A simple simultaneous assay method for determination of acetylcholine (ACh) and choline (Ch) in rat brain regions by coulometric high-performance liquid chromatography with an oxidative screen mode was developed. Separation of ACh, Ch and ethylhomocholine (EHC) as internal standard on a Chemcosorb ACh-II reversed-phase column was followed by coulometric detection of hydrogen peroxide, enzymatically derived from the compounds in an immobilized enzyme (acetylcholinesterase and choline oxidase) column. The coulometric detector consisted of a low volume flow-through cell containing two porous graphite working electrodes. The first working electrode was set at +0.50V to prevent interference, and the second was used as a working electrode for quantitation with its potential set at+0.75V vs a palladium reference electrode. For good separation of ACh, Ch or EHC and derivation of enzyme reaction, mobile phase and reaction solutions were required in this system. The mobile phase consisted of 0.01 M sodium acetate buffered to pH 5.0 with 0.02 M citric acid containing 0.04 mM sodium octyl sulphate and 1.3 mM tetramethylammonium chloride. The reaction solution consisted of 0.05 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 8.5) . The assay limit was 10-20 pmole for both ACh and Ch. Excellent chromatograms of ACh, Ch and EHC were obtained within 24 min. The distributions of ACh and Ch values in the rat brain after 10 kW microwave irradiation were the same but the levels of these values were higher, than those previously reported.

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Alpha₁-microglobulin (Alpha₁M) is glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 33, 000. In patients with various disease entities accompanied by renal dysfunction, it has been reported that Alpha₁M worked as a very specific index capable of checking renal dysfunction and offering a precise picture of kidney malfunction in its early stage. While many investigators pointed out that a temporary decline in kidney function would follow laparotomy no reports have related preoperative and postoperative AlphalM levels to renal behavior in cases of the digestive organ operation. In the present study, the authors measured the blood Alpha₁M (S-Alpha₁M) and urinary AlphalM (U-Alpha₁M) levels as well as other representative indexes of renal function at given intervals preoperatively and postoperatively, and evaluated the usefulness of the measurements of S-Alpha₁M and U-Alpha₁M levels as indexes of post operative renal functions in 43 surgical cases with digestive problems and no preoperative renal dysfunction. S-Alpha₁M rises in proportion to decline of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), but in our findings it served as a poor index for detection of the development of postoperative renal dysfunction and was presumed to be virtually useless for this purpose. U-Alpha₁M rise reflects malfunction in the urinary tubule, and in our findings it would be more useful than U-NAG and U-Beta₂ M as an index of postoperative dysfunction of the urinary tubule.

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Sexual and age-related differences of body composition was analyzed in brachium by X-ray computed tomography. Subjects included 104 normal healthy adults (49 males and 55 females) . The ages of the subjects ranged between 20 and 69. CT images were taken at the proximal third point, center and distal third point of the upper arm. The cross sectional areas of subcutaneous fat, muscular layer, intermuscular connective tissue and bone were measured in each image. For the muscular layer, each muscle was specified and measured. Results were related to sexual and age differences. 1) In males the muscular layer was the largest, followed in order by the subcutaneous fat and bone at all levels. In females, the subcutaneous fat was the largest, and the muscular layer was second. 2) Subcutaneous fat in the males increased in the 50 s and 60 s. The muscular layer of the males tended to decrease with age. On the contrary, subcutaneous fat in females increased with age. 3) At the proximal level in males, the brachial triceps reduced with age and the deltoid muscles reduced more. The female triceps and deltoid muscles showed slight age related changes in size. 4) At the other two levels, though the male triceps decreased remarkably with age, the female triceps did not. These muscles were similar in both sexes in the 60s. 5) The sexual difference in the size of each muscle diminished with the difference in motor activity of both sexes. Intermuscular variation was reduced to difference in the fiber type composition of each muscle.

