No abstract

Pancreatoduodenectomy had a significant influence on hepatic fat content and was associated with frequent occurrence of hepatic steatosis, which was easily recognized with CT.

From the photosynthetic green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum (pro synon. Chlorobaculum tepidum), we have purified three factors indispensable for the thiosulfate-dependent reduction of the small, monoheme cytochrome c 554 . These are homologues of sulfur-oxidizing (Sox) system factors found in various thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria. The first factor is SoxYZ that serves as the acceptor for the reaction intermediates. The second factor is monomeric SoxB that is proposed to catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of sulfate from the SoxYZ-bound oxidized product of thiosulfate. The third factor is the trimeric cytochrome c 551 , composed of the monoheme cytochrome SoxA, the monoheme cytochrome SoxX, and the product of the hypothetical open reading frame CT1020. The last three components were expressed separately in Escherichia coli cells and purified to homogeneity. In the presence of the other two Sox factors, the recombinant SoxA and SoxX showed a low but discernible thiosulfate-dependent cytochrome c 554 reduction activity. The further addition of the recombinant CT1020 protein greatly increased the activity, and the total activity was as high as that of the native SoxAX-CT1020 protein complex. The recombinant CT1020 protein participated in the formation of a tight complex with SoxA and SoxX and will be referred to as SAXB (SoxAX binding protein). Homologues of the SAXB gene are found in many strains, comprising roughly about one-third of the thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria whose sox gene cluster sequences have been deposited so far and ranging over the Chlorobiaciae, Chromatiaceae, Hydrogenophilaceae, Oceanospirillaceae, etc. Each of the deduced SoxA and SoxX proteins of these bacteria constitute groups that are distinct from those found in bacteria that apparently lack SAXB gene homologues.

Although mesothelin is highly expressed in epithelial mesotheliomas, and also in adenocarcinomas of the ovary and pancreas, the clinical significance of mesothelin in cholangiocellular carcinoma (CC) has not been reported, and its biologic features are largely unknown. In the present study, mesothelin expression was evaluated in 25 patients with CC using a well-characterized mesothelin monoclonal antibody (5B2). A total of 8 of the 25 patients with CC (32%) showed mesothelin immunoreactivity. The 25 patients were divided into 2 groups according to the percentage of tumor cells that were positive for mesothelin expression: negative (n ¼ 17) or focally positive (mesothelin expression evident in less than 50%, n ¼ 4; total, n ¼ 21 for both groups), and positive (mesothelin expression evident in 50% or more, n ¼ 4). The survival periods in both groups were statistically analyzed. The negative/focally positive group showed significantly longer postoperative survival than the positive group (P ¼ 0.006). Also, mesothelin positivity was identified as an independent predictor of short postoperative survival. The present results suggest that mesothelin expression is a prognostic indicator in patients with CC.

We describe the case of a patient with a diaphragmatic hernia associated with radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma who was successfully treated by laparoscopic surgery. A 62-year-old man with a long history of hepatitis C-induced liver cirrhosis was admitted to our institution because of recurrent postprandial periumbilical pain. Eight years earlier, he had undergone radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma at hepatic segment VIII. Computed tomography, gastrografin enema examination revealed transverse colon obstruction because of a diaphragmatic hernia. We diagnosed diaphragmatic hernia associated with the prior radiofrequency ablation treatment. The patient underwent laparoscopic repair of the diaphragmatic hernia. Though the patient experienced the recurrence once, relaparoscopic treatment has improved the patient's conditions. Thus, diaphragmatic hernia can develop as a complication of radiofrequency ablation treatment. A laparoscopic approach is safe, feasible, and minimally invasive, even in patients with cirrhosis who develop iatrogenic diaphragmatic hernia as a complication of radiofrequency ablation treatment.