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Study Question: What are the characteristics of spontaneous endometriosis in cynomolgus monkeys?Summary Answer: Spontaneous endometriosis in cynomolgus monkeys exhibited similar characteristics to the human disease.What Is Known Already: One previous report described the prevalence and the basic histopathology of spontaneous endometriosis in cynomolgus monkeys.Study Design, Size, Duration: Endometriotic lesions that had been histologically confirmed in 8 female cynomolgus monkeys between 5 and 21 years old were subjected to study.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: The monkeys died of, or were sacrificed because of, sickness consequent on endometriosis. Specimens were evaluated histopathologically with haematoxylin and eosin staining, iron staining and immunohistochemistry (CD10, CD31, α-SMA and PGP9.5), and by observing them under a microscope.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: Endometriotic and stromal cells (CD10-positive) with haemorrhage and inflammation were observed. Smooth muscle metaplasia and nerve fibres were also noted in the endometriotic lesions. Endometriotic lesions in lymph nodes were incidentally found.Limitations and Reasons For Caution: Since laparoscopic analysis for monitoring the disease state was not set as a parameter of the current study, time course changes (progression) of the disease were not assessed.Wider Implications Of the Findings: Further investigation of spontaneous endometriosis in cynomolgus monkeys may contribute to better understanding of the disease pathobiology.Study Funding/competing Interests: No external funds were used for this study. A.N.K., S.M., S.H., T.I., O.K., A.K. and M.S. are full-time employees of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. R.K. received lecture fees from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., unrelated to the submitted work. S.N., S. O., L.Y., K.Y. and T.S. have nothing to declare.Trial Registration Number: N/A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out to evaluate the role of glutathione on rat embryo developmental potential after ICSI. We observed the effects of glutathione on the development of non-treated rat embryos, ICSI embryos and embryos with sham injection treatment. The development of glutathione-microinjected embryos was also observed. Oocytes and fertilized embryos were obtained from superovulated Wistar–Imamichi rats and cultured in mR1ECM medium. Oocytes and embryos were then allowed to develop to assess the effect of glutathione on the development rate in intact embryos, micro-injected embryos and ICSI embryos. (1) In the intact embryo, the proportion of blastocyst stage development increased when 0.01 mM GSH was added to the medium compared to the control. (2) Microinjection of glutathione (GSSG, GSH) into the embryo increased development at each stage, and the addition of 0.2 nM GSSG or GSH significantly increased blastocyst development, in comparison to that of the control ( P < 0.05). (3) Compared to the control, all the GSSG and GSH concentrations improved damaged blastocyst development, where 0.01 mM GSH improved significantly ( P < 0.05). (4) The addition of glutathione in the medium increased the rate of blastocyst development after ICSI. A significantly higher number of TE and total cells were obtained in the micro-injected embryo with both of the 0.02 mM GSSG and GSH treatments ( P < 0.05). The addition of glutathione into the culture media can improve early embryo development and is capable of repairing the damage of ICSI rat embryos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of green tea extract catechins on the rat thyroid were examined in a 13-week feeding study and subsequent 2-,4- and 8-week studies. Commercially available polyphenon-60 (P-60) which contains green tea extract catechins at 66.2% was used as a source of catechins. A basic diet containing different concentrations of P-60 was used for experiments. In the 13-week study, 10 rats of each sex were administered diets containing P-60 at 0 (control), 0.625, 1.25, 2.5 and 5.0%. Goiters were observed in the 13-week test. The mean thyroid weight of rats fed a diet containing 5.0% of P-60 (5.0% group) significantly increased to 444% of the control in males and to 304% of the control in females. Histological examinations of the thyroid of the 5.0% group revealed marked hypertrophy and/or hyperplasia of the follicles, some with depletion of colloid and some with rich colloid, and formation of a fibrous capsule. Slight hypertrophy of follicular cells was observed in male rats fed a diet containing 1.25% of P-60 (1.25% group) and female rats fed a diet containing 2.5% of P-60 (2.5% group). Degree and incidence of thyroid lesions were higher in males than in females in the 1.25, 2.5 and 5.0% groups. In the 2–8-week studies, five rats of each sex were given diets containing 0 (control) and 5.0% of P-60. In the 5.0% group, the mean thyroid weight in males significantly increased to 161% of the control as early as 2 weeks and increased to 357% of the control at 8 weeks. Histologically, these