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Biomedical subjects

A Okayama

Publications and source records attributed to A Okayama.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Smoldering adult T-cell leukemia with B-cell lymphoma and early gastric cancer.

We report a case of smoldering adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) with B-cell lymphoma and early gastric cancer. A 64-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of proteinuria and hypergammaglobulinemia. Systemic lymphadenopathy, "flower cells" in peripheral white blood cells, and hypergammaglobulinemia with monoclonal gammopathy (IgA, lambda type) were found. As Southern blot analysis revealed monoclonal integration of human T-lymphotrophic virus type I proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, he was diagnosed as having smoldering ATL. The tissue specimen of an inguinal lymph node showed proliferation of abnormal lymphocytes which were stained with anti-lambda antibody, indicating B-cell lymphoma. A polypoid lesion in the stomach was histologically diagnosed as early gastric cancer.

HTLV-I Infections↗
PubMed1995

Eradication of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi from patients' blood by chemotherapy, as assessed by the polymerase chain reaction.

The presence of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of eight patients with tsutsugamushi disease was determined by the polymerase chain reaction during antibiotic treatment with minocycline or doxycycline. Rickettsia tsutsugamushi DNA was detectable in all samples from these patients collected the day before treatment began. After the initiation of chemotherapy, all samples tested positive on the third or fourth day, and one sample tested positive on the eighth day, showing a slow action of the drugs against the rickettsia within cells. Immune responses against R. tsutsugamushi also seemed to be important for eradication of the pathogens, as suggested by patients' high antibody titers.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

[Comparison of activities of daily living (ADL), medical treatment and blood pressure of elderly participants and non-participants in health examinations].

A study was conducted to determine the characteristics of the elderly who do not participate in health examinations, and to obtain basic health data on the elderly for developing a community health care plan. Elderly persons aged 60 or over who had not participated in mass health examinations in 1991 were interviewed regarding their conditions of activities of daily living (ADLs), and medical treatment, and their blood pressure was measured. Participation rate for health examinations in the elderly was 66%. Of the total 245 elderly who did not participate in health examinations, data from 215 (88%; 92 men and 123 women) were obtained. 1) The average age of the elderly who did not participate in health examinations was 3 years higher in men and 5 years higher in women than that of those who did participate (p < 0.01), and there were a larger number of persons aged 80 years or over. 2) The percentage of persons with a history of adult diseases such as cardiovascular disease was 63% which was 10% higher than those who participated in examinations (p < 0.01). 3) The percentage of persons requiring help in walking and/or mobility (13%) and bathing (10%) was higher than those who participated in examinations (p < 0.01). For seeing and hearing there were no differences between groups in the percentage of disabled persons. 4) There were more hypertensive people (> 160/95 mmHg) in those who did not participate in examinations (p < 0.01), but the percentage of the people who needed treatment (> 180/100 mmHg) was not different.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Clinicopathological characteristics of p53 overexpression in endometrial cancers.

Using immunohistochemical methods, we analyzed the association between nuclear p53 overexpression and various clinicopathological parameters in patients with endometrial cancers. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 139 cases of endometrial cancer (endometrioid type, 126; serous papillary type, 12; and clear-cell type, 1) were stained with anti-p53 monoclonal antibody (MAb) DO7. Overexpression of p53 was associated with high malignant potential, including extensive muscular invasion, advanced surgical stage, high histological grade, serous papillary type and a personal history of cancer. Lymph-node metastasis was also related to p53 overexpression with marginal significance. Survival curves determined by the Kaplan-Meier method and univariate analysis showed p53 overexpression to be associated with a poor outcome in endometrial cancer patients. However, multivariate analysis using the stepwise Cox proportional-hazard model showed that whereas lymph-node metastasis, a personal history of cancer and muscular invasion were related to poor survival rates, p53 overexpression was not. Consequently, p53 overexpression itself does not appear to be an independent prognostic factor in endometrial cancer, although a still larger sample of patient material would be required to assess this issue definitively.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Study on measurement of delta-aminolevulinic acid in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A method for the determination of delta-aminolevulinic acid in plasma of lead-exposed workers by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection of a fluorescent delta-aminolevulinic acid derivative (2-methylidineamino-3,5-diacetyl-4,6-dimethylpropionic acid) was established. The detection limit of delta-aminolevulinic acid in plasma was 0.01 microgram/ml at a signal-to-noise ratio of 5:1. A linear correlation was obtained between the amounts of delta-aminolevulinic acid injected from 0.01 to 0.5 microgram/ml (r = 0.999). The recovery of 0.05 and 0.1 microgram/ml of delta-aminolevulinic acid added to plasma with various concentrations of delta-aminolevulinic acid in plasma ranged from 80.0 to 100.8%. This method, combined with the use of an automatic sampler, should facilitate the routine measurement of delta-aminolevulinic acid in plasma.

