BACKGROUND AND PURPOSEAlthough substance P (SP) and neurokinin NK1 receptors have been reported to be involved in cisplatin-induced acute and delayed emesis, their precise roles remain unclear. Pica, the consumption of non-nutrient materials such as kaolin in rats, can be used as a model of nausea in humans. We investigated the time-dependent changes in cisplatin-induced pica and the involvement of SP and NK1 receptors in this behaviour. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHRats were administered cisplatin with or without a daily injection of a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist (granisetron) or an NK1 receptor antagonist (aprepitant), and kaolin intake was then monitored for 5 days. The effects of granisetron on the cisplatin-induced expression of preprotachykinin-A (PPT-A) mRNA, which encodes mainly for SP, and on SP release in the medulla, measured by in vivo brain microdialysis, were also investigated. KEY RESULTSCisplatin induced pica within 8 h of its administration that continued for 5 days. Granisetron inhibited the acute phase (day 1), but not the delayed phase (days 2-5), of pica, whereas aprepitant abolished both phases. Within 24 h of the injection of cisplatin, PPT-A mRNA expression and SP release in the medulla were significantly increased; these findings lasted during the observation period and were inhibited by granisetron for up to 24 h. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSThe profiles of cisplatin-induced pica in rats are similar to clinical findings for cisplatin-induced emesis in humans, and we showed that SP production in the medulla and activation of NK1 receptors are involved in this cisplatin-induced pica. Abbreviations

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The purpose of the present study was to determine reliable parameters for the detection of apoptotic cells for use as a diagnostic marker during the early stage of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in forensic autopsy cases. Myocardial tissues taken from forensic autopsy cases were examined by immunohistochemical and molecular-biological methods using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP biotin nick end-labelling (TUNEL) and the DNA laddering methods. In cases of AMI with a time period between 2 h from onset to death and 20 h post-mortem time, the nuclei of cardiomyocytes were stained positive with the TUNEL method and DNA fragmentation of myocardial cells was detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. Similar findings were obtained in cases of carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication. However, no apoptotic cells were found in other cases such as methamphetamine (MAP) intoxication, tetrodotoxin intoxication, alcohol intoxication, asphyxia, head injury, heart injury or myocarditis. These findings suggested that it would be possible to apply TUNEL-positive cells as a diagnostic marker during the early stages of AMI.

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The simultaneous association of gastric carcinoma with gastric lymphoma is a rare event. Recent studies have suggested that not only gastric cancer but also primary gastric lymphomas, especially those of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type, are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. We report on a 51-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of abnormal shadows revealed by an upper gastrointestinal radiography series. Endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed early cancer in the middle body of the stomach. Biopsy of the lesion subsequently proved it to be a signet-ring cell carcinoma. Total gastrectomy was performed, under a diagnosis of early gastric carcinoma. The resected specimen revealed two grossly separate lesions. Histological examination confirmed that the gastric body lesion was compatible with early moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma of type 0-IIc, while the lesion of the fundus corresponded to MALT lymphoma. H. pylori was detected, and chronic gastritis was also present in the resected gastric specimen. H. pylori infection may have played a major role in the development of both the MALT lymphoma and the adenocarcinoma of the stomach in this patient.