No abstract

The patient was a 46 year old male hemophiliac who died of acute mycobacterial meningitis associated with AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Autopsy revealed severe basal meningitis which was characterized by an infiltration of numerous polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Severe mural inflammation of the subarachnoid arteries was noted, and innumerable acid‐fast bacilli were demonstrated. Epithelioid cell granulomas were not found in the meningeal lesion. The lungs, liver, spleen, and bone marrow contained many epithelioid cell granulomas with caseous necrosis. Massive proliferation of swollen histiocytes could not be identified in any organ. The absence of epithelioid cell granulomas in the meningeal lesion indicate a severe impairment of cell‐mediated immunity in the patient; this anergic type of lesion is one of the characteristics of tuberculosis occurring in association with terminal AIDS. Acta Pathol Jpn 41: 895‐899, 1991.

We studied the proliferative ability of the marginal mucosal cells surrounding the ulcer in the healing processes of gastric ulcers. We obtained a labeling index (LI) at the neck and generative zone of gastric pit using a monoclonal antibody against DNA polymerase α for tractable and intractable gastric ulcers located at the fundic mucosa during each endoscopic stage. The LI during the healing stage was higher than that during the active stage in both the tractable and intractable cases. However, in each stage, the LI of the tractable gastric ulcers was higher than that of their intractable counterparts. Finally, we analyzed the LI in tractable gastric ulcers after setting two groups: one treated with anti-ulcer drugs and the other untreated. There were no significant differences between these two groups. We believe that investigation of proliferative abilities in the marginal mucosa of gastric ulcers is important to understand the nature of gastric ulcers and to assess therapeutic efficacy.