Volume 102  ·   Issue 08  ·  1989

The types of 59 isolates of adenovirus (Adv) which were isolated between winter, 1984 and spring, 1986 were identified by type-specific monoclonal antibodies (McAb) against Adv types 3 and 7. The results showed that the method could not only identify the types of Adv, but also discover the changes of their subtypes with time. The tedious neutralization test can be replaced by this simple method.

A patient with pemphigus foliaceus, derived from pemphigus erythematosus, developed Kaposi’s sarcoma characterized by wide-spread skin nodules on the extremities after 5-month treatment with large doses of prednisone. The patient died one year later. We conclude that the immunosuppressive treatment with prolonged large doses of prednisone is attributable to the impairment of cellular immunity and the evolution of Kaposi’s sarcoma.

A new antimycotic imicazole drug, oxiconazole, used both in vitro and in vivo in the treatment of 212 cases of tinea corporis, tinea cruris and tinea pedis is reported. In vitro, it shows marked antimycotic effect against 24 strains of pathogenic fungi except those of Wangiella dermatitides and 3 strains of Aspergilli. The minimal inhibition concentration (MIC)to Epidermophyton floccosum and Candida guilliermondi are 1 μg/ml and 0.5 μg/ml. The cure rate of 2% cream of oxiconazole in 124 cases of tinea corporis and tinea cruris is 90.3%, and in 88 cases of tinea pedis, 89.78%.

Gastric xanthelasmas are macroscopically well demarcated yellow or yellow-while plaques, and microscopically composed of typical foamy macrophages. Of 3870 patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal panendoscopic examinations,30 (0.8%) were found to have gastric xanthelasma. A moderate predominance of males over females (M:F=3.3:1)was noted. The age ranged between 21 and 69 years (mean 46.7). Frequency peaked in those from 40 to 60 years of age (53.3%). Single lesions were found in 26 patients and multiple in 4, with diameters of 1-6 mm, nearly 66.7% of which were 2-3 mm. Gastric xanthelasmas are most frequently found in the antrum (67.8%), especially along the lesser curvature. Associated chronic gastritis in the xanthelasma surrounding mucosa was found in the 30 patients and intestinal metaplasia in 4 (13.3%). The cause of gastric xanthelasma is unknown, but chronic gastritis may be the most plausible etiologic factor.

Carbamyl phosphate synthetase I (CPS1) is an initial enzyme of urea synthetase system. It exists exclusively in liver cells and epithelial cells of the small intestine. By immunocytochemistry, 70.5% of 88 surgically resected gastric carcinomas (42 advanced and 46 early gastric carcinomas) was found to be CPS1, immunoreaction positive, whereas all other carcinomas (of the esophagus, colon, pancreas, lung, breast, ovary, kidney, prostate and urinary bladder) tested were negative. CPS1, expression in gastric carcinoma was closely related to the types of mucin secreted by the carcinoma cells. Most carcinomas sccrcting sialomucin were CPS1, positive, yet those sccreting sulfomucin or neutral mucin did not express CPS1. The types of intestinal metaplasia adjacent to the carcinoma correlated neither with CPS1, expression nor with the histological types of carcinoma. . Owing to the fact that gastric carcinomas with CPS1, expression possess the characteristics of small intestinal epithelium, it is very likely that CPS1, can be used as a novel marker for gastric carcinoma originating from complete type intestinal metaplasia.

Fourty-three cases of nasopharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia (NPLH) were studied morphologically and by follow-up during a period of 8.5 years in a high-incidence city of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The authors suggest that NPLH might be recognized as a disease entity in adults. Based on the sites and gross appearances of the hyperplastic lymphoid tissue, two types of NPLH, namely, adenoids and nodular, could be distinguished. The histopathological changes of NPLH were described in detail, and its relation to the development of NPC was discussed. According to this study, the authors disagree with the opinion that NPLH is a precancerous lesion.

Biopsy specimens of normal unexposed buttock skin were taken from 71 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) for lupus band test (LBT). Correlation of positive incidence, fluorescent intensity, protein classes and numbers of LBT with SLE activity including active nephropathy were studied. Positive LBT results are associated with SLE disease activity, decreased CH50 and C3, ANA peripheral pattern and positive AdsDNA antibodies, but not with active nephropathy per se. Although LBT results of unexposed normal skin can reflect SLE activity, its prognostic value should not be overestimated.

This article reports the detection of small double capsid virus and results of preliminary studies on its morphology, serology and relationship to gastroenteritis. A kind of small virus particles with morphological characteristics was found in fecal samples of 3 of 23 infants with autumn gastroenteritis. The average diameter of this virus particles is 34.1±1.1 nm, possessing core, double capsids and spoke-like capsomers. It can be differentiated from other viruses in morphology. Correlated antigenicity exists among 3 strains of the virus but not among other studied viruses and this virus. The titer of the antibody to small double capsid virus in convalescent phase-sera of 2 patients was more than 4-fold as high as that in control sera. This virus was absent in fecal samples of recovered patients as well as in those of normal infants. These show that small "double layer like" capsid virus might be one of the etiological agents of acute gastroenteritis.

By means of tissue culture, electron microscopy, cytochemistry, indirect immunofluorescence and immunohistochcmistry, the multinucleated giant cells(MGCs) in 12 giant cell tumors of bone (GCT) were studied in contrast with ostcoclasts (OCs), foreign body giant cells (FGCs) and inflammatory giant cells (ICCs). The findings in the majority of MGCs were identical with those in OCs, suggesting that they most probably derived from the same precursor. Continuous in vitro culture revealed two kinds of MGCs, which were designated preliminarily as short-lived MGCs and long-lived MGCs for their difference in morphology and in several biological features, which suggests two kinds of MGCs exist in GCT. We conclude that the short-lived conform to the typical MGCs known generally to the pathologists, while the long-lived are deemed to be closely related to the neoplastic elements of the tumor.