Clinical heterogeneity of neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis caused by citrin deficiency: case reports from 16 patients

A deficiency of citrin, which is encoded by the SLC25A13 gene, causes both adult-onset type II citrullinemia (CTLN2) and neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis (NICCD). We analyzed 16 patients with NICCD to clarify the clinical features of the disease. Severe intrahepatic cholestasis with fatty liver was the most common symptom, but the accompanying clinical features were variable, namely; suspected cases of neonatal hepatitis or biliary atresia, positive results from newborn screening, tyrosinemia, failure to thrive, hemolytic anemia, bleeding tendencies and ketotic hypoglycemia. Laboratory data showed elevated serum bile acid levels, hypoproteinemia, low levels of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors, and hypergalactosemia. Hypercitrullinemia was detected in 11 out of 15 patients examined. Most of the patients were given a lactose-free and/or medium chain triglycerides-enriched formula and lipid-soluble vitamins. The prognosis of the 16 patients is going fairy well at present, but we should observe these patients carefully to see if they manifest any symptom of CTLN2 in the future.     

A girl with 1p36 deletion syndrome and congenital fiber type disproportion myopathy

Chromosome 1p36 deletion syndrome is characterized by hypotonia, moderate to severe developmental and growth retardation, and characteristic craniofacial dysmorphism. Muscle hypotonia and delayed motor development are almost constant features of the syndrome. We report a 4-year-old Japanese girl with 1p36 deletion syndrome whose muscle pathology showed congenital fiber type disproportion (CFTD) myopathy. This is the first case report of 1p36 deletion associated with CFTD. This association may indicate that one of the CFTD loci is located at 1p36. Ski proto-oncogene −/− mice have phenotypes that resemble some of the features observed in patients with 1p36 deletion syndrome. Because fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis revealed that the human SKI gene is deleted in our patient, some genes in 1p36, including SKI proto-oncogene, may be involved in muscle hypotonia and delayed motor development in this syndrome. Received: March 4, 2002 / Accepted: July 7, 2002     

Administration of superantigens protects mice from lethal Listeria monocytogenes infection by enhancing cytotoxic T cells

Superantigens stimulate T-cell-receptor Vbeta-selective T-cell proliferation accompanying the release of cytokines, which may eventually protect the host from microbial infections. We investigated here whether superantigens can rescue the host from lethal bacterial infection. Mice were pretreated with Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB) 1 and 2 days before bacterial infection, and the mortality of infected mice was assessed. SEB pretreatment protected mice from lethal infection with Listeria monocytogenes but not from lethal infection with Streptococcus pyogenes. This enhanced protection was also observed upon pretreatment with recombinant streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin A. Furthermore, L. monocytogenes-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) due to type 1 helper T (Th1) cells and the cytotoxicity of CD8(+) T cells were significantly enhanced after SEB administration and bacterial infection. Depletion of either CD4(+) T cells or CD8(+) T cells in SEB-pretreated mice completely abolished this protection. This phenomenon was ascribed to the elimination of L. monocytogenes-specific CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). It was found that CD4(+) T cells contributed to the induction of the CTL populations. Furthermore, SEB pretreatment of heat-killed L. monocytogenes-immunized mice enhanced the protection from challenge of L. monocytogenes. Taken together, these results indicated that administrations of superantigens protected mice from infection with L. monocytogenes, which was dependent on the enhanced L. monocytogenes-specific CTL activity in the presence of CD4(+) T cells, and superantigens exhibited adjuvant activity in the immunization against intracellular pathogens.     

Biological activity of 24,24-difluoro-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3

The biological activity of 24,24-difluoro-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 was compared with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the rat. The 24,24-difluoro-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 has a potency of approximately 5-10 times that of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the known in vivo vitamin D responsive systems. These systems include intestinal calcium transport, bone calcium mobilization, calcification of epiphyseal plate cartilage, and elevation of plasma calcium and phosphorus concentrations. Thus, 24,24-difluoro-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is the first known analogue with higher potency than 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in vivo.     

Involvement of nitric oxide in glucose toxicity on differentiated PC12 cells: prevention of glucose toxicity by tetrahydrobiopterin,a cofactor for nitric oxide synthase

Effects of high concentrations of glucose on cell survival of differentiated PC12 cells were examined. Seven day-culture with D-glucose (9.0-27.0 mg/ml as 2-6-fold of the optimal level) induced cell death in a dose-related manner but 3-day culture with high concentrations of glucose had no effect on cell viability. L-glucose had no effect on viability of PC12 cells, suggesting that D-glucose toxicity was independent of its osmolarity effect. Seven-day culture with D-glucose (13.5 mg/ml as 3-fold of the optimal level) increased nitric oxide metabolites (NOx) in the culture medium. Glucose-induced increase in NOx was eliminated by 0.1 mM L-nitro-arginine methylester (L-NAME), a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor. Intracellular Ca(2+) concentration was increased by D-glucose in a dose-related manner, suggesting that D-glucose activated NOS by increasing intracellular Ca(2+) concentration in PC12 cells. Glucose-induced cell death was blunted by 0.1 mM L-NAME, showing that nitric oxide (NO) was involved in the glucose toxicity to PC12 cells. Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)), a cofactor for NOS, attenuated both glucose-induced cell death and NOx production at 1 microM but not at 10 microM. The effects of BH(4) on glucose-induced cell death and NOx production were not mimicked by reducing agents such as ascorbate and cysteine. These results taken together suggest that high concentrations of glucose induced cell death via NO production and that low concentration of BH(4) had a protective effect against glucose neurotoxicity in differentiated PC12 cells.     