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In rhinoplasty, the use of solid silicone implant is increasing each year. Insertion of an implant is intended to replace the volume of bone and cartilage removed, and fixation of the implant to the bone surface is very important. The operation is not successful if the implant is not properly aligned with the dorsum nasi when the patient feels the nose after the operation. Furthermore, the quality of fixation is important in preventing postoperative complications. Since rhinoplasty is an operation with a blind viewing field, the position of the implant after insertion cannot be clearly seen, and opinion has been divided as to whether it is better to insert the implant beneath the periosteum or above it. In an experiment using rats, fixation was studied by placing implants directly on the bone or on the periosteum, and union with the bone was found to occur in the former case. This indicates the importance of periosteum peeling in rhinoplasty. The next consideration was whether formation of a pocket for inserting the end of the implant beneath the periosteum at the time of rhinoplasty was possible or not. Macroscopically, at the time of nasal tumor operation, it was possible to peel the nasal bone periosteum by the end of the eleverium. Under light microscopy if the periosteum and the peripheral tissues were extended to twice their usual length, the elongated periosteum was continuous. As a result, it was possible to peel beneath the periosteum and form a pocket. If, however the periosteum is broken, and the implant is placed in contact with the bone surface, it seems that good fixation might also be obtained. In any case, appropriate nasal bone separation operation is very important for successful rhinoplasty.

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Effects of Sasa senanensis Rehder extract (SE) on inflammatory reaction and phagocytic activity were studied in experimental animals. SE were extracted from Sasa senanensis Rehder by alkaline hydrolysis. At doses of 10 and 20m1/kg (p.o.), SE slightly inhibited the increase of vascular permeability induced by acetic acid in mice. There was a significant antiedematous effect of SE on formalin-induced hind paw edema in rats 3 hr after oral administration of 5 ml/kg. On the other hand, SE increased hind paw edema induced by carrageenin. No apparent effect of SE on granuloma formation induced by formalin-filter paper pellet and agar implantation was observed by Hematoxyline-Eosine or Azan-Mallory's stain. No difference was found between control and SE treated rats in the determination of weights of granuloma formed around paper pellets and agar.
The effect of SE on phagocytic activity of the mouse reticuloendothelial system was studied by the carbon clearance method. The K index and a index were increased from 3 to 5 hr by a single administration of SE (0.2 ml/body, p.o.) . This result suggested that a single administration of SE enhances phagocytic activity. However, no change of phagocytic activity was found after multiple administrations of SE.

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We measured postheparin lipolytic activity (PHLA) in diabetic patients with nephropathy, without nephropathy and in nephrotics to study its relation to renal function, serum albumin and HDL-cholesterol; and to the insulin secretory function in diabetics. The effects of apoprotein and abnormality of VLDL, which may be a cause of abnormality of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity, were also studied. 1) For diabetics with nephropathy, PHLA tended to be positively correlated, but not significantly, with insulin secretion. PHLA was positively correlated with serum albumin (r=0.579, p<0.05) . 2) PHLA was remarkably reduced in nephrotics (p<0.001) . 3) A test in which postheparin plasma from a normal subject was added to a VLDL fraction revealed reduction of LPL activity in nephrotics (p<0.01) . 4) In a test to add apo VLDL for diabetics with nephropathy and nephrotics, reduction of LPL activity was recognized in nephrotics compared to controls (p<0.001) . Also, a comparison of the rate of increase in LPL activity, showed a low value for apo VLDL in diabetics with nephropathy and nephrotics (p<0.05 for both groups) . The results indicated possible abnormality in the apoprotein structure of apo VLDL as well as in the composition in diabetics with nephropathy, especially in cases of nephrotic syndrome and nephrotics.

