Sakari Timonen

Mitotic modifications and aberrations in human cervical cancer

Mitotic modifications and aberrations characteristic of human malignant tumors have been analyzed and illustrated in cervical cancer. Most of them can be explained by assuming that the coordination of the centrosomal and chromosomal mechanisms, typical of normal mitosis, is disturbed. When the spindle mechanism is ahead of the chromosomes, the prophase is relatively shortened. This expresses itself in an increase of the ratio of metaphases to prophases (M/P), which in normal tissues is around 1. With M/P values of 4-6, the first tripolar metaphases are formed, and with higher ratios, divisions having more and more poles appear. The spindle and the chromosomes are out of step in the opposite direction in endocycles, in which the spindle is slowed down or absent. The most common of the endocycles is endoreduplication, followed by endomitosis, which is found in more than half of the cervical cancers. Mitotic abnormalities include lagging chromosomes in metaphase and anaphase and bridges in anaphase, which, when numerous, may lead to restitution. More sporadically occurring are C-mitosis and other abnormalities, including cell and nuclear fusions. There is a wide range of variation in the occurrence and frequency of chromocenters within a tumor, and an even greater variation between tumors. About one-fifth of cervical cancers lack X chromatin bodies. The abnormal chromosome constitutions in cancer are the result of various mitotic modifications and aberrations, as well as chromosome rearrangements. New chromosome combinations are constantly created and selection promotes the fastest dividing ones, which, in turn, become new stem lines of the tumor.

The Urine-Plasma Ratio of Some Proteins in Gestosis

Abstract. The urine and plasma content of certain proteins was studied near term in healthy gravidas, in gravidas with essential hypertension, proteinuria, hypertension of pregnancy and gestosis (pre‐eclampsia; toxaemia), besides this the ratio of urine‐plasma concentrations for each protein was calculated. In gestosis only the urine‐plasma ratio of ceruloplasmin differed from those of the other proteins, but in the other diseases studied this ratio showed no difference from that in healthy gravidas. The amounts of different proteins excreted in urine did not correlate with the molecular size of the respective protein.

Hormonal and Neurovegetative Factors in Myomagenesis

Myoma of the uterus is one of the commonest gynzcological diseases. I t represents about 8 to 15 per cent of all cases (Mi t t e l s t r a s s , 1955). The atiology of myoma has been studied from numerous angles (M i t t e l s t r a s s, 1955 ; H e y n e m a n n, 1955). That estrogens play a part in the genesis of this disease has recently been considered very likely ( C l a u b e r g , 1933; W i t h e r spoon , 1935-36; M a r t i n , 1938; D i e t e l , 1938, etc.). Administration of estrogens induced myomata in experimental animals ( L i p s c h u t z , 1950). If the estrogen theory is correct, it still remains to be explained why not all the experimental animals develop myoma and what constitutes the detailed mechanism of myomagenesis in man. The aim of the present investigation is to illustrate the role played by estrogens in the ztiology of myoma and to consider other factors, chiefly neurovegetative, which may play a part in myomagenesis.

The Effect of Papaverin on the Circulation of Pre-Eclamptic and Eclamptic Patients

An important factor in the symptom complex of the toxemia of pregnancy is a spastic condition in the blood vessel walls. I t is therefore natural that spasmolytic drugs have been used in order to attain at least momentary relief. P i g e a n d and D u m o n t (1946) thus recommend papaverin for the treatment of acute pre-eclamptia. Papaverin acts peripherally and its toxicity is slight. In addition it acts as a kind of antagonist to vasopressin: the effects on the activity of the muscles of the blood vessels, the intestines, the bladder and the ureter are opposed. This antagonism is, however, only apparent, as papaverin acts directly on the smooth muscle fibrils (Pal , 1913) and is thus totally unconnected with the humoral-vegetative path of vasopressin. As papaverin as well as other spasmolytic drugs on these grounds are used in the treatment of toxemia of pregnancy, we wanted to elucidate their actual effect. As the most typical representant of these we chose papaverin, the classic spasmolytic drug isolated by Merck in 1948. The experiments were performed on 40 toxemia patients, representing as a rule the eclamptic or pre-eclamptic phase. ‘The effect of an intramuscular papaverin-hydrochloride injection on the blood pressure and the cardial output have been studied. Fig. I shows that a clear decrease in the blood pressure was observed already 15 mins. after an injection of 0,04 g, in regard to the systolic pressure the maximum was reached in 30 mins., in regard to the diastolic pressure in 60 mins. The same phen-