Solubilized eggshell membrane supplies a type III collagen-rich elastic dermal papilla

Signs of aging in facial skin correlate with lifespan and chronic disease; however, the health of aging skin has not been extensively studied. In healthy young skin, the dermis forms a type III collagen-rich dermal papilla, where capillary vessels supply oxygen and nutrients to basal epidermal cells. Chicken eggshell membranes (ESMs) have been used as traditional medicines to promote skin wound healing in Asian countries for many years. Previously, we designed an experimental system in which human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) were cultured on a dish with a solubilized ESM (S-ESM) bound to an artificial phosphorylcholine polymer; we found that genes that promoted the health of the papillary dermis, such as those encoding type III collagen, were induced in the S-ESM environment. The present study found that a gel with a ratio of 20% type III/80% type I collagen, similar to that of the baby skin, resulted in a higher elasticity than 100% type I collagen (p < 0.05) and that HDFs in the gel showed high mitochondrial activity. Thus, we decided to perform further evaluations to identify the effects of S-ESM on gene expression in the skin of hairless mice and found a significant increase of type III collagen in S-ESM. Picrosirius Red staining showed that type III collagen significantly increased in the papillary dermis after S-ESM treatment. Moreover, S-ESM application significantly improved human arm elasticity and reduced facial wrinkles. ESMs may have applications in extending lifespan by reducing the loss of tissue elasticity through the increase of type III collagen.

Parthenogenetic chimaerism/mosaicism with a Silver-Russell syndrome-like phenotype

Introduction

We report a 34-year-old Japanese female with a Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS)-like phenotype and a mosaic Turner syndrome karyotype (45,X/46,XX).

Methods/Results

Molecular studies including methylation analysis of 17 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) on the autosomes and the XIST-DMR on the X chromosome and genome-wide microsatellite analysis for 96 autosomal loci and 30 X chromosomal loci revealed that the 46,XX cell lineage was accompanied by maternal uniparental isodisomy for all chromosomes (upid(AC)mat), whereas the 45,X cell lineage was associated with biparentally derived autosomes and a maternally derived X chromosome. The frequency of the 46,XX upid(AC)mat cells was calculated as 84% in leukocytes, 56% in salivary cells, and 18% in buccal epithelial cells.

Discussion

The results imply that a parthenogenetic activation took place around the time of fertilisation of a sperm missing a sex chromosome, resulting in the generation of the upid(AC)mat 46,XX cell lineage by endoreplication of one blastomere containing a female pronucleus and the 45,X cell lineage by union of male and female pronuclei. It is likely that the extent of overall (epi)genetic aberrations exceeded the threshold level for the development of SRS phenotype, but not for the occurrence of other imprinting disorders or recessive Mendelian disorders.

Significance of perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates in endometrial carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to clarify the significance of perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates (PLI) in endometrial carcinoma.

METHODS

The pathologic records of 127 patients with endometrioid type adenocarcinoma confined to the uterus were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into 4 groups based on the presence or absence of vascular invasion (VI) and PLI: VI-PLI- (n = 87), VI-PLI+ (n = 7), VI+PLI+ (n = 22), and VI+PLI- (n = 11). Pathologic features including tumor grade, myometrial invasion, cervical involvement, vascular invasion-associated changes (VIAC; VI and/or PLI), tumor size, ovarian metastasis, and pelvic lymph node metastasis were assessed statistically.

RESULTS

Selective pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in 108 patients, and metastasis was identified in 6 cases (5.6%). Lymph node metastasis was the only independent variable related to recurrence (Cox regression analysis, P = 0.0008). Perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates correlated closely with VI (Fisher exact test, P < 0.0001). Vascular invasion-associated changes was the best predictor of lymph node metastasis (logistic regression analysis, P = 0.039), but among the three categories of VIAC, only the VI+PLI- group was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0045). The odds ratios of VI+PLI- and VI+PLI+ cases for lymph node metastasis were 64.54 and 3.24, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Although VIAC is the best predictor of lymph node metastasis, the presence of PLI is associated with a lower risk of lymph node metastasis among VIAC groups.

Adjuvant hysterectomy in low-risk gestational trophoblastic disease

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant hysterectomy with chemotherapy for women with low-risk gestational trophoblastic disease.

METHODS

One hundred fifteen consecutive Japanese women (16-52 years old) with low-risk gestational trophoblastic disease (46 with metastatic disease and 69 without) were treated initially with single-agent chemotherapy (etoposide in 85, methotrexate in 27, and actinomycin D in three) with or without adjuvant hysterectomy, and 97 patients (84.3%) achieved primary remission with those treatments. Eight women (9.4%) treated with etoposide required other regimens because of drug resistance or toxicities. The total dose of etoposide given to achieve primary remission was analyzed in 77 women who received etoposide alone or with adjuvant hysterectomy.

