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Biomedical subjects

A Kondo

Publications and source records attributed to A Kondo.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

[Female urethral carcinoma: results of irradiation in 2 patients].

Urethral carcinoma in 2 females has been treated with irradiation together with adjunct chemotherapy. In case 1, a 73-year-old female with squamous cell carcinoma was successfully treated with irradiation of 4,000 rad and peplomycin of 60 mg intravenously given. She has been free from the disease for the past 43 months. In case 2, a 61-year-old female with transitional cell carcinoma was initially treated with irradiation of 5,000 rad together with peplomycin 90 mg, which was followed by another 5,000 rad irradiation. The tumor recurred and the patient was operated on for cystourethrectomy and partial resection of the vagina. A further chemotherapy of cisplatin, peplomycin, and mitomycin C was instituted. She died of the tumor recurrence 23 months after the first visit to our clinic. Diagnosis and treatment modalities on the female urethral carcinoma are briefly discussed.

Aged↗

[A case of spontaneous superficial temporal artery aneurysm].

A rare case of a 14-year-old boy with a spontaneous (true) aneurysm of the superficial temporal artery is presented. The mass in the right parietal region was pulsatile and gradually enlarged in size for the last several months without any notable history of head trauma. The mass was successfully removed by surgery and has proved histopathologically to be a true aneurysm. While almost all cases of the superficial temporal artery aneurysm reported are traumatic ones, the true aneurysm of this artery which is verified by angiography is extremely rare. The pathology, etiology and treatment of this true aneurysm of the superficial temporal artery were discussed.

Adolescent↗

[Clinical effects of oxybutynin hydrochloride in the treatment of unstable bladder and overactive neurogenic bladder: a long-term clinical trial].

Clinical effects and therapeutic usefulness of oxybutynin hydrochloride were evaluated in a long-term clinical trial on patients with unstable bladders and neurogenic bladders. Of the 46 patients entered into the trial, 37 were those diagnosed with an unstable bladder and 9 with a neurogenic bladder with overactive detrusor. In 37 of the cases (80%), the period of drug administration reached up to 12 weeks and in 16 cases (34%) the drugs were administered for more than 24 weeks. The average administration period was 165.9 days. The average total given dose was 1776.9 mg and average dose per day was 10.7 mg. Excellent and good responses were obtained in 76.3, 88.9 and 69.6% at 12 and 24 weeks after start of administration and at the time of discontinuing the drug, respectively. The cystometric changes at pre- and post-administration were evaluated on 23 cases and revealed a significant increase in volume at first sensation and maximum desire to void. Maximum resting intravesical pressure was significantly declined and uninhibited detrusor contractions were significantly suppressed. Side effects were noted in 11 of the 46 cases (23.9%), most of which were well tolerated by the patients. In 4 cases the drug had to be discontinued because of the side effects. Dry mouth was the most common side effect, occupying almost half of the incidents. No significant abnormality was noted on blood laboratory data, blood pressure or heart rate, following the drug administration. In one case slight increase in serum glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase was encountered, but its relationship with the drug was obscure. The clinical usefulness of this drug (excellent and good) was 78.9, 88.9 and 69.6% at 12 and 24 weeks after start of administration, and at the time of drug discontinuation, respectively. The present long-term trial proved that oxybutynin hydrochloride is an exceedingly effective and safe agent for clinical management of unstable bladder and overactive neurogenic bladder.

Adolescent↗

Blood-brain barrier permeability to horseradish peroxidase in twitcher and cuprizone-intoxicated mice.

The status of blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability was investigated in the twitcher, an authentic murine model of globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD, Krabbe disease) and cuprizone-intoxicated mice. Although extensive demyelination was noted in the CNS of both mice and additionally, macrophage infiltration was pronounced in the twitcher, BBB remained intact to horseradish peroxidase. Thus, the change of microenvironment caused by demyelination is not necessarily a responsible factor for increased BBB permeability in the inflammatory demyelinating conditions.

