Clostridium perfringens (C.P) gas gangrene is one of the most fulminant infectious diseases. We encountered fulminant massive gas gangrene in a 56-year-old man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The patient died 14 hours after diagnosis of gas gangrene (54 hours after admission). Dramatic changes in abdominal CT imaging revealed development of a massive volume of gas in the intra-portal vein, retroperitoneum and abdominal subcutaneous tissue within 24 hours. We also proved C.P infection by immunohistological staining, leading to a diagnosis of C.P gas gangrene.

Biofilm is one virulence factor of bacteria. It contributes not only to bacterial adherence to many kinds of infection-establishing surfaces, but also to bacterial resistance against antimicrobial agents and antiseptic agents. Thus, inhibitors of bacterial biofilm formation should be useful in the prevention of infections. We found that a culture of Streptomyces sp. strain MC11024 showed inhibitory activity on biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus and isolated streptorubin B as an inhibitor of this formation in S. aureus. The biofilm formation of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) N315 was reduced to less than 30% at 1 µg/mL of streptorubin B, and at this concentration cell growth was not affected. Our study suggests that streptorubin B has the potential to be a leading compound of anti-infectious agents of S. aureus. Key words biofilm; inhibitor; Staphylococcus aureus; Streptomyces; prodigiosinPathogenic bacteria produce many kinds of virulence factors and cause human infectious diseases. Among them, adherence factors are important for establishing infections. 1,2)Such factors also confer adhering and staying on every surface including medical devices. One of such factors, biofilm, is a relatively flexible and sticky structure.3) Once bacteria form biofilm on the surface of medical devices set in the human body, it is difficult to remove the biofilm. It is also known that biofilm prevents the penetration of antibacterial drugs and helps bacteria escape from host immune systems. 4)Some infections correlate with biofilm formation at the clinical site. 5)Biofilm formation by bacteria starts with the production of adhering factors. Bacterial cells attach to many kinds of surfaces via electrical charge and specific interactions. After that, bacteria develop biofilm by producing high viscosity extracellular matrix including polysaccharides, proteins, DNA and so on. After the biofilm has been developed, part of the bacteria in the biofilm releases some proteases, detaching them from the biofilm, and the small block of biofilm containing bacteria moves to other places. 6) While bacteria attach to surfaces and mature biofilm, they also release many virulence factors. 7)

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Pancreatic islet cell tumors were induced in 32 of 49 male Wistar rats (73%) surviving 9 months or longer following treatment with streptozotocin alone, with streptozotocin and nicotinamide, or with streptozotocin and picolinamide. Serial oral glucose tolerance tests in rats treated with streptozotocin and nicotinamide showed that the elevation of blood glucose levels after oral glucose load was depressed significantly 7 months after treatment. Plasma insulin responses were distinctly elevated 9 months after treatment. Blood glucose levels remained lower and plasma insulin levels rose markedly after a glucose load in tumor-bearing rats as compared to the response of tumor-free rats. These findings suggest that pancreatic islet cell tumors induced by streptozotocin with and without combined treatment are insulin-secreting, and that streptozotocin itself has oncogenic effects on the rat pancreas. Mean insulin concentration in islet cell tumors amounted to 401 U/g wet wt, whereas the concentration was 14 U/g wet wt in the pancreatic tissue from tumor-free rats.

✓ A case is presented of suprasellar germinoma in a 20-year-old man with Klinefelter's syndrome. Hypogonadism is known to be a characteristic of Klinefelter's syndrome, and has often been described in cases of suprasellar germinoma. Thus, both pathological entities may mimic one another. It is emphasized that a chromosomal karyotype should be determined in every case of intracranial germ-cell tumor associated with hypogonadism.