In order to establish a more effective and safer therapy for androgen-dependent prostate cancer, to be used in addition to hormonal therapy, the anti-tumor effects of intralesionally administered macrophages activated with recombinant interferon-γ (INF-γ), alone or in combination with recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) were studied in mouse prostate cancer models. Firstly, in terms of cellular adoptive immunotherapy, phagocytosis against Latex bead and cytotoxicity against Shionogi 115 cancer cell line (SC115) of macrophages activated with INF-γ for 24 hour were investigated. One ml of 0.25% glycogen solution was intraperitoneally administered to male DS mice. Three days later, fluid was aspirated from the abdominal cavity and macrophages were separated for use in this experiment. Phagocytosis INF-γ-dose-dependently increased and macrophages activated with 100 U/ml INF-γ phagocytosed 78.3 ± 4.5% (mean ± SD) Latex bead. Cytotoxicity (modified MTT assay) of SC 115 by macrophages activated with 100 U/ml INF-γ increased remarkably in comparison with non-activated macrophages and there was a significant increase in the effector-to-target-cell ratio to 40 in the activated group 77 ± 4.3% (mean ± SD) relative to 50 ± 6.3% (mean ± SD) in the non-activated group. Based on these in vitro findings, hormonal therapy and adoptive local immunotherapy, alone or together, were studied in mouse prostate cancer models. The prostate cancer model was prepared through the subcutaneous transplantation of SC 115 in male DS mice and the treatments were initiated after tumors were palpable. The therapy protocols were as follows: Group I control and Group II received 20 mg/kg/day diethylstilbestrol diphosphate (DES-P) subcutaneously for 10 days, Group III received DES-P in combination with ten thousand units of IL-2 administered five times intralesionally, Group IV received DES-P in combination with 2×10⁶ macrophages activated with 100 U/ml INF-γ administered three times intra-lesionally, Group V received DES-P and IL-2 in combination with activated macrophages. The therapeutic efficiencies were evaluated by calculating the tumor volume and survival time. The results of the tumor volume on the 40th day post tumor transplantation were as follows (mean ± SD): Group 17, 049 ± 1, 477 mm³, Group 114, 495 ± 654 mm³, Group 1112, 050 ± 724 mm³, Group IV 2, 782 ± 970 mm³, Group V 1, 555 ± 514 mm³. The therapeutic groups showed significant tumor reduction relative to the control. Furthermore, intralesionally IL-2, the activated macrophages injected groups, alone or together, were more effective relative to the group receiving only DES-P. Group V showed a significant advantage in survival time relative to the control, but in the other groups no significant advantage was noted. Thus, this local immunotherapeutic approach seems to be encouraging from the point of view of establishing an adoptive therapy for androgen-dependent prostate cancer in combination with hormonal therapy.

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Hand eczema is one of the most common dermatological disorders. Although it is a general term referring to eczematous dermatitis of the hands, it actually covers a wide range of diseases. The classification of hand eczema is controversial even now, as definitions of individual diseases have not yet been established. It is well-known that exogenous factors, such as chemicals or water, are associated with the occurrence of hand eczema.
In this study, we focused on endogenous factors, especially personal or family history of atopy as a causative factor in hand eczema. According to exogenous and endogenous factors, we classified hand eczema into three types: atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis and dysidrosis. This classification is useful because it makes the definition of each disease clear. Skin-humidity and sebum mesurement are simple and rapid methods of determining personal atopy, skin condition and the effect of treatment on hand eczema patients.

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The electronic endoscopic image of gastric mucosa was converted by image processing unit SP-1000 (A/D changed) into the one, which was treated with the color conversion method to measure the gastric mucosal hemoglobin index (Hb-index: HI). At the same time, biopsy specimens of gastric mucosa were removed from such 4 different sites as antrum lesser curvature, lower body lesser curvature, lower body anterior wall and upper body posterior wall. On pathohistological examination, the author observed the inflammatory cell infiltration, mucin production, the number and diameter of blood vessels, the degree of atrophic changes in gastric mucosa.
HI values were compared with histological findings and with the degree of endoscopic appearance of blood vessel in the lower body lesser curvature. The following results were obtained. HI values were lower in the group with higher inflammatory cell infiltration and less mucin production, while the values were higher in the group with more numerous vessels and larger size ones in diameter. In the group with higher degrees of the pathohistological atrophic change and the endoscopic appearance of blood vessel, HI showed lower values.

