Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Sex Hormones

The liver is morphologically and functionally modulated by sex hormones. Long-term use of oral contraceptives and androgenic steroids can induce benign and malignant hepatocellular tumors. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is more prevalent in men than in women. The role of sex hormones and their receptors in the development of HCC was reviewed. Some HCCs may be androgen dependent but others may be estrogen or even both dependent. Further studies are mandatory in order to utilize such characteristics of HCC for an effective prophylaxis and therapy of this tumor

Solid and Cystic Tumor (SCT) of the Pancreas in an Adult Man

Solid and cystic tumor (SCT) of the pancreas predominantly Occurs in women, and the occurrence in men is extremely rare. We experienced a male case of SCT. A 38-year-old man was admitted with the complaint of upper abdominal pain. CT scan showed the presence of a mass in the head of the pancreas. The mass was composed of high density areas and low density areas. Ultrasonograms revealed the mass being composed of high echoic areas and low echoic areas. The mass .was hypovascular on angiography. SCT was suspected and pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed. The cut surface of the tumor showed mainly cystic degenerative areas containing dark red hemorrhagic materials. Microscopically, there were solid areas in the periphery and pseudopapillary areas in the center. No metastasis was found in the removed lymph nodes. The tumor cells were not stained by Grimelius' silver stain. The tumor cells were positive for alpha-l-antitrypsin (AAT) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). Pancreatic hormones such as insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin were all negative. Electron micrograph showed that tumor cells were rich in mitochondria. Zymogen granules and neurosecretory granules were not detected. Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) were both negative

Synergistic effect of ubiquitin on lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α production in murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 cells

AbstractUbiquitin synergistically augmented the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7. To investigate the mechanism of this augmentation, we analyzed the effect of ubiquitin during TNF-α mRNA synthesis and degradation, and TNF-α degradation on RAW 264.7 cells stimulated by LPS. It is found that ubiquitin augmented TNF-α mRNA synthesis. Ubiquitin did not affect the degradation of TNF-α mRNA and TNF-α. In the presence of LPS, extracellular accumulation of TNF-α by ubiquitin was twice than those by LPS, but intracellular accumulation of TNF-α produced by ubiquitin with LPS or by LPS had no difference. These data indicate that ubiquitin might induce TNF-α accumulation mainly by up-regulation of the TNF-α gene transcription. Although extracellular functions of ubiquitin remain largely unknown, we postulate that ubiquitin might be involved in the modulatory mechanisms of immune response

Clinical and Enzymatic Investigation of Induction of Oxygen Free Radicals by Ischemia and Reperfusion in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Adjacent Liver

Serum concentration of thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reactants in the hepatic vein were measured before and after transient dearterialization of the liver in five human subjects bearing unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). During 1 hour of the occlusion of the hepatic artery, change inTBA reactants level was slight. However, the mean value of TBA reactants in 1 hour after the reflow increased to 1.50 ± 0.11 nmol/ml (mean ± S.E.) and was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those before hepatic dearterialization (1.28 ± 0.11 nmol/ml) and just before the release of occlusion (1.32 ± 0.09 nmol/ml)

Study of nuclear correlation effects via 12C(p,n)12N(g.s.,1+) at 296 MeV

We report measurements of the cross section and a complete set of polarization observables for the Gamow--Teller ${}^{12}{\rm C}(\vec{p},\vec{n}){}^{12}{\rm N}({\rm g.s.},1^+)$ reaction at a bombarding energy of 296 MeV. The data are compared with distorted wave impulse approximation calculations employing transition form factors normalized to reproduce the observed beta-decay $ft$ value. The cross section is significantly under-predicted by the calculations at momentum transfers $q \gtrsim$ 0.5 ${\rm fm^{-1}}$. The discrepancy is partly resolved by considering the non-locality of the nuclear mean field. However, the calculations still under-predict the cross section at large momentum transfers of $q$ $\simeq$ 1.6 ${\rm fm^{-1}}$. We also performed calculations employing random phase approximation response functions and found that the observed enhancement can be attributed in part to pionic correlations in nuclei.Comment: 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.