霊長類の足の動脈系の研究 : 特異な走行を示すロリス科四肢の動脈系の立体解析

原猿類ロリス科(Prosimii,Lorisidae)四肢にみられる特異な動脈形態を示す動脈管束arterial bundle(血管網,または怪網rete mirabile)を動脈造影写真により立体的解析し系統発生学的観点より検討し,ヒトを含めた霊長類の四肢の動脈系の形態についての新しい系統発生学的知見が得られた.原猿類において前腕では尺骨動脈,下腿では伏在動脈が主幹動脈である.上肢では上腕動脈管束の大部分が橈骨動脈管束となり筋枝を出しながら末梢へ続くがその終枝は正中動脈で尺骨動脈と浅掌動脈弓を形成する.下肢では伏在動脈の存在により膝窩動脈由来の前脛骨動脈,後脛骨動脈,腓骨動脈の発達は悪い.ヒトの上肢において最も多くの浅上腕動脈の存在に関する破格の報告の大部分が前腕および手の橈側に認められ,その領域が原猿類の動脈管束に由来する部位に相当する.真猿類においても浅上腕動脈の消失, 橈骨動脈の平行的に発達する相互関係より考え,原猿類にみられるrete mirabileがヒトの上肢の破格と系統発生学的に密接な関係があるものと思われた.ヒトの下肢にみられる破格の報告のうち下腿および足における破格の例が比較的多い.これら破格は霊長類でみられる伏在動脈と膝窩動脈由来の動脈の発達の相互関係に起因するものと思われ,その発達の推移の過程は著者の先の報告によっても明らかである.The peculiar arterial bundles (rete mirabile) found in the limbs of prosimians of the suborder Prosimii, family Lorisidae were analyzed three dimensionally by arteriography. The findings gave new phylogenetic insights into the morphology of the arterial system of the limbs of primates, including man. In prosimians, the main artery of the forearm is the ulnar artery, and the main artery of the leg is the saphenous artery. Most of the brachial rete in the upper limb becomes the radial rete and continues toward the periphery while sending out rami musculares. The final branch comes at the median artery where the radial artery forms the superficial palmar arch with the ulnar artery. In the lower limb, the development of the anterior tibial artery, posterior tibial artery and peroneal artery, which all stem from the popliteal artery, is poor because of the presence of the saphenous artery. Most of the reports of the abnormal presence of a superficial brachial artery in man place it on the radial side of the forearm and hand, an area that, in prosimians, derives its vasculature from the arterial bundle. Considering the absence of the superficial brachial artery and the development of the radial artery in simians, it seems possible that abnormal vasculature of the arm in man has an intimate phylogenetic relationship to the rete mirabile observed in prosimians. Among vascular abnormalities of the human lower limb, those of the leg and foot are reported most frequently. These abnormalities are thought to originate from the development in primates of the saphenous artery and arteries derived from the popliteal artery. The process of the development of these arteries was disclosed in a previous report by the author

Immunohistochemical study of the Landolt\u27s club cells in the chicken retina

The immunohistochemical specificity of the Landolt\u27s club cells of the chicken retina were studied by the indirect immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase bridge methods with specific antiserum against neuronal filament proteins of these cells. In the tissue, the Landolt\u27s club cells were selectively stained with the specific antiserum (antigen : isoelectric point=6.29, molecular weight=69,000). It appeared that the cells were bipolar and that the cell body lay in the superficial part of the internal nuclear layer. However, it was difficult to observe the dendrites like those of typical bipolar cells which synapse with photoreceptors. No reaction was found in ganglion cells, amacrine cells, horizontal cells and other types of bipolar cells which occupy the zone just inside the external plexiform layer. From the 6th day of tissue culture, the selectively stained bipolar cells appeared on the surface of the monolayer cells. They were small and oval with large, spherical and eccentric nuclei. The cytoplasm was slightly less dense than other neuron cells

The impact of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 polymorphism on hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis

The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs738409 in patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) is associated with hepatic fat accumulation and disease progression in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). This study was conducted to determine whether PNPLA3 rs738409 SNPs affect development and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with various liver diseases. We enrolled 638 consecutive Japanese patients newly diagnosed with HCC between 2001 and 2010: 72 patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV), 462 with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and 104 with non-B non-C (NBNC). NBNC patients exhibited large tumors of advanced TNM stages at HCC diagnosis, and had significantly poorer prognosis than HBV or HCV patients (P < 0.001 and < 0.001, respectively; log-rank test). The G/G genotype of PNPLA3 rs738409 SNP had significantly higher distribution in NBNC patients (P < 0.001) and was significantly associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and an increased aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index. No significant differences were observed in survival with differences in PNPLA3 SNP genotypes among the patients, although ALD patients with the G/G genotype of PNPLA3 SNP and low BMI had significantly poorer survival than those with high BMI (P = 0.028). The G/G genotype of PNPLA3 rs738409 SNP was more frequently distributed, and associated with BMI and fibrosis among NBNC-HCC patients but not among HBV or HCV patients. These genotypes might affect HCC prognosis in ALD patients, but not in HBV, HCV, or NAFLD patients