Animals↗

Effects of intracarotid hyperosmolar mannitol in triethyl tin (TET)-induced rat brain edema--preservation of blood-brain barrier (BBB) in TET edema.

The effect of intracarotid hyperosmolar mannitol on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in triethyl tin (TET)-induced rat brain edema was examined by using intravenous Evans blue (EB, MW 68,000) and Adriamycin (ADM, MW 580) as tracers. Three ml of 1.4 M mannitol solution were administered through the right carotid artery during 45 s for BBB opening. The barrier was opened for 60-120 minutes and then re-established. The reversibility was preserved in TET-treated rats and controls. In fact, the intravenous injection of EB stained both TET-treated and non-treated cerebral hemispheres with mannitol-induced transient BBB disruption, but not without BBB disruption. BBB was resistant to both high and low molecular weight substances in TET-induced edema. The importance of this hyperosmotic studies provides the evidence for normal BBB function in TET-induced brain edema.

Animals↗

Neurotoxicity of adriamycin passed through the transiently disrupted blood-brain barrier by mannitol in the rat brain.

Neurotoxicity of adriamycin (ADM) was investigated following the transient disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in rats. The BBB disruption by the hyperosmotic agent (1.4 M mannitol) was confirmed by the leakage of ADM and Evans blue administered intravenously. Neuropathological changes due to the toxicity of ADM were found as early as day 4. The neurons in the cerebral cortex and nucleus caudatus-putamen showed focal clearing of the nuclear chromatin, increased dense bodies in the cytoplasm and dilatation of the cisternae of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (r-ER) and Golgi apparatus. By day 7, nucleolar segregation and irregular membranous structures appeared in the nuclei with the progression of cytoplasmic changes. By day 10, the cytoplasm of many neurons was vacuolated. Electron-microscopically, the cisternae of the r-ER and Golgi apparatus were prominently dilated in these neurons. Neuronal microtubules were increased in number, in particular in the perinuclear region. Numerous whorl-like membranous structures and separation of nuclear membrane were also observed. Some astrocytic processes surrounding the blood vessels revealed loss of organelles and a few pericytes showed an increased number of lysosomes on days 7 and 10. This experiment clearly demonstrates that ADM has strong neurotoxic effects in the central nervous system when the BBB is disrupted, and provides the warning for the possibilities of neurotoxic side effects when ADM is administered, in combination with a hyperosmotic agent, for the treatment of human malignant tumors, including brain tumors.

Animals↗

Effects of verapamil and sodium nitroprusside on acetylcholine-induced contraction of the rabbit detrusor muscle.

Effects of extracellular and intracellular Ca2+ on acetylcholine-induced contraction of the bladder detrusor muscle were studied in vitro, utilizing two types of Ca2+ antagonists of different mechanisms of action; verapamil and sodium nitroprusside (NP). Acetylcholine (10(-8) to 10(-2) M) caused dose-dependent contractions of the detrusor muscle strips. Pretreatment of the strips with verapamil (10(-7), 10(-6) M) significantly inhibited the acetylcholine-induced contraction in a dose-dependent manner, whereas NP (10(-7) to 10(-5) M) failed so suppress the contraction. The contraction of the strips once elicited by acetylcholine (10(-6) M) could be completely relaxed by verapamil (10(-5) M) addition, but only incompletely by NP (10(-5), 10(-4) M). In Ca2+-free solution containing 0.01 mM EGTA, replenishment of Ca2+ (2.5 mM) to the medium caused contractions of the strips. Addition of acetylcholine (10(-6) M) to the medium enhanced the Ca2+-induced contraction, which was significantly inhibited by pretreatment with verapamil (10(-6) M), but not affected by NP (10(-6) M). In Ca2+-free medium containing 0.1 mM EGTA, acetylcholine caused a slight degree of tension increase of the strips in a dose-dependent fashion, at higher concentrations exceeding 10(-6) M. These results suggest that the detrusor muscle contraction induced by acetylcholine is mostly dependent of extracellular Ca2+ influx both in its initiation and maintenance. It is also supposed, however, that intracellular Ca2+ fractions will partly participate in the acetylcholine-induced contraction and possibly in its maintenance.

