Central regulation of the feeding behavior in rats is considered to be very complicated since it involves many neurotransmitters and their interactions. The details of these are not fully understood at present. In this study, the effects of the α_2-adrenergic antagonist, yohimbine, on food consumption stimulated by α_2-adrenergic agonists (clonidine and α-methyl noradrenaline), opioid peptides ([D-Ala^2, D-Leu^5]enkephalinamide,[D-Ala^2, N-Me-Phe^4, Gly^5-ol]enkephalin and dynorphin 1-13) and benzodiazepine-GABA agonists (diazepam and muscimol) were examined in rats. Male Donryu rats, weighing 350 to 400 g, were inserted with a cannula stereotaxically 48 hrs before the experiment. Through the cannula, the chemical agents were administered to the intracerebroventricular (i.c.v., 5μl). Known quantities of solid chow were placed on a floor of the cage when i.c.v. administration of the chemical agents was performed. In all groups of rats which received α_2-adrenergic agonists (0.01-1 μg/rat, i.c.v.), opiod peptides (0.01-0.1 fig, 0.01-1 μg and 0.01-10 μg/rat, i.c.v.), diazepam (0.3-2.5 mg/kg, subcutaneous injection) and muscimol (50-400 ng/rat, i.c.v.), food consumption showed an increase in a dose-dependent manner. Pretreatment with yohimbine (0.1, 1 μg/rat, i.c.v.) significantly inhibited α2-adrenergic agonists and opioid peptide-induced increases in food consumption, and latent initiation of feeding was prolonged. On the other hand, increases in food consumption by diazepam and muscimol were not inhibited by i.c.v. pretreatment of yohimbine. The results of this study suggested that the central adrenergic system was closely related to the central opioid peptidergic system as compared to the central berizodiazepine-GABA nergic system in the feeding behavior of rats.

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To investigate the implications of a negative T wave in V_5 and V_6 (V5, 6-Neg-T) in patients (pts) with inferior myocardial infarction (inf MI), the findings of electrocardiography (ECG), coronary angiography (CAG) and left ventriculography (LVG) performed at one month after the onset of MI in 81 pts were assessed with inf MI excluding posteroinferior MI. The pts were divided into two groups : group A, 47 pts with V5, 6-Neg-T; and group B, 34 pts without V5, 6-Neg-T. Results : No significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the degree of extension of MI towards the apex. In 41 of the 47 pts in group A, the responsible lesion was observed in the right coronary artery (RCA), with over half of the posterolateral branches (PL) arising from the RCA. In group B, the responsible lesion was in the RCA of 33 of the 34 patients. In 22 of these, the number of PL arising from the RCA was less than 1/2 of all the PL. No significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the frequency of lesions in the left circumflex artery (8/43 in A vs. 10/33 in B). Thus, V5, 6-Neg-T in inf MI indicates the extension of the infarction in the direction of the posterolateral wall.

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The effects of various antidepressant drugs on the slow afterhyperpolarization (AHP), and the spike frequency accommodation, of CA3 pyramidal cells were studied by intracellular recordings using guinea pig hippocampal slice preparations. Pharmacologically different antidepressants, such as maprotiline, desipramine, clomipramine, trazodone and mianserin, 10^<-5>M, in a bathing medium respectively reduced the accommodation of cell discharges evoked by long-duration injection of depolarizing current, and the slow AHP evoked by short-duration injection of depolarizing current via the inhibition of Ca^<2+>-activated K^+ conductances. Chronic maprotiline administration, 5 mg/kg, i.p. 15 days significantly reduced slow AHP and spike frequency accommodation. There was no significant change in the effect of forskolin, membrane permeable stimulant of G-protein coupled adenylate cyclase on slow AHP and spike frequency accomodation following chronic maprotililne administration. These results suggest that the modulatory effects of antidepressants on neuronal excitability may be the final common pathway of antidepressant treatment and are related to the mechanism of action of antidepressants.

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To determine etiological significance of Helicobacler pylor in duodenal ulcer, biopsy specimens of duodenal and gastric mucosa obtained from 54 patients with duodenal ulcer were incubated, and the serum gastrin level in hunger was measured. Prevalence rate of H. pylori was significantly higher in open ulcer-regions (53.3 %) than in scarred regions (20.5 %) (p<0.05). The number of H. pylori also was significantly larger in open ulcer-regions (5.5 × 10^4 CFU/0.1 g tissue) than in scarred regions (5.1 × 10^3 CFU/O.1g) (p<0.05). The gastric antrum was positive for H. pylori in 93.8 % of the patients who were H. pylori-positive in the duodenal bulb, while the prevalence rate of H. pylori in the bulb was only 4.3 % in patients whose antral mucosa was negative for H. pylori. Thus, a close association was observed between these areas. No significant differences were observed in the fasting serum gastrin concentration between patients with open duodenal ulcer (107.4 pg/ml) and scarring (101.8 pg/ml). Significant association was neither noted between the fasting serum gastrin level and the number of H. pylori in the gastric antrum nor the duodenal bulb. Duodenal ulcer activity was closely associated with the presence of H. pylori in the duodenal bulb.

