The putative role of singlet oxygen ( I O P ) in the respiratory burst of neutrophils has remained elusive due to the lack of reliable means to study its quantitative production. To measure I O P directly from biological or chemical reactions in the near infrared region, we have developed a highly sensitive detection system which employs two InGaAs/InP pin photodiodes incorporated with a dual charge integrating amplifier circuit. Using this detection system, we detected light emission derived from a myeloperoxidase (MPO)-mediated reaction in physiological conditions: pH 7.4, 1^30 nM MPO, 10^100 W WM H P O P and 100^130 mM Cl 3 in place of Br 3 without the use of deuterium oxide. The MPO-H P O P -Cl 3 system exhibited a single emission peak at 1.27 W Wm with a spectral distribution identical to that of delta singlet oxygen. Our results suggest physiological production of I O P in the MPO-H P O P -Cl 3 system at an intravacuolar neutral pH. The MPO-mediated generation of I O P , which may have an important role in host defense mechanisms, is discussed in connection with previous results.z 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Background. As geographic differences have been observed in the characteristics of thyroid carcinoma, an analysis was made on thyroid carcinoma in the iodine rich country of Japan. A total of 10,973 patients with histologically confirmed thyroid carcinoma registered in Japan from 1977-1986 were analyzed. Cases detected incidentally at autopsy and cases of nonepithelial tumor were excluded. This series included approximately 27% of all thyroid carcinoma cases in Japan. Results and Conclusions. Histologic distribution showed that papillary carcinoma accounted for 78.4% of cases, follicular carcinoma accounted for 17.2%, medullary carcinoma for 1.4%, squamous cell carcinoma for 0.3%, and anaplastic carcinoma for 2.7%. There is a tendency in Japan to diagnose papillary carcinoma as follicular carcinoma and to diagnose malignant lymphoma as anaplastic carcinoma. It was considered that the percentage of papillary carcinoma was higher and the percentage of follicular carcinoma and anaplastic carcinoma was lower than foregoing values. The characteristics of thyroid carcinoma in Japan were described, and the low incidence of nonpapillary carcinoma compared with papillary carcinoma was discussed in relation to iodine excess as an etiologic factor. Cancer 1992; 70:808-814.

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Neurilemoma, like other non-epithelial tumors, seldom occurs in the thyroid gland. A 57-year-old man was first referred to our hospital with an asymptomatic anterior neck tumor. A solid tumor was detected in the right lobe of the thyroid and an enucleation of the thyroid tumor was performed. The tumor was 35 x 33 x 33 mm in size, and diagnosed as Antoni A type neurilemoma. We were only able to find seven previously reported detailed cases of primary neurilemoma of the thyroid gland. A review of these cases, however, revealed that neurilemoma tends to develop in the right lobe of the thyroid gland. An operation is thus considered necessary and an enucleation of the tumor is appropriate.

For the purpose of evaluating the epidemiological situation of thyroid cancer in non-endemic regions, the prevalence of thyroid cancer was studied in the general population in 15 areas of Nagano Prefecture, Japan.In There are many countries where the prevalence of endemic goiter is still a matter of serious public health concern (Kelly et al., 1960).