Acetylcholine↗

Partitioning of the F plasmid: overproduction of an essential protein for partition inhibits plasmid maintenance.

Multicopy plasmids carrying the sopB gene of the F plasmid inhibit stable inheritance of a coexisting mini-F plasmid. This incompatibility, termed IncG, is found to be caused by excess amounts of the SopB protein, which is essential for accurate partitioning of plasmid DNA molecules into daughter cells. A sopB-carrying multicopy plasmid that shows the IncG+ phenotype was mutagenized in vitro and IncG negative mutant plasmids were isolated. Among these amber and missense mutants of sopB, mutants with a low plasmid copy number and a mutant in the Shine-Dalgarno sequence for translation of the SopB protein were obtained. These results demonstrate that the IncG phenotype is caused by the SopB protein, and that the incompatibility is expressed only when the protein is overproduced. This suggests that the protein must be kept at appropriate concentrations to ensure stable maintenance of the plasmid.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Epithelial properties of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas determined in ultrastructural and immunohistochemical studies.

Three cases of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA), one of which showed anaplastic evolution, are described. In all three the PXA tumors were well circumscribed and could be totally removed. Light-microscopically, pleomorphic tumor cells clustered gregariously and often formed alveolar structures. Electron microscopy revealed various epithelial properties, such as junctions and interdigitations between apposing tumor cells, and prominent basal laminae surrounding tumor nests. The circumscribed growth of PXA, as contrasted with an infiltrative growth of usual astrocytoma, can be attributed to the cellular cohesion based on the epithelial properties of the tumor cells. In the third patient, tumor recurred 6 months postoperatively. Although the recurrent tumor retained the alveolar structures, pleomorphism and various degenerative features of the tumor cells diminished with advance in the proliferative activities.

Adult↗

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. An autopsy case.

We reported the autopsy findings in a 50-year-old man with typical clinical features of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. Special attention was directed to the spinal cord and ventral spinal roots to determine whether cause of the muscle wasting was denervation or myopathy. Neuropathological studies disclosed no abnormality of the spinal cord, and the ventral spinal roots were intact. The skeletal muscles showed dystrophic changes of varying degrees, and marked cardiomyopathy was evident. We consider that muscle wasting in this man was due to muscular dystrophy.

Anterior Horn Cells↗

Use of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, and an insect baculovirus vector for high-level expression and secretion of biologically active mouse interleukin-3.

Using the virus vector derived from a baculovirus of Bombyx mori (Bm), we constructed an infectious recombinant virus carrying the mouse interleukin-3 (IL-3) cDNA placed downstream from the polyhedrin promoter. Silkworms infected in vivo with recombinant virus or the silkworm-derived BmN cell line infected in vitro secreted large amounts of IL-3 into hemolymph or culture medium, respectively. On a per volume basis, about 20-fold more activity was found in the culture supernatants of the infected BmN cells and 10000-fold more activity was detected in the hemolymph as compared to supernatants obtained from COS7 monkey cells transfected with plasmid pcD-IL3 using the SV40 early promoter [Yokota et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81 (1984) 1070-1074]. Three distinct species of Il-3 of molecular masses, 18, 20 and 22 kDa were produced and all were converted to a 15-kDa protein by N-glycanase digestion, indicating that silkworm cells glycosylated IL-3. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the IL-3 purified from tissue culture medium and hemolymph were identical to that of mammalian-derived IL-3, showing that silkworm cells recognized the mammalian signal sequence and cleaved it at the correct position. The purified silkworm-produced IL-3 had biological activities indistinguishable from IL-3 produced by mammalian cells as assessed by mast-cell proliferation assays, colony-formation assays using mouse bone marrow cells, and by receptor-binding assays using [125I]IL-3.

Animals↗