2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Thymic function and Sudden Death (Has the term "Status Thymicolymphatics" gone in limbo?)
| Project/Area Number |
14570386
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Legal medicine
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| Research Institution | Mie University |
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Principal Investigator |
FUKUNAGA Tatsushige Mie University, Faculty of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (70156800)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SAIJOH Kiyofumi Kanazawa University, Graduate School of Medical Science, Professor, 大学院・医学系研究科, 教授 (00178469)
ABE Suntaro Mie University, Faculty of Medicine, Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (80335116)
YAMAMOTO Hidetaka Mie University, Faculty of Medicine, Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (90158296)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Keywords | Sudden death / Thymus / Thymocytes / T lymphocytes / Adrenal grand / Flow cytometry / Immune system / Sudden Infant Death Syndrome |
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| Research Abstract |
All cases of sudden death are examined by medical examiners in Tokyo Metropolitan, Osaka and Kobe. Sudden death of unknown origin even after autopsy accounts for 2-5 per 1000 inquests. Srarus thymicolymphatics had been used in such cases. Though the diagnosis has gone in limbo, many cases of sudden death showed thymic enlargement and thin adrenal cortex. In the present study, flow cytometric analyses of the thymus were done in medicolegal autopsy cases.
The thymuses were taken from autopsy cases in the Hyogo Medical Examiner's Office and the Department of Forensic Medicine and Sciences, Mie University School of Medicine. Immediately after the resection, thymocytes were obtained and suspended in phosphate saline buffer. Anti-CD3, CD4, CD8, and bcl-2 monoclonal antibodies were used as the first antibodies for immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analyses. The control thymuses were obtained from immunologically normal autopsy cases and patients from open cardiac surgery.
The relative numbers of CD4+CD8+double positive thymocytes were increased in both child and adult sudden death cases. The expression of bcl-2 showed a different pattern of control cases, i.e., bcl-2 up regulation in CD3low thymocytes. It was a reverse pattern of child abuse/neglect.
In conclusion, cases of sudden death unknown origin showed a different pattern of thymocytes, differentiation. It is suggested that a thymic function might be related to the mechanism of sudden death.
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Research Products
(6 results)
