Determination of etoposide serum concentrations in small pediatric samples by an improved method of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

Several specific assays have been developed for the measurement of etoposide in biological fluids. As large samples are required for high sensitivity, these systems are not appropriate for a pediatric practice. In the present study, however, an improved method for the determination of serum levels of the anticancer drug etoposide was developed, using high-performance liquid chromatography with fixed-wavelength ultraviolet detection. Etoposide was extracted from serum using dichloromethane. The efficiency of extraction from serum was 85.7 +/- 7.7% for etoposide and 81.1 +/- 8.4% for diphenylhydantoin, the internal standard. The serum concentrations of etoposide were measured in 0.2-ml serum samples. The lower limit of detection was 50 ng/ml. Each measurement was completed within 5 min. The linear quantitation range for etoposide was 0.05-50 microg/ml. This assay presents an alternative method for routine measurement of serum levels of etoposide in the pediatric oncology setting.</p

A case of intralobar pulmonary sequestration with high serum CA19-9 levels.

A 38-year-old female presented with cough and fever. A chest X-ray examination revealed an abnormal shadow in the posteroinferior portion of the left hemithorax, and a laboratory examination showed that the serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) level was markedly high (1000 U/ml). A left thoracotomy showed an intralobar pulmonary sequestration of the left lower lobe, and after a left lower lobe lobectomy, the serum level of CA19-9 decreased to normal. Increased CA19-9 activity was detected by immunohistochemistry in the epithelia of bronchioles in the pulmonary sequestration. This communication is the first to report a case of increased activity of CA19-9 in pulmonary sequestration.</p

Menaquinone (vitamin K2) therapy for bronchial asthma. I. Mechanism of action menaquinone on allergic reactions.

The mechanism of action of the drug was investigated from various points of view. The findings may be summarized as follows: 1. In the experiments of the degranulation of mesenteric mast cells of rats, menaquinone proved to significantly inhibit the degranulation either in active or passive sensitization with the reagin-like antibody. 2. Menaquinone did not inhibit the formation of the reagin-like antibody. 3. In the experiements of the degranulation of basophilic granulocytes from patients of bronchial asthma, the rate of appearance of A form basophilic cells upon addition of the antihuman IgE goat serum was not markedly but significantly inhibited in the patients treated with menaquinone for long periods, as compared with that in the control, whereas the in vitro addition of menaquinone did not exert a significant inhibitory action.</p

Multiple inflammatory cytokine-productive ThyL-6 cell line established from a patient with thymic carcinoma

Thymic epithelial cells can produce many kinds of cytokines, and interleukin (IL)-6-producing thymic carcinoma cases have been reported. However, a cytokine-producing human thymic tumor cell line has not previously been established. In this paper, we report a novel, multiple inflammatory cytokine-productive cell line that was established from a patient with thymic carcinoma. This cell line, designated ThyL-6, positively expressed epithelial membrane antigen, cytokeratins, vimentin intermediate filament and CD5, although hematological markers were not present in the cells. Cytokine antibody array analysis showed that the cells secreted several cytokines including IL-1α, IL-6, IL-8, RANTES, soluble TNFα-receptor 1, VEGF and CTLA into the culture medium. The addition of ThyL-6-cultured supernatant supported the growth of human myeloma ILKM-3 cells, which require the presence of IL-6 in the culture medium for the maintenance of cell growth, suggesting that the secreted IL-6 from ThyL-6 cells was biologically active. Chromosome analysis demonstrated that ThyL-6 cells had complex karyotype anomalies, including der(16)t(1;16); the latter has been recognized in thymic squamous cell carcinoma and thymic sarcomatoid carcinoma cases, as well as in several other kinds of malignancies. Heterotransplantation of the cells into nude mice showed tumorigenesis with neutrophil infiltration and liquefactive necrosis. These findings suggest that ThyL-6 cells will provide us with a new experimental tool for investigating not only the pathogenesis, biological behavior, chromo-somal analysis and therapeutic reagents of human thymic carcinoma, but also for studying cytokine-chemokine network systems

First evidence of asexual recruitment of Pocillopora acuta in Okinawa Island using genotypic identification

