The traditional Japanese diet with its high intake of fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants is believed to effectively ward off cardiovascular disease. Oxidative stress, related to reactive oxygen and nitrogen species produced by aerobic organisms, is responsible for the pathogenesis of most chronic diseases. Oxidative low density lipoprotein (LDL) is thought to play a key role in the pathogenesis of early atherosclerosis. There has been increasing interest in antioxidant substances derived from edible plants. It has been suggested that the measurement of LDL antioxidant activity is physiopathologically more important and informative for screening antioxidant activity to prevent atherosclerosis than other methods. We assessed by LDL oxidation assay the antioxidant characteristics of various edible plants from rural areas. The mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf showed comparatively high antioxidant activity. We identified the antioxidant compounds and investigated compound levels in the mulberry leaf and found the antioxidant activity of mulberry leaves to be mainly attributable to quercetin 3-(6-malonylglucoside) (Q3MG). Dietary consumption of mulberry leaves and/or Q3MG may enhance resistance to oxidative modification of LDL and attenuated atherosclerotic lesion development. However, the outcome of intervention trials suggested that a single antioxidant had little effect on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The synergic effect of certain combinations may determine outcome. We need to widen our understanding of the synergic effect of diets and nutrient-gene interactions related to nutrient/disease risk.

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Aim: The effects of or al orenteral administration of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) on suppression of the immune function induced by postoperative chemo-radiation therapy in patients with esophageal cancer were studied.
Methods: Thirteen patients received TPN, including Intralipid, from 1 week before the operation until 2 weeks after the operation and were then switched to enteral feeding containing 17.5% MCT and 7.5% safflower oil. EPA methyl esther was administered orally at a dose of 1.8g/day with the parenteral or the enteral diet to the “EPA” group (n=5) from 1 week before the operation until discharge. EPA was not given to the “Control” group (n=8). PHA-and ConA-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation, NK activity, and total lymphocyte and T cell counts were measured on admission as well as in the 3rd, 7th, and 10th postoperative weeks. Starting after 3 to 4 postoperative weeks, postoperative chemoradiation therapy (CBDCA 30mg/day, 5-FU 250mg/day, radiation 1.8Gy/day) was performed for 5 consective day each week for 4 to 5 weeks.
Results: Both ConA-and PHA-stimmulated lymphocyte proliferation decreased significantly on the 10th postoperative day in both groups. Improvement in cell-mediated immune function in the 3rd postoperative week was marked in the “EPA” group (p<0.01 in PHA and p<0.02 in ConA) when compared to the “Control” group. Improvement in lymphocyte proliferation was higher in the “EPA” group followong the completion of chemoradiation therapy (p<0.005 “EPA” vs. “Contro” in ConA after 10 weeks). NK activity was also higher in the “EPA” group following the completion of chemoradiation therapy (p<0.004 “EPA” vs. “Control” after 10 weeks). There were no significant differences, however, in WBC, total lymphocyte count, and T cell count.
Conclusion: The results suggest that enteral/oral EPA reduced immunosuppression induced by postoperative chemo-radiation therapy in patients who underwent an operation for esophageal cancer.

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Background: The purpose of this study were to investigate the survival rate of patients with cervical cancer who were treated at our institution and to analyse its prognostic factors.
Methods: One hundred twenty-two patients who underwent treatment for primary cervical cancer at Kochi Municipal Hospital between January 1996 and August 2003 (7 years 8 months) were retrospectively reviewed. There were 59 patients (48.4%) with stage 0 disease. Sixty-three patients (51.6%) had stage I-IV cervical cancer. The mean age was 56.7±15.6 years, and the median follow-up period was 31 months.
Results: The overall 5-year suvival rate was 96.4% and 77.1% in stage I and II, respectively. The overall 3-year survival rate was 56.3% in stage III, and the 30-month survival rate was 0% in stage IV. Among the risk factors of histologic cell type, clinical parametrial involvement, clinical vaginal involvement and pelvic lymph node metastasis, clinical parametrial involvement had the lowest p value (p=0.0717) in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.
  Multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazard regression model showed that among the risk factors of histologic cell type, clinical parametrial involvement, clinical vaginal involvement and pelvic lymph mode metastasts, the lowest p value (p=0.0717) was for clinical parametrial involvement.
Conclusion: Although there was no statistical significance comparing the prognostic factors in multivariate analysis, it was presumed that clinical parametrial involvement was the most influential factor among those which were analyzed in this study on the prognosis of patients with stage I-IV cervical cancer.

