The serum concentration ratios of dimethadione (DMO) /trimethadione (TMO) after 4 mg/kg TMO administration and urinary excretion of antipyrine metabolites, norantipyrine (NORA), 4-hydroxyantipyrine (OHA) and 3-hydroxymethylantipyrine (HMA) after 7mg/kg antipyrine administration were studied in elderly patients and in young healthy volunteers as controls.
Serum TMO concentrations were shown to be significantly higher in the elderly than those in the controls, and DMO concentrations in the elderly were significantly lower than those in the controls. The serum DMO/TMO ratios in the elderly were decreased to 39-52% of those of the controls up to 6 hr after TMO administration.
The 48 hr urinary excretion of NORA and OHA were decreased to approximately 60% of the control values and HMA was increased to 142%.
The results indicate that the activities of the isozymes of cytochrome P-450, which are responsible for N-demethylation such as TMO to DMO, or antipyrine to NORA, are selectively decreased in the elderly.

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The loci and morphology of cardiac ganglia in the heart of prenatal rats were investigated at days 15 (D15), 18 (D18), and 21 (D21) of gestation. Ganglion cells were estimated in serial transverse sections of the hearts and adjacent organs.
All ganglion cells were distributed above the coronary sulcus. Six to seven various sized groups of ganglion cells were located: (1) between the right superior vena cava and ascending aorta, (2) between the right pulmonary artery and trachea, (3) between the right pulmonary artery and right bronchus, (4) dorsal to the right atrium, (5) dorsal to the left atrium, (6) in the region of the dorsal interatrial groove and interatrial septum, (7) in the region including the left bronchus, right inferior pulmonary vein, and left superior vena cava. The ganglia contained small, densely stained ganglion cells, some nerve fibers, small unidentified cells and capillaries. The irregular shaped ganglion cells were characterized by large, round nuclei, thin layers of cytoplasm, and a few short processes. Ganglia from D18 were encapsulated by connective tissue, and some ganglion cells were surrounded by satellite cells. The mean nuclear diameter of cardiac ganglion cells was 4.28μm at D15, 4.76μm at D18, and 6.05μm at D21, their mean somal diameters were 5.79μm, 6.23 μm, and 7.58μm, and their mean numbers were 1994.33±102.31, 5771.65±233.72 and 6430.37± 630.64, respectively.
It is concluded from these results that cardiac ganglion cells can be found in 6 to 7 atrial regions in the prenatal rat and their size, number, and maturity increase from D15 to D21, but they migrate with the growth of the fetus.

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A spectrum of cardiac anomalies was produced experimentally in chick embryos stages 17 to 20 by temporary mechanical displacement of the conotruncus. Forty-two embryos that survived more than 14 embryonic days were studied. According to the type and severity of the major cardiac anomalies, the embryos were divided into eight groups; 1) normal hearts (2 cases), 2) isolated ventricular septal defect (6 cases) ; 3) ventricular septal defect with overriding of the aorta (3 cases), 4) double outlet right ventricle with overriding of the aorta (4 cases), 5) double outlet right ventricle with normal atrioventricular connection (10 cases), 6) double outlet right ventricle with overriding of the tricuspid valve (7 cases), 7) double outlet right ventricle with double inlet left ventricle (8 cases), and 8) other cases.
In groups 6 and 7, complete and partial forms of left juxtaposition of the atrial appendages were associated with four and three cases, respectively.
In most cases, both the aorta and the pulmonary artery were dextroposed (called here “dextroposition of the great arteries”) . There were close relations among: 1) the degree of the dextroposition of the great arteries, 2) the severity of overriding of the tricupsid valve, and 3) the severity of positional abnormality of the atrial appendages. The effects of manipulation on cardiogenesis are considered to be disturbance of the leftward migration of the conotruncus, and the rightward expansion and migration of the atrioventricular canal.

