No abstract

To determine the frequency of fetal nucleated cells in maternal peripheral blood during different stages of pregnancy, 50 primigravidas were investigated by determining the frequency of cells with the Y chromosome using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of Y-specific repetitive sequences of the DYZ1 family. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifying the same part of the DYZ1 used as the probe in FISH and a single-copy Y-specific fragment was also carried out for genomic DNA from the same samples. Cells with the hybridization signal were detected by FISH at and after 15 weeks of pregnancy in all pregnant women who gave birth to boys. The ratio of cells with the signal to those without the signal ranged from 1 in 144,000 to 1 in 4,000 with a tendency to increase as the pregnancy advanced. The frequency of fetal cells estimated by the PCR experiments was significantly and positively correlated with that found by FISH. The present study suggests that fetal nucleated cells increase in maternal peripheral blood with advancing gestation, from less than 1 in 100,000 nucleated cells in the first trimester to around 1 in 10,000 at term. These frequencies were much lower than those reported by cytological methods.

A thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the prone position is technically safe and feasible and provides better surgeon ergonomics and better operative exposure around the left recurrent laryngeal nerve during an aggressive esophagectomy.

The distribution and occurrence of polyisoprenoids (dolichols and polyprenols) in the leaves and roots of nine true Okinawan mangroves and the leaves of one associate mangrove were analyzed using two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. In the leaves, the distribution of three types (I, II, and III) of polyprenols and dolichols were detected. (I) The predominance of dolichols over polyprenols (more than 90%) was observed in Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. gymnorrhiza (yellow leaves), and Rhizophora stylosa. (II) The occurrence of both polyprenols and dolichols is observed in Excoecaria agallocha, Kandelia obovata, K. obovata (yellow leaves), Lumnitzera racemosa, Pemphis acidula, and Sonneratia alba. (III) The predominance of polyprenols over dolichols (more than 90%) is observed in Heritiera littoralis and Hibiscus tiliaceus. However, in the roots, a type-I distribution was observed in A. marina, B. gymnorrhiza, E. agallocha, H. littoralis and S. alba. A type-II distribution was observed in K. obovata, L. racemosa, P. acidula, and R. stylosa with no type-III distribution. The chain-length distribution of dolichols in the leaves and roots was C 50-C 140 and C 60-C 120 , respectively. A similar chain-length distribution of polyprenols of C 45-C 140 and C 65-C 85 was detected in the leaves and roots respectively. Taken together, sixteen out of twenty-one tissues indicated that dolichols are more abundant than polyprenols in both leaves and roots. The present study is the first to clarify the diversity of polyisoprenoids in both the leaves and roots of mangrove, suggesting the chemotaxonomic significance of polyisoprenoids in the mangrove tree species.

This paper describes the antitumoral activity of branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA) in human breast cancer cells with an emphasis on its effect on fatty acid biosynthe sis. First, the relationship between chain-length and antitumoral activity was studied. The highest activity was observed with iso-16:0, and the activity decreased with increase or decrease of the chain-lengths from C 16:0. Anteiso-BCFA, as well as iso-series, was cytotoxic to the breast cancer cells. Cytotoxicity of BCFA was comparable to that of conjugated linoleic acid known as antitumoral fatty acid. Incubation of breast cancer cells with BCFA (13-methyltetradecanoic acid) significantly reduced the [14C] acetate incorporation into free fatty acid and fatty acid esters, showing the inhibition of fatty acid biosynthesis by BCFA. Examination of substrate level effect found that BCFA slightly inhibited fatty acid synthetase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and significantly the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase which was the main NADPH generating system in breast cancer cells. The present study thus suggests that BCFA synthetically lowers the fatty acid biosynthesis by reducing the pre cursors, in addition to its direct inhibitory effect on fatty acid synthetase.

