Impact of myocardial perfusion abnormality on prognosis in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy

SummaryBackgroundMyocardial perfusion imaging shows various patterns in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, influences of regional abnormalities of myocardial perfusion or ventricular wall motion on prognosis in DCM patients remains to be clarified. Accordingly, we investigated a relation between myocardial perfusion patterns and long-term prognosis in DCM patients.Methods and resultsSixty-two patients were divided into 2 groups according to patterns of 99mTc-Tetrofosmin scintigraphy, i.e. large focal defects (focal) and minimally impaired perfusion or multiple small defects (non-focal). There were no differences between the 2 groups in left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic dimensions (63.4±9.1 and 63.8.4±7.5mm, respectively) and LV ejection fraction (30.3±9.2 and 27.9±7.8%, respectively), indicating LV systolic dysfunction was comparable between the groups. The focal group had a higher prevalence of brain natriuretic peptide ≧200ng/dl and plasma norepinephrine ≧500pg/ml than the non-focal group (p<0.05), and had longer QRS durations (p<0.05). The focal group had non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) (p<0.05) on 24-h electrocardiogram recording and a history of VT/ventricular fibrillation more frequently (p<0.05), and had higher New York Heart Association functional class than the non-focal group (p<0.05). The mortality was significantly higher in the focal group (56.0%) than in the non-focal group (28.6%) and the survival curves revealed worse prognosis in the focal group during a follow-up period of 5.3±2.8 years.ConclusionsNon-ischemic DCM patients with focal defects are accompanied by more advanced heart failure and poor prognosis compared to those with minimally impaired perfusion or multiple small defects, despite comparable LV systolic dysfunction

Advanced moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma of the rectum with favorable prognosis by postoperative chemoradiation

Rectal neuroendocrine carcinoma is rare with poor prognosis. We report herein a case of advanced moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma of the rectum with relatively favorable prognosis treated by postoperative adjuvant chemoradiation therapy. A 58-year-old Japanese female was referred and colonofiberscopy revealed an easy-bleeding irregular tumor in the lower rectum, which was pathologically diagnosed as a neuroendocrine carcinoma. Surgical treatment consisted of abdominoperineal resection and lymph node dissection. The tumor invaded deeply into perirectal tissues, and 9 of 11 lymph node metastases were observed. Immunohistochemically, chromogranin A showed diffuse and strong staining, and the MIB-1 labeling index was 18.3 ± 5.6, supporting the high proliferation of the tumor. Some nucleus of the tumor showed positive staining for p21/WAF1. A total dose of 46 Gy of radiotherapy was delivered with 800 mg of daily oral doxifluridine. At 5 years post-surgery, the patient demonstrated no clinical evidence of intrapelvic recurrence or distant metastases

Analysis of mTOR Inhibition-Involved Pathway in Ovarian Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma

This study was designed to clarify the mechanism of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) pathway using the cultured cell strain derived from human ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA). Everolimus (a derivative of rapamycin)-treated cells and non-treated cells did not show any difference in mTOR expression. But, phosphorylated-mTOR (p-mTOR) expression significantly decreased in the treated cells, and mTOR-related factors such as phosphorylated-4E-BP1 (p-4E-BP1), HIF-1α, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the downstream region of mTOR revealed a marked decrease in expression. The analysis of influences of the drug on the HIF-1α degradation system showed an increase in von-Hippel Lindau (VHL) expression in the treated cells. Increase of cleaved caspase-3, one of key factors involved in apoptosis, was also shown in the treated cells. In the next step, using nude mice implanted with RMG-1 cells, a decrease in tumor size was demonstrated in 4 of the 7 mice which were orally administered with everolimus. As a result, it was suggested that everolimus administration would be helpful as an anti-tumor therapy for CCA not only via down-regulation of p-mTOR but also degradation of HIF-1α by VHL and induction of apoptosis by cleaved caspase-3

Probiotics into outer space: feasibility assessments of encapsulated freeze-dried probiotics during 1 month’s storage on the International Space Station

Suppression of immune function during long spaceflights is an issue that needs to be overcome. The well-established probiotic Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) could be a promising countermeasure, and we have launched a project to investigate the efficacy of its use on the International Space Station (ISS). As a first step, we developed a specialist probiotic product for space experiments, containing freeze-dried LcS in capsule form (Probiotics Package), and tested its stability through 1 month of storage on the ISS. The temperature inside the ISS ranged from 20.0 to 24.5 °C. The absorbed dose rate of the flight sample was 0.26 mGy/day and the dose equivalent rate was 0.52 mSv/day. The number of live LcS was 1.05 × 1011 colony-forming units/g powder (49.5% of the initial value) 6 months after the start of the study; this value was comparable to those in the two ground controls. Profiles of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA, sequence variant frequency, carbohydrate fermentation, reactivity to LcS-specific antibody, and the cytokine-inducing ability of LcS in the flight sample did not differ from those of the ground controls. We can therefore maintain the viability and basic probiotic properties of LcS stored as a Probiotics Package on the ISS

The Japanese classification of computed tomography for pneumoconioses with standard films: comparison with the ILO international classification of radiographs for pneumoconioses

Computed tomography (CT) has recently come to be used for personal diagnosis of pneumoconioses and preliminarily for epidemiological purposes. This study aimed to compare the diagnosis of pneumoconioses b y t h e J a p a n e s e C l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f C T f o r Pneumoconioses (Hosoda-Shida Classification) with that by the ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses (ILO 1980 standard). The Hosoda-Shida Classification is also described in this article. Subjects and Methods: CT and chest posterior-anterior X-ray (CXR) were performed in 21 subjects with an occupational history of mining, and 6 subject without exposure to any risk of pneumoconiosis. Three radiologists independently described the findings of CT and CXR according to both the Hosoda-Shida Classification and the ILO 1980 standard, respectively. Results: At least two of the three readers agreed in determining both the profusion and the type of small rounded opacities in 96% (26/27) of the CT films. The inter-reader agreement of profusion was satisfactory Received May 25, 2000; Accepted Oct 3, 2000 Correspondence to: N. Suganuma, Department of Environmental Health, Fukui Medical University School of Medicine, Fukui 910-1193 with the Cohen&apos;s weighted kappa value of 0.57 to 0.71. The weighted kappa for CXR and CT in describing the profusion and the type of small rounded opacities were 0.70 and 0.77, respectively. Conclusion: The HosodaShida Classification for pneumoconioses is shown to be reliable and compatible with the ILO 1980 standard in describing the profusion and the type of small opacities. (J Occup Health 2001; 43: 24-31

CRYSTAL GROWTH OF RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS IN CLOSED SYSTEM

Remarkable improvements have been made on the crystal growth of rare earth pnictides and chalchogenides by the development of new growth technique and the construction of several new equipments for the crystal growth such as electron beam welding system of tungsten crucible provided with large glove box and vacuum HF furnace. This system has really worked on obtaining excellent quality of single crystals and made easier to explore unknown materials of rare earth compounds. Interesting and attractive physical properties of these compounds were obtained from the crystals produced by this system and contributed to extend a new scope of the heavy Fermion physics