From 1972 to 1985, 40 cases of congenital dilatation of the bile duct (CDBD) were experienced in the department of the authors. Those consisted of 19 cases of anomalous arrangement of the pancreatico-bile duct (P-B anomaly), five of bile duct carcinoma, and two of gall bladder carcinoma. In addition, four patients who showed no dilatation of the bile duct in spite of the presence of a P-B anomaly were experienced, and coexistent gall bladder carcinoma was present in three of four cases. The incidence of bile duct carcinoma associated with CDBD is very high. However, coexistent gall bladder carcinoma in CDBD is a new topic, and coexistent intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma in CDBD is extremely rare. This report presents interesting and rare cases of coexistent carcinomas in these anomalies and investigates their carcinogenesis, particularly that of gall bladder carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma, Papillary↗

PubMed1987

An increased apo A-IV serum concentration of patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis.

Serum apolipoprotein (apo) A-IV concentration was determined in 20 patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis. The mean value of apo A-IV was 33.5 +/- 6.3 mg/dl, that was increased by approximately 3 times compared with that in healthy controls (11.1 +/- 2.7 mg/dl, n = 23). No significant correlation of apo A-IV was observed with the other apolipoproteins (apo A-I, A-II, B, C-II, C-III, and E) levels, serum lipids (TC, TG, and HDL-C) levels, and lipoprotein concentrations in both the patients and the controls. However, apo A-IV was significantly correlated with serum creatinine, BUN, and beta 2-microglobulin levels (p less than 0.05) in the patients. On the other hand, in patients with nephrotic syndrome and in that of a patient with Fanconi's syndrome, apo A-IV was detected in their urine. These results, in turn, suggest from their well-known pathogenesis that apo A-IV can readily transverse the glomerular filter due to its small molecular mass size and that it is also probably taken up and catabolized by renal tubular cells in the same fashion as other low molecular mass proteins. These observations suggest that a decreased glomerular filtration and/or reduced catabolism of apo A-IV by tubular cells may be one of the important causes of the increase in the serum apo A-IV level in patients with chronic renal failure besides a decreased catabolism of chylomicron remnants containing apo A-IV.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Purification and partial characterization of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein from human placenta.

Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein (CRABP) has been purified to homogeneity from human placenta by a series of procedures, including acetone powder extraction, gel filtration on Sephadex G-50, and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and on SP-Sephadex. Cellular retinol-binding protein (CRBP) was isolated concurrently. CRABP was purified 75,400-fold, based on total soluble acetone powder extract of placenta. The protein is a single polypeptide chain with a molecular mass of 14,600 Da, estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis or gel filtration, and has an isoelectric point of 4.78 (apo-CRABP, 4.82). On analysis of absorption and fluorescence spectra, the protein was seen to exhibit an absorption peak at 350 nm, fluorescence excitation maxima at 350 and 370 nm, and a fluorescence emission maximum at 475 nm. Human CRABP was immunologically distinct from human CRBP and serum retinol-binding protein.

Carrier Proteins↗

PubMed1987

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the stomach.

A rare case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the stomach in a 70-year-old man is reported. The protruded mass with central depression resembled a submucosal tumor, located on the posterior wall of a part of the cardia, fornix, and upper corpus. Histologically, submucosal ectopic glands composed of columnar cells, mucus-producing cells that closely resemble gastric epithelium, and ciliated epithelium were observed. The tumor consisted of an admixture of cuboidal, columnar cells, mucus-producing cells, singled or pseudostratified ciliated epithelium, and squamous metaplastic cells. The tumor cells were intimately continuous with the submucosal ectopic glands. Gradual transition between tumor cells and epithelium of submucosal ectopic glands was recognized. It is supposed that mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the stomach in this case derived from preexisting submucosal ectopic mucous glands of the stomach.

Aged↗

PubMed1987

Serum thyroid hormone levels in patients with fulminant hepatitis: usefulness of rT3 and the rT3/T3 ratio as prognostic indices.

To evaluate thyroid function in 19 patients with fulminant hepatitis (FH), we have measured total and free 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (reverse T3, rT3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxin-binding globulin (TBG) in patients with FH, compared with those of 80 patients with other various liver diseases and of 10 healthy controls. Patients with FH showed the lowest values of serum T3 and the highest levels of rT3 among all patients with liver diseases studied. Furthermore, patients with FH showed a significant increase of rT3 in comparison with subacute hepatitis (SAH), "acute-on-chronic" (AOC) type of hepatic failure, ordinary and severe forms of acute hepatitis (AHo and AHs) and decompensated liver cirrhosis (LC-D). In addition, serum T3 and rT3 and the rT3/T3 ratio significantly correlated with prothrombin time (PT) and plasma methionine level. We also found that serum T3 and rT3 concentrations and the rT3/T3 ratio showed early and rapid normalization in cases of FH that survived, but they did not improve in patients with fatal outcome. These results suggest that serum T3, particularly rT3 concentrations and the rT3/T3 ratio may be useful indicators for assessing the severity and prognosis of patients with FH and can be considered to the sensitive indices for functioning hepatic microsomal reserve as well.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Effects of ranitidine on plasma clearance of indocyanine green in patients with liver cirrhosis.

The effects of ranitidine on plasma clearance of ICG were investigated in 68 cirrhotic patients (9 were positive for HBsAg, 33 were alcoholics and 26 had cryptogenic cirrhosis). The ICG clearance test was performed before and after ranitidine administration. In 31 patients treated with ranitidine (150 mg perorally), the plasma ICG clearance were 233.6 +/- 20.4 ml/min (mean +/- S.E.) and 239.2 +/- 20.5 ml/min before and after ranitidine, respectively. In the 37 treated with intravenous ranitidine 50 mg, the corresponding values were 205.4 +/- 17.7 ml/min and 206.4 +/- 17.9 ml/min. There was no significant change in the plasma clearance of ICG or the elimination rate constant after ranitidine administration. Even in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, no significant change was demonstrated in the plasma ICG clearance after ranitidine. These results led to the conclusions that ranitidine does not reduce the hepatic blood flow and that it is a safe and useful drug for the treatment of gastrointestinal tract bleeding in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Solution conformation of carboxy-terminal fragments of the third component of human complement C3: proton nuclear magnetic resonance study of C3a, des-Arg-C3a, and C3a Arg69.

A proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study is reported of the solution conformation of human C3a, that is released on activation of C3, the third component of complement. The intact C3a was used along with des-Arg-C3a, which is formed on cleavage of Arg-77 at the C terminal of C3a, and C3a Arg69, which is a 69-residue fragment produced on tryptic digestion of C3. A method of carboxypeptidase digestion/difference spectroscopy (Endo & Arata (1985) Biochemistry 24, 1561-1568) was extensively used for the spectral assignments of Ile-43, Ile-60, Leu-63, Tyr-15, and Tyr-59. On the basis of the results of nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) measurements, we discuss the solution conformation of the C3a molecule. It has been concluded that removal of Arg-77, which is essential for expression of the biological activity of C3a, does not induce any significant change in the solution conformation of the C3a molecule. The C3a molecule is known to consist of a core region that comprises segment Tyr-15-Tyr-59. We conclude that in solution the C terminal segment sticks out of the core and takes on a helix-like conformation. Possible roles of the core region and the N terminal segment in maintaining the conformation of the C terminal segment are briefly discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