Poor bowel function may occur after low anterior resection (LAR) with a straight anastomosis. The use of the colonic J-pouch is becoming increasingly popular in reconstruction to reduce these symptoms. An alternative method is to use a side-to-end anastomosis. The present study compared the functional results after LAR among patients receiving a side-to-end, colonic J-pouch, or end-to-end anastomosis. Seventeen patients underwent side-to-end anastomosis. Postoperative manometric and functional assessments of these patients were compared with a group of 19 patients who had a colonic J-pouch and low colorectal anastomosis and 13 patients who had an end-to-end anastomosis. There were no significant differences in maximum resting pressure and maximum squeeze pressure among the groups. Maximum tolerable volume was significantly favorable in the side-to-end group and colonic J-pouch group vs. the end-to-end group. Urgency of defecation was significantly greater in the end-to-end group than in the other two groups at three months postoperatively. There were no significant differences in functional and manometric results between the side-to-end and colonic J-pouch groups. Functional results of side-to-end anastomosis were comparable with colonic J-pouch and were superior to those of end-to-end anastomosis in the immediate postoperative period.

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Histamine-2 (H₂) receptor antagonists (H₂RAs) are administered orally or parenterally for the treatment of gastro-duodenal ulcers, gastric hypersecretory diseases, and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. In Japan, H₂RAs are frequently used in patients with acute pancreatitis to reduce the secretion of pancreatic juice. Ranitidme is a specific competitive H₂RA with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. The efficacy of ranitidine for the treatment of acute pancreatitis has not been sufficiently evaluated. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of ranitidine for the treatment of caerulein-induced pancreatitis as a model of acute pancreatitis. The effect of ranitidine on pancreatitis was assessed by examination of serum amylase and lipase levels, pancreatic edema, and histological changes. The prophylactic administration of ranitidine significantly reduced elevated serum amylase and lipase levels. At a histological level, ranitidine also reduces pancreatic edema, vacuole formation in pancreatic acinar cells, and inflammatory cell infiltration in the pancreas. An increase in the level of interleukin-10 in pancreatic tissue was also observed. These findings show that ranitidine accelerates the recovery of caerulein-induced pancreatitis. This effect may be due, at least in part, to increased anti-inflammatory cytokine production in pancreatic tissue and its protective role against local injury.

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In this study, we measured microvascular densities using two types of vascular endothelial markers, CD34 and nestin, and performed clinical pathological analyses of breast cancer tumors The subjects included 144 primary breast cancer patients who had undergone surgical resection. Microvascular densities were obtained by randomly selecting three fields of the tumor margins of CD34-and nestin-immunostained samples under high magnification and adding the numbers of positive blood vessels from these fields together. Both CD34 and nestin immunostaining revealed that the microvascular density was higher in patients with lymph node metastases, distant metastases, and lymphatic vessel invasion compared to those without. Although no significant correlation was observed between microvascular density and age, significant correlation were detected between microvascular density and tumor diameter, nuclear grade (NG), and hormone receptor expression. Moreover, a significant decrease in overall survival was observed in cases with high microvascular densities compared to low density cases as measured by CD34 and nestin. The results of this study suggest that microvascular densities in breast cancer tumors may reflect the metastatic growth potential of the tumor or the prognosis of a patient. No obvious differences were observed between CD34 or nestin, the two vascular endothelial markers used to measure microvascular densities in this study.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of A-3922, a dihydrobenzofuran derivative, on hydroperoxide (H₂O₂) -induced PC12 cell injury. H₂O₂-induced PC12 cell injury was determined by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. The concentration of lipid peroxide was determined from the amount of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in PC12 cell homogenate. Following exposure to 150 μM H₂O₂ for 45 min (Condition I), the LDH activity increased to 181 ± 6 % of control activity (n = 11, P < 0.01) . The LDH activity significantly decreased to 128 ± 6 % (n = 15, P < 0.01 vs Condition I) when PC12 cells were exposed to 150 μM H₂O₂ combined with 10 μM A-3922 (Condition II), and 161 ± 7 % (n = 15, P < 0.01 vs Condition I) when pre-treated with 10 μM A-3922 prior to the addition of 150 μM H₂O₂ (Condition III) . Lipid peroxidation of PC12 cells induced by 25 mM 2, 2'-azobis (2, 4-dimethyl-valeronitrile), a lipophilic radical initiator, was inhibited by the addition of 100 μM A-3922. These results indicate that A-3922 exerts a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced PC12 cell injury, in part through the inhibition of lipid peroxidation in the cell membrane.

