Japanese EATL exhibited different histology, cytogenetic findings and HLA status from those of typical type I EATL. The rare incidence of coeliac disease may influence the tumour cell characteristics of EATL and IELs.

We investigated the toxic effect of levofloxacin (LVFX), a quinolone antibacterial agent, on cartilage by examining aspects of its in vivo toxicokinetics and effect on the function of cultured chondrocytes of the femoral articular cartilage from juvenile New Zealand White rabbits. Repeated administration of LVFX (100 mg/kg) orally for 7 days induced focal necrosis and superficial erosion in the articular cartilage of the femoral condyle, but 30 mg/kg did not. Concentrations of LVFX in the cartilage were highest at the first sampling point (30 min) after a single administration, being 4.93 and 12.2 g/g in the 30-and 100-mg/kg groups, respectively. The arthropathic concentration of LVFX in the cartilage was then shown to be 12.2 g/g or more. For an in vitro study, chondrocytes were separated from the articular cartilage of the rabbit femoral condyle and cultured for 7 days until confluence. 35SO 4 uptake by cultured chondrocyte sheets was most susceptible to LVFX, decreasing at drug concentrations of 5 g/ml or more in 24-and 48-h cultures but not in a 72-h culture. Furthermore, 3 H-thymidine uptake was decreased at concentrations of 10 g/ml or more in a 48-h culture but not in 24-and 72-h cultures. Rhodamine 123 accumulation was susceptible to inhibition in cultured chondrocytes at an LVFX concentration of 10 g/ml or more. These results suggest that LVFX inhibits glycosaminoglycan synthesis initially and DNA synthesis and mitochondrial function secondarily at actual arthropathic concentrations in cultured rabbit chondrocytes but that these changes are reversible and not enough to kill the cells.Adverse effects of quinolone antibacterial drugs, including arthralgia, joint swelling, arthropathy, and arthritis, have been reported at incidences of less than 0.5% in healthy volunteers and juvenile and adult patients (17). Quinolones are well known to induce cavitation in the articular cartilage of juvenile rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, marmosets, and crab-eating monkeys but not in that of adults; of these species, dogs are thought to be most susceptible to this chondrotoxicity (4,5,11,12,15,16,24,25,27,29,31). However, the relationship between the adverse clinical effects of these drugs and their toxic lesions in laboratory animals has not been clarified.The initial changes in quinolone-induced toxicity in the articular cartilage of juvenile animals are thought to occur in chondrocytes (6,8,19) or in the matrix (4). In our previous ex vivo study, ofloxacin (OFLX) inhibited the uptake of 3 H-thymidine and 35 SO 4 by the articular cartilage of juvenile rats 12 h after oral administration of a single large dose (20). Considering the inhibitory effect of the drug on topoisomerase II of mammalian cells, we then speculated that the initial target of OFLX in its induction of cartilage damage was the DNA synthesis of chondrocytes. Histopathological examinations by Stahlmann et al. (29) and Burkhardt et al. (6,8) after administration of OFLX and difloxacin revealed mitochondrial swelling and distention of the rough endopla...

These results confirmed the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine including touching and massage found in previous studies. Hand massage prompted relaxation in geriatric facility residents in this experiment.