Okinawa Island is located near the center of the Nansei Islands (∼24–31°N), at a relatively high latitude for coral reefs. Nevertheless, more than 80 coral genera (over 400 species) are abundant in the Nansei Islands. Since March, 2017, scleractinian corals have been held in an outdoor tank at the OIST Marine Science Station at Seragaki, Onna with natural sea water flow-through in order to be used in molecular biological and physiological studies. In January, 2018, we found small pocilloporid-like colonies suspected to have originated asexually. We collected 25 small colonies and measured their sizes and weights. Also, we validated the classification and clonality of the colonies using a mitochondrial locus and nine microsatellite loci. Almost all of the small colonies collected in the outdoor tank were ≤1 cm in both width and height. The weight of dried skeletons ranged from 0.0287 to 0.1807 g. Genetic analysis determined that they were, in fact, Pocillopora acuta. Only one mitochondrial haplotype was shared and two microsatellite multilocus genotypes were detected (20 colonies of one and four colonies of the other). The mitochondrial haplotype and one microsatellite multilocus genotype for 20 colonies corresponded to those of one P. acuta colony being kept in the tank. One small colony matched both multilocus genotypes. This may have been a chimeric colony resulting from allogenic fusion. These small colonies were not produced sexually, because the only potential parent in the tank was the aforementioned P. acuta colony. Instead, they were more likely derived from asexual planula release or polyp bail-out. Corals as Pocillopora acuta have the capacity to produce clonal offspring rapidly and to adapt readily to local environments. This is the first report of asexual reproduction by planulae or expelled polyps in P. acuta at Okinawa Island

Estimation of the Urinary Galactitol Level in Children by Capillary Gas Chromatography

A rapid and efficient capillary gas chromatography was utilized to measure urinary galactitol in 133 non-galactosemic children on a free diet. The children aged from 12 days to 14 years were divided by age into six groups. The urinary galactitol concentration was found to be the highest (64.04 mmol/mol creatinine) in the neonatal group and the lowest (7.12 mmol/mol creatinine) in the group over 2 years old. It is concluded that the urinary concentration of galactitol is strongly age-dependent

Heat Shock Protein 70 Expression in Juvenile Eastern Oysters, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791), Exposed to Anoxic Conditions

Anoxic water events in conjunction with summer high temperatures are thought to be one of the causes of declines in natural oyster reefs on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Work is underway to determine whether tolerance to low oxygen can be selected for in hatchery-produced oysters. As a component of this work, the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP 70) was examined in control (normoxia) and anoxia-challenged juvenile oysters. Parental Eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica were collected from 2 sites, Cedar Point Reef (CP), an area considered to have normoxic conditions, and White House Reef (WH), an area suspected to experience periodic anoxia. F1 generation oysters were produced from CP and WH parents that survived an anoxic exposure of 96 h. Control F1 generation oysters from both parental stocks not exposed to anoxia were also produced. The F1 generation oysters were subsequently exposed to anoxia or control normoxic conditions, and differences in expression of HSP 70 were examined. Nitrogen was used to create the anoxic conditions for both the parental and F1 generations. Three HSP 70 isoforms—2 constitutive forms (HSC 77 and HSC 72) and 1 inducible form (HSP 69)—were expressed in both anoxia- and normoxia-exposed oysters from all groups. Although there were differences among groups of oysters from the 2 sites, there were no differences in the expression of HSC 77 and HSC 72 between the control and anoxia-treated oysters within a group. Interestingly, the expression of HSP 69 was higher in oysters exposed to normoxia than the ones from anoxia treatments. These differences are thought to reflect a combination of responses to nutritional stress in the controls and facultative anaerobiosis and metabolic arrest in the anoxia groups

Life and dietary factors of incidence in immediate allergic response against foods in 18 months old infants

Using the method of questionnaires, we surveyed 2,114 infants aged 18 months old to know how life and dietary styles are related to incidence of immediate allergic response against foods. 12.0% in the surveyed children was found as having immediate allergic response against foods, and 91.5% of them omitted foods including hen's egg (73.2%), foods containing hen's egg (46.5%), cow's milk (31.6%), foods containing cow's milk (24.6%), and sea foods (15.8%). Life and dietary factors of incidence in immediate allergic response against foods was found in the surveyed infants who were first time nursing for their parents, or who was breast-feeding baby without any bottle-feeding. Early weaning before 4 months old was not found as a trigger of incidence of immediate allergic response against foods. These results suggested that some factors were present in life and dietary styles to cause immediate allergic response against foods in 18 months old infants

新刊紹介

p.110, pp.131-132, pp.153-154, p.164, p.17