No abstract available.
Humans

Sodium pentachlorophenol (Na-PCP) has been used in China for years as a molluscacide to kill on-comelania, which is an intermediate host of schistosome. Large amounts of the powerful pesticide spayed over vast areas to control schistosomiasis contaminated the surface water sources, soil, sediment, animals and plants. Also it intruded into human body through food chain. Recently many studies that concern the endocrine disrupting effects of pentachlorophenol (PCP) were conducted. Animal studies showed that PCP/ Na-PCP could interfere in the normal function of thyroxine in many species, but without any effects on estrogen and testosterone. It was also found that PCP/ Na-PCP could effectively inhibit the activity of the human progesterone receptor (hPR) in yeast and interfere with the binding of physiological ligands to steroid receptors and binding proteins. Some epidemiologic data showed that PCP might interfere the normal endocrine function of female and paternal occupational exposure to PCP/Na-PCP could be associated with an increased risk of congenital anomalies or other adverse reproductive outcomes in offspring. All these findings indicate that pentachlorophenol could disrupt the normal function of endocrine system, but to con-firm that pentachlorophenol is one kind of endocrine disruptor and understand thoroughly the mechanism of PCP on endocrine system, more studies are needed.

Humans ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Rectal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Reoperation

Guidelines as Topic ; Humans ; Medical Oncology ; standards ; Neoplasms

Gall bladder wall varices are unusual manifestations of protal hypertention. Authors report 4 cases of gall bladder wall varices which were easily detected in IV bolus CT. All of our cases showed main portal vein obstruction but preserved intrahepatic portal flows with development of cavernous transformation. We could easily identify tortous and tubular structures with strong contrast enhancement in the gall bladder wall, compatible with gall bladder wall varices, at the early phase of IV bolus CT. Comparing with Doppler sonography, IV bolus CT is an easy and useful method for detection of gall bladder wall varices even in case of no prior information for portal vein abnormality.
Diagnosis* ; Methods ; Portal Vein ; Urinary Bladder* ; Varicose Veins

No abstract available.
Calcium* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Metabolism*

No abstract available.
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone* ; Animals ; Plasma* ; Rats*

To evaluate the ultrastructural changes and the mechanism causing liver injury by lead, light and electron microscopic(LM and EM) examination using Timm sulphide silver method(TSM) was done. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a control and 3 experimental groups. The experimental groups were orally administered 0.5% lead acetate(LA). Group 1 received a one time dose of 10 ml of LA by gastric intubation. Groups 2 and 3 continuously received LA instead of drinking water. The control group was composed of 3 rats in each group which did not receive any treatment. Rats of group 1, 2 and 3 and control were sacrificed at 1/2, 1, 1 1/2 hours, 2 days, and at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks later, except group 3. Before sacrifice, they were perfused with 0.1% sodium sulphide and 2.5% glutaraldehyde through the abdominal aorta for TSM. The liver was taken for LM and EM examinations. Blood lead concentration began to increase from the 2nd day up to 3.29 microgram/ml at 2nd week, and the urinary delta-ALA level showed a steady increase from the 2nd day. LM and EM examination of liver revealed that absorbed lead granules in group 1 were transported into sinusoidal spaces, Kupffer cells, and the hepatocytes within 1 hour and then disappeared 1/2 hour thereafter. In group 2 deposited lead was found in the hepatocytic cytosol bound to mitochondria. That in turn inhibited mitochondrial respiration with resultant mitochondrial swelling at the 1st week and thereafter at 6th week myelin figure formation and condensation of mitochondria, and peroxisomes were increased at 8th week. Based on these results it can be concluded that a transient intake of subletal dose of LA is biotransformed completely by periportal hepatocytes within 1 1/2 hours, but excessively accumulated lead can induce liver cell injury due to lipid peroxidation of membrane by direct toxic effect of lead and by products of lipid peroxidation. We postulate that lead acetate triggers presumably primarily mitochondrial membrane injury and then other organellar changes may play a role in disturbance of a network of interacting of key events capable of causing cell death.
Rats ; Animals

We describe five patiens with autoimmune bullous der matosis who presented cutaneous lesions localized on the face. In these patients iuumunopathologically confirmed diagnoses were penphigus erythematosus, bullous pemphigoid, cicatricial pernphigoid(Brunsting-Perry variant), epidemic lysis bullosa acquisita and bullous systemic lupus erythematosus in each. Except, for the case of pemphigus erythematosus, facelimited cutnious lesions can be seen rarely with these imrnunobullous diseases. We suggest that some external, in malfactors such as UV light and photosensitivity might be regarded as the precipitating factors fo the clinical rnanifestations of those skin lesions, and which should be included in the differential diingosis of vesiculobullous diseases involving the face.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Pemphigoid, Bullous ; Pemphigus ; Precipitating Factors ; Skin ; Ultraviolet Rays

To investigate the involvement of expression of the Fragile Histidine Triad(FH1T) gene product in the process of carcinogenesis and progression in cervical carcinoma, we examined its expression by immunohistochemical method in 15 cervical invasive carcinomas, 10 low grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasias(CINs) and 30 high grade CINs(CMI and III). We detected expression of FHIT gene product in 4 of 15(27%) of invasive carcinomas, 3 of 10(30%) low grade CIN and 7 of 30(23%) of high grade CIN, while we detected expression of FHIT gene product in 28 of 45(62%) normal and metaplastic epithelium near the tumor. Thesc data indicate that loss of expression of FH1T gene product has some role in the early tumorigenesis of uterine cervical carcinoma, but not the consequence of the pregression of the tumor.
Carcinogenesis ; Epithelium ; Histidine* ; Immunohistochemistry