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To investigate the significance of circulating immune complex (CIC) in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), CIC in JRA was determined by the C1q and anti-C3d ELISA system, and a comparative study by subtype and pathology was conducted. Furthermore, anti-C3d-CIC after treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) was determined in order to eliminate the non-specific reaction. With the C1q ELISA system, the positivity of CIC was low, but the anti-C3d-CIC level showed a correlation with the activity of the disease; this trend was particularly conspicuous in the poly articular type. Furthermore, treatment with PEG gave rise to a significant difference between the presence of arthritis and anti-C3d-CIC levels. With administration of immunoglobulin preparations, a significant increase of CIC level in JRA was seen in vitro, while in vivo there were cases in which arthritis disappeared with a decrease of CIC levels. These findings suggest that anti-C3d-CIC is concerned with the activity of JRA, particularly pathology of arthritis, and that a decrease in ant-C3d-CIC following immunoglobulin therapy is related to the therapeutic effect.

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We examined the nutrient arteries of the bilateral subscapularis muscles in 10 Japanese adult cadavers and obtained the following findings. The subscapularis muscles were supplied by many different arteries arising from the subclavian and axillary arteries; therefore, these muscles were classified into two types by origin and distribution pattern of the supplying arteries. In Type I (nine cases), the suprascapular (Ss) and superior subscapular arteries (Sss) supplied the upper half of this muscle, the subscapular, circumflex scapular (Cs) and thoracodorsal arteries supplied the lower half, the deep branch of transverse cervical artery supplied the portion near its origin, andt he posterior circumflex humeral and other arteries supplied the area near the insertion. Type II was identical to Type I except that it lacked an Ss artery. Type II muscle was found in 11 cases. A few of these arteries were distributed through the dorsal surface of the subscapularis muscle after running around the upper and lower margins of this muscle. These muscles were subdivided into three types. Type C muscle, supplied only by the Cs artery, was the most common, and found in nine cases. This was followed by Type A, supplied by Cs and Ss arteries, found in seven cases, and Type B, supplied by Cs and Sss arteries, in four cases. Sss and Cs were the main arteries of these muscles : the former supplied 27.4 % of the entire muscle and the latter 28.3%. The total number of arteries counted varied from five to 10, and the number most frequently observed (six cases) was eight.

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In order to clarify the pathogenesis of anti-myeloperoxidase antibodies (anti-MPO ab) -associated crescentic glomerulonephritis (CRGN), localization of MPO in renal glomeruli was examined. The three patients with CRGN and circulating anti-MPO ab studied included two with pauci-immune CRGN and one with Goodpasture's syndrome with anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) ab as well as anti-MPO ab. Three patients with CRGN without circulating anti-MPO ab were also studied. MPO was detected along the glomerular capillary wall and in the cytoplasm of recruited neutrophils and mononuclear cells in the three patients with anti-MPO ab -associated CRGN. MPO was not detected along the glomerular capillary wall in the three patients with CRGN without anti-MPO ab. It was suggested that MPO, which is induced by neutrophil activation by anti-MPO ab, might have an important role in the pathogenesis of anti-MPO ab-associated CRGN.

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Vascular lesions of Stroke-prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHRSP) resemble that of polyarteritis nodosa (PN), and supposedly and caused by immunological abnormality. In the present study, we investigated peripheral blood lymphocytes, and compared SHRSP and Wistar Kyoto Rats (WKY, the original strain of SHRSP). Lymphocyte subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry using monoclonal antibodies. To study peripheral lymphocyte transformation, the cells were cultured with mitogens [phytohemagglutinin-p (PHAp), concanavalin A (Con A), pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and OK 432] and analyzed using ethidium bromide (EB). Serum immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) were investigated with single radial immunodiffusion. In comparison with WKY, SHRSP was found to be associated with the following results : 1) increase in helper/inducer T cells and decrease in B cells and la-positive cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes; 2) enhancement of peripheral lymphocyte transformation to PHA-p and Con A ; 3) decrease in IgG and IgM in sera. These findings suggest that SHRSP possess an immunological mechanism different from that of their original strain, significantly WKY. It is proposed that this immunological mechanism in SHRSP is a factor in development of vascular lesions similar to human PN, participating in the maintenance of hypertension and eventual pathogenesis of cerebral apoplexy.

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We experienced a case of intramural hematoma of the duodenum with improvement of the symptoms following conservative therapy. The patient, a 55-year-old woman, complained of a sudden onset of severe epigastralgia. Based on the results of CT, MRI, ultrasonic diagnosis (US), and endoscopic examination, a diagnosis of in tramural hematoma of the duodenum was given. Trauma was considered because of the hematoma, but the angiographic image suggested an aneurysmal rupture in the lower pancreatico-duodenal artery. For treatment, a fat-free diet alone resulted in a reduction in size of the hematoma, normalization of biliary and pancreatic enzyme levels, and elimination of subjective symptoms. We found only 60 reported cases (including the present case) of intramural hematoma of the duodenum in Japanese literature (1964-1990). Most of these cases (54 cases, 90 %) are caused by trauma : non-traumatic origin is extremely rare. There has been no case reported with rupture of a lower pancreaticoduodenal artery aneurysm as a possible cause.

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Case 1; A 35-year-old female, Case 2 ; A 63-year-old female, Case 3; A 75-year-old female. They visited our hospital complaining of symptoms of cystitis. They underwent cystoscopy which revealed a single solitary tumor on the posterior wall of the bladder. Fecaluria was noted at the time of admission in cases 1 and 2, but cystography failed to identify the presence of a fistula. In all cases, diagnosis of sigmoid colon cancer and its infiltration to the bladder was made by CT, MRI, barium enema and biopsy by colon fiberscopy. Sixty-seven cases of sigmoid colon cancer reported by urologists were collected from the Japanese literature. The average age of the patients was 56.1 with males predominant. Vesical irritability was the most frequent symptom. Cystosopy revealed a single solitary tumor, seen most frequently on the posterior wall.

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