Between 1960 and 1975, 17 patients with congenital cystic dilatation of the common bile duct (choledochal cyst) were treated and three were associated with malignant tumors in the cysts and one was with carcinoma of the gallbladder. Preoperative diagnosis of adenocarcinoma in the choledochal cyst was established in one patient by cytologic examination of the bile which was obtained during the procedure of endoscopic pancreaticocholangraphy (EPCG) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC). Definitive treatment of the choledochal cysts associated with malignant tumors in the biliary tract was accomplished by excision of the cysts with tumor and choledochojejunostomy in two patients, by cystoduodenostomy following external drainage in one and by cholecystectomy with resection of invaded transverse colon in one with cancer of the gallbladder. Successful excision of choledochal cysts in 11 patients including three cases associated with malignant tumors in the biliary tract during the last 15 year period is the basis of this report.

Res. 2003;11:87-94. Objective: Subcutaneous administrations of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to neonatal animals result in obesity and induce the toxicity on the central nervous system, and furthermore, have an effect on entero-pancreatic hormone. The effect of MSG on the cell turnover of organs, especially the pancreas, has received little attention until now. This study was designed to examine the effect of MSG on pancreatic cell turnover by immunohistochemistry and [ 3 H]thymidine autoradiography. Research Methods and Procedures: Male JcI-ICR strain mice were SC injected with MSG (2 mg/g body weight daily) for 5 days after birth, received 112 repeated injections of [ 3 H]thymidine at 6-hour intervals for 28 days after birth, and then were killed immediately thereafter, or 30, 60, or 120 days after the last injection. Autoradiography was performed on sections immunostained for glucagon, insulin, and somatostatin.Results: After continuous labeling, most pancreatic cells were labeled, and thereafter, labeling of cells decreased in control and MSG-treated mice. The mean grain counts of acinar cells in MSG-treated mice decreased more slowly than those in control mice. On the other hand, those of islet cells, including glucagon, insulin, and somatostatin cells, decreased more rapidly in MSG-treated mice than those in control mice. Discussion: Cell turnover of acinar cells was decelerated and that of islet cells including glucagon, insulin, and somatostatin cells was accelerated in MSG-treated mice pancreas. MSG-induced hypothalamic lesions exert the contrary influences on the cell turnover of acinar and islet cells.

These results suggest that pancreatic gastrin cells do not die off or change to another type of endocrine cell and that some gastrin cells change to insulin cells.

No abstract

No abstract