Sanae Tanaka

Intestinal atresia due to intrauterine intussusception: Analysis of 24 cases in Japan

Abstract We have presented two cases of intestinal atresia due to intrauterine intussusception and reviewed 22 Japanese cases collected through personal communication. Most of the infants were full-term and without other malformations; they passed meconium, even though the abdominal scout film suggested an ileal atresia. On barium enema, a normal size colon was frequently observed. At operation, the atresia in all cases was single, and cord or gap type, and their prognoses were excellent. A necrotic intussusceptum or polypoid protrusion was seen in the distal bowel. These facts strongly suggest that intrauterine intussusception may occur in a late stage of pregnancy, and cause the impairment of blood supply to the intestine. The presence of occult blood in the meconium is indispensable for the diagnosis of these types of intestinal atresias.

Preoperative cell-mediated immune status of gastric cancer patients

The status of cell‐mediated immunity was studied in 360 patients with gastric cancer before surgery. For the skin test, tuberculin and DNCB were employed. For the in vitro test, the blastogenesis of peripheral blood lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the ratio of rosette‐forming T cells to sheep blood red cells, and the macrophage migration inhibitory factor against autochthonous tumor antigens were measured. As a result, it was found that in progressive gastric cancers the cell‐mediated immunity decreased specifically or nonspecifically, especially the DNCB reaction; and the blastogenesis against PHA showed an inverse correlation to the advance of gastric cancer.

Change of macrophage migration inhibitory factor: Possible indicator for postoperative prognosis

Sixty three cancer cases who received minimum of the removal of the main tumor constitute the subjects of the present study. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) of peripheral blood lymphocytes was studied using extirpated autochthonous tumor tissues as antigen and guinea-pig peritoneal exudative cells as indicator cells immediately before the operation and the fourth postoperative week. The results indicated that in those cases of relatively early stage, i.e. Stages I and II, whose tumor was believed to have been removed completely, MIF turned negative in 7/9 (77.8 per cent) after the operation, while in others with advanced cancer of Stage IV in which the tumor bearing tissue was probably not completely removed, MIF turned positive in most cases (13/17: 75.6 per cent) postoperatively, even though it was negative before the operation. In the cases of Stage III with cancer progressed to an intermediate degree, in about half of the cases (7/11: 63.6 per cent) MIF turned negative after the operation and in the other half (7/10: 70 per cent) MIF became positive postoperatively, suggesting that for MIF to persist the presence of certain amount of tumor tissue is necessary.

The effect of deoxyspergualin (DSG) on rejection and graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) after small bowel transplantation

Abstract Both rejection and graft‐versus‐host‐disease may occur after fully allogeneic small bowel transplantation. In this study, we established unidirectional models of rejection and GVHD in rats and evaluated the efficacy of 15‐deoxyspergualin (DSG). When F1 small bowel was transplanted into LEW rats (rejection model) the graft was acutely rejected. The administration of DSG (5 mg/kg per day for 10 days) significantly prolonged the survival, but was efficacious only when used prophy‐lactically. When a unidirectional GVHD model (F1 ± LEW SBTx) was examined, the administration of DSG from day O after grafting greatly suppressed GVHD, resulting in more than 300 days survival. However, only cutaneous GVHD, but not fatal GVHD, was suppressed when the start of administration was postponed until day 4 after grafting. From in vitro studies, DSG inhibited natural killer cell activities to K‐562 and skin epidermal cells. The response was well correlated with in vivo GVHD course. These results suggest that DSG is an effective immunosuppressant for both rejection and GVHD when used prophylactically. DSG exerted the effect more stongly against cutaneous GVHD than fatal GVHD by inhibiting natural killer systems.

Histochemical and electron microscopic study on steroid-induced ulcer in rat stomach

SummaryThe superficial multiple ulcers were produced in the body mucosa of the stomach in male Wister rats with fasting and administration of 10 mg cortisone daily for 4 days. Two non-fasting groups of rats administered 10 mg cortisone for 10 days or 5 mg cortisone for 20 days served as controls. The following results were observed in the mucosa histochemically and electron microscopically:1)atrophy of the gastric mucosa, a decrease in the number of PAS positive cells and a decline in PAS positive reaction.2)delay in physiological regeneration observed by3H-thymidine autography.3)ultrastructual changes such as chromatin condensation of nucleus, swelling, abnormal shape or destruction of mitochondria, and increase in lysosomes, myelin-like degeneration, focal cytoplasmic degeneration, and expansion of the Golgi complex.4)a decline in electron density of secretory granules in the mucous cells and chief cells.