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From the histochemical studies of succinic dehydrogenase on the striated muscle of the fish, frog, bird and mammal, the following results were obtained. (1) The red muscle fiber shows a higher succinic dehydrogenase activity, while the white muscle fiber a lower activity. The third type of muscle fiber "medium fiber", which is intermediate in the succinic dehydrogenase activity between the red and white muscle fiber, is observed practically in all of the striated muscle of mammals. (2) There is a good parallelism between succinic dehydrogenase activity and stainability to Sudan black B among the three types of muscle fibers. (3) From the nature of the constituent fibers, muscles can be divided into three groups, i. e., gastrocnemius type, soleus type and diaphragma type. (4) Those belonging to the gastrocnemius type are composed of three types of fibers, i. e., those of large size, low in activity of succinic dehydrogenase reaction and low in sudanophilicity; those of small size, high in enzymatic activity and in sudanophilicity; and those of medium size, moderate in enzymaticactivity and in sudanophilicity. (5) Those belonging to the soleus type, are composed of fibers almost equal in size which can be divided into two by the enzymatic activity and sudanophilicity, excepting the few with low enzymatic activity. (6) Those belonging to diaphragma type, are composed of three kinds of fibers showing different enzymatic activity as in the case of gastrocnemius type, but there is no correlation between the size and the enzymatic activity and sudanophilicity differing from the latter. (7) The difference in succinic dehydrogenase reaction as demonstrated among three types of fibers is due to the difference in number or in activity of mitochondria. (8) The pigeon breast muscle is composed mostly of red muscle fibers, and a few white muscle fibers, while the sparrow breast muscle is composed only of red muscle fibers. (9) The bloody colored muscle of the fish corresponds to the red muscle of the mammals. The white muscle of the fish is composed of three types of fibers. (10) The frog muscle is cmposed of three types of fibers.

With a view to study the blood vessel construction in cervical cancer the author prepared the reconstruction models and the results to be described below were obtained by three-dimensional observations carried on the models. 1. The arteries in the surrounding tissues of cancer are markedly proliferated, and in the surrounding tissues they present the formation of blood-vessel bands. 2. The spiral formation or corkscrew-like formation presented by blood vessels in the bands in the surrounding tissues of cancer seems to be the characteristic of arteries. 3. As for the direction of flow of arteries in the tissues surrounding cancer, the arteries in the normal case generally run slanting towards the surface of the cervix in the direction of the periphery, but the arteries in the surrounding tissues of cancer run towards the cancer tissue. 4. Apart from mother blood vessels, the blood vessels in the cancer tissue all present an imperfect capillary·like construction and there is none that possesses the normal arterial or venous con struction. Some part is dilatated and other part is narrow, suggesting an imcomplete blood supply. The direction of the flow is also irregular. Mother blood vessels grow rapidly large once they are taken into the cancer tissue. 5. All blood vessels other than the mother vessels reveal an imperfect capillary-like coustruction in the cancer tissue, and in places the walls of these blood. vessels are indistinct; and consequently it is but natural that they bleed so easily.

In order to determine the steps with which the reaction of neotetrazolium chloride reduction conjugates in the terminal electron transport system, an analytical study on the neotetrazolium reduction by tissue homogenates was carried out using various substrates such as sodium succinate, p-phenylenediamine, sodium malate, sodium α-glutamate and DPN, and inhibitors such as sodium malonate, potassium cyanide and antimycin A, as the results the following conclusions were drawn. 1. The reaction of neotetrazolium reduction by tissue homogenate using sodium succinate as substrate is mainly the succinoxidase system reaction; and the reaction takes place conjugating about 50 per cent in the step of the succinic dehydrogenase system (succinic dehydrogease, cytochrome b and cytochrome C1), of these about 15 per cent conjugates in the step prior to the antimycin A sensitive step and 35 per cent in the step itself; and about 50 per cent in the step of cytochrome c oxidase. 2. In the case using p-phenylenediamine as substrate the reaction of neotetrazolium reduction is the reaction due to the activity of cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase system; and when p-phenylenediamine is used with the sufficient amount of cytochrome c, the reaction appears to be dependent on cytochrome c oxidase activity. Neotetrazolium reduction in all these reactions takes place conjugating in the step of cytochrome c oxidase. 3. In the case where DPN and substrates taking DPN as a coenzyme are used, the reaction of neotetrazolium reduction is mainly the reaction conjugating at the step below antimycin A sensitive step in the DPNHcytochrome c reductase system (flavoprotein, cytochrome b and cytochrome c;), probably with the flavoprotein of DPNH-dehydrogenase. 4. Endogenous dehydrogenase reactions are the sum total reactions conjugating at the steps prior to the antimycin A sensitive step in the terminal electron transport system and with other various reduction systems which are not inhibited by antimycin A.

