In order to clarify the mechanism of regulation of glycogen metabolism in fetal rat liver during gestation, we measured glycogen synthetase activity, and the binding capacity of the insulin receptor. We also examined the possibility of glycogen synthesis through gluconeogenesis. Major findings are as follows:
1) Glycogen content in fetal liver increased dramatically during gestation and peaked on Day 21 of gestation (one day before delivery).
2) Both the total glycogen synthetase activity (a: active enzyme+b: inactive enzyme) and the ratio of the activities of a to a+b also rised during gestation, suggesting that an increase in the active form of glycogen synthetase is a major cause of the increase in the amount of glycogen in fetal liver.
3) Insulin is known to stimulate glycogen synthesis by activating glycogen synthetase. However, the number and the affinity constant of the insulin receptor in fetal liver did not changed, although the concentration of serum insulin increased during gestation.
4) The ratio of glycogen synthesized from serum glycerol relative to that from serum glucose plus glycerol increased from 8% on Day 19 to 22% on Day 21. Since stimulation of gluconeogenesis is considered to result in an accumulation of glucose-6-phosphate, a potent activator for glycogen synthetase, glyconeogenesis from glycerol may play an important role in glycogen storage in fetal liver.

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The significance of brain temperature was investigated in patients with severe head injuries.
In thirty patients in a state of coma due to severe head injury (Glasgow coma scale of less than 8), brain temperature (Tb), rectal temperature (Tr), and intracranial pressure (ICP) were measured. In 21 out of these patients, cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by means of transcranial Doppler effect (TCD), and pulsatility index (PI) was calculated from TCD findings. The outcome was assessed by the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) 1 month after the head injury. The patients were classified into 4 groups according to the differences (ΔT) between Tb and Tr. Group I (11 patients) was defined as always having a higher Tb than Tr, Group II (14) as always having a higher Tr than Tb, Group III (3) was as having no significant differences between Tb and Tr, and Group IV (2) was as having ΔT change from plus to minus or from minus to plus during the course of monitoring.
As regards the intracranial lesions, no significant differences among these groups were recognized. P.I, at 6 hours after operation, was1.1±0.1 (N=10) in Group I, and was 3.4±1.9 (N=9) in Group II. The difference between these two values was statistically significant. The outcome of Group I was better than that of the other groups. The brain temperature is thought to reflect the CBF in the human brain. Our studies suggest that measurement of the brain temperature is useful for the evaluation of the CBF and for prediction of the prognosis of patients with severe head injuries.

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To evaluate alveolar epithelial permiability (k_ep) in children with bronchial asthma, ^99mTc-DTPA (diethylene triamine penta acetate) aerosol lung inhalation scintigraphies were performed. There was no correlation between the k_ep value and the severity of asthma. On the other hand, out of 10 the cases which had no aerosol deposition defect in the lung field, 4 showed high k_ep values on the whole lung field and 7 had high k_ep value areas, particulary apparent in the upper lung field. These results suggest that even when the central airway lesions are mild, severe damage exists in the alveolar region of the peripheral airway.

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An association between dermatomyositis-polymyositis and malignancy has been reported. However, controversy exists regarding a direct causal relationship between the two diseases. We describe a patient who had the concurrent onset and paralled clinical course of dermatomyositis and malignancy, and discuss the possible mechanisms for the association of the two disorders.

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