RESULTS

In 34 women with metastatic disease, the mean (+/- standard deviation [SD]) total dose of etoposide was not significantly different with and without adjuvant hysterectomy (2857 +/- 842 mg versus 2815 +/- 815 mg; P =.957; Mann-Whitney U test). However, in 43 women without metastases, the total dose of etoposide was significantly less in those who had adjuvant hysterectomies than in those who did not (1750 +/- 635 mg versus 2545 +/- 938 mg; P <.05; Mann-Whitney U test).

CONCLUSION

Adjuvant hysterectomy decreased the total dose of etoposide given to achieve primary remission in women with nonmetastatic, low-risk gestational trophoblastic disease. If the lesions of gestational trophoblastic disease are confined to the uterus and the woman has no desire to preserve fertility, she should be informed of adjuvant hysterectomy as a treatment option.

Human papillomavirus-positive well-differentiated villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: A case report and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE

A case of well-differentiated villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix, which was positive for human papillomavirus type 18, was reported.

METHODS

The patient was a 52-year-old multipara who was referred to our department because of an abnormal Papanicolaou smear. A 4.0-cm exophytic lesion involving the cervix was detected. She was staged as FIGO IIa and radical hysterectomy combined with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed. In addition to histopathological examination of the resected tumor, immunohistochemical studies of estrogen and progesterone receptors were performed using monoclonal antibodies. Detection of human papillomavirus DNA was attempted by polymerase chain reaction using consensus primers.

RESULTS

The tumor was a typical well-differentiated villoglandular adenocarcinoma involving the vaginal wall. Both estrogen and progesterone receptors were negative. Human papillomavirus type 18 DNA was detected in the resected tumor.

CONCLUSION

'This is the first report of a case of typical well-differentiated villoglandular adenocarcinoma which was positive for human papillomavirus.

Prognostic factors in young women with endometrial carcinoma: a report of 20 cases and review of literature

We retrospectively reviewed the pathologic features of patients with endometrial carcinoma (EC) treated in our facility between 1989 and 1998. First, we identified the clincopathologic features of young women with EC and compared them with similar patients from the literature. Second, 148 EC patients were divided into two groups: group A (age</=45 years, n = 20) and B (age>45, n = 128). The mean follow-up periods were 65 months and 50 months in groups A and B, respectively. Group A patients had better disease-free survival (Kaplan-Meier method, P = 0.0283) compared to group B patients. The independent variables related to disease-free survival (Cox regression analysis) were age (P = 0.0001), stage (P = 0.0183), histology (P = 0.0011), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0007). The distribution of stage was significantly different between the two groups (Chi-square test, P = 0.0089). More group A patients (18 of 20; 90%) had early stage disease. There were no significant differences (Fisher's exact test) between the two groups in histology, grade, cervical involvement, vascular invasion, tumor size, ovarian malignancy, and lymph node metastasis. However, group A patients had a significant higher incidence of disease confined to the inner half of the myometrium than group B patients (P = 0.0004). We statistically confirmed that young women with EC had better outcome due to a significantly higher proportion of early stage disease and less myometrial invasion than older patients.

Induction of human embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation using N,N'-hexamethylene bisacetamide in vitro

Morphological differentiation of a pluripotent cloned human embryonal carcinoma cell line, NEC 14, was induced with the addition of N,N'-hexamethylene bisacetamide (10(-2) M) for 3 days in vitro. Once differentiated, the NEC 14 cells temporarily lost both their proliferative capacity in vitro and their tumorigenic potential in the nude mouse. When culture was continued, the differentiated derivatives occasionally began to proliferate 4 weeks after the removal of the inducer, but the loss of tumorigenic potential was not recovered. Besides morphology and loss of proliferative and tumorigenic potential, the differentiated derivatives expressed both differentiation markers, HLA antigens, and intermediate filaments. This system is useful in the selection of differentiation modifiers in cancer therapy.

The capacity for differentiation and production of human chorionic gonadotropin and alpha-fetoprotein in human embryonal carcinoma cell lines

The capacity for differentiation of five human embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell lines was studied by examination of the morphology of xenograft tumors in nude mice. In addition to morphology, differentiation into extraembyronic elements was studied by examining the evidence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) production. The EC cell lines can be divided into two groups: pluripotent (NEC 14 and Tera 2) and nullipotent (NEC 8, NEC 15, and ITO-II) cell lines. In nude mice, the pluripotent NEC 14 and Tera 2 cells produced EC mixed with various somatic elements such as glandular, neuronal, and cartilaginous tissue. However, typical extraembryonic elements, such as choriocarcinoma and yolk sac elements, were not usually observed. Production of hCG and/or AFP was identified in the tumors by both radioimmunoassay and the immunoperoxidase reaction. These results indicate that some human EC cell lines retain the capacity for differentiation into somatic and extraembryonic elements and that hCG and/or AFP appears to be produced by transitional types of cells that still retain the morphology of EC cells.