From the histochemical study of DPN and TPN diaphorase on the striated muscles of the cats, the following results were obtained. 1. M. gastrocnemius, which belongs to the white muscle by naked eye, consists of three types of muscle fibers distinguished by the DPN diaphorase staining: namely, the small muscle fibers, i. e., the red muscle fibers show a moderate activity, being stained pink, while the large muscle fibers, i. e., the white muscle fibers show a low activity, being stained faint pink. The. third type of muscle fibers: namely, the medium fibers are stained pale pink and show the enzymatic activity intermediate between the red and white muscle fibers. 2. M. soleus, belonging to the red muscle by naked eye, consists of three types of fibers distinguished by the DPN-diaphorase staining, i. e., the red muscle fibers are stained pink, medium fibers pale pink, and a few white muscle fibers faint pink. The diameters of these three types of muscle fibers in M. soleus are almost the same. 3. From the staining pattern of TPN-diaphorase in M. gastrocnemius and M. soleus, the three types of muscle fibers can be distinguished by TPN-diaphorase activity, namely, the red muscle fibers show a high TPN-diaphorase activity, being stained purple, while, the white muscle fibers a low activity, being stained pale pink. The medium fibers are stained pink and show a moderate enzymatic activity intermediate between the red and white muscle fibers. 4. The TPN-diaphorase activity is higher than the DPN-diaphorase activity in the striated muscle, but it is less active than the TPN-diapborase activity in the kidney. However, the activity of DPN-diaphorase in the striated muscle is quite lower than that of the kidney.

1. A method was described for a fairly accurate judgement of the effect of drugs inhibiting the edema in hind paws of a rat caused by local injection of egg white. 2. The degree of inhibition of egg-white edema by single doses of sinomenine, compound 48/80, or dextran was in parallel with histamine reduction in skin and other tissues of the paws (and the skin of abdomen), although prevention of the edema by prolonged treatment with sinomenine was incomplete even when the releasable histamine of the skin was practically exhausted. 3. Sodium salicylate, aminopyrine, butazolidine sodium, cortisone, and guaiazulene were capable of inhibiting egg-white edema without modifying the content of skin histamine. These drugs and a small dose of phenergan potentiated the inhibition by dextran of egg-white edema and inhibited the release of histamine by dextran. These actions lasted for over 24 hours with the exception of guaiazulene. 4. Irgapyrin and a large dose of phenergan, which possess actions of histamine release and of histamine release inhibition and also antihistaminic action, caused a slight reduction of skin histamine and a comparatively marked inhibition of the edema. 5. In adrenalectomized or hypophysectomized rats, the edema-inhibiting effect of salicylate and aminopyrine decreased but that of cortisone increased. The effect of guaiazulene remained unchanged. 6. The observations that inhibition of egg-white edema is caused by (a) histamine releasers, (b) histamine-release inhibitor, and (c) drugs exerting both histamine release and inhibition of the release were discussed with the consideration to a relationship between egg-white edema and skin histamine.

