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Biomedical subjects

A Fukunaga

Publications and source records attributed to A Fukunaga.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Neuropsychological evaluation and cerebral blood flow study of 30 patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms before and after surgery.

BACKGROUND: We have recently had many opportunities to operate on patients who presented with no neurologic deficits and were incidentally detected to have unruptured cerebral aneurysms. Therefore, it is very important to know how craniotomy affects the normal brain when making decisions regarding surgery for asymptomatic cerebral diseases. METHODS: Thirty patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms were evaluated. Aneurysm sites were as follows: internal carotid artery (ICA) (eight cases), anterior communicating artery (ACoA) (seven), middle cerebral artery (MCA) (five), basilar artery-superior cerebellar artery (BA-SCA) (two), and multiple aneurysms (three) [bilateral MCA: (two), ICA + Basilar top: (one)]. These patients underwent neuropsychological examinations [the Mini-Mental State (MMS) test, the "Kana-hiroi" test, and the "Maze" test] and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) before and after surgery. RESULTS: The details of the 17 cases whose Kana-hiroi tests deteriorated 1 month after surgery are as follows: ACoA: seven, MCA: five, ICA: three, BA: two. SPECT showed a decrease in CBF in nine cases (ACoA: six, ICA: two, MCA: one). There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between patients with ACoA aneurysms and ICA aneurysms. Three months after operation, all of the patients with neuropsychological deterioration and four of the six low CBF patients recovered to preoperative levels. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that the operation for unruptured cerebral aneurysms is moderately safe and meaningful; such a study should be required to determine when those patients could return to normal life.

Adult

Insecticidal properties of 3-aminopropyl(methyl)phosphinic acid and its effect on K(+)-evoked release of acetylcholine from cockroach synaptosomes.

3-Aminopropyl(methyl)phosphinic acid (APMP), a potent agonist of mammalian GABAB receptors, caused prostration in houseflies (Musca domestica L.) on injection into their thoraces, with an ED50 value of 0.42 microgram/fly. The 48-h LD50 values of APMP were estimated to be 0.45 and 5.6 micrograms/fly in the presence and absence of piperonyl butoxide, a mixed-function oxidase inhibitor, respectively. Analogues of APMP, bearing a longer or shorter side chain by a CH2 unit, or a phenyl group in the place of the methyl group, were without effects. In perfusion assays with synaptosomes prepared from the thoracic/abdominal nerve cords of cockroaches (Periplaneta americana L.), 1 mM APMP reduced K(+)-evoked acetylcholine release to 10.4% of the control. These findings indicate that the--physiologically important site of action of APMP, which might be implicated in neurotransmitter release, is present in insect neurons.

Acetylcholine

[A case of enlarged infundibular dilatation diagnosed by vertebral angiograms with carotid compression and neuroendoscope].

A case of enlarged infundibular dilatation diagnosed by vertebral angiograms with carotid compression was reported. A 57-year-old woman suffered from headache. She underwent MRA which revealed left internal carotid artery aneurysm. Left common carotid angiograms suggested a left saccular internal carotid artery aneurysm (4 mm x 6 mm) without a posterior communicating artery. However, it was confirmed to be an enlarged infundibular dilatation on left vertebral angiograms with carotid compression. It was confirmed at operation microscopically and neuroendoscopically, and the dilatation was treated by coating. When carotid angiograms reveal no posterior communicating artery, it is difficult to differentiate the origin of posterior communicating artery from internal carotid artery-posterior communicating artery junction aneurysms. Vertebral angiograms with carotid compression is useful for the differentiation for the exact diagnosis.

Aneurysm

Plasma cell granuloma extending from the extracranial to the intracranial space associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection.

A 70-year-old male presented with a plasma cell granuloma extending from the extracranial to the intracranial space. Findings of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and intraoperative observation indicated that the lesion extended from the temporal muscle to the subarachnoid space, penetrating the frontal bone. The subarachnoid lesion was composed of neutrophils indicating the presence of acute or subacute inflammation. The final diagnosis of the resected tumor was plasma cell granuloma. High levels of antibodies against Epstein-Barr (EB) virus in the cerebrospinal fluid and the immunohistochemical demonstration of EB nuclear antigens in the plasma cell granuloma suggested that EB virus infection was associated with the development of plasma cell granuloma in this patient.

Aged

Streptococcal adherence to uncoated and saliva-coated restoratives.

The adherence of Streptococcus sanguis and S. mutans to seven restoratives in the presence and absence of an artificial salivary pellicle has been investigated. The physiochemical surface characteristics of the bacteria and of the restoratives were also measured, together with the effect of salivary coating of restoratives. Zeta potential of uncoated restoratives showed a positive correlation with the number of adherent S. mutans cells and S. sanguis cells. S. sanguis showed a positive correlation with the hydrophobicity of uncoated restoratives. The surface hydrophobicity was decreased upon saliva coating, whereas the zeta potential was slightly increased. The contact angles or zeta potentials of saliva-coated restoratives were positively correlated with those of uncoated restoratives. The number of adherent cells of both S. sanguis and S. mutans to saliva-coated restoratives were decreased after the coating. Zeta potential of saliva-coated restoratives showed a positive correlation with the numbers of adherent S. mutans cells, suggesting that non-specific electrostatic interactions have an important role in the adherence of this species.

Bacterial Adhesion

[Effects of carbon dioxide (hypocapnia and hypercapnia) on tissue blood flow and oxygenation of liver, kidney and skeletal muscle in the dog].