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To investigate alterations in lipoprotein composition associated with carbon tetrachloride-induced rat liver injury, electrophoretic patterns of rat apoproteins were investigated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and compared with those in man. Rat apoprotein (apo) A-I and apo E were shown to migrate the same distances as those of man, though rat apo A-II + apo C-II and apo C-III migrated farther. Administration of 1.0 mi/kg CCl₄ decreased the lipid contents, the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and high density lipoprotein (HDL) fractions in the serum. Transaminase activity and total protein (TP) content increased with increased CCl4 administration. The percentage of albumin nonesterified fatty acid (Alb-NEFA) increased and HDL₂ fraction decreased. Administration of 1.0 ml/kg CCl₄ decreased apo C-I and apo E in the HDL fraction. The bands of apo A-I, apo A-II, apo A-II + apo C-II and apo E in the HDL fraction declined after 2.0 ml/kg CCl₄ administration. Apoproteins in the VLDL+LDL fraction appeared to decrease after CCl₄ treatment. It was suggested that lipoprotein abnormalities induced by CCl₄ application may be related to inhibition of apoprotein synthesis, suppression of lipoprotein lipase activity, and the decline of HDL₂.

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In the present study we examined the effects of bovine insulin, 12-O-teradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), carbachol and ethanol on amino acid uptake and amylase secretion from isolated rat pancreatic lobules in vitro. Net L- [³H] serine uptake, assessed relative to D- [¹⁴C] mannitol, was saturable, enhanced by insulin (1 mU/ml) and TPA (10^-6 M) but inhibited by carbachol (10^-5 M) and ouabain (0.1 mM) . Ethanol (65 mM) had no significant effect on L-serine accumulation or amylase release from lobules incubated in the absence or presence of carbachol (10^-5M) . Amylase secretion was markedly stimulated by carbachol, whereas atropine (10^-5 M) simultaneously blocked enzyme secretion and reversed the inhibition of net L-serine uptake induced by carbachol. Basal amylase release was unaffected by insulin but stimulated by TPA. Submaximal concentrations of carbachol (10^-7 M) and TPA (2×10^-8 M) only caused an additive response in amylase secretion. The carbachol-induced depression in net amino acid uptake may reflect enhanced tracer efflux and altered ionic gradients. The similar stimulatory effects provoked by insulin and TPA suggest a possible regulatory role for protein kinase C in enhancing amino acid accumulation in the exocrine pancreas.

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Mice produce a cytotoxic factor (CF) against mouse fibroblast L-929 cells. Production of this factor was investigated in young, aged, and tumorbearing mice. Intravenous administration of pine cone antitumor substances (Fr. VI or VII), followed by OK-432, caused higher amounts of CF to be produced in ICR mouse serum fractions. Significant loss of CF activity by heat or trypsin treatment suggests that the active principle (s) of the induced f actor (s) might be proteineous substance (s) . Tumor-bearing and aged mice produced much lower amounts of CF activity than normal and young mice, when stimulated with pine cone extracts and OK-432.

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Today reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generally believed to be important in the appearance of carcinoma. We examined the levels of lipid peroxides, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) in lung carcinoma tissue of several patients. In lung carcinoma tissue, an increase of lipid peroxide levels and GSH-px activity-which scavenges H₂O₂ and metabolizes already formed lipid peroxides-was observed. There was no significant difference between SOD activity of carcinoma and normal lung tissue. SOD scavenges the superoxide radical, O₂^-. Catalase activity-which scavenges H₂O₂-was decreased in lung carcinoma tissue. The results suggest that lipid peroxides are generated due to the concentration of ROS. It was concluded that GSH-px activity is strongly induced to decrease the concentrations of lipid peroxides that are produced by lung carcinoma tissue.