With the purpose to study sideroblasts as a means of diagnosing blood diseases and to pursue the metabolism of non-hemin iron in erythroblasts we investigated sideroblasts (erythroblasts containing iron granules stainable by Prussian blue) under various erythropoietic conditions in the human and rabbits, and obtained the following results: 1. In blood diseases the proportion of sideroblasts in the case of low erythropoietic condition is higher and in the case with accelerated erythropoietic condition and of iron deficiency it tends to be lower than that in normal persons. Further, obtaining sideroblastogram and sideroblast ratio (S. r.) from the classification of Types I, Ⅱ, and Ⅲ according to the iron granule content, it has been proven that abnormal conditions can be clearly distinguished from the normal, indicating that sideroblasts are closely associated with erythropoietic function. This is proven to be a far superior method for the diagnosis as well as for the prognosis of blood diseases than the determination of serum iron. 2. In experimental anemic rabbits the relationship of sideroblasts to the condition of erythropoietic function is still more clearly recognized, and it has been found that variations in the sideroblast count is dependent upon the condition of the equilibrium between the iron supply from serum iron and the iron utilization controlled by the erythropoietic function. 3. In addition, in the iron-treated rabbits under various erythropoietic conditions we have been able to confirm that there are a certain mechanism and a limitation to the iron intake by erythroblasts, and that erythroblasts take essentially three steps of metabolic processes, namely, intake, retention, and utilization of iron almost simultaneously, in the latter half of the maturation stage.

1. α-Aminoadipic acid and lysine are increased in the urine of thyroidectomized dog. 2. Pipecolic acid is increased in the urine of rat treated with thyroid extract. 3. Relation between thyroid function and lysine metabolism is discussed.

By mixing ferric iron with serum protein, 20 cc of serum and 1 cc of ferric chloride or ferric ammonium sulfate (l0 mg ferric iron/cc in each), in the range of pH 5.4 to 8.2, a transparent brownish red colored solution can be obtained. Paperelectrochromatography proved the iron can mainly be detected in β-globulin fraction in bovine serum and in &#945-globulin and albumin fractions in human and rabbit sera. But the absorption spectrum proved that there is no formation of any new compound, giving almost the same absorption curve as in the serum protein itself. And by lowering the pH of media below 5.4, the solution gives immediately the positive reaction of ferric iron. From these rerults it is suggested that iron will be maintained in a colloidal state keeping the stability of this state in the presence of protein molecules. Freezing and drying are the procedures quite useful for keeping this material for a long period of time without changing the chemical characteristics.

1. Considering an imaginable important role of histamine in inflammations or allergic reactions, some clinical and experimental studies were made for the purpose of findings the relationship of the pathological changes of A. P. to local histamine. 2. Gingivae in the case of A. P. showed a remarkable quantitative increase of histamine, compared with those in the case of normal healthy controls. It could be noticed that this increase had an increasing tendency in proportion to the degree of inflammatory pathologic changes in the gingiva. 3. In the gingivae of A. P. an increase of mast cells and their morphologic changes, particularly disintegration, were seen and the grade of changes was almost parallel to an increase of histamine. 4. When a histamine solution was repeatedly injected into the mucobuccal folds of animals, a remarkable increase of histamine and mast cells in the injected gingivae were recognized with inflammatory changes. An increase of gingival histamine could be hardly recognized by means of a simple mechanical stimulation or local anaphylaxis alone. However, in the combination of two, the increase of histamine was seen and relatively remarkable inflammatory changes suggestive of A. P. were macroscopically and microscopically noticed. 5. Topical applications of the ointment mixed with sinomenine, histamine-liberating substance, and benadryl, antihistamine substance, repeated every other day in the gingival pockets, showed favorable effects in slight or early cases of A. P. 6. These observations suggest the existence of both possible role of histamine in the development of local pathologic condition of A. P. and allergic processes in etiologic factors of the disease.

The effect of 6-hydroxydopamine on repeated nicotine-induced tail-tremor was investigated in rats. Tail-tremor induced by nicotine (0.5 mg/kg/day, subcutaneously) became more pronounced in intensity with daily administration for 9 days. Rats pretreated with 6-hydroxydopamine (250 micrograms, intracerebroventricularly) showed almost the maximum degree of tail-tremor during the whole experimental period. However, in rats pretreated with 6-hydroxydopamine plus desipramine, enhancement of tail-tremor was slight in the beginning but increased with the daily nicotine administration. Fourteen-day administration of nicotine did not result in significant changes in noradrenaline and dopamine levels in the cortex, hypothalamus, striatum and nucleus accumbens. These results suggest that nicotine-induced tail-tremor is associated with the supersensitivity of postsynaptic catecholaminergic receptors in the central nervous system, and that the noradrenergic system may be more important than the dopaminergic system in this phenomenon.

