Akinobu Sumiyoshi

Second nation-wide study of atherosclerosis in infants, children and young adults in Japan

Abstract This paper reports the results of a nation-wide cooperative study of atherosclerosis in young, first generation Japanese with ages ranging from 1 month to 39 years, who were autopsied between 1978 and 1982 in hospitals distributed over the entire archipelago of Japan. Atherosclerotic lesions in 2320 aortas, 1620 coronary arteries and 344 cerebral arteries were classified into fatty streaks, fibrous plaques and complicated lesions and were then quantificated with the point-counting method. Atherosclerosis of aortas, coronary arteries and cerebral arteries, determined by surface involvement (SI) of atherosclerotic lesions and atherosclerotic index (AI), increased with age; the severest were seen in aortas, and then, with decreasing severity, in the coronary and cerebral arteries. Fatty streaks preceded the other lesions and accounted for the largest portion of the lesions in aortas and coronary arteries. Fibrous plaques and complicated lesions developed in the later decades of life. The patients with collagen diseases had a greater severity of aortic atherosclerosis in the 2nd and 3rd decades of life, than those without such disorders. Correlation of antemortem clinical data with SI and Al of each artery were analyzed, using simple correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Age, serum cholesterol and blood pressure were significantly and positively correlated with SI and AI of aortas and coronary arteries. Serum cholesterol was more strongly correlated with the extent of fatty streaks than was mean blood pressure and vice versa with that of fibrous plaques. Atherosclerosis of cerebral arteries, however, showed a significant correlation only with the factor of mean blood pressure. Therefore the susceptibility to risk factors varies with the artery in cases of early lesions of atherosclerosis in young Japanese.

Muramyl dipeptide induces acute joint inflammation in the mouse

Acute joint inflammation was produced in BALB/c mice by a single intravenous injection of synthetic muramyl dipeptide (MDP), its stereoisomers and 6‐O‐acyl derivatives of MDP. Four adjuvant‐active, but not five adjuvant‐inactive MDP analogs induced acute swelling and erythema of the ankles and wrists which were detected around 6–10 hr, reached the maximum severity by 18–24 hr and subsided by days 3 to 4 after injection. Introduction of the stearoyl group, but not the α‐branched long chain fatty acid group into the C‐9 hydroxyl group of MDP enhanced and prolonged the joint lesions compared with MDP.

RHABDOMYOSARCOMA OF THE ESOPHAGUS

Primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the esophagus is extremely rare. This report describes such a rare case of primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the esophagus found in a sixty years old Japanese man, and its rarity was stressed in review of the past literature. Furthermore, in this case the sarcoid‐like lesions were noted in the spleen as well as in its draining lymph nodes at surgery, but no sarcoid‐like lesions were revealed anywhere at autopsy. These facts may indicate that the pattern of the hosts tissue response is of great significance in the development of sarcoid reaction.

Primary osteogenic sarcoma of the liver--report of an autopsy case.

An autopsy case of a 52 years old male with primary osteogenic sarcoma arising in the cirrhotic liver was reported. A huge, yellowishgray, firm, multinodular tumor was found in the right lobe of the liver. Several small metastatic foci were noted in the right atrium and the small intestine. Microscopic examination revealed that the lesions showed polymorphic features but an essentially similar appearance as osteosarcoma originating in the skeleton.

Dietary effect of magnesium on cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis of rabbits

Summary The dietary effect of various amounts of magnesium on cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis of rabbits was investigated. There was a significant enhancement of the lipid deposition in the aorta of rabbits fed a magnesium-deficient diet containing cholesterol. However, this study failed to demonstrate any retarding effect from the feeding of magnesium excess diets on aorta lipid deposition.

Induction of Delayed Type Hypersensitivity-Like Skin Reaction by Peptidoglycans of Bacterial Cell Walls

Water‐soluble glycopeptides isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum and Staphylococcus epidermidis cell walls elicited a delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH)‐like skin reaction in rats previously immunized with Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell walls, but not in unimmunized rats. Histological examination of the skin reaction sites in immunized animals revealed a close similarity of this skin reaction to a typical DTH reaction with respect to the time course of development and the types of cells that infiltrated into the skin reaction sites, which were characterized by a predominant infiltration of mononuclear cells at 48 hr. This DTH‐like reaction was also demonstrated by immunizing the rats with the cell wall peptidoglycans of L. plantarum or S. epidermidis and skin testing them with homologous as well as heterologous peptidoglycans. The DTH‐like reaction appeared to be caused by peptidoglycans that exist in common in the cell walls of phylogenetically distant bacterial species. Furthermore, it was also suggested that the putative antigenic determinants) might include both the glycan chain and part of the peptide moieties of the cell wall peptidoglycan rather than either of the single moieties.

Structural Requirement of Synthetic N-Acetylmuramyl Dipeptides for Induction of Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis in the Rat

Synthetic N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (MurNAc-L-Ala-D-isoGln or muramyl dipeptide [MDP]) has been found to have the minimal adjuvant-active structure of peptidoglycans of cell walls of mycobacteria and other bacteria (5, 8, 10, 18). Several stereoisomers and analogs of MDP have been synthesized and tested in order to evaluate the relationship between immunoadjuvant activity and chemical structure under various assay systems (for reviews, see 3, 7). Most re-

Pulmonary edema induced by renal extracts originating from rats with experimental hypertension

Abstract In an attempt to elucidate a vascular injury factor of renal origin in relation to renin, renal extracts of varying renin content originating from rats with experimental hypertension were injected intraperitoneally into bilaterally nephrectomized rats. Experimental hypertension was produced by unilateral main renal artery constriction and also by salt ingestion associated with uninephrectomy, or uninephrectomy plus resection of the half of the remaining kidney. Renin content was increased in the extract of clipped kidney, but much less in the extracts of the kidney contralateral to the clipped and also of the salt-treated kidney. Early death within 15 hours following the injection occurred more frequently in the rats given the extracts of three types of hypertensive kidneys than in those similarly treated with the extract of normal kidney. The extract of clipped kidney was most injurious of all. The major cause of death was considered to be pulmonary edema. The significance of these findings was discussed.