goiters were also associated with follicular cell hypertrophy/hyperplasia as in the 13-week study. The degree and incidence of thyroid lesions were higher in males than in females. These results indicate that dietary administration of the green tea extract catechins at high doses induced goiters in rats, and this may be due to antithyroid effects of catechins. In the 13-week study, the no-observed effect level (NOEL) of green tea extract catechins for F344 rats based on histological changes of the thyroid was considered to be 0.625% in males and 1.25% in females in the diet, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Donor-specific blood transfusion (DST) was introduced to achieve better graft survival. However, its benefits are controversial considering the immunosuppression of cyclosporine (CYA) or tacrolimus (Tac), and its long-term effects have not been well discussed. Of the 40 patients who received DST with CYA, 3 (7.5%) became cross-match positive. Of the 37 patients with negative cross-match, 34 patients received a one-haplotype-matched kidney and were compared to patients with one-haplotype-matched kidney transplant without preoperative DST (n = 13). Acute rejection within 3 months after transplant was 29.4% in the DST group, and 15.4% in the non-DST group. All rejection episodes were steroid resistant in the non-DST group. If the graft survival rates were calculated excluding non-immunological graft loss, graft survival rate was 91.0 and 72.8% at 5 and 10 years in the DST group, and 83.3% at 5 and 10 years in the non-DST group, respectively. The two graft survival lines converged 7 years and 7 months after transplantation. No beneficial effect of DST was statistically evident under CYA immunosuppression. In terms of the severity of acute rejection or the onset of chronic rejection, DST induced a small benefit, however, which seemed to disappear within 8 years after transplantation.Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Celiac axis stenosis is frequently associated with pancreaticoduodenal artery aneurysms. Although the cause of stenosis was not clear in most of the reported cases, compression of the median arcuate ligament of the diaphragm was found to be responsible for the stenosis in 7 of 42 reported cases of this type of aneurysm. We report a case of aneurysm caused by compression of the median arcuate ligament of the diaphragm and celiac plexus. An asymptomatic 43-year-old Japanese man was admitted with a low echoic lesion in the uncus of pancreas. Computed tomographic scan and angiogram revealed stenosis of the celiac axis and two aneurysms in the inferior posterior pancreaticoduodenal artery. The celiac plexus and median arcuate ligament were divided surgically and normal flow was reestablished in the celiac axis. One of the aneurysms was resected and the afferent artery of the other aneurysm was ligated. In the setting of pancreaticoduodenal artery aneurysm associated with celiac axis stenosis, management of stenosis should be considered in addition to local treatment of the aneurysm. In this context, division of median arcuate ligament and celiac plexus or aorto-celiac bypass may normalize the flows in the pancreaticoduodenal arcade and could be effective in preventing aneurysm reformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenocarcinoma of the small intestine is uncommon. Due to this paucity and the lack of specificity of symptoms, patients are usually seen late in the course of their illness, when curative therapy, mainly represented by extensive surgical resection, is unlikely. The authors report a case of primary well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma (T4N0M0) arising in the duodenal limb of a reconstructed Billroth I gastroduodenostomy, 9 years after a distal gastrectomy for signet-ring cell carcinoma of the stomach (T4N0M0). Evidence for excluding the possibility of a recurrence of the primary gastric cancer was based on the different histologic pattern, the long disease-free interval, and other features of the second neoplasm. Relatively early diagnosis of the neoplasm, followed by curative surgical therapy was made possible by the early onset of the obstructive symptoms and the favorable anatomical location of the tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of extensive extra- and intrahepatic portal tumor thrombosis, with no metastatic foci in liver parenchyma, secondary to advanced gastric carcinoma in a 69-year-old man is reported. The portal tumor thrombosis was characterized by enlargement of the thrombosed segment of the vein, decreased density mass without intraluminal enhancement of the involved vein, nonvisualization of the portal venous branch in the involved lobe, and the so-called cavernous transformation of the portal vein. The surgically resected gastric specimen showed Borrmann type 3 advanced papillary adenocarcinoma. The portal tumor thrombus is presumed to have arisen from vascular invasion in the primary foci of gastric carcinoma, and then to have permeated the portal vein without invasion of liver parenchyma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]