Relationship of the number and size of superficial groin lymph nodes with the stage of secondary lymphatic edema

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the relationships of the size and number of superficial groin lymph nodes with the lower limb lymphedema stage and thus examined the role of superficial lymphatic lymph nodes in secondary lymphedema development. METHODS: We determined the number and size of superficial groin lymph nodes using horizontal plane computed tomography (CT) and the lymphedema stage in the lower limbs of 25 patients with gynecologic cancer. RESULTS: The patients had an average of 2.92 (range, 1-7) superficial groin lymph nodes; the mean size of the 146 evaluated lymph nodes was 7.55 mm (range, 5-15 mm). In 19 of 25 patients (76%), the side with major edema contained fewer superficial groin lymph nodes. In total, 22 patients (88%) had fewer superficial groin lymph nodes or a smaller total lymph node size on the edematous dominant side. CONCLUSIONS: In this evaluation of the link between superficial groin lymph node laterality and secondary lymphedema staging, we found that patients with large lymph node numbers and sizes tended to present with a relatively earlier stage of lymphedema. Our results therefore suggest that the size and number of superficial groin lymph nodes affect the lymphedema stage

Spontaneous complete necrosis of hepatocellular carcinoma caused by feeding vessel occlusion outside the tumour capsule

A 64-year-old man began treatment for chronic hepatitis C with peg-interferon and ribavirin. His hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid (HCV-RNA) results turned negative. Just after the treatment, a computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a hypovascular mass in the segment 8. We performed a right hemihepatectomy as HCC. Upon macroscopic examination, the tumour was yellow and firm with a fibrous capsule. A wedge-shaped necrotic area was located at the top of an artery and a portal vein of segment 8. Necrosis was observed not only in the tumour but in the adjacent parenchyma. A histopathological examination showed that the tumour had been completely replaced by necrosis. This tumour was surrounded by capillary vessels and fed by several thick arteries, but organized thrombi were not detected. No viable cells were found. The histopathological diagnosis was a spontaneous complete necrosis of HCC caused by the occlusion of feeding vessels outside the capsule

Role of hepatic STAT3 in brain-insulin action on hepatic glucose production

SummarySTAT3 regulates glucose homeostasis by suppressing the expression of gluconeogenic genes in the liver. The mechanism by which hepatic STAT3 is regulated by nutritional or hormonal status has remained unknown, however. Here, we show that an increase in the plasma insulin concentration, achieved either by glucose administration or by intravenous insulin infusion, stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT3 in the liver. This effect of insulin was mediated by the hormone's effects in the brain, and the increase in hepatic IL-6 induced by the brain-insulin action is essential for the activation of STAT3. The inhibition of hepatic glucose production and of expression of gluconeogenic genes induced by intracerebral ventricular insulin infusion was impaired in mice with liver-specific STAT3 deficiency or in mice with IL-6 deficiency. These results thus indicate that IL-6-STAT3 signaling in the liver contributes to insulin action in the brain, leading to the suppression of hepatic glucose production

The relation between subjective symptom and circulation during orthostatic stress using a tilt table

起立負荷時における気分不良の有無と体循環,脳循環との関係について検討することを目的とし,電動チルト台を用いて起立負荷を行った.対象者は20代の自律神経疾患を有さない健常女性12名とし,起立負荷によって気分不良を示さなかった群を正常群とし,示した群を気分不良群とした.電動tilt tableを0°→ 30°→ 45°→ 60°→ 0°と変化させ,各段階を約3分ずつ保持した.その際,平均動脈血圧(MBP),心拍出量,心拍数,1回拍出量,総末梢血管抵抗,腓腹筋内側頭部のTotal Hb,中大脳動脈の平均血流速度(FV)と末梢血管抵抗(PI)を測定し,気分不良尺度を10段階評価でもって記録した.その結果,正常群は起立負荷に伴いFVは低下を示したが,MBP,PIに著変はなく,気分不良群はMBPの上昇に対してPIは減少し,FVはほぼ変化はみられなかった.一般的にめまいなどの気分不良症状は脳血流量の減少により生じるとされていたが,今回の結果では気分不良には脳血流量の増加による脳細動脈へのストレスなどが考えられた.This study aimed at considering the relation between subjective symptoms and the circulation of healthy women during orthostatic stress using a tilt table. From 12 healthy women in there twenties who don't have autonomic nervous disorders, two groups were formed: 1) a normal group which didn't feel ill during orthostatic stress, and 2) a FI group which feel ill during orthostatic stress. An electric tilt table was changed from 0°→30°→45°→60°→0°, and each stage was held for about 3 minutes. Mean artery blood pressure (MBP), cardiac output, heart rate, stroke volume, total peripheral resistance and total hemoglobin at the part of interior gastrocnemius (Total Hb), flow velocity (FV) and peripheral resistance (PI) of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) were measured. The scale of poor feeling was also recorded by10 stage evaluations. Consequently, although the normal group showed an FV fall with orthostatic stress,there were no significant changes in MBP and PI. In the FI group, PI decreased but FV didn't show muchchange with the rise of MBP. According to this result, the stress to the arteriola caused not by a fall but anincrease in the cerebral blood flows etc. seems thus to have been the source of the feeling

Coordinated and Cohesive Movement of Two Small Conspecific Fish Induced by Eliciting a Simultaneous Optomotor Response

BACKGROUND: In animal groups such as herds, schools, and flocks, a certain distance is maintained between adjacent individuals, allowing them to move as a cohesive unit. Proximate causations of the cohesive and coordinated movement under dynamic conditions, however, have been poorly understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We established a novel and simple behavioral assay using pairs of small fish (medaka and dwarf pufferfish) by eliciting a simultaneous optomotor response (OMR). We demonstrated that two homospecific fish began to move cohesively and maintained a distance of 2 to 4 cm between them when an OMR was elicited simultaneously in the fish. The coordinated and cohesive movement was not exhibited under a static condition. During the cohesive movement, the relative position of the two fish was not stable. Furthermore, adult medaka exhibited the cohesive movement but larvae did not, despite the fact that an OMR could be elicited in larvae, indicating that this ability to coordinate movement develops during maturation. The cohesive movement was detected in homospecific pairs irrespective of body-color, sex, or albino mutation, but was not detected between heterospecific pairs, suggesting that coordinated movement is based on a conspecific interaction. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings demonstrate that coordinated behavior between a pair of animals was elicited by a simultaneous OMR in two small fish. This is the first report to demonstrate induction of a schooling-like movement in a pair of fish by an OMR and to investigate the effect of age, sex, body color, and species on coordination between animals under a dynamic condition