Probiotic supplementation has been part of the discussion on methods to enhance humoral immunity. Administration of Bifidobacterium bifidum OLB6378 (OLB6378) reduced the incidence of late-onset sepsis in infants. In this non-randomized study, we aimed to determine the effect of administration of live OLB6378 on infants’ humoral immunity. Secondly, we tried to elucidate whether similar effects would be observed with administration of non-live OLB6378. Low birth weight (LBW) infants weighing 1500–2500 g were divided into three groups: Group N (no intervention), Group L (administered live OLB6378 concentrate), and Group H (administered non-live OLB6378 concentrate). The interventions were started within 48 h after birth and continued until six months of age. Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels (IgG at one month/IgG at birth) were significantly higher in Group L than in Group N (p < 0.01). Group H exhibited significantly higher serum IgG levels (p < 0.01) at one month of age and significantly higher intestinal secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) levels (p < 0.05) at one and two months of age than Group N. No difference was observed in the mortality or morbidity between groups. Thus, OLB6378 administration in LBW infants enhanced humoral immunity, and non-live OLB6378, which is more useful as a food ingredient, showed a more marked effect than the viable bacteria.

The perinatal mortality rate in Japan has recently been at the lowest level in the world. However, the perinatal mortality rate of Shiga prefecture has been continuously higher than the Japanese average. The reason for this has not yet been explained. The perinatal mortality rate comprises both stillbirths and neonatal deaths. As stillbirths were almost double neonatal deaths, we focused on the stillbirths to determine how they might be prevented. All of the stillbirth certificates in Shiga Prefecture during 2007-2011 were inspected. On the basis of that information, we designed the original questionnaire and sent it to each obstetrician submitting a death certificate to obtain further information associated with the stillbirth. Reviewing retrospectively returned questionnaires by a peer-review team, we evaluated the possibility of preventing stillbirth along with recommendations for prevention. There were 252 stillbirths among 66,682 deliveries in Shiga during this period. We were able to analyze 188 stillbirths (75%). The audit conference judged that 47 cases of them (25%) were determined to have had some possibility of prevention with seven cases (4%) having strong possibility. We identified major causes of preventable stillbirths, including substandard obstetrical management, delayed referral of high-risk women from primary obstetrical clinics to higher perinatal centers, and delayed visits of pregnant women with decreased fetal movements to clinics or hospitals. Based on the results of this study, we conclude that education for pregnant women is required as well as the necessity of improving obstetric care to prevent stillbirths.

This is the first report of symptomatic Meckel diverticulum in a newborn, in which direct compression by a short mesodiverticular band (MDB) caused intestinal obstruction. A short MDB can cause intestinal obstruction due to direct compression. There are two mechanisms by which Meckel diverticulum with MDB can cause intestinal obstruction: internal hernia and direct compression. Onset of intestinal obstruction due to direct compression by a short MDB might be earlier than that for internal hernia with long MDB.

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Key words: Malignant rhabdoid tumor -Estrogen receptor -Antiestrogen -ApoptosisEstrogens have long been recognized to play important roles in the growth and differentiation of reproductive and non-reproductive tissues.1, 2) It has also become clear that most breast cancers are dependent on estrogens for growth and progression, and this has been the basis for continuing interest in the role of estrogen receptor (ER) in the prognosis of this devastating disease. However, some recent reports have demonstrated that ER expression may have a role in neoplasms other than breast cancer, such as colon cancer, meningioma, prostate cancer, and myeloma. [3][4][5][6] The antiestrogen tamoxifen (TAM) has been widely used in the treatment of breast cancer, 7) and recently against some other cancers as well.8) Antiestrogens can be classified into two major groups: analogs of TAM or its metabolites (type I) that have mixed estrogenic/antiestrogenic actions, and pure antiestrogens (type II) that have no estrogen-like properties in laboratory assays.9) 4-Hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT) is converted to an active metabolite of TAM, while ICI 182 780 is a pure antiestrogen that is being clinically evaluated as a useful agent following failure of TAM treatment.9-12) It is thought that inhibition of ER by antiestrogens may block the secretion of growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α). In addition to its cytostatic effects, TAM has also been shown to be cytotoxic against tumor cells, even tumor cells lacking ER. 13,14) Such cytotoxic effects were thought to be mediated by the induction of apoptosis. 15,16) Malignant rhabdoid tumors (MRT) are rare, highly aggressive neoplasms specific to early childhood, and have an extremely poor prognosis due to the high potential for distant metastasis. [17][18][19] While various organs and tissues, including the kidneys, can be the primary site of MRT, [20][21][22][23][24] a characteristic feature of MRT cells is the presence of large eosinophilic inclusions in the cytoplasm. 25)Poor response to treatment results in an extremely poor prognosis.19) Our laboratory has previously reported that expression of insulin-like growth factor receptor 26) and EGF receptor 27) was associated with MRT cell proliferation. However, very little is known of MRT cell growth and differentiation. We believe that further investigation into the mechanisms of MRT cell proliferation may help to improve the poor disease prognosis.ER expression and the effects of antiestrogens on MRT cells are currently unknown. Therefore, we first focussed on MRT cell ER expression through examination of ER mRNA and protein levels in six MRT cell lines. We then studied the effects of antiestrogens 4-OHT, TAM, and ICI 182 780 on the MRT cell lines by analyzing alterations in cell growth. Lastly, we also studied the induction of apoptosis through the use of nuclear morphology and DNA fragmentation assays. MATERIALS AND METHODSCell culture and compound MRT cell lines TM87-16,