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Recent advances in medical imaging equipment have made it possible to obtain images in any desired plane. However, it is often difficult to visualize these images in three-dimensions. For this reason, we have developed a Human Electric Atlas Database system which permits simulation of cross-sectional and three-dimensional images. This system is suitable for medical education and can be used as a reference during clinical examinations.
A magnetic optical disk (MO) was added to a PC-9801VX2 computer, and C compiler (Turbo C, version 2 for MS-DOS) was used as software. This is the original software to which the assembler (Turbo assembler, version 1 for MSDOS) is partially linked.
Features of the system are: 1. It uses the original CT image as the image data, whereby the window level (WL) and window width (WW) can be set, and the CT numbers can be found. 2. Three-dimensional reconstruction by the voxel method is introduced, whereby complex configurations can be reconstructed with ease. 3. It has a dictionary of anatomical terms. 4. It can be transferred to other MS-DOS machines, for example, IBM PC-AT or Toshiba J-3100 by slight modification, since the C compiler in MS-DOS is used.

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Myofibrous organization was studied in the abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis: RA, obliquus externus: OE, obliquus internus: OI, trans-versus abdominis: TA and quadratus lumborum: QL) from 14 cadavers (8 males and 6 females, aged 46-90 years) to analyze functions of the abdominal muscles. In RA, the fiber size was approximately equal to that of OE and TA and belonged in the moderate muscle fiber group of human muscle. The fiber density in RA was the lowest among the abdominal muscles. In the lateral abdominal muscles, OI, which had the greatest thickness in the muscle layer and the largest muscle fibers of the three muscles, was most predominant, and was followed by OE and TA. QL had the largest muscle fibers among the abdominal muscles which belong in the group of relatively large human muscles. Based on the features of the myofibrous organization, these results suggested functional differences among the abdominal muscles, especially between OE and OI.

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Age-related changes in the content of monoamines and their metabolites in four regions of the brain, cortex (CX), midbrain and thalamus (MB), hypothalamus (HT), and medulla oblongata (MO), were quantitatively assessed in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) to determine the contribution of brain amines to the pathogenesis of hypertension. Seven-week-old SHR had a significantly higher concentration of noradrenaline (NA) in the CX, MB, and HT than age-matched WKY. On the other hand, at 12-weeks, NA contents in all four regions of SHR was significantly lower than in WKY. There was no difference in dopamine (DA) content in these four regions between 7-week-old SHR and age-matched WKY. But in 12-week-old SHR, DA content in CX and MB were significantly lower than in WKY. Seven-week-old SHR had significantly higher 5-HT concentration than WKY in the CX, MB, MO and HT, but at 12 weeks, 5-HT content in all these four brain regions of SHR were significantly lower than in WKY. The contents of MHPG and 5HIAA, which are metabolites of NA and 5-HT, respectively, in all four regions were lower in SHR than in WKY at 12 weeks. The contents of DOPAC and HVA, metabolites of DA, in the brain of 12-week-old SHR, also showed the same tendency. These results suggest that NA, DA and 5-HT in the brain may simultaneously affect the onset and development of hypertension in SHR.

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Spinal cord projections of the upper intercostal nerve in the rabbit were studied using axonal transport of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) .
To label the spinal motoneurons, WGA-HRP was injected into three intercostal nerve branches: the external intercostal (EIC) nerve, and the medial (MIIC) and lateral (LIIC) branches of the internal intercostal nerve. The locations, the numbers and the soma size (average soma diameter) of 451 labeled motoneurons were analyzed in this study.
TMB reaction products were identified in the spinal cord from one and a half segments rostral to half a segment caudal to the entry segment. No reaction products were found on the contralateral side. Labeled motoneurons containing dense granular reaction products and their dendritic processes were located in the lateral portion of the ventral horn gray matter. Soma diameter ranged between 12μm and 45μm (average 23-25μm) . Motoneurons labeled after injections into the three intercostal nerves (T4 or T5) overlapped extensively on transverse sections of ventral horn spinal cord. The results indicate that the LIIC nerve, which is neuroanatomically named the lateral cutaneous branch of the internal intercostal nerve, contains motor fibers originating from ventral horn motoneurons.

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