Aminolevulinic Acid↗
PubMed1994

Decreased reactivity to PPD among HTLV-I carriers in relation to virus and hematologic status.

Data on human T-cell lymphotropic-virus-type-I (HTLV-I) status and hematology from 528 individuals were analyzed for associations with low reactivity to the purified protein derivative (PPD) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis recall antigen. Subjects were classified as HTLV-I carriers with abnormal lymphocytes (Ably), carriers without Ably, and seronegatives. All carriers had a significant 2.6-fold risk of being low responders to PPD compared with the seronegatives, carriers with Ably having the highest relative risk. Carriers with HTLV-I-antibody titer > or = 1:256, or with other detectable markers of virus status such as antibody to tax and proviral DNA, had increased risk for low response to PPD similar to the estimate for HTLV-I seropositivity alone, compared with the seronegatives. Subjects with a low lymphocyte count had 3.5 times the risk for being low responders to PPD, compared with subjects with high counts. Similarly, subjects with a low monocyte count had 2.0 times the risk for low reactivity of those with a moderate to high count. Results were not confounded by age, sex, smoking or alcohol drinking. Using multiple logistic regression, only HTLV-I seropositivity and low lymphocyte and monocyte counts were predictive of low reactivity to PPD. Analysis indicates that suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity is associated with HTLV-I infection per se, and not with viral replication or load. Furthermore, this effect may occur in part via changes in the number and function of lymphocytes and monocytes. Such a mechanism may involve altered cytokine production in carriers and concomitant changes in cell populations involved in delayed-type hypersensitivity.

Carrier State↗
PubMed1994

Alcohol intake and serum lipids in a Japanese population.

BACKGROUND: Previous epidemiological and clinical studies have shown that alcohol, which increases high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, has an anti-atherogenic effect. But data on the effects of alcohol on low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are scarce. In this paper a cross-sectional study on the associations of alcohol in graded doses with serum lipids in a Japanese population is presented. METHODS: The daily alcohol intake of 832 Japanese men aged 35-59 was determined and the subjects were divided into five categories according to their daily alcohol consumption. The associations of alcohol intake and the kind of alcoholic beverage with serum lipids were determined by multiple regression analyses taking into consideration the differences of other confounding factors, i.e. age, body mass index (BMI) and smoking. RESULTS: Serum triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol were higher (P < 0.001) with higher alcohol intake while LDL-cholesterol was lower (P < 0.01). In multiple regression analysis, after adjusting for age, BMI and number of cigarettes smoked per day, HDL-cholesterol and the ratio of HDL-cholesterol to LDL-cholesterol were found to have a significant positive relationship with daily alcohol consumption (P < 0.001) and LDL-cholesterol to have a significant negative relationship (P < 0.001). The kind of alcoholic beverage had no significant relationship with serum HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol; however, serum triglycerides were found to be significantly lower in those who drank beer (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol drinkers have a higher HDL-cholesterol level and lower LDL-cholesterol level than non-drinkers. This anti-atherogenic lipid profile in alcohol drinkers may be explained by the effect of alcohol on serum lipids independent of age, BMI and smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

A case-control study on risk factors for uterine endometrial cancer in Japan.