Comparative morphology of endodermal sinus tumor (Teilum) to human yolk sac and a proposal of endodermal cell tumor

Histological criteria of 8 pure and typical endodermal sinus tumor (EST) were compared with the morphological features of 8 human yolk sacs from 5 to 13 weeks of pregnancy. No common features were found with regard to endodermal sinus structure (ESS) and clear-cell entoblastic pattern (CCEP), but magma reticulare (MR) and eosinophilic hyaline globules (EHG) were detected as common findings. As to the morphology and synthesis of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), some tumor cells with eosinophilic-granular cytoplasm lining ESS had similarity to the endodermal cell of human yolk sac. Histological features of EST mimicked the morphological structure of endodermal sinus in rodent yolk sac. Pathological study on an ovarian and a gastric adenocarcinoma with high level of AFP concentration demonstrated two cell patterns with eosinophilic-granular and clear cytoplasm showing analogousness to the endodermal cell of human yolk sac. It was suggested that these tumors showed a selective differentiation to the endodermal cell of human yolk sac and might be called ECT. Further study clarified that ovarian embryonal carcinoma or teratocarcinoma with higher AFP concentration had vitelline component of EST or ECT or both.     

Lowered effectiveness of immunotherapy for cypress pollinosis by using Japanese cedar pollen extract]

BACKGROUND: Japanese cedar and cypress pollen share a common antigen. The cedar pollen season is followed by the cypress pollen season. However, both the clinical significance and involvement of cypress pollinosis in the treatment of the cedar pollinosis have not yet been clarified. METHODS: The clinical efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy with cedar pollen extract for cedar pollinosis was evaluated during the cypress pollen dispersal season in Japan. In addition, the change in cypress pollen specific IgE antibodies of the patients with cedar pollinosis was examined before and after the pollen season. RESULTS: Sublingual immunotherapy with cedar pollen extract did not improve the clinical symptoms of the cedar pollinosis patients combined with cypress pollinosis in the cypress pollen season. The cypress pollen specific IgE antibodies were found to demonstrate significant seasonal changes. CONCLUSION: The presence of cypress pollinosis should therefore be taken into consideration when planning the optimal treatment for cedar pollinosis. Sublingual immunotherapy with cedar pollen extract may not be effective for cypress pollinosis.     

CA125-producing adenocarcinoma of the seminal vesicle

A case of primary seminal vesicle carcinoma is reported. The tumor was a CA125-producing adenocarcinoma consisting of fine papillary-tubular, intricate branching or anastomosing glandular structures and was composed of small cuboidal, but occasionally hobnailed, cells with mostly clear, but occasionally granular, cytoplasm. Some tumor cells showed evidence of secretion of seromucinous materials into the interpapillary and cystic space. lmmunohistochemically, almost half of the tumor cells expressed a positive reaction with anti-CAl25, a common serological marker for ovarian epithelial carcinomas; however, no tumor cells expressed any other serological tumor markers such as carcinoem-bryonic antigen, α-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, prostatic specific acid phosphatase, or prostatic specific antigen. The patient showed a high level of serological CA125, which fluctuated parallel with the growth, removal and recurrence of the tumor. The morphological and immunohistochemical findings suggested a close relationship between the present tumor and clear cell carcinoma of the ovary, which is thought to be of a Müllerian-Wolfian duct origin.     

Abnormal distribution of cathepsin proteinases and endogenous inhibitors (cystatins) in the hippocampus of patients with Alzheimer's disease,parkinsonism-dementia complex on Guam,and senile dementia and in the aged

The immunolocalization of cathepsins B(CB), H and L and cystatins(C) and(C) were examined in the hippocampus of cases of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (12 cases), parkinsonism-dementia complex on Guam (eight cases), senile dementia of Alzheimer type (two cases), aged subjects with marked senile change (one case) and controls (12 cases, including six normal subjects). CB was lower in most nerve cells in patients than in controls, but markedly increased at the sites of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and degenerative neurites and/or dendrites in and outside senile plaques (SPs), indicating its close involvement in the metabolisms of various proteins in NFT and SPs. Abundant C and C were demonstrated in SP amyloid, suggesting that they are amyloid constituents or co-exist with amyloid. The present study indicated that CB, C and C are closely involved in abnormal protein metabolism in NFTs and SP amyloid and suggested that degeneration or denaturation of intracellular proteins, including substrates for proteases and lysosomes, from some acquired cause, results in absolute and/or relative overload for these proteolytic systems, including their inhibitors. This results in incomplete and/or abnormal proteolysis related to NFT and/or amyloid formation.