studied using an in vitro system. In the culture of human keratinocytes 1.308 nmole/ml of hydrocortisone 17-butyrate (de-esterified HBP at the position of 21) was found at 1 h after the addition of 10 nmole/ml HBP. At 6 h most of HBP was de-esterified to become HB17 and a small amount of hydrocortisone 21-propionate (de-esterified HBP at the position of 17) was detected. Hydrocortisone (HC) was not detectable. These results indicate that when HBP is applied on the skin, it is hydrolyzed at the position of 21, and reaches the dermis where it finds the way to get into the systemic circulation. The intracellular concentration of HBP was estimated to be more than 5 times its extracellular concentration and its accumulation was higher than HC. These results were discussed in relation to the potentiation of local antiinflammatory action and the reduction of systemic effects of topical glucocorticoid.
The influence of a biological response modifier on thoracic lymphocytes was studied clinically and experimentally. The thoracic lymphocytes and peripheral blood were taken from nine cases of gastric cancer relapse before and after the administration of hemolytic streptococci, OK-432 (PIC), for immunological examination. T: B cell ratio, T cell ratio and ADCC activity of the thoracic lymphocytes and peripheral blood were not changed but the NK activities of both were increased. The juvenilization of lymphocytes was reduced but that of the peripheral blood was not changed. The number and the ratio of T cells in the thoracic lymphocytes of Wistar rats were considerably increased by the administration of PIC but they were reduced in the peripheral blood. T-cell subsets of thoracic lymphocytes and peripheral blood were hardly changed by the administration of PIC. In the case immunological treatment, the thoracic lymphocytes and blood lymphocytes should be monitored because their biological specificities are different.
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Eleven hearing-impaired subjects were tested using a speechreading test employing the CID Everyday Sentence Lists read by a male speaker under four different conditions: full beard and moustache, trimmed beard and moustache, moustache only, and clean shaven. The results indicated that varying amounts of facial hair do not have significant effects on speechreading performance. Mean scores for speechreading performance decreased somewhat with reduction of facial hair, however, as confirmed by a test of linear trend (p less than 0.05).
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Steroid sulphatase activity in peripheral blood lymphocytes was assayed in all available members of three families in which cases of X-linked ichthyosis were frequently seen. Lymphocytes from all the patients with this disease lacked steroid sulphatase activity and some female members who were probably heterozygotes, showed significantly lower enzyme activity compared with other healthy family members and normal controls. This suggest that females heterozygous for X-linked ichthyosis in these families could be traced enzymatically. Three childless females in these families were found to be possible heterozygotes in view of their lower enzyme levels. It was found that polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic mobility of serum low-density lipoproteins was increased in X-linked ichthyosis patients but was not changed in the probable heterozygotes. The detection of individuals heterozygous for X-linked ichthyosis, for the purpose of precise genetic counselling, may be possible by measuring steroid sulphatase activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes.
6 young people (19-31 years old) exhibited unusual light or dark brown, ill-circumscribed or reticular pigmentation distributed over protrudent bones. 5 of them have been using nylon towels and scrub brushes for over 3-10 years. Biopsy specimens showed that the amount of melanin granules in the basal layer was increased and melanophages were scattered in the upper dermis. Inflammatory infiltrates were minimal.
A 5-year-old boy had a nodular erythema, elongated and thickened fingers, and emaciation. His condition was a rare congenital disease inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Eleven cases have been previously reported in the Japanese literature. The onset is early in childhood, and nodular erythema is an essential and initial finding. Growth retardation and emaciation progress slowly with age. The characteristic clinical features include large eyes, nose, lips, and ears, disproportionately long and thick fingers, and the loss of adipose tissue from the upper half of the body. Cardiomegaly and hypertrophy of the periosteum of the phalanges have been described in some cases.
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