Background We developed a new method of intracorporeal gastroduodenostomy, the delta-shaped anastomosis, in which only endoscopic linear staplers are used. In this report, we present the short-and long-term outcomes of our initial experience with this procedure. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 100 consecutive gastric cancer patients who underwent the delta-shaped anastomosis procedure from May 2001 to November 2006. All of them underwent a laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with regional lymph node dissection. Quality of life was assessed with a questionnaire 6 months or more postoperatively, and the gastric remnant was evaluated by endoscopy one year following the surgery. Results Eight surgeons successfully performed the deltashaped anastomosis without any conversion to laparotomy. The learning curve for all surgeons was steep and the mean time for the anastomosis was 13 min. Only one patient developed an anastomotic leak, and the leak was minor. Sixty-five patients tolerated a 1500 kcal/day soft diet at the time of discharge. The mean follow-up period was 54.9 months. Only one patient reported symptoms indicative of dumping. Two patients were diagnosed with reflux esophagitis, and approximately 70% had evidence of bile reflux, but severe gastritis of the remnant stomach on endoscopy was uncommon. Conclusions The wide lumen of the delta-shaped anastomosis led to early, adequate postoperative oral intake without a significant incidence of dumping syndrome. The delta-shaped anastomosis is safe and simple and provides satisfactory postoperative results.

The hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is activated in various types of cancer including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. It has been shown that extremely low oxygen tension (below 1% O 2 ) is found in tumor tissue including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells (PDAC) and increases the invasiveness of PDAC. To investigate the contribution of the Hh pathway to hypoxia-induced invasiveness, we examined how hypoxia affects Hh pathway activation and the invasiveness of PDAC. In the present study, three human PDAC lines were cultured under normoxic (20% O 2 ) or hypoxic (1% O 2 ) conditions. Hypoxia upregulated the transcription of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), Smoothened (Smo), Gli1 and matrix metalloproteinase9 (MMP9) and increased the invasiveness of PDAC. Significantly, neither the addition of recombinant Shh (rhShh) nor the silencing of Shh affected the transcription of these genes and the invasiveness of PDAC. On the other hand, silencing of Smo decreased the transcription of Gli1 and MMP9 and PDAC invasiveness. Silencing of Gli1 or MMP9 decreased PDAC invasiveness. These results suggest that hypoxia activates the Hh pathway of PDAC by increasing the transcription of Smo in a ligand-independent manner and increases PDAC invasiveness. (Cancer Sci 2011; 102: 1144-1150

Leukocytosis in tobacco smokers has been well recognized; however, the exact cause has not been elucidated. To test the hypothesis that tobacco nicotine stimulates neutrophils in the respiratory tract to produce IL-8, which causes neutrophilia in vivo, we examined whether nicotine induces neutrophil-IL-8 production in vitro; the causative role of NF-kappaB in its production, in association with the possible production of reactive oxygen intermediates that activate NF-kappaB; and the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) involved in IL-8 production. Nicotine stimulated neutrophils to produce IL-8 in both time- and concentration-dependent manners with a 50% effective concentration of 1.89 mM. A degradation of IkappaB-alpha/beta proteins and an activity of NF-kappaB p65 and p50 were enhanced following nicotine treatment. The synthesis of superoxide and the oxidation of dihydrorhodamine 123 (DHR) were also enhanced. The NOS inhibitor, nomega-Nitro-l-arginine methyl ester, prevented nicotine-induced IL-8 production, with an entire abrogation of DHR oxidation, IkappaB degradation, and NF-kappaB activity. Neutrophils spontaneously produced NO whose production was not increased, but rather decreased by nicotine stimulation, suggesting that superoxide, produced by nicotine, generates peroxynitrite by reacting with preformed NO, which enhances the NF-kappaB activity, thereby producing IL-8. The nAChRs seemed to be involved in IL-8 production. In smokers, blood IL-8 levels were significantly higher than those in nonsmokers. In conclusion, nicotine stimulates neutrophil-IL-8 production via nAChR by generating peroxynitrite and subsequent NF-kappaB activation, and the IL-8 appears to contribute to leukocytosis in tobacco smokers.