UNLABELLED: We investigated the effects of carbon dioxide on the splanchnic visceral organs (liver and kidney) as well as skeletal muscle in the anesthetized dog. Thirty two adult mongrel dogs were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital, intubated and ventilated mechanically with 100% oxygen to maintain normocapnia. After laparotomy, miniature Clark-type polarographic oxygen electrodes were placed on the surfaces of liver, kidney and rectus femoris muscle. Electromagnetic blood flow (BF) probes were also applied to hepatic artery (HA), portal vein (PV), left renal artery (RA) and left femoral artery (FA). After a stable normocapnic ventilation, the hypocapnia was produced by increasing respiratory rate, and the hypercapnia was induced by adding the exogenous carbon dioxide. RESULTS: Hyperventilation resulted in a significant decrease in HABF, PVBF, liver surface PO2 and kidney surface PO2 in parallel with the decreased PaCO2, but these parameters increased dose dependently when the carbon dioxide was added to the inspired gas (hypercapnic hyperventilation). On the contrary, FABF and skeletal muscle surface PO2 increased by hypocapnia and decreased during hypercapnia. Neither PaCO2 or cardiac output showed any significant change during the entire experiment. Arterial PCO2 appears to exert significant effects on both splanchnic and skeletal muscle perfusion as well as corresponding changes in tissue oxygenations. It is possible that injudicious and prolonged hypocapnic hyperventilation may seriously compromise splanchnic organ perfusion and oxygenation.

Animals

Streptococcal adherence on various restorative materials.

The adherence of Streptococcus sanguis ATCC 10556, S. sanguis ATCC 10557, S. mutans Ingbritt, and S. mutans OMZ 176 to the surfaces of composite resins, amalgam alloys, and a Au-Ag-Pd alloy was measured. Adhesion was correlated with values for hydrophobicity and zeta-potential of the bacteria and the restorative materials. The hydrophobicity of the restoratives showed a positive correlation between the numbers of adherent S. sanguis cells, suggesting that hydrophobic interactions are important for the adherence of this bacterial species. In contrast, the numbers of adherent S. mutans cells showed a positive correlation with the zeta-potential of the restoratives, suggesting that electrostatic interactions are important in adherence of this bacterium.

Bacterial Adhesion

Evidence for cell-replacement repair of X-ray-induced teratogenic damage in male genital imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster.

Male genital imaginal discs from old (late-third-instar) larvae of Drosophila that had been X-irradiated with appropriate doses developed into severely damaged adult genitalia when implanted into old larvae, but they developed into completely normal adult genitalia when transplanted into 2-day-younger larvae. The major cause of X-ray-initiated teratogenesis in the genital disc was DNA damage because development of the genital discs of strain mei-9a with defective DNA repair was twice as sensitive as that of the wild-type strain to impairment by X-irradiation, just as larvae of this strain were twice as sensitive to killing by X-irradiation as those of the wild-type strain. Complete repair of X-ray-induced teratogenic damage in the genital discs on transplantation into young host larvae was similar in the wild-type and mei-9a strains. These results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that repair of X-ray-induced teratogenic damage depends not on DNA repair but on replacement of damage-bearing primordial cells by healthy ones after suicidal elimination of the former.

Animals

Chromosomal aberrations and retrovirus-like particles produced by in vivo transplantation in neoplastic brain cells of a Drosophila mutant strain.

The recessive mutation lethal (2) giant larva4 (1(2) gl4 ) of Drosophila melanogaster causes the development of malignant tumors in the whole brain of homozygous larvae. A mutant brain fragment implanted into the abdomen of a wild-type adult female kills the host in about 10 days. Neuroblasts in situ in 1(2) gl4 larvae showed normal karyotypes, but, when cultured in adult abdomens for one transfer generation, about 10% of the cells showed chromosome aberrations. Subculturing the neuroblasts for four transfer generations showed that malignancy (i.e., lethality to the host) as well as chromosomal abnormalities increased with time of subculture. Many virus-like particles were detected in 1(2) gl4 neuroblasts after in vivo culture, whereas no such particles were detected in 1(2) gl4 neuroblasts in situ in larvae. These particles contained RNAs homologous in sequence to the DNA of the movable element copia. They were indistinguishable from previously identified retrovirus-like particles in cultured Drosophila cells. It is proposed that the 1(2) gl4 mutation reduces the genome integrity, resulting in transplantation-triggered genetic abnormalities, such as chromosomal abnormalities, increased transcription or replication of copia elements, and production of retrovirus-like particles.

Animals

Studies on the sex-specific lethals of Drosophila melanogaster. IV. Gynandromorph analysis of three male-specific lethals, mle, msl-2(27) and mle(3)132.

Mutants at three male-specific lethal loci of Drosophila melanogaster (mle, msl-2(27) and mle(3)132) were examined by gynandromorph analysis. In all cases only a very few gynandromorphs with small X/O patches appeared. Most of these small X/O patches were in the abdomen, and the structures in these X/O regions were reduced in size. These results indicate that the primary effects of these mutants are not on any particular organs or tissues, but rather on individual cells, mle and msl-2 have been shown by BELOTE and LUCCHESI (1980a) to be defective in dosage compensation in X/Y males. We suggest that this dosage-compensation defect results in the expression of Minute-like phenotypes in X/O cells, and hence results in the death of X/O males and flies with large X/O tissue areas.

Animals