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Cadmium (Cd) has been identified as the etiologic agent of itai-itai disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether chronic Cd exposure affects bone metabolism in a male rat model and to estimate the bone mineral density (BMD) differences in lumbar and femoral bone because of Cd exposure. Six-week-old male Hos Donryu rats were used in this experiment. Cadmium was administered at a dose of 200 ppm to rats in the diet to produce experimental chronic Cd poisoning. Bone mineral density was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) with a high-resolution scan collimator (0.25 mm diameter) (Hologic QDR-2000). The Cd content in renal tissue reached a critical concentration of 128.42 ± 14.38 μgIg 10 months after the administration of the element (Table 3). The average blood urea nitrogen (BUN) value was increased through- out the period of the experiment, and the serum creatinine value of the experimental group showed an increase after 2 months of Cd administration (0.46 ± 0.09 mg/dL). The concentration of urinary calcium changed in the experimental group after exposure to Cd for 12 months (15.4 ± 0.13 mg/dL). DEXA showed a greater reduction in the bone mineral density of the 5th vertebral body (L5) in rats that had ingested Cd for 4 months (0.359 ± 0.013 g/cm²) than in control rats (0.372 ± 0.0 12 g/cm², P < 0.01). On the contrary, the difference in bone mineral content between rats ingesting Cd for 6-8 months and control rats was not significant. However, significant reductions in bone mineral content were again noted in rats that had ingested Cd for 12 months (0.339 ± 0.023 glcm²) com- pared with the control group (0.385 ± 0.012 g/cm², P < 0.01). The bone mineral density of the right femoral bone in control rats was 0.328 ± 0.0 18 g/cm² and that in experimental rats was 0.306 ± 0.012 glcm², and a meaningful difference was recognized (P < 0.05). Histological examination of the rats exposed to Cd for 12 months showed that the 5th lumbar vertebral body (L5) exhibited osteomalacia. The results of our studies show that Cd stimulated a loss of bone mineral at an early stage to a great extent in male rats. In the examination of male rats, bone injury and renal functional disorder were encountered simultaneously. This study suggested that osteomalacia was induced by a direct action of Cd on the bone through abnormal calcium homeostasis at an early stage in male rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To study the efficacy and problems associated with intermittent hepatic artery antibiotic infusion therapy for pyogenic hepatic abscess.Material and Methods: The material comprised eight patients with pyogenic hepatic abscess in whom percutaneous drainage could not be performed and intravenous administration of antibiotics was ineffective. An injection catheter was introduced into the common hepatic artery. Almost the same dose of antibiotics as with intravenous administration was infused intra-arterially 2-4 times per day.Results: A therapeutic effect was achieved in six of the eight cases. In these 6 cases, the mean period of intra-arterial infusion was 10.8 days, while the mean period of catheter placement was 14.7 days. Using broad spectrum antibiotics, the therapeutic effect was obtained regardless of the numbers, morphologic characteristics, and differences in location of the abscesses. No significant complications were noted except in one case of splenic infarction.Conclusion: Intermittent hepatic artery antibiotic infusion therapy is useful as an alternative therapeutic procedure for pyogenic hepatic abscess in which percutaneous drainage cannot be performed and intravenous administration of antibiotics is ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matching of human platelet alloantigen (HPA) systems 2–6 was retrospectively investigated in 715 unrelated bone marrow transplantations. Of the five HPA systems studied, HPA-5 mismatching was found to have a significant effect on the disease-free survival rate of recipients following transplantation in the HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DR allele-matched donor-recipient pairs. The effect of the HPA-5 mismatch was most significant in the recipient group possessing the HLA haplotype A*2402-B*5201, which is a highly frequent haplotype among the Japanese population. However, the probability of development of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was not increased significantly by the HPA-5 mismatching. These findings suggest that the HPA-5 mismatching decreases the recipient’s survival by a mechanism different from that in the case of mismatching of minor antigens found often in transplant recipients developing GVHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]