Steroid hormones regulate cell functions via specific receptors. We have raised a polyclonal antiserum using a peptide specific for estrogen receptor-β in order to determine the cellular sites of expression of the receptor. In the 6 week old rat, estrogen receptor-β was localized to the cell nuclei in both male and female reproductive organs, such as the ventral, lateral and dorsal prostate, seminal vesicle, coagulating and ampullary gland, spermatic duct, testis, uterus and ovary. In the ventral and lateral prostate, estrogen receptor-β was present in glandular epithelial cells and strong staining was observed. In the dorsal prostate, seminal vesicle, coagulating gland, ampullary gland and uterus, epithelial cells were immunopositive and moderate staining was observed. In the spermatic duct, estrogen receptor-β positive nuclei were observed in the epithelial cells. In the stromal cells of many tissue, estrogen receptor-β positive nuclei were also observed.In the testis, nuclei of Sertoli cells were immunopositive. In the ovary, estrogen receptor-β was present in the follicles and corpus luteum and strong staining was observed. Thus immunohistochemistry was shown to be an important investigative tool for visualising specific sites of expression of estrogen receptor-β in rat male and female reproductive organs.

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Purpose : To evaluate the usefulness of a MTT assay by measuring the radiosensitizing effect of caffeine on rat yolk sac tumor cell line with a mutant-type p53 in vitro.
Methods and Materials : A rat yolk sac tumor cell line with a mutant-type p53, NMT-1R, was used in this study. The radiosensitivity of NMT-1R with or without caffeine was measured with a MTT assay. The results were compared with those by a clonogenic assay.
Results : Caffeine at a concentration of 2.0 mM which released radiation-induced G₂ block demonstrated a radiosensitizing effect, but caffeine at a concentration of 0.5 mM did not. The radiosensitizing effect of caffeine measured by a MTT assay correlated with that measured by a clonogenic assay.
Conclusions : A MTT assay was useful to measure radiosensitivity and/or a radiosensitizing effect in vitro.

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The incidence of p53 protein-positive cells and apoptosis in this tumor did not increase significantly until 72h after treatment with nedaplatin. However, growth delay assay showed a stronger effect from 32mg/ kg nedaplatin on this tumor than that from 1Gy irradiation. In conclusion, nedaplatin is effective for a tumor with mutant-type p53 through different mechanisms from p53-dependent apoptosis.

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A human tumor with wild-type p53 was transplanted to nude mice to investigate the relationship between induction of apoptosis and p53 expression and topoisomerase II α immunohistochemically. In contrast to induction of p53-dependent apoptosis, topoisomerase II α positive rate decreased transiently following administration of etoposide, and then increased a little. However, the combination of etoposide and radiation therapy did not always cause an evident decrease of the II α positive rate. A correlation between the topoisomerase II α positive rate and Ki-67 labeling index was also suggested.

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In the use of doxorubicin and radiation for treatment of human malignant tumors in vivo, the relationship between treatment-induced apoptosis and Ki-67 labeling index was investigated. Four human tumor xenografts (ependymoblastoma, NNE ; primitive neuroectodermal tumor, YKP ; small cell lung carcinoma, GLS ; glioblastoma, KYG) were transplanted under the skin of thigh of the nude mice (BALB/cA JcL-nu). The mice were given a single radiation dose of 1 Gy, or doxorubicin alone intraperitoneally at a dose of 8 mg/kg. After treatment, sections of tumor specimens were prepared from paraffin-embedded tissues. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, TUNEL staining, and immunohistochemical analysis of Ki-67 were performed.
In NNE, apoptotic cells appeared most frequently after treatment compared with all other tumors, and the incidence of apoptosis in the radiation-treated group was much higher than in the doxorubicin-treated group. As the incidence of apoptosis in NNE increased, the Ki-67 labeling index tended to decrease. In GLS and KYG, there was a low incidence of treatment-induced apoptosis, although the Ki-67 labeling index decreased transiently after treatment. In YKP, few apoptotic cells appeared and Ki-67 the labeling index was unchanged throughout the time course after treatment.
Ki-67 labeling index in malignant tumors after treatment may be affected by various kinds of cell deaths and treatment methods.

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We present a 52-year-old woman with Graves' disease, who was characterized by having both chronic thyrotoxic myopathy and posterolateral myelopathy. Both symptoms began and progressed concomitantly. After the administration of methimazole for treatment of Graves' disease, myopathy improved, while myelopathy remained unchanged. Various possible disorders to cause myelopathy were sought. However roentgenographic findings of entire spine X ray, myelogram, magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid examinations were all with negative results. The present data imply that rare manifestations associated with myelopathy in this patient may be due to thyrotoxicosis which is strongly linked to an abnormality in autoimmune mechanisms.

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The cellular origin of the sarcomatous component of gliosarcoma is controversial. We report a case of gliosarcoma in a 73-year-old woman with a left temporal lobe tumor containing both gliomatous and sarcomatous areas. By electron microscopy, a well-developed network of high-density material in the cytoplasm of sarcomatous cells was seen. A few cells showed leiomyoblastic differentiation supported by abundant cytoplastic myofilaments associated with dense patches. There were also tumor cells with highly organized dense patches with a gradual transition to the network of high-density material described above. From these results, we suggest that the sarcomatous elements showed smooth muscle cell differentiation.

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We reported a 63 year-old woman with atypical meningioma. Histopathological findings of this tumor showed increased cellularity, irregularity of nuclear size, mitotic figures, and brain invasion. Neoplastic cells were positively stained for vimentin and S-100 protein immunohistochemically. A small proportion of cells expressed epithelial membrane antigen. The MIB-1 labeling index value of this tumor was 0.93%, and this value is significantly lower than other cases of atypical meningioma. These results indicate that the tumor might be invasive but of low growth potential. Atypical meningioma such as this case could have a better prognosis.

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We report a case of bilateral chronic subdural hematoma associated with spontaneous intracranial hypotension. While wiping a wall, a 44-year-old woman felt sudden back pain followed by the gradual development of a recurrent severe occipital headache. She had no history of head injury, craniotomy, or lumbar puncture. CT scans on admission showed tight basal cisterns and vague visualization of the bilateral Sylvian fissures. A lumbar puncture demonstrated slightly xanthochromic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); initial CSF pressure was 20 mm H₂O in the lateral recumbent position. Cerebral angiography (digital subtraction angiography) was performed twice, but there was no sign of cerebral vascular disorder. An MRI clearly showed bilateral enlargement of subdural spaces. After 3 weeks of bed rest, her headache improved and became unrelated to body position. One month later, she underwent bilateral burr hole surgery for the chronic subdural hematoma. During surgery, the old hematoma spurted out. Her headache disappeared completely, and there has been no recurrence. Primary intracranial hypotension sometimes mimics subarachnoid hemorrhage with regard to xanthochromic CSF. We stress careful interviewing about the onset of headache for diagnosis. We believe that delaying surgery in this type of bilateral subdural hematoma, except in severe cases, may be better to avoid recurrence.

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