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Background: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (DWI) is an excellent examination for detecting acute ischemic stroke, but false-negative cases have been reported recently.
Patients and Methods: Since the present MR scanner (1.5-T, Siemens Symphony) was introduced to our hospital, a prospective study was designed in the Departments of Neurology and Radiology to evaluate the DWI findings in patients tentatively diagnosed to have an acute infarction and in those with stroke-like episodes. During the 31 months between June 2000 and December 2002, 572 consecutive patients with acute cerebral infarction or presenting conditions mimicking ischemic stroke, including transient ischemic attack (TIA), sudden-onset isolated vertigo, and loss of consciousness (LOC) with or without seizure, underwent DWI.
Results: Four of 366 patients with a cerebral infarction (1.1%) had false-negative DWI in the acute stage, and 10 of 206 patients with conditions mimicking ischemic stroke (4.9%) had false-positive DWI in the acute stage. Of these 10 patients, there were five cases with TIA, four with sudden-onset isolated vertigo, and 1 with LOC with seizure. Sensitivity and specificity values were 98.9% and 97.6%, respectively, when DWIs were performed to diagnose acute cerebral infarction.
Conclusion: DWI rarely fails to detect an acute-stage cerebral infarction, but further confirmatory measures may be necessary when there is a negative examination using a clinical or computed tomographic diagnosis to the contrary.

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  Dialysis therapies are generally considered to be contraindications in cases with non-curative malignancies. Here we report two cases in which peritoneal dialysis was undertaken to reduce malignancy-related symptoms like abdominal full sensation and anorexia as well as to eliminate uremic toxins. The first case was a 61year-old male with peritonitis carcinomatosa and its related ascites disseminated from pancreas tail cancer. His renal function deteriorated after initiating chemotherapy using 1,000mg/m² of gemcitabine (GEM), and dialysis was required to improve his uremic symptoms. The second case was an 81year-old male who had been receiving maintenance HD therapy for 8years at another clinic. He had been complaining of abdominal distension derived from ascites and had multiple liver tumors of unknown origin. Since the main complaint in these two cases was unbearable abdominal full sensation, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) was initiated to simultaneously control uremia and to relieve the abdominal distension. CAPD was successful in reducing ascites and in controlling the uremia as well as general symptoms. Consequently, we propose “PD terminal” as the rescue treatment for uremic patients with massively retained ascites related to malignancies.

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  The purpose of this study was to discuss the procedures for establishing indices for physical senility from simple physical fitness tests through linear regression analysis. The fluctuation of residuals obtained from the various regression analyses and the statistical procedures for dealing with the variables when the assumptions concerning the residuals were contradicted, were discussed. In this study, 168 females (mean age 37.7, SD 11.3, range 20 to 65years) who were registered with one occupational insurance organization were examined. They each underwent tests to establish readings for seven variables, including five physical fitness tests: standing trunk flexion (FLEX), sit-ups in 30seconds (SIT-UP), vertical jump (VERT), repetitious side step in 20seconds (SIDE), and step test (STEP-ME). Two blood pressure readings while at rest were also taken (SBP, DBP). The results can be summarized as follows. In the forward stepwise regression analysis, the order of entered variables was VERT (R=0.637), SIT-UP (R=0.673), DBP (R=0.696), FLEX (R=0.704), and SIDE (R=0.717). The equation is y=61.38-0.569×(VERT)-0.513×(SITUP)+0.183×(DBP)+0.283×(FLEX)-0.328×(SIDE). Minimum AIC estimates (MAICE) were achieved for this equation. The correlation coefficient between residuals and predicted value was 0.345 (p<0.05). To satisfy the assumptions of the standard regression model, the researchers worked with transformed variables instead of working with original variables. The transformations of the raw data into logarithms and into reciprocals is described. According to the rules of variable elimination using ridge regression analysis, SBP and STEP-ME were eliminated from the set of seven variables. However, an examination of the residuals indicated that there were no advantages with using these transformations compared to the general linear model using raw data. The ratio of the predicted age for each client obtained from the predictive equation and chronological age is regarded as a marker of aging. Therefore, it is necessary for researchers to examine what kind of life styles result in such individual differences.

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