[Increased levels of beta 2-microglobulin in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and hepatocytes in patients with chronic hepatitis type B]

The levels of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and livers from patients with chronic liver diseases type B were measured. Beta 2m of liver and PBMC in chronic active hepatitis was higher than those of controls (p less than 0.01, p less than 0.01). beta 2m of PBMC are directly proportional to those of livers (r = 0.746), beta 2m levels of PBMC in patients with chronic active hepatitis during the exacerbation of hepatitis was higher than those of remission of hepatitis. The levels of beta 2m in PBMC in vivo, was significantly increased during either interferon alpha or beta administration. Interferon-gamma positive cells in the liver were exacted in the beta 2m increased group of chronic hepatitis type B. INF-gamma production in the lymphocyte of livers, may play an important role in the occurrence of liver injury in patients with chronic hepatitis type B.

Immunologic effects on peripheral lymphoid cells from patients with chronic hepatitis type B during administration of recombinant interleukin 2

Nine patients with chronic hepatitis type B were treated with recombinant interleukin 2 (rIL-2). Side effects were limited to low-grade fever and headache, which were transient and tolerable for the patients. Seven normal volunteers and nine patients with chronic active hepatitis were administered by one bolus of 500 units of rIL-2. Acute effects of rIL-2 administration on lymphoid cells included a rapid decrease in lymphocytes, especially in cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells. These acute effects resolved within 24 hours. There was no difference in the changes of immunological parameters between normal volunteers and patients. The same effects were seen during 28 days of rIL-2 administration. The number of lymphocytes and CD4 positive cells was increased after rIL-2 administration for 28 days (P less than 0.01). Natural killer cell activity, especially that of CD16+ and Leu-7- cells was also increased (P less than 0.05). These effects may favour the elimination of virus-infected hepatocytes.

Intrahepatic lymphocyte subpopulations in acute hepatitis in an adult with rubella

Rubella accompanied by serum aminotransferase elevations occurred in a 24-yr-old man. Liver biopsy showed ballooning degeneration and focal necrosis of liver cells, clumped Kupffer cells, and infiltration of inflammatory cells, mainly of the mononuclear type. Most mononuclear cells in the liver were CD8-positive and CD16-negative cells (cytotoxic T cells) which were in broad contact with the surface of liver cells. Leu 7 (natural killer) cells were few and sporadic. HLA class I antigens were expressed on liver cell membrane. Although hepatic involvement in adult rubella is not generally recognized, it may have been the cause of this patient's liver injury. Thus, cytotoxic T cells may play a role in liver injury in acute rubella infections in adults.

Chloropolysporins A, B and C, novel glycopeptide antibiotics from Faenia interjecta sp. nov. I. Taxonomy of producing organism

Strain SANK 60983, an actinomycete isolated from a soil sample, was found to produce the new glycopeptide antibiotics, chloropolysporins A, B and C. Short chains of spores occur in the both aerial and substrate hyphae. meso-Diaminopimelic acid is present in the cell wall and galactose and arabinose in the whole-cell hydrolysate. Mycolic acid is absent. On the basis of the morphological, cultural and physiological characteristics, this strain was determined to be a new species of Faenia designated Faenia interjecta sp. nov. The type strain of F. interjecta Okazaki and Enokita is SANK 60983.

A trial of chemotherapy for lung cancer in short-term hospitalization

Recently the number of patients with lung cancer who receive chemotherapy has been increasing rapidly. Therefore it has become difficult to treat all patients with advanced lung cancer on the basis of accurate protocol in long-term hospitalization. Accordingly we tried to treat patients within one week in each of a number of chemotherapy protocols (short-term hospitalization) and to follow them in the outpatient department. We were able to accept 61 admissions of 38 patients for chemotherapy from June to December 1985. Thus it was possible to take care of more than three times as many patients as could be cared for by long-term hospitalization for chemotherapy. Three patients could not be discharged within one week and eight had to be readmitted because of leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, or dehydration. It was considered to be possible to decrease the number of such patients by more careful and appropriate hydration and to detect them by appropriate intervals of examination in the outpatient department. We concluded that short-term hospitalization is one of the methods which can make chemotherapy of lung cancer more effective.

Cisplatin and vindesine combination chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized trial comparing two dosages of cisplatin

Forty-five patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were randomly allocated to receive vindesine (3 mg/m2 every week) plus either high-dose cisplatin (120 mg/m2 every 4 weeks) or low-dose cisplatin (80 mg/m2 every 3 weeks). All patients were previously untreated. The response rate for the high-dose regimen of cisplatin was 39% (9/23) and that for the low-dose regimen of cisplatin was 33% (7/21); the difference was not statistically significant. Only one patient treated with high-dose cisplatin achieved complete response, lasting 6.5 months. The median duration of response was 5.6 months (range, 2.7-7.7) in the high-dose cisplatin group and 6.8 months (range, 1.9-8.9) in the low-dose cisplatin group. The median survival times for the 23 patients treated with the high-dose regimen of cisplatin and for the 21 patients treated with the low-dose regimen of cisplatin were 9.0 and 10.8 months, respectively. Significantly more azotemia occurred in the high-dose cisplatin group than in the low-dose cisplatin group (P less than 0.05). Combination chemotherapy with cisplatin and vindesine showed significant antitumor activity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. However, the high-dose regimen of cisplatin did not result in a significantly better response rate or survival advantage, and was associated with greater toxicity.

[Fundamental study and clinical testing of human tumor clonogenic assay (HTCA)]

Through our retrospective analysis of HTCA and clinical effects as well as fundamental studies, the following results were obtained: In this retrospective study, HTCA for lung cancer showed a predictive accuracy of 71%, a true positive rate of 50% and a true negative rate of 77%. To obtain good predictive accuracy, HTCA should be modified to provide conditions comparable to those in vivo with regard to drug concentration and drug exposure time. More precise analysis of the pharmacokinetics of anticancer agents might yield methodological improvement. A decrease in the chemosensitivity spectrum in vitro was observed after chemotherapy. This might be related to evidence that patients with prior chemotherapy exhibited a poor response rate to chemotherapy. There were no active anticancer agents against specimens with aplating efficiency of more than 0.04%. More extensive prospective trials will be necessary to determine the clinical value of HTCA. HTCA could be a superior assay for detecting the anti-tumor activity of new agents and a useful method for in vitro phase II study.