Affinity electrophoresis of human alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in amniotic fluid from pregnant women between 6 to 42 weeks of gestation and in the serum of a yolk sac tumor was performed with concanavalin A (Con A), lentil lectin (LCA), erythroagglutinating phytohemagglutinin (E-PHA) and Allomyrina dichotoma lectin (allo A). Separated AFP bands were detected by sensitive antibody-affinity blotting. In the first trimester, amniotic fluid AFP showed elevated percentages of Con A-nonreacting AFP (AFP-C1) and LCA weakly-reacting AFP (AFP-L2) as previously reported. Additionally, high percentages of E-PHA strongly-reacting AFP (AFP-P5) and E-PHA-reacting AFP (AFP-P4) were observed. E-PHA-nonreacting AFP (AFP-P1), E-PHA weakly-reacting AFP (AFP-P3f), allo A-nonreacting AFP (AFP-A1) and asialo-AFP, AFP-A1 s, were present only in amniotic fluids from 6 to 17 weeks of gestation. With advancing gestation, percentages of AFP-C1, AFP-P4 and AFP-P5 decreased and AFP-L2, AFP-P3f, AFP-A1, and AFP-A1 s disappeared by the end of 18 weeks. The glycoforms of serum AFP of the yolk sac tumor resembled those of amniotic fluid AFP in the early gestational stages.

There are few reports on skeletal reconstruction using the bone transport technique to repair bone defects caused by resections of tumors associated with osteosarcoma. We attempted to reconstruct a 23 cm bone defect after resection of an osteosarcoma of the left femur, and succeeded in gaining 17 cm by bone transport. Five years after surgery, this patient remains alive without metastasis or local recurrence.

Mast cells in osteoarthritic and rheumatoid arthritic synovial tissues of the human knee.

The fibrous components of the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joint including the palmar plate, the collateral ligament and the dorsal plate were studied with particular attention paid to the fibrous structure of the fibrous tendon sheath and the deep transverse metacarpal ligament. The tough fibrillar structure around the MP joint, especially the force nucleus, consisted of three types of mixed fibers: the fibrous tendon sheath of the A1 pulley, the deep transverse metacarpal ligament, and the palmar plate. The tendon sheath was located on the ulnar side in the index and middle fingers, on the central position in the ring finger, and on the radial side in the little finger. These fibrous connections among the fingers formed a transverse arch in the hand. The palmar plate of the MP joint was relatively rigid and appears to function as a cushion when flexed. A fold-like protrusion of the synovial layer of the palmar plate of the MP joint had a meniscoid function, which was larger than that of the proximal interphalangeal joint. The capsule of the MP joint was thicker at the dorsal area, forming a dorsal plate, which is a sliding floor of the extensor mechanism and has a meniscoid function for joint congruity. The main lateral stabilizer consisted of collateral ligaments and accessory collateral ligaments anchored to the palmar plate. These structures act together as a "phalangeal cuff", connecting the proximal phalanx to the metacarpal head and sta

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in the stomach is etiologically closely associated with chronic active gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. In this study, we examined the antibody responses and cytokine profiles of three strains of mice (BALB/c, C3H/He, and C57BL/6) infected with H. pylori. Following this, correlations between host-immune reactions and intensity of inflammation were analyzed. H. pylori (ATCC43504) was intragastrically administered once a week to the mice from 4 weeks of age, and they were sacrificed at the ages of 4 and 7 months. In these mice, we examined the histology of the stomach, antibody titers against H. pylori, and serum levels of cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, TNF-alpha, IL-2 and Interferon-gamma). In BALB/c mice, inflammation of the stomach was minimal. Inflammation was observed in 63.6% of C57BL/6 mice and 33.3% of C3h/He mice. In C57BL/6 and C3H/He mice, all the cytokines tended to increase. In contrast, BALB/c mice were inactive in cytokine production except for IL-2. Two C3H/He mice developed severe inflammation with lymph follicles; one showed a response largely typical of Th-1, and the other showed a response largely typical of Th-2. Although a definite correlation was not shown between Th-1/Th-2 response evaluated by cytokine production and intensity of inflammation, it appears that in H. pylori-induced inflammation both cell-mediated (Th-1) and humoral (Th-2) immunity play a role in pathogenesis.