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Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in cartilage degradation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) . The inhibition of MMP-3 mRNA expression, in particular, is an interesting therapeutic target in RA. The green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), is known to inhibit MMP mRNA expression. However, the action of the black tea polyphenol, theaflavin-3, 3'-digallate (TF3), on MMP mRNA expression in chondrocytes is not well understood. The ability for the polyphenols TF3 and EGCG to affect the mRNA expression of MMPs, members of the a disintegrin and metalloproteinase protein family (ADAMs), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) or the 67 kDa laminin receptor (67LR) was tested in interleukin-1 β-stimulated mouse chondrocytes in vitro. Mouse chondrocytes were obtained from neonatal ddy mice. After 1 week, TF3 or EGCG was added to the cultured mouse chondrocytes with or without IL-1 β. TF3 suppressed interleukin-1 β-induced increases in MMP-3, MMP-9 and MMP-13 mRNA expression to an equal or greater degree than EGCG, while ADAM-15 and 67LR mRNA expression did not change significantly. TF3 recovered interleukin-1 β-induced suppression of TIMP-3 mRNA expression. However, ADAM-17 mRNA production was induced by TF3. This study suggests that TF3 may have a stronger effect than EGCG in controlling the degradation of cartilage in the inflamed joint, and has the therapeutic potential to prevent cartilage destruction via inhibition of MMPs.

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Three types of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) are commercially available and include the standard laryngeal mask airway (sLMA), flexible laryngeal mask airway (fLMA), and intubating laryngeal mask airway (iLMA) . The three types of LMA are a similar shape and are comprised of almost identical materials apart from the tubing. Differences in tubing construction between the three types of LMA result in differences in physical characteristics. In the present study, the oropharyngeal leak pressure and fiberoptic bronchoscopy score of the three types of LMA was investigated in 20 patients. Patients were fitted with each type of LMA alternately in random order. The position of the LMA was observed using the following fiberoptic scoring system: 4, only vocal cords visible; 3, vocal cords plus posterior epiglottis visible; 2, vocal cords plus anterior epiglottis visible; 1, vocal cords not seen. Oropharyngeal leak pressure was measured in two body positions: the frontal position, with the face pointed forward and tilted upward, and the tilted position, with the head turned 45 degrees to the right. In both body positions, the number of patients with the highest fiberoptic score of 4 was significantly greater for the iLMA than for the sLMA or fLMA (p < 0.05) . The oropharyngeal leak pressure was significantly higher for the iLMA than for the sLMA or fLMA (p < 0.05) . The alterations in oropharyngeal leak pressure were smaller after changing body position for the iLMA than for the sLMA or fLMA. There was no significant correlation between fiberoptic score and oropharyngeal leak pressure for any LMA, except for the fLMA in the frontal position (p < 0.05) . The differences in oropharyngeal leak pressure and fiberoptic score between the three types of LMA investigated in the present study result from the properties of the LMA tube as the other mask characteristics are similar. The material and shape of the LMA tubing should be carefully considered to maximize oropharyngeal leak pressure.

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Steroid sulfatase (STS) in breast carcinoma is an important enzyme in intratumoral estrogen synthesis. Twenty-two paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from non-invasive ductal carcinoma (DCIS) of the breast and 32 specimens from invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) were stained using the STS and estrogen receptor (ER) polychronal antibodies. Immunoreactivity for STS in ER positive tumor was 82 % (14/17) in DCIS, 75 % (12/16) in T1 and 56% (5/9) in T2 without lymph node involvement. The incidence of immunoreactivity for STS of DCIS tended to be higher than that of IDC, although it did not reach statistical difference. These results suggest that STS in breast carcinoma may be involved in the process of carcinogenesis of the breast.

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