野口 忠秀

A 76-year-old man presented with swelling of the right side of the maxilla. Spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed on examination of a biopsy sample of the right maxillary sinus. We started CYVADIC (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, adriamycin, dacarbazin) chemotherapy. A favorable clinical response was obtained with 4 courses of chemotherapy. Partial resection of the maxilla was followed by 6 courses of CYVADIC therapy, because a small residual tumor was suspected. Histopathological examination revealed no residual tumor cells.<BR>Chemotherapeutic intervention appears to have been effective, with no apparent recurrence of lesions at present, 14 years after chemotherapy.

Human beta-defensin 3 (hBD-3), an antimicrobial peptide, is produced by various epithelial and some nonepithelial tissues. hBD-3 mRNA is widely expressed in oral tissues, including oral epithelium and the salivary glands. Although the localization of hBD-1 and hBD-2 has been well demonstrated in tissue sections, the localization pattern of hBD-3 has not yet been shown. In the present study, we investigated the expression pattern of hBD-3 mRNA by in situ hybridization using specific RNA probes; the signal for hBD-3 was detected in upper spinous and granular layers in normal oral epithelium. In cases of leukoplakia, a strong signal of hBD-3 mRNA was observed in the granular layer. In lichen planus, the signal was strongly detected in the spinous and suprabasal layers. The signals were stronger than those of either normal oral epithelium or leukoplakia. The results indicate that the localization pattern of hBD-3 is very similar to that of hBD-2. hBD-2 and hBD-3 may function together or compensate each other for expressional loss.

パラコートは, 除草剤として使われる農薬の一種である。それを誤って飲んだとき, 口内炎が必ず発現する。われわれは, パラコートによる口内炎の9例について報告した。対象は男性2例, 女性7例の計9例である。年齢は, 22歳から65歳で平均47.8歳であった。口腔粘膜症状は, ビランまたは潰瘍である。潰瘍の表面は, 白色の偽膜に覆われていた。病変粘膜の境界は, 明瞭であった。このパラコートをすぐ吐き出した2例では, 限局した粘膜に, ビランまたは潰瘍を認めた。<br>7例は, パラコートを嚥下した後に頻回に嘔吐した。そのため広い範囲に口内炎が発現した。潰瘍は, 1週から3週で上皮化し, 瘢痕の形成はなかった。2例は, 肺線維腫による呼吸不全のため死亡した。