A case-control study of 143 Japanese women with uterine endometrial cancer and 143 individually age-matched controls was conducted to assess the risk factors for endometrial cancers in Japan. Among the characteristics studied, the following factors were significantly greater in the cases than in the controls: nulliparity (odds ratio for parity 1-3 and > or = 4 versus nullipara are 0.40 and 0.02, respectively), obesity (odds ratio: 2.73), hypertension (odds ratio: 2.4), diabetes mellitus (odds ratio: 6.30), and a personal medical history of cancer (odds ratio: 3.06). The present study showed that Japanese women have the same risk factors for endometrial cancer as those reported in Western countries. The recent increase in the incidence of endometrial cancer in Japan may be largely attributed to the decrease in parity.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1994

Improvement of urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid determination by HPLC and fluorescence detection using condensing reaction with acetylacetone and formaldehyde.

We improved the method for determining urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) by HPLC-fluorometer after pre-column derivatization with acetylacetone and formaldehyde, and a stable ALA derivative was obtained without any effect from various urinary components as demonstrated by the complete recovery of ALA (100.9 +/- 5.5%, n = 85) from the urine samples. The modified procedure was as follows: Twenty microliters of urine sample, 5 ml of acetylacetone solution (acetylacetone/ethanol/distilled water containing 4 milligrams of NaCl; 15/10/75), and 0.45 ml of 9.3% formaldehyde solution were mixed and boiled for 15 min. The fluorescent derivative of ALA was separated and analyzed by HPLC with the fluorometer at Ex 246 nm and Em 458 nm. Using a gradient program, the retention time of the ALA derivative was 7.3 min and the analysis could be repeated at 13 min intervals. Concentrations of ALA in urine samples measured by this method were significantly correlated with those measured by the Mauzerall-Granick (M-G) method (n = 85, r = 0.993, p < 0.001). The values obtained by our method were, however, lower than those obtained by the M-G method. Urinary ALA concentrations of 40 non-lead workers ranged from 0.1 to 2.3 mg/g creatinine with the mean +/- SD of 1.1 +/- 0.4 mg/g creatinine as measured by the present method.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Bulky plasmacytoma of the bone with intracranial invasion.

A 56-year-old man with left anterior chest pain showed two well-defined tumors in the left anterior chest wall and left parietal region. A large osteolytic lesion in the parietal bone and several punched-out lesions in the temporal bone were revealed by a skull X-ray examination. He showed monoclonal gammopathy (IgG, kappa type) and Bence Jones proteinuria, but no proliferation of plasma cells was observed in the bone marrow. The tissue specimens from both lesions consisted of abnormal plasma cells, indicating plasmacytoma. Although a bulky intracranial plasmacytoma was present, the patient did not exhibit intracranial hypertensive symptoms, or neurological abnormalities.

Bence Jones Protein↗
PubMed1994

[Survey of activities of daily living in non-institutionalized elderly residents].

To investigate the states of activities of daily living (ADLs) in the elderly, non-institutionalized residents-aged 65 and over living in Azuchi (population of approximately 12,000) were interviewed. Data was collected from 1,287 subjects (509 men and 778 women; 92.1%) for the 3 years, 1990 to 1992. Differences in difficulties with the 6 basic ADLs (BADLs) and the 7 instrumental ADLs (IADLs) were analyzed according to gender and age. For the BADLs (eating, dressing, bathing, using the toilet, mobility, and incontinence), only the percentage of incontinence was significantly higher in women than in men (p < 0.01). The percentage of those fully independent in the 6 BADLs in men was 87%, which was higher than that in women (77%), but except for incontinence there were no significant differences between the sexes. The percentages of disability in the BADLs for women and for both sexes combined were higher according to age (p < 0.01), but for men, only those of dressing (p < 0.05) and of incontinence (p < 0.01) were related with age. The disability percentage for cooking was the only activity among the IADLs (cooking, using the telephone, cleaning house, walking, shopping, going up and down steps, and using transportation) which was significantly higher in men (p < 0.01), but those for walking, going up and down steps, and using transportation were higher in women (p < 0.01). The percentage of those who were fully independent was 74% in both sexes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency does not influence the elevation of blood pressure by alcohol.