To establish a method for estimating the time between the last consumption of alcohol and death, we examined the ethanol levels in body fluids and tissues of rats that had been orally administered 1 g/kg ethanol. We observed the following relationships between ethanol levels in the cardiac blood (blood in the heart itself), vitreous humor, and urine: cardiac blood > vitreous humor > urine at 10 min (early absorption stage); vitreous humor > cardiac blood > urine from 20 to 50 min (late absorption stage); vitreous humor > urine > cardiac blood from 60 to 120 min (distribution stage); and urine > vitreous humor > cardiac blood at 180 min (excretion stage). It was also observed that, in cases of death immediately following drinking, ethanol levels in the stomach contents are very high, and the following ratios of ethanol levels were observed: skeletal muscle to cardiac blood--less than 1; liver to cardiac blood--around 1. buccal mucosa to cardiac blood-greater than 1. These ratios at equilibrium after drinking were around 1, lower than 1 and around 1, respectively. We also measured alcohol levels in the cardiac blood, urine, vitreous humor and stomach contents of nine cadavers who had consumed alcohol prior to death. The relationships between the time since last consumption of alcohol and relative ethanol levels in these specimens were in good accordance with the results of the animal experiments.

There are few reports on skeletal reconstruction using the bone transport technique to repair bone defects caused by resections of tumors associated with osteosarcoma. We attempted to reconstruct a 23 cm bone defect after resection of an osteosarcoma of the left femur, and succeeded in gaining 17 cm by bone transport. Five years after surgery, this patient remains alive without metastasis or local recurrence.

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effects of 5-fluorouracil antineoplastics, cephem antibiotics containing the methyltetrazolylthiol (MTT) group and antidiabetics on aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity in vivo and in vitro. In in vivo experiments, rats were given a 100 mg/kg dose of drugs (10 mg/kg for glibenclamide) orally or intraperitoneally. When each drug was administered singly immediately after an oral administration of 1.5 g/kg ethanol, only carmofur, an antineoplastic, produced marked increases in blood acetaldehyde concentrations. This action was also noted when ethanol was ingested 15 h after administration. The remaining drugs did not increase blood acetaldehyde concentrations. When rats were treated with carmofur at 12 h intervals for 3 consecutive days and were given 1.5 g/kg ethanol after the final treatment, blood acetaldehyde concentrations were elevated more significantly than with a single administration of carmofur. Furthermore, daily administration of cephem antibiotics containing the MTT group, latamoxef, cefamandole, cefoperazone and cefbuperazone, significantly increased blood acetaldehyde concentrations. Daily administration of sulfonylurea antidiabetics, chlorpropamide and acetohexamide, slightly increased blood acetaldehyde concentrations. Drugs causing increases in blood acetaldehyde concentrations when administration was combined with ethanol ingestion also inhibited ALDH activity in vitro. The results of the in vitro experiments roughly correlated with those of the in vivo experiments. The inhibitory effects of drugs on ALDH activity were in the following order: carmofur >> cephem antibiotics containing the MTT group > sulfonylurea antidiabetics.

The hematological findings of 233 patients with brucellosis are presented and the possible pathologies discussed. Anemia was present in 128 patients (55%), leukopenia in 49 (21%) and thrombocytopenia in 59 (26%). Bone marrow aspirates of 18 patients (8%) with pancytopenia were examined. The bone marrow was hypercellular in 15 and normocellular in 3 patients. Granulomatous lesions were detected in 12 cases (67%), and slight to moderate cytophagocytosis of erythrocytes, granulocytes and platelets existed in all patients. Blood cell counts reverted to normal within 2-3 weeks of initiating chemotherapy with recovery from the disease.