Acta Medica Okayama volume43 issue6

Three types of traditional Chinese herb medicine were used to treat 98 patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma prior to surgical treatment. Forty-two patients with the same diagnosis were treated with these herbs plus cyclophosphamide (endoxan). One hundred similar patients received surgical treatment without herbs or endoxan treatment as controls. Histologic examinations of surgical specimens were made on all of these patients. Stromal lymphoid-cell infiltration and cancer tissue degeneration were more prominent in Menispernum dehuricum DC- or Chelidonium majus L-treated patients, and were less clear in patients treated with herbs plus endoxan and the controls. The antitumor action of herbs is thought to be brought about by the activation of an immunological rejection mechanism. Herbs plus endoxan may result in the masking of the immunological response of hosts without obviously damaging cancer tissues.

Sprague-Dawley rats, 6 with aminonucleoside nephrosis and 6 controls, were intravenously injected with human liver ferritin isolated from post mortem liver, and their 24-h urine samples were examined for human ferritin by immunoradiometric assay. In rats with aminonucleoside nephrosis, the amount of excreted ferritin in urine was forty times greater than in control rats. Much more monomeric ferritin was excreted than that of polymeric ferritin. We are the first to have utilized human liver ferritin as a tracer to measure a minor amount of ferritin by a commercially available kit. Our present study seems to indicate a critical role for glomerular basement membrane as a size barrier.

Suppression of the cellular immune system appears to be a prerequisite for the manifestation of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). In other words, ATL will develop when impairment of the immune system is caused by the infection of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). This defect of immune surveillance against virus-infected cells may be a result of the impairment of the function of cytotoxic T-cells (CTLs) specific for the HTLV-I-infected cells. The manifestation of ATL could be predicted by examining the function of CTLs in HTLV-I carriers. A new strategy of prevention and therapy for ATL would include an attempt to restore and fortify the CTL function of the host.

We investigated the effects of fractionated sera obtained from cancer patients by double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) plus antitumor agents on murine pulmonary metastasis. Fractions of the sera, in combination with natural human tumor necrosis factors (nTNF) and cyclophosphamide (Cy), were systemically administered to Lewis lung carcinoma-bearing mice. When the second filtrate (a plasma fraction containing substances composed of smaller molecular weight compounds) combined with low-dose nTNF (1,000 U/kg) and Cy (250 micrograms/kg) was administered to the mice, the degree of metastasis was significantly suppressed compared with the control group (p less than 0.01). In contrast, the discarded fluid (a plasma fraction containing larger molecular weight compounds) combined with the same doses of nTNF and Cy caused little inhibition of metastasis. Also, the discarded fluid significantly suppressed natural killer activity compared with normal sera (p less than 0.01). The results suggested that DFPP combined with nTNF and Cy is an efficient procedure to remove immunosuppressive factors from the sera of cancer-bearing hosts, to enhance the host antitumor immunity, and to suppress tumor proliferation.

In vivo inactivation of cystathionine gamma-lyase by D,L-propargylglycine, a suicide inhibitor, was found to be less profound in rat kidney than in the liver. We investigated the cause of this difference using rat tissues. We fractionated kidney extract to characterize the substance which protected enzyme, and found that cysteine exhibits protecting action. Addition of 0.3 mM L-cysteine to the incubation mixture containing dialyzed kidney supernatant and 0.5 mM D,L-propargylglycine resulted in the protection of cystathionine gamma-lyase from the inactivation by the inhibitor. The content of cysteine in the kidney was six-fold higher than that in the liver. Thus, we have concluded that one of the reasons why the in vivo inactivation of cystathionine gamma-lyase in rat kidney was less than that in the liver is the presence of a higher concentration of cysteine in the kidney. S-Carboxymethylcysteine, a cysteine derivative, exhibited a similar, but weaker, protective effect.

In vivo inactivation of cystathionine gamma-lyase by D,L-propargylglycine, a suicide inhibitor, was found to be less profound in rat kidney than in the liver. We investigated the cause of this difference using rat tissues. We fractionated kidney extract to characterize the substance which protected enzyme, and found that cysteine exhibits protecting action. Addition of 0.3 mM L-cysteine to the incubation mixture containing dialyzed kidney supernatant and 0.5 mM D,L-propargylglycine resulted in the protection of cystathionine gamma-lyase from the inactivation by the inhibitor. The content of cysteine in the kidney was six-fold higher than that in the liver. Thus, we have concluded that one of the reasons why the in vivo inactivation of cystathionine gamma-lyase in rat kidney was less than that in the liver is the presence of a higher concentration of cysteine in the kidney. S-Carboxymethylcysteine, a cysteine derivative, exhibited a similar, but weaker, protective effect.

The effect of various factors and substrates on the growth of a human hepatoblastoma cell line, HuH-6, which was inoculated at low density in a serum-free medium was examined. Several supplements were required to enhance cell growth of HuH-6. These included cholera toxin (CT), glucagon (Glu) and selenium (Se). Type IV collagen (C-IV) provided the most conductive environment tested for cell growth. These results suggest that CT, Glu, Se, and C-IV are important stimulators for the continuous growth of HuH-6 in a serum-free medium at low density.

Effects of capsaicin on the circular muscle motility of the isolated guinea-pig ileum were investigated. Capsaicin produced a contraction followed by a relaxation of the circular muscle. Both responses were easily desensitized. As the late relaxation response was not sufficiently intense to be analyzed, the inhibitory effect of capsaicin on substance P-induced contractions was explored. Capsaicin abolished the substance P-induced contractions. This inhibitory effect was not affected by tetrodotoxin, and the effect was desensitized. Therefore, all effects of capsaicin on circular muscle motility seem to be due to the release of sensory neuropeptides, similarly to those elicited in the longitudinal muscle.