Increased alcohol consumption causes hypertension and leads to higher death rates by hemorrhagic strokes. About half of the Japanese population have inactive low Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), which metabolizes acetaldehyde to acetic acid at very low concentrations, leading to severe pharmacological effects of aldehyde when drinking alcohol. We determined persons with inactive ALDH2 using a ethanol patch test. All male workers (n + 163), aged from 21 to 62 years in one factory in Japan took part. They were divided into two groups by alcohol consumption (nondrinkers, light drinkers of < 32 ml/l ethanol per day and moderate to heavy drinkers of > or = 32 ml ethanol per day). The prevalence of persons with inactive ALDH2 was 52.1%. The prevalence of moderate to heavy drinkers among persons with inactive ALDH2 was significantly lower than that among those with active ALDH2 (23% and 41%, respectively: P < 0.05). No significant differences of BP were observed between ALDH2 inactive and active groups at the same consumption of alcohol. This study showed a significant relationship between categories of alcohol use and SBP and DBP (P < 0.05, respectively) controlled for age and body mass index. The mechanism by which alcohol use elevates BP is unlikely to be related to the inactive ALDH2. However, inactive ALDH2 may act as a protective factor against hypertension by reducing alcohol consumption.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

The distribution of T-cell subsets among HTLV-I carriers in Japan.

Data on T-cell subsets from 89 human T-cell lymphotropic virus-I (HTLV-I) carriers and 25 seronegative people were analyzed to identify differences in T-cell subset values among three subgroups: HTLV-I carriers with abnormal lymphocytes (Ably; n = 24), carriers without Ably (n = 65), and HTLV-I seronegatives (n = 25). Estimates of mean values were adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and alcohol drinking, as appropriate. The percentage of CD25+ T cells was elevated in carriers with Ably (mean, 16.7 +/- 1.0) compared with the seronegatives (11.4 +/- 1.4; p = 0.0002); individuals with CD25 T-cell percentages above the median for the seronegatives had a corresponding 5.4-fold risk for being a carrier with Ably. Similarly, the percentage of CD4 T cells was elevated in carriers with Ably. Conversely, the percentage of CD8 T cells was lower among both groups of HTLV-I carriers than in the seronegatives. There was a corresponding significant increase (p = 0.0004) of the CD4/CD8 ratio among carriers with Ably (1.57 +/- 0.12) compared with the seronegatives (1.22 +/- 0.12). Among subjects with CD4/CD8 ratios above the median for the seronegatives, there were 6.8- and 4.5-fold risks for being carriers with or without Ably, respectively. The percentage of CD7 was lower among carriers with Ably (75.6 +/- 1.6) than among seronegatives (78.9 +/- 1.5; p = 0.13). The percentage of beta-interleukin-2-receptor-positive T cells did not vary among the three subgroups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1994

Changes in hematologic parameters among Japanese HTLV-I carriers.

Hematologic data from 1,039 persons who participated in the Miyazaki Cohort study on human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) infection were analyzed. Individuals were classified by HTLV-I antibody status and the presence of abnormal lymphocytes (Ably). We identified several differences in selected leukocyte populations: lymphocyte percent was higher among the HTLV-I carriers with Ably (36.5 +/- 2.0%, n = 29) compared with the carriers without Ably (33.1 +/- 0.6%, n = 299) and the seronegatives 36.4 +/- 0.4%, n = 711) (p = 0.04). Conversely, there was a trend of decreasing eosinophil percent among both carrier groups with the lowest percent among carriers with Ably (1.8 +/- 0.5%) compared with the seronegatives (2.8 +/- 0.1%) (p = 0.05). Mean basophil percent was decreased among both carriers groups (p = 0.09). Additionally, red cell count was elevated among the carriers with Ably (461 +/- 7 x 10(4)/mm3) compared with the seronegatives (446 +/- 2 x 10(4)/mm3) (p = 0.03). The HTLV-I carriers with Ably had lower serum albumin (4.39 +/- 0.05 g%) compared with the seronegatives (4.47 +/- 0.01 g%) (p = 0.10). These alterations may be a consequence of HTLV-I infection, with the greatest changes among carriers with Ably, a subset thought to be at risk for developing adult T-cell leukemia.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1994

