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The present study aimed to measure the levels of coagulation factors in stored whole blood of pregnant women and to determine their usefulness in treating pregnant women who developed coagulopathy. A prospective study to measure coagulation factors in stored donated whole blood from pregnant and non-pregnant women was conducted. Fibrinogen, FV, FVII, FVIII, FXIII, and von Willebrand factor were measured in blood stored at 4°C for 0, 1, 3, and 5 weeks. All coagulation factors except for factor XIII decreased during storage. Fibrinogen and factor VII in the blood collected from pregnant women gradually decreased over time and their levels were significantly higher after 5 weeks of storage than those of nonpregnant women at week 0. Whole blood donated by pregnant women for autologous blood transfusion and stored at 4°C may be expected being effectively for the prevention of coagulopathy and the treatment of circulatory blood volume loss.

To determine the efficacy of computed tomography (CT) attenuation of cystic lesions measured on an image browsing system to distinguish abscess from hematoma in women with acute abdomen. The medical records of female patients of reproductive age with acute abdomen who were treated over a 7-year period in a single center and who had undergone laparotomy or laparoscopic surgery and preoperative pelvic CT scanning were retrospectively analyzed to identify those with hematoma or abscess cyst formation. Nineteen patients with tubo-ovarian abscess (abscess group) and six patients with hematoma (hematoma group) formation in the pelvis were included in the analysis. The preoperative CT images of the tubo-ovarian cyst were retrospectively investigated on the basis of cyst attenuation. CT attenuation of the cyst measured by both two gynecologists could be used to clearly distinguish inflammatory disease with abscess formation from bleeding disease with hematoma. CT attenuation on a picture archiving and communication system can distinguish hematoma from abscess in women with acute abdomen. This may significantly contribute to making differential diagnosis without interpretation by a medical radiologist.

To ascertain the possible roles of Schwann cells in nerve regeneration, morphological changes of these cells at the proximal stump of the transected mouse sciatic nerve was examined. One or 2 days after transection, an extensive degradation of myelin sheath occurred near the cut end of the proximal stump. Schwann cells in this region contained variously-sized myelin balls in the cytoplasm. Three to five days after transection, Schwann cells in the proximal stump exhibited several sections of rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and welldeveloped Golgi complexes in an abundant cytoplasm. Mitotic figures were often observed in these cells. In the mini-neuromas formed at the distal tip of the proximal stump, Schwann cells extended thin cytoplasmic processes along the regenerating growth cones and axonal shafts. Seven or ten days after transection, each Scwann cell encircled 1 or 2 thick axons with their thin cytoplasmic processes, and remyelination occurred in these axons. However, thin axons remained free from these processes, and some exhibited degenerative changes. After 14 and 21 days, regenerating axons gradually decreased in number, and each thick axon was encircled by its own myelin sheath of several layers. These findings suggest that Schwann cells at the proximal stump might be involved in several important events for nerve regeneration such as demyelination, trophic support, control of the extension and maturation of regenerating axons.

Immunohistochemically, we examined the developmental expression of S-100 protein and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in the human retina. The expression of S-100 protein examined with polyclonal antiserum against S-100 protein was almost the same as that examined with monoclonal antibodies in a previous study. The result of the present and the previous studies confirmed that S-100 protein is expressed preferentially in the ganglion cells and astrocytes, but not in the Muller cells, and suggest that the expression of this protein might be closely related to the differentiation and/or maturation of these cells. On the other hand, NSE began to be expressed in the human retina slightly earlier than S-100 protein, and not only in the ganglion cells but also in the cells of the outer and inner neuroblastic layers. At later developmental stages, NSE was strongly expressed in the inner plexiform layer. NSE was not expressed in astrocytes or Muller cells at any stages examined in the present study. These findings suggest that NSE could be used as a reliable maker for the neuronal elements in the human retina, and that the strong expression of NSE in the inner plexiform layer might be closely related to the synaptogenesis and/or synaptic functions in the related regions.

We investigated the localization and development of S-100 protein immunoreactivity in the developing human retina ranging in age from 13 gestational weeks (GW) to adulthood by using anti-S-100 protein monoclonal antibodies (α and β chains). Numerous astrocytes and ganglion cells of the inner retinal layers were positively stained with these antibodies. The first S-100 protein-positive cells were observed in the region near the optic disc at 24 GW and with increasing age this reactivity extended anteriorly towards the ora serrata. No immunoreactivity was found either in the Muller's cells or in the perivascular glial cells of the retina. The results of this study indicate that S-100 protein immunoreactive astrocytes and ganglion cells first appear at the posterior pole of the retina and gradually spreading towards the ora serrate.

Using horse radish peroxidase (HRP) and HRP-labeled concanavalin A, we examined intracellular transport pathways in endodermal cells of the rat visceral yolk sac. Morphologically, membrane-bound structures in these cells were regarded as coated vesicles, apical vacuoles, lysosome and apical canaliculi. The coated vesicles were further classified into three groups; large, medium-sized and small coated vesicles. Those of large size were found only in the supranuclear cytoplasm, while those of the medium-size, only in the basolateral cytoplasm. Small vesicles were found in the supranuclear and basolateral cytoplasm and in the Golgi areas. It is well known that the large coated vesicles, apical vacuoles and lysosmes are directly involved in endocytosis which occurs at the apical surface, and the apical canaliculi, in membrane recyling from the apical vacuoles and lysosmes to the apical cell membrane. Histochemically, by 30 min, the membrane-bound structures labeled with these tracers were found only in the supranuclear cytoplasm, but at 60 min, some small labeled vesicles were noted also in the basolateral cytoplasm and in the Golgi areas. These findings suggest that though most substances and membrames endocytosing at the apical surface are transported to the lysosmes, some might be transported to the basolateral cytoplasm and Golgi areas in the form of the small coated vesicles. The medium-sized coated vesicles were not labeled with the histochemical tracers, suggesting that they might be endocytosed at the basolateral cell membrane.