Prognostic Model for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Time-Dependent Factors

The purpose of this study was to build a prognostic model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using time-dependent covariates to re-evaluate the prognosis at any stage of the disease. The subjects were consecutive HCC patients who were treated at our institute between 1995 and 2007. We constructed time-fixed and time-dependent prognostic models with a training group (n＝336) and compared the prognostic abilities between conventional Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) scores, Japan Integrated Staging (JIS) scores, an Okuda classification, and our prognostic models in the testing group (n＝227) with the c-index. The time-dependent prognostic model consisted of main tumor size, tumor number, portal vein invasion, distant metastasis, alpha-fetoprotein, des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), bilirubin, and albumin and the weighted scores were set for each factor depending on the hazard ratio for the prognosis. The prognostic index was determined by summing the scores. The c-index values for the CLIP scores, JIS scores, Okuda classification, and our time-dependent model were 0.741, 0.727, 0.609, and 0.870, respectively. These results indicate that our time-dependent model can estimate the prognosis of HCC more precisely than traditional time-fixed models and can be used to re-predict the prognosis of HCC

ショウカキガン ニオケル HIF-1 ノ リンショウテキ イギ ト チリョウ エノ オウヨウ

Hypoxia inducible factor‐１α（HIF‐１α）and histone deacetylase（HDAC）expressions in gastrointestinal cancer, especially intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and pancreas cancer, significantly reflect on the malignant potential of these cancers, and are significantly associated with patient’s prognosis. It has also been shown that HIF‐１α is deacetylated and stabilized by nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation （NuRD）　complex, consisting of HDAC and metastasis-associated gene‐１（MTA１）, leading to angiogenesis. More recently, it has been reported that HIF‐１α induces tumorigenesis and ultimately cancer stemness through epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT）. Therefore, HIF‐１α may be one of the master molecules of cancer progression, and it is expected that novel therapeutic strategies will be devised by controlling the signaling pathway of HIF‐１α in hypoxic condition of gastrointestinal cancer

ショウカキガン ニオケル HIF-1 ノ リンショウテキ イギ ト チリョウ エノ オウヨウ

Hypoxia inducible factor‐１α（HIF‐１α）and histone deacetylase（HDAC）expressions in gastrointestinal cancer, especially intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and pancreas cancer, significantly reflect on the malignant potential of these cancers, and are significantly associated with patient’s prognosis. It has also been shown that HIF‐１α is deacetylated and stabilized by nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation （NuRD）　complex, consisting of HDAC and metastasis-associated gene‐１（MTA１）, leading to angiogenesis. More recently, it has been reported that HIF‐１α induces tumorigenesis and ultimately cancer stemness through epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT）. Therefore, HIF‐１α may be one of the master molecules of cancer progression, and it is expected that novel therapeutic strategies will be devised by controlling the signaling pathway of HIF‐１α in hypoxic condition of gastrointestinal cancer

CD44 expression in HCC

Background: CD44 is well known to be one of the cancer stem cell markers and is a cell-surface glycoproteininvolved in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion, and cell migration. We investigated the role of CD44 expression in both tumor and non-tumor tissues on recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Forty-eight patients with HCC who underwent hepatic resection at our institution were enrolled in this study. CD44 expressions in both tumor and non-tumor tissues were examined using real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The patients were divided into two groups: high and low gene-expression group, based on the CD44 expression level. We compared the clinicopathological factors between the high expression and low expression groups in both tumor and non-tumor tissues. Results: In the tumor tissues, the gene-expression levels of CD44 did not correlate with any clinicopathological parameters. The disease-free survival rate showed no significant difference between the two gourps. In non-tumor tissues, although there was no significant relationship between the CD44 expression levels and clinicopathological factors, disease-free survival rate in the CD44 low expression group was significantly better than that in the CD44 high expression group (p<0.05). In multivariate analysis, the risk factors in tumor recurrence were presence of microscopic portal invasion and high expression level of CD44. Conclusion: The CD44 expressions in the non-tumor tissues may predict HCC recurrence