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Left ventricular hemodynamics were studied using M-mode and pulsed doppler echocardiography in 18 cases with post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis (PSAGN) during the acute phase.
Both the ratio of left atrial to aortic dimension and the end-diastolic volume index increased in the acute phase compared with those in the recovery phase in each case (p<0.01, p<0.01). These results indicated that the increase in the preload was due to hypervolemia.
End-systolic wall stress increased in the acute phase (p<0.01), thereby the afterload was considered to have increased as well. But the value of systemic vascular resistance showed no significant difference in either phase. Therefore it seems the increase of the afterload was due to increasing blood pressure, which was mainly due to hypervolemia.
The ratio of end-systolic wall stress to the end-systolic volume index (ESWS/ESVI) was significantly higher in the acute phase (p<0.01).
Stroke volume index (SI) was also increased in the acute phase (p<0.01). The increase in SI was considered to be due to a more prominent increase in both the preload and left ventricular contractility than in the afterload.
Left ventricular inflow patterns derived from pulsed doppler echocardiography also suggested a markedly increased preload and an increased afterload in the acute phase.
These data showed that in the acute phase of PSAGN, left ventricular preload, contractility and afterload were increased due mainly to hypervolemia.

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The role of M-CSF in the process of mammalian development has been drawing attention. Unlike mammalian embryonic development, in which M-CSF is supplied by the maternal body, avian embryonic development begins and proceeds under the influence of a certain amount of M-CSF present in each fertilized egg, and its concentration can be experimentally controlled while observing the embryo's developmental state. Apart from this fact, ayes provide us with many other advantages in the study of embryonic development. It is, however, not easy to separate multipotent hematopoietic stem-cell fractions from avian bone marrow. In addition, because a macrophage colony forming assay in soft agar, though it has been widely used, requires a large number of cells and a long culture period, the method of assay is not adequate for the sensitive detection of M-CSF activity in small scale samples. We have established a method for the depletion of nucleated erythrocytes from chicken bone marrow cell suspensions using percoll density gradient centrifugation, and have also developed a new method for determining chicken M-CSF-like activity employing a liquid culture. In this method, a 100μlaliquot of fractionated hematopoietic stem cells, 1×10⁵, was placed in a well of 96-well flat-bottom culture plate, 100μl of sample was then added to each well, and the uptake of neutral red was measured after 4 days of culture. These procedures represent a simple and sensitive means of detecting M-CSF-like activity in chicken serum of×60 to×32 dillttions. Using this method, it is possible to study the changes in M-CSF activities in fertilized eggs during development.

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Although sensory neural hearing loss stemming from hypercholesterolemia has received attention in recent years, no information is available abut inner ear injuries resulting from this condition. In this study, we prepared guinea pig models at hypercholesterolemia and observed the inner ear with a transmission electron microscope, and also investigated the effect of vitamin E (Vit. E) on these injuries. One hundred and thirty-nine white male Hartley guinea pigs weighing a mean of 250 g each were divided into three groups. Group A consisted of the control animals, which were fed by a stock diet. Group B animals were fed by a hyperlipid diet (2.5% cholestrol, 0.25% cholic acid, and 7.5% cattle fat). Group C animals were fed by a Vit. E-added (50 units/100 g) hyperlipid diet. All the animals were sacrificed either one, two or three months after treatment and the cochlea duct vasculature, cochleal nerve fiber under spiral limbus, stria vascularis and inner hair cell and outer hair cell of Corti's organ was observed with a transmission electron microscope. Cholesterol, triglyceride, and TBARS values were concurrently measured in the serum. Auditory threshold was measured by auditory brain stem response (ABR).
In groups B and C, cholesterol and trigrlyceride levels remained high, . The TBARS level elevated in group B but remained unchanged in groups A and C. In groups B and C, the threshold of ABR increased mildly. The cholesterol load led to injuries in the endothelium of the vasculature dominating the cochlea. This is followed by an anormaly affecting cochlear lipid metabolism that results in ultrastructural changes of cochleal nerve fiber under spiral limbus, stria vascularis and inner hair cell and outer hair cell of Corti's organ. However, in the Vit. E-added hyperlipid diet group, blood vessel and cell injuries seemed to have been inhibited by the antioxidation activity of Vit. E.

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