Extensive studies on cyclic CMP for elucidation of physiological and phamaclogical activities have been carried out, since it was found in L1210 as a third naturally occurring cyclic nucleotide in 1974. A line of expeiments suggest that cytidylate cyclase-cyclic CMP system plays an important role in the cranial nervous system. In the present stuby, we have demonstrated that cytidylate cyclase activity in cultured cerebellar neurons from newborn rat is about three times higher than that in glia cells. Further experiments shows that dibutyrylcyclic CMP at a concentration of 1 mM stimulates the neurite outgrowth from rat primary cultured cerebellar nenrons, whereas it is defect of inducing the morphological change of rat primary cultured cerebellar glia cells. These findings suggest that cyclic CMP plays a important role as a factor associating with differentiation of the central neuron.

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We examined whether inflammatory cytokines(I1-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α) which are believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of gouty arthritis, modulate the production of reactive oxygen metabolites from polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) induced by monosodium urate (MSU)crystals. The production of reactive oxygen metabolites was measured by a luminol dependent chemiluminescence (CL) assay. The CL response of PMNs stimulated by MSU crystals was significantly increased by preincubation of PMNs with TNF-α at 0.1 U/ml and higher concentrations, but not by preincubation with IL-1β, IL-6 or IL-8 at various concentrations (1-50ng/ml). The priming effect of TNF-αwas prominent at a low concentration of MSU crystals, suggesting that TNF-α plays a critical role in the initiation and progression of gouty arthritis.

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The allopurinol challenge test has been proposed as a test for diagnosing patients and heterozygotes of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency. But there are a few reports about Japanese.
We performed the test on one Japanese patient with OTC deficiency and one patient with hyperammonaemia. Orotidine and orotic acid in the urine from OTC deficiency extremely increased. Those from the patient with hyperammoneamia did not increased, in the result the patient seemed not to be OTC deficiency.
We also performed the tests on five Japanese families with OTC deficiency (8 males and 10females). Four mothers and one aunt were suspected as heterozygotes of OTC deficiency, as the results of increased orotidine and orotic acid. And we found out that urinary uracil tended to increase whether orotidine and orotic acid increased or not.

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