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To determine the optimal rate of infusion of a fat emulsion (long-chain triglycerides; LCTs) for parenteral nutrition, the rate of elimination of triglycerides from plasma was measured on two occasions in three healthy subjects, once while receiving LCTs alone (study I) and once while receiving a combined infusion of glucose and LCTs (study 2). In study 1 a hypertriglyceridaemic clamp was set up by raising the concentration of triglycerides to 2 mmol l(-1) (60-min priming infusion at 0.2 g LCTs per kg body-weight per h) and maintaining this value for 300 min. In study 2 a constant infusion of glucose at a rate of 0.32 g per kg body-weight per h was given throughout the 420-min test, and the hypertriglyceridaemic clamp was set up after 70 min. The infusion of glucose induced a progressive increase in the mean(s.d.) concentration of insulin from 4.3(0.4) microU ml(-1) to a plateau value of 11.0(0.2) microU ml(-1) which was sustained during the last 310 min of the study. During the steady state of the hypertriglyceridaemic clamp, the concentration of triglycerides (2.16(0.17) versus 2.12(0.20) mmol l(-1), P = 0.26), as well as the mean(s.d.) rates of infusion of LCTs (0.12(0.08) versus 0.12(0.04) per kg body-weight per h, P = 0.38), did not differ between studies 1 and 2. Thus, an infusion of glucose (and the associated physiological increase in the concentration of insulin) at doses commonly used in parenteral nutrition does not influence the rate of elimination of triglycerides from plasma in normal subjects.

Tenascin expression was determined by an immunohistochemical technique in 120 surgical specimens of gastric carcinoma to investigate its relationship with clinicopathological factors. Tenascin expression was more prominent in the neoplastic area than in the adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa. Tenascin was frequently observed in gastric mucosa with diffuse chronic gastritis, glandular atrophy and intestinal metaplasia. In the neoplastic area, tenascin expression was positive in 72 cases (60 per cent). Tumours with a high frequency of tenascin expression included: Borrmann type II (19 of 20), well or moderately differentiated tumours (52 of 63), tumours with expansive growth and with an intermediate growth pattern (40 of 42), and those with a medullary or intermediate-type stroma (55 of 73). There was no significant relationship between tenascin expression and age, sex, depth of tumour invasion, lymph node metastasis, invasion to lymphatic vessel, venous invasion and the 4-year survival rate.

Survival was determined after resection for the two main histological types of gastric carcinoma, intestinal (n = 223) and diffuse (n = 170), in 393 patients with pT1 or pT2 tumours. Lymph node metastases were present in 94 patients. The 10-year survival rate was significantly lower for patients with intestinal-type than for those with diffuse-type carcinoma (72 versus 91 per cent, P < 0.005). In patients without nodal involvement, the 10-year survival rate was still lower for those with intestinal-type cancer (70 versus 94 per cent, P < 0.01). Recurrence of carcinoma was more often by haematogenous dissemination in patients with intestinal-type cancer. Although the results of resection for pT1 or pT2 gastric carcinoma can be acceptable, the introduction of adjuvant therapy based on histological findings may be necessary for patients with the intestinal type of cancer to prevent haematogenous spread of carcinoma to the liver.