Malignant lymphoma is mainly found in lymphnodes but extralymphatic organs may be rarely involved. Malignant lymphoma of the orbit is relatively rare representing less than 1% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. All lymphoid tumors of the orbit are radiosensitive and are mainly treated wiht curative intent by irradiation. We report a case of orbital malignant lymphoma in a 41-year-old male patient. He received radiation therapy and subsequent enucleation and till now is clinically free of the disease.
Adult ; Humans ; Lymphoma* ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Male ; Orbit* ; Radiotherapy*

It has recently been reported that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are systemically administrated to different species, undergo site-specific differentiation. This suggests that the tissue specific cells may cause or promote the differentiation of the MSCs toward their cell type via a cell-to-cell interaction that is mediated not only by hormones and cytokines, but also by direct cell-to-cell contact. In this study, in order to assess the possible synergistic interactions for osteogenesis between the two types of cells, the MSCs derived from rabbit bone marrow were co-cultured with rat calvarial osteoblasts in direct cell-to-cell contact in a control medium (CM) and in an osteogenic medium (OM). The cell number, alkaline phosphatase activity, and amount of calcium deposition were assayed in the cultures of MSCs, osteoblasts, and co-cultures of them in either OM or CM for up to 40 days. The cell numbers and the alkaline phosphatase activities in the co-culture were somewhere in between those of the osteoblast cultures and the MSC cultures. The amounts of deposited calcium were lower in the co-culture compared to those of the other cultures. This suggests that there are little synergistic interactions during osteogenesis in vitro between the rat osteoblasts and rabbit MSCs.
Alkaline Phosphatase/metabolism ; Animals ; Calcification, Physiologic ; *Cell Communication ; Cell Count ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Division ; Female ; Mesoderm/*cytology ; Osteoblasts/*physiology ; *Osteogenesis ; Rabbits ; Stem Cells/*physiology

BACKGROUNDS: Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM), an autoimmune disease, is associated with insulin deficiency due to the death of beta-cells. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are capable of tissue repair and thus are a promising source of beta-cell surrogates. METHODS: In this study, the therapeutic potential of BM-MSCs as beta-cell replacements was analyzed both in vitro and in vivo. First, we used retinoic acid (RA) to induce rat BM-MSCs to differentiate into cells of endodermal/pancreatic lineage. Then, differentiated rat BM-MSCs were syngeneically injected under the renal capsule of rats. RESULTS: Analysis of gene expression revealed that rat BM-MSCs showed signs of early pancreatic development, and differentiated cells were qualitatively and quantitatively confirmed to produce insulin in vitro. In vivo study was performed for short-term (3 weeks) and long-term (8 weeks) period of time. Rats that were injected with differentiated MSCs exhibited a reduction in blood glucose levels throughout 8 weeks, and grafted cells survived in vivo for at least 3 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that RA can induce differentiation of MSCs into the beta-cell lineage and demonstrate the potential of BM-MSCs to serve as therapeutic tools for T1DM.
Animals ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; Gene Expression ; Insulin ; Insulin-Secreting Cells ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells* ; Rats* ; Transplants ; Tretinoin

A polyetherurethane (PU) film containing 0.1% zinc diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDEC) is the international standard reference material for testing the in vitro cytotoxicity of polymer based biomaterials. Nowadays, culturing L929 or BALB/3T3 cells in direct contact or in an extract dilution condition is the most frequently using method for evaluating the cytotoxicity from biomaterials and medical devices. However, the results often vary, because it is directly related to the cellular functions and the mechanism of the toxicity of the contacting cells. In this study, 13 cell lines originating from various tissues were used to detect the cytotoxic activities of a PU film containing 0.1% ZDEC (PU-ZDEC). The correlation between the reactivity zone size and the relative cytotoxicity by quantifying the released total protein from each cell in the direct contact testing method was investigated. Hepa-1c1c7 cells demonstrated the highest sensitivity in the reactivity zone size, while CHO/dhFr(-) cells were the most sensitive in terms of the relative cytotoxicity. A correlation between the two processes in each cell line was not found (r=-0.478). In the extract dilution method, which involved cultivating the cells in the medium with various ZDEC concentrations prepared by diluting the PU incubation, the cytotoxicity increased with increasing ZDEC concentration in all cell lines. The BALB/ 3T3 cells demonstrated the highest sensitivity in the extract dilution method. No correlation in a comparison of the relative cytotoxicity from the direct contact method with the extract dilution method in each cell line, was found (r=-0.445). In this experiment, Hepa-1c1c7, BALB/3T3, CHO/dhFr(-) and L-929 cells among the 13 types of cell lines were the sensitive cell lines according to the two methods. The preliminary results suggest that a comparison of at least one or more cytotoxicity testing methods and many cell lines is necessary for an in vitro cytotoxicity test of biomaterials.
Animal ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival/drug effects ; Ditiocarb/*toxicity ; Hamsters ; Human ; Mice ; Polyurethanes/*toxicity ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Toxicology/*methods