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Histological study of avascular necrosis of femoral heads were conducted in 20 hips by histomorphometric methods. Especially, the femoral head repairing process was studied by contact microradiogram and tetracycline double labelling. Beneath the cartilage layer, four different layers, the necrotic zone, the fibrous band, the sclerosing zone, and the normal cancellous zone were found in femoral head specimens. Thick appositional woven bone with osteoid matrix and active osteoblasts wos prominent in the sclerosing zone. Primary, secondary, and dynamic parameters of the trabecular bone were measured in the sclerosing zone and the normal cancellous zone of the femoral heads. The trabecular bone specific volume (tVsp) of the sclerosing zone was about four times that of the normal cancellous zone. Both the fractional formation surface (FrFS) and the fractional resorption surface (FrRS) of the sclerosing zone were about three times those of the normal cancellous zone. When observed by tetracycline double labelling, the tetracycline labelled surface of the sclerosing zone was three times that of the normal cancellous zone. The mineral appositional rate (Mo) was about 2.2 μm/day in the sclerosing zone and about 1.4μm/day in the normal cancellous zone. Thus, good repairing capacity was observed quantitatively in the specimens of avascular necrosis of femoral heads.

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Body composition of the area at the level of the 4th lumbar vertebral section was studied in 62 humans who had no abdominal problems (32 males, 30 females) by X-ray CT (computed tomography) images. The total cross-sectional area, subcutaneous fat, abdominal cavity, vertebra, vertebral foramen, and muscles (rectus abdominis, abdominis lateralis, quadratus lumborum, psoas major, erector spinae, transversospinalis) were measured, and compared for sex, age and body type differences. The subjects were classified, by age, into six 10 year groups from 20 to 70, and by Rohrer Index, into three types. The following results were obtained. 1) The total cross-sectional area was smallest in the twenties and increased in the thirties, in both sexes. There were no significant changes after the thirties. 2) The mean ratios of cross section area of each tissue and organ to the total body cross section area for all ages were : In males, the abdominal cavity and muscles were each about 34%, and these were followed by subcutaneous fat. In females, the subcutaneous fat and abdominal cavity were each about 34%, and were followed by muscle. 3) Comparison of the components by age yielded: In males the relative order was muscle, abdominal cavity, and subcutaneous fat in the twenties and thirties, and above the forties the relative order was abdominal cavity, muscle, and subcutaneous fat. The muscle was equal to the subcutaneous fat in males in their seventies. In females, the subcutaneous fat ratio was largest in the twenties to fifties and this was followed in order by muscles and abdominal cavity in the twenties, and by abdominal cavity and muscles above the thirties. In the sixties and seventies, the abdominal cavity ratio was largest in females. 4) In both sexes, the real amount of subcutaneous fat and abdominal cavity tended to increase with age. The real area of the vertebra increased slightly, but the vertebral foramen tended to decrease with age. The amount of muscle decreased remarkably in the males, and gradually with age in the females. 5) In males, the order of the mean areas of the muscles were: abdominis lateralis>erector spinae>psoas major>quadratus lumborum ≅ transversospinalis>rectus abdominis muscle. Decrease of area of each muscle with age was greatest in the forties and seventies for psoas major and quadratus lumborum, in the fifties for erector spinae, and in the seventies for transversospinalso true alis, but there was no change in the rectus abdominis or abdominis lateralis. All of this was in females, except that the quadratus lumborum and rectus abdominis muscle were equal and were smallest. 6) Among the three body types, the real areas of all components except the vertebral foramen tended to increase in the order of A type, C type, and D type in males. In comparing ratios, only the subcutaneous fat ratio increased in the same order (A, C, D) . In females, the real area of subcutaneous fat increased in the order of A type, C type, and D type. There was a discrepancy between A type and C type in the real area of the abdominal and cavity and the muscles. The subcutaneous fat ratio increased in order of A type, C type, D type, and the muscle ratio decreased in that same order.

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Biodynamic studies on normal hip joint have seldom referred to shelf hypoplasia. In the present study, hip joint resultant forces caused by changes in shelf angle (45°, 50°, 55°, 60°) and femoral neck body angle (110°, 130°, 150°) were subjected to our biodynamically comparative investigation in two-dimensional photoelastic experiments. The following results were obtained: 1) Median loading at a shelf angle of 45° (normal) or 50° to normal femoral bone (collodiaphyseal angle 130°) produced no observable changes in either stress distribution or stress concentration, but at angles of 55° and 60°, stress concentration acting on the shelf lateral border showed an increase in hip joint stress relative to the increase in shelf angle. 2) It was observed that stress distribution and stress concentration resulted in no particular change in cartilage degeneration by progress of shelf hypoplasia, even if the cartilage thickness was reduced to half. However stress concentration reached a value 2.5 times the former value in the case of reduced cartilage defect. 3) Changes in hip joint resultant forces due to changes in femoral collodiaphyseal angles (±10%) showed decreases in resultant forces due to decreased collodiaphyseal angle and increases due to increased collodiaphyseal angle (±10%) . Observation of natural courses in patients with shelf hypoplasia indicated an increase in shelf angle and a decrease in thickness due to cartilage degeneration. Rotational acetabular osteotomy for these patients resulted in stress concentration passing to a region of low cartilage degeneration with a decreased stress value. This was confirmed clinically to be in good accord with the results of the present study. Trochanterosteotomy for decreased femoral collodiaphyseal angle resulted in decreased hip joint resultant forces.

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The clinical symptoms and course of twelve patients with acute hepatitis who were postulated to be infected by hepatitis viruses during their stay in foreign countries were compared with those of patients infected in Japan. These patients, all men, consisted of 3 cases of hepatitis A (HA), 5 cases of hepatitis B (HB), and 4 cases of non-A non-B hepatitis (NAN-B) . The mean ages of the patients were 36 years (HA), 39 years (HB), and 30 years (NA-NB) . Ten of these patients stayed in South East Asia and 2 in Middle East Asia from 5 to 180 days. The postulated incubation periods were within 1 month in 5 cases, within 6 months in 4 cases and over 6 months in 2 cases. The symptoms were manifested within 1 month after infection in all patients with hepatitis A. The serum transaminase level normalized in 41±7 days, 37±10 days, and 80±40 days in HA, HB and NANB respectively. The results showed that clinical symptoms and course of hepatitis in patients who were infected in foreign countries were similar to those of patients who were infected in Japan, irrespective of the subtype of HB virus, except that most HB patients were thought to be infected by sexual transmission in Asian areas.

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Cholesterol metabolism was studied in relation to aging 8'88 week old in Wistar male rats. The levels of cholesterol in serum, liver and arterial wall, the incorporation of ¹⁴C-labelled precursors in the cholesterol of those tissue and the activity of some enzymes related to cholesterol turnover were assayed. The first period, up to about 16 weeks, is a growing stage in which the gain of body weight is most significant. In this stage serum cholesterol increases mostly from exogenous sources, and tissue cells accumulate cholesterol from LDL for their needs. The synthesis of cholesterol in liver seems to be repressed by the well-known feed back mechanism. In the second period, between approximately 16 and 36 weeks, increase in body weight still continues but the level of serum cholesterol remains constant. Cholesterol synthesis is suggested to be higher than in the first period, so its degradation to bile acids is considered to be somewhat greater. The metabolism of cholesterol appears to be well balanced as a whole. However, in the third period from 36 to 47 weeks, serum cholesterol tends to increase, especially LDL cholesterol. The catabolism of cholesterol probably decreases in this stage to break the balance. HDL cholesterol levels in rats behave with aging in a somewhat different way than in humans, and this may explain why rat are resistant to atherosclerosis.

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Metastasis or infiltration of epipharynx carcinoma frequently causes osteolytic lesion. There are reports that these symptoms may exhibit osteosclerotic lesion, but this isconsidered to be rare, clinically. From this aspect, infiltration or metastasis of epipharynx carcinoma may not be likely when osteoma or fibrous dysplasia on the head and face are suspected. We report here a case with epipharynx carcinoma exhibiting osteosclerotic lesions in the sphenoidal and posterior ethmoidal sinuses, including some considerations from the literature pertaining to details of the case.

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