Association of HTLV-I antibody profile of asymptomatic carriers with proviral DNA levels of peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

The human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) antibody profile of 216 asymptomatic carriers in Miyazaki, Japan, was analyzed in conjunction with the HTLV-I proviral DNA levels in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) determined by the semiquantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The geometric mean HTLV-I titer by particle agglutination assay (PA) of 58 subjects (27%) with a high DNA level was 1:1, 240; 94 (44%) with a medium DNA level, 1:740; 38 (18%) with a low level, 1:476; and, 26 (12%) with an undetectable level, 1:263. Moreover, when the subjects were divided into four groups according to titer from high to low, the correlation between DNA level and antibody titer level was highly significant (p < 0.0001). HTLV-I antibody subclass by Western blot (WB) was determined for 78 randomly selected samples from these carriers. Immunoglobulin (Ig) M antibody was detected in 35 (45%). The mean PA antibody titer was higher in carriers with IgM antibody than in those without, at each detectable proviral DNA level. These findings suggest that HTLV-I antibody titer is related to proviral DNA level and also to the presence of IgM antibodies among those with proviral DNA of the same level. Seven carriers (9%) were negative for IgG antibody by WB, among whom the proviral DNA level was low or undetectable and the PA titer was also low. Three of these were positive only for IgM antibody.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Analysis of anti-Tax antibody of HTLV-I carriers in an endemic area in Japan.

Sera from 1197 adult residents in Miyazaki district, an area in Japan endemic for human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), were tested for anti-Tax antibody by the recombinant Tax (r-Tax) Western blot assay. Among HTLV-I-seropositive individuals, including 21.5% of 484 males and 28.6% of 713 females, the prevalence of anti-Tax antibody were 59.6% and 58.3% respectively, with no apparent difference in age. There was a significant 6-fold difference in the prevalence of anti-Tax among seropositive subjects with titer > or = 1:8192 (84.6%) compared with those with the lowest titer of 1:16 (14.3%), suggesting the increased production of antibodies to viral structural proteins in anti-Tax-positive individuals. Furthermore, among those anti-Tax-positive subjects, the intensity of serum reactivity to r-Tax protein in the high antibody titer (1:1024 or higher) group was significantly stronger than that in the lower antibody titer (1:512 or lower) group. We also found that 1.6% (14/889) of individuals without detectable levels of HTLV-I antibody had anti-Tax antibody. HTLV-I pro-viral DNA signals could not be detected in DNA sample from the lymphocytes of these individuals by the nested polymerase chain reaction method. Further evaluation is needed to clarify the significance of an anti-Tax-only status population in which HTLV-I is endemic.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Changes in total serum cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Japan 1980-1989.

To monitor recent changes in Japan in diet and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), in the light of the decline on coronary heart disease, total serum cholesterol levels and other risk factors were compared between two nationwide health surveys in 1980 and 1989 conducted in the same population as the annual National Nutrition Surveys. Between 1980 and 1989, age-adjusted total serum cholesterol levels increased from 4.84 to 5.22 for men and from 4.91 to 5.24 mmol/l for women. Prevalence of age-adjusted hypercholesterolaemia of > or = 5.68 mmol/l (220 mg/dl) increased from 15.8% to 29.4% for men and from 18.4% to 30.6% for women. Decline in blood pressure was observed for both sexes. Prevalence of smoking decreased from 64.7% to 58.7% in men while prevalence in women remained low (from 10.1 to 9.9%). Considerable increases in total serum cholesterol levels do not offer an explanation of the recent decline in mortality from coronary heart disease in Japan. This may, in part, be related to a decline in blood pressure levels.

Adult↗