Neurofibromatosis is an autosomal dominant hereditary disorder characterized by skin abnormalities such as cafe au-lait spots, and soft tissue legion such as generalized subcutaneous neurofibroma. Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor is a spindle cell sarcoma that mostly arises in the soft tissue but rarely arises in the head and neck region. Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor can develop from the pre-existing neurofibromas or schwannomas, and from the peripheral nerves. They can also occur after radiation therapy. Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor is usually associated with neurofibromatosis type I. The authors recently experienced a case of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor associated with neurofibromatosis type I in a 20-year-old female patient who presented with a well marginated oval shape mass in the left neck.
Female ; Head ; Humans ; Neck ; Nerve Sheath Neoplasms ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibroma ; Neurofibromatoses ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Peripheral Nerves ; Sarcoma ; Skin Abnormalities ; Young Adult

Parathyroid adenoma usually manifests with symptoms related to hypercalcemia, such as urinary stone and bone fracture. It may also present with asymptomatic hypercalcemia. However, spontaneous cervical hematoma may occur very rarely as a result of extracapsular hemorrhage of a cervical parathyroid adenoma causing acute painful cervical swelling, bruising, dyspnea, hoarseness and dysphagia. We report a 44-year-old woman who manifested as a spontaneous cervical hematoma without any clinical evidence of hyperparathyroidism.
Acute Pain ; Adult ; Deglutition Disorders ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Fractures, Bone ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Hoarseness ; Humans ; Hypercalcemia ; Hyperparathyroidism ; Neck ; Parathyroid Neoplasms ; Urinary Calculi

BACKGROUND: AEB071, an orally available PKC inhibitor, prevents organ rejection after transplantation in rodents and man. Furthermore, pro-inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory processes are important mediators of transplanted organ rejection. We therefore examined whether single or combination therapies of AEB071 and/or tacrolimus affect cytokine profiles in a rat cardiac allograft model. METHODS: AEB071 (60 mg/kg twice a day) and tacrolimus (0.6 or 1.2 mg/kg once a day) were orally administered daily after cardiac transplantation. Interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha levels in serum were subsequently measured 5 days after cardiac transplantation using a multiplex protein assay system. RESULTS: All cytokine levels were significantly depressed in cardiac transplanted rats treated with AEB071, whereas tacrolimus only reduced IFN-gamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 levels. When administered in combination, AEB071 and low- or high-dose tacrolimus had additive effects on IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-6, and TNF-alpha. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that AEB071 inhibits T cell activation by blocking the production of proinflammatory cytokines, and that tacrolimus combined with AEB071 can effectively regulate inflammatory cytokines in the transplantation setting.
Animals ; Cytokines ; Heart Transplantation ; Immunosuppression ; Interferons ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukins ; Pyrroles ; Quinazolines ; Rats ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Rodentia ; Tacrolimus ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVE: MTA1 has been identified as a metastasis-promiting gene, and its gene expression is correlated with invasion and metastasis in several cancers. We examined MTA1 expression levels in epithelial ovarian neoplasm. METHODS: Expression of MTA1 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and tissue array in 53 benign tumors, 27 borderline tumors and 68 malignant tumors. The data was analyzed in reference to various clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: Increased expression of MTA1 was significantly correlated with histologic grade and FIGO stage. There was no relationship between MTA1 expression and age, histologic type, tumor size. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that MTA1 is closely related to invasiveness and progression in epithelial ovarian neoplasm. The MTA1 could thus potentially provide information on the mechanism of cancer invasion and metastasis.
Gene Expression ; Immunohistochemistry ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovarian Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sudden deafness, an important disease characterized by abrupt sensorineural hearing loss, is rare in children and the prognosis in children is accepted to be worse than that in adults. However, clinical studies are not sufficient to define the clinical characteristics and prognosis of sudden deafness in children. The author analyzed clinical manifestation of sudden deafness in children and compared the treatment results of children with those of adults. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A retrospective analysis was performed in 25 patients (29 ears) who were treated for sudden deafness from January 1993 to May 2008. RESULTS: 1) The overall hearing recovery rate (79%) was significantly higher in adults (53.7%). The prognosis in children less than 10 years old (73%) was also higher than that in adults. 2) The rate of complete recovery (61%) was higher in children than in adults (38.5%). CONCLUSION: The sudden deafness in children has unique clinical characteristics and the recovery rate is more favorable than in adults.
Adult ; Child ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Topoisomerase II (TOPO II) is an enzyme that separates intertwined chromosomes during DNA synthesis by transiently breaking and joining DNA strands. The level of TOP II is one of the determinants of cellular sensitivity to anti-tumor drugs in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. The alpha form of TOPO II has been recently used as a marker of cellular proliferation. High levels of TOPO IIalpha are expressed in aggressive and proliferative tumors. METHODS: This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between TOPO IIalpha expression and clinicopathological parameters including age, gender, the serum LDH level, the serum beta2-microglobulin level and stage, or expressions, of Ki-67, p53 and p27, in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We analyzed forty-one biopsied tissue specimens from patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. RESULTS: The expression of TOPO IIalpha increased with the clinical stage and it was correlated with Ki-67 and p53 expressions. However, TOPO IIalpha expression did not have any significant correlation with age, gender, the serum LDH level, the serum 2-microglobulin level and the p27 expression. CONCLUSIONS: TOPO IIalpha expression is a useful marker of cellular proliferation and it may serve as a prognostic factor of a tumor's progression and aggressiveness in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
Cell Proliferation ; DNA Topoisomerases, Type I* ; DNA Topoisomerases, Type II ; DNA* ; Humans ; Ki-67 Antigen ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin*