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Biomedical subjects

A Takagi

Publications and source records attributed to A Takagi.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Growth hormone neurosecretory dysfunction associated with ring chromosome 18.

The patient was a girl 5 years and 1 month old of markedly short stature (-3.9 SD) for her chronological age. Although her karyotype was 46, XX, r(18)(p11q23), there were no symptoms of a chromosomal deletion. Other authors have described cases with a ring autosome showing a phenotype with short stature alone as 'ring syndrome', regardless of which autosome is involved. The present case seems to fall into this category. Although blood growth hormone (GH) showed normal responses to four types of provocative tests, the mean value of blood GH levels obtained at 30 min intervals for 24 h was low, indicating the existence of growth hormone neurosecretory dysfunction (GHND).

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1996

Inhibition mechanisms of staurosporine and H7 to cAMP-dependent protein kinase through docking study.

Inhibition mechanisms of staurosporine and H7 to cAMP-dependent protein kinase have been investigated through docking studies. For each molecule, the energetically most stable docking model was searched by using the conformationally flexible automatic docking program ADAM without any presumptions. The results explain well the observation that staurosporine does not bind to the enzyme competitively with H7, even though the two compounds competitively inhibit ATP binding.

1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-Methylpiperazine↗
PubMed1996

Surgical treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms in octogenarians.

Due to the increase in life span and the decrease in mortality associated with aortic surgery, many geriatric patients now undergo surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Therefore, we studied our surgical results for AAAs in an elderly population to assess the value of such operations. Twenty-six patients aged 80 years or older underwent surgery during an 11-year period from 1984 to 1994 at our institutions, and their outcomes were compared with those of 212 younger patients. The ratio of ruptured to non-ruptured AAAs was significantly higher in the older patients (aged 80 years or older) than in the younger patients (aged 79 years or younger), and aneurysm size in cases of non-rupture was greater in older patients than in younger patients. For octogenarians with non-ruptured AAAs, the survival rate was 85.7% at 5 years, compared with 43.6% at 3 years for those with ruptured AAAs, and these figures were not significantly different from those in younger patients. The present findings support the value of our active surgical approach for octogenarians with AAAs. We believe that an aggressive approach for octogenarians will decrease the incidence of ruptured AAAs and contribute to better patient survival.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The effect of Helicobacter pylori on gastric acid secretion by isolated parietal cells from a guinea pig. Association with production of vacuolating toxin by H. pylori.

BACKGROUND: One of the features of Helicobacter pylori infection in the human stomach seems to be disordered gastric acid secretion. The effect of vacuolating toxin (VT) produced by H. pylori on gastric acid secretion was examined. METHODS: VT(+)(toxigenic) and VT(-)(nontoxigenic) strains of H. pylori were cultured in brucella broth. The culture supernatant was added to isolated parietal cells, and acid secretion and intracellular adenosine 3'5'-cyclic phosphate (cAMP) and Ca2+ levels were measured with the 14C-aminopyrine (14C-AP) method, with 125I radioimmunoassay (RIA), and with the fura-2 fluorescence method, respectively. RESULTS: In the VT(+) strain a considerable inhibitory effect on 14C-AP accumulation was observed. However, the VT(-) strain had no significant effect on intracellular c-AMP and Ca2+. CONCLUSIONS: The VT(+) strain of H. pylori has an inhibitory effect on gastric acid secretion, whereas the VT(-) strain does not. This inhibitory effect was not associated with the response of second messengers. It is speculated that VT produced by H. pylori has a direct action on H(+)-K+ adenosine triphosphatase in parietal cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

[Hypersensitivity in the pupil dilation response to a cholinergic antagonist in patients with Alzheimer's disease and Down's syndrome].

In 1994, Scinto et al. reported hypersensitivity in the pupil-dilation response to topical application of a cholinergic antagonist, tropicamide, in patients with Alzheimer-type dementia. Similar tests on Japanese subjects showed significant differences in pupil response between subjects with Alzheimer-type dementia (under age 70 years) and age-matched controls. The present study included 24 patients with early-onset Alzheimer-type dementia, 29 patients with late-onset Alzheimer-type dementia, 15 healthy controls (all spouse of patients with Alzheimer-type dementia), 9 patients with vascular dementia and 5 patients with Down's syndrome. After adapting to semi-darkness (10 lux), a solution of tropicamide (Midrin-P, Santen Co, Ltd) was instilled into the right eye. Pupil diameters were measured every 5 to 10 min, and the maximum pupil diameter for each eye was used in the data analysis. The solution was diluted until the tropicamide concentration reached 0.01%. Pupil diameters were measured, and differences between baseline and maximum pupil diameter were computed. Among 18 patients with early-onset Alzheimer-type dementia (mean age 63.9 years) the pupils dilated by 1.12 +/- 0.52 mm (mean +/- SD) as compared with 0.20 +/- 0.75 mm in 7 age-matched controls (mean age 57.8 years); this difference was significant (T-test, p < 0.05). Correlations between the degrees of pupillary dilation and the scores on the revised version of Hasegawa's Dementia Scale were not significant. These data suggest that in subjects under 70 years of age, the diagnostic methods described by Scinto et al. can be used to distinguish those with Alzheimer-type dementia from those without dementia, but those methods may not be effective in subjects over 70 years of age.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Clinical effect of intra-arterial carboplatin-combined chemotherapy for advanced uterine cervical cancer and increased tissue platinum levels with Lipo PGE1 administration before chemotherapy].

Combination chemotherapy including carboplatin was administered intraarterially from the internal iliac artery as neoadjuvant chemotherapy to nine patients with advanced uterine cervical cancer. Two or three courses were repeated at intervals of 3 weeks. And to investigate whether the administration of Lipo PGE1 with the action of vasodilation before intra-arterial chemotherapy increases tissue levels of anticancer agents, 7 out of 9 patients were treated with Lipo PGE1, followed by arterial infusion chemotherapy. After infusion, tissue platinum (Pt) concentrations were measured by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Three of 9 patients with measurable tumor had a complete response and 6 had a partial response. Tissue Pt concentrations reached maximum levels 2-6 hours after intra-arterial chemotherapy. Tissue Pt levels of the patients with pretreatment of Lipo PGE1 were significantly higher than those without pretreatment (p < 0.01). It seems likely that Lipo PGE1 administration before intra-arterial chemotherapy is useful for the enhancement of tissue levels of anticancer agents as well as the clinical effects.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1996

[The improvement of a direct DNA sequencing method by devising the primer design: detection of lipoprotein lipase gene aberrations].

We developed an improved method of direct DNA sequencing which makes it possible to detect heterozygous mutations in an exon and the splicing consensus regions (acceptor and donor) in introns even in the cases where there is limited information available regarding the base sequences of the introns flanking the exon. Human lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene was utilized to develop this method, since the reported intron base sequences of the LPL gene are limited to 40 bases. We constructed PCR primers with extra 9 bases for the LPL gene amplification and 20-mers from 5' end of the PCR primers were used as sequencing primers in order to obtain the necessary distance from the 3' end of the sequencing primer to 5' end of the splicing acceptor consensus sequence for the accurate determination of the sequence of the consensus region. Furthermore, the attachment of the 9 bases made it possible to optimize the Tm value of the sequencing primers by adjusting their G + C/A + T ratio. The direct sequencing method using the sequencing primer with an appropriate Tm value (i.e., 48 degrees C-58 degrees C in this study) was effective in reducing nonspecific bands on the sequence ladder pattern, and allowed the determination of the base sequences of both the sense and antisense strands of the splicing consensus sequences and exon. As a result, this improved direct sequencing method was capable of detecting heterozygous as well as homozygous LPL gene mutations.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Spinal cord injures in children observed over many years.

The known salient features of spinal cord injuries in children are that 1) plane X-rays may not show dislocations or fractures, 2) many of these injuries are complete transections, 3) many injuries are located at the level of upper thoracic spine, and 4) the duration of spinal shock is short. Complications such as pressure sores occur just as easily in children as in adults and the injuries tend to be just as intractable. Complications characteristic in children with spinal cord injuries are spinal deformity and hip dislocation. In this paper, we describe a case involving a C7 spinal cord injury caused by a fall when the patient was 3 years old. We have observed the physical complications for 15 years following that injury. We also report on other observed cases of spinal cord injury.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

Inhibitory effects of vitamin E and ellagic acid on 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine formation in liver nuclear DNA of rats treated with 2-nitropropane.

The effects of five naturally occurring antioxidants, beta-carotene (BC), vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE), ellagic acid (EA) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) formation by 2-nitropropane (2-NP), a hepatocarcinogen in rats, were studied. Four days oral administration of VE (100 mg/kg BW/day) or EA (100 mg/kg BW/day) significantly inhibited 8-OH-dG formation in the liver nuclear DNA of male F-344 rats injected with 2-NP (100 mg/kg BW, i.p., killed 6 h later). The same treatment with EGCG (100 mg/kg BW/day) showed slight, but not significant, inhibition. In contrast, 4 days' oral administration of BC (100 mg/kg BW/day) or VC (300 mg/kg BW/day) and 3 weeks' feeding of the two (either at 0.5% in the diet) did not produce any inhibitory effects on 8-OH-dG formation. Thus, it is expected that VE and EA may have anticarcinogenic effects towards 2-NP.

8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine↗
PubMed1995

Orientation for cochlear implant surgery in cases with round window obstruction: a computer reconstruction study.

In order to improve cochlear implant surgery in patients with obstructed round windows, surgical orientations of the round window and scala tympani relative to the stapes footplate were examined in ten normal temporal bones using a computer-aided, three-dimensional reconstruction and measurement technique. The round window was found to be exactly inferior to the midpoint of the inferior margin of the stapes footplate in most cases. An optimal point on the promontory wall for drilling to reach the bottom of the scala tympani of the basal turn was found to lie approximately 1.5 mm anterolateral or anterolateral inferior to a point 3 mm inferior to the midpoint of the inferior margin of the stapes footplate. A combination of the transmeatal and facial recess approaches made it possible to consistently reach the scala tympani, and demonstrated that this approach was also applicable to patients with obstructed round windows.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Biodegradation of glutaraldehyde-tanned human umbilical vein grafts.

A retrospective analysis of the long-term behavior of 111 glutaraldehyde-tanned human umbilical vein (HUV) grafts implanted between September 1977 and December 1993 was conducted. A total of 81 patients, with a mean age of 68.7 years, received the grafts and were followed up for between 1 and 131 months. The 5-year primary cumulative patency rate for above-knee femoropopliteal bypass was 83.1%, whereas that of other bypasses was 60.9%. An aneurysm of the graft was defined as a physically apparent localized dilatation, with diffuse ectasia being excluded. There were 11 aneurysms found in 9 grafts, 2 of which arose at the factory-made suture lines. The accumulated incidence of aneurysms had reached 21.9% by the 6th year. One aneurysm compressed the graft and resulted in limb-threatening ischemia and another resulted in frank rupture. Moreover, reinforcement of the mesh could not prevent aneurysm development, the repair of which is mandatory due to the risk of rupture and acute thrombosis. The HUV grafts showed an acceptable patency rate in the above-knee location, but the incidence of aneurysm formation after 5 years was abnormally high. Thus, both the risks and benefits of HUV grafts must be taken into account when considering their clinical application.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

UVB-induced calmodulin increase in pig epidermis: analysis of the effect of the calmodulin antagonist, W-13.

Calmodulin (CaM) is a multifunctional calcium-binding protein that has been implicated in the control of cell proliferation. In order to determine the role of CaM in keratinocyte proliferation, we investigated the effect of the CaM antagonist, W-13 on thymidine incorporation into pig epidermis. W-13 significantly inhibited thymidine incorporation into pig epidermis, while W-12, a closely related compound with much less anti-CaM activity, had little effect. The effect of W-13 was detected after as little as 2 h of incubation. Using a short-term (2-h) incubation system, the effects of other chemicals affecting various transmembrane signalling systems of keratinocytes were also investigated. None of these chemicals (epinephrine, histamine, forskolin, HA-1004, bradykinin, mezerein, phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate, H-7, staurosporin) inhibited thymidine incorporation. The effect of W-13 was reversible; its removal from the incubation medium resulted in the reinitiation of thymidine incorporation. Pig epidermis responded to 2.5 MED UVB irradiation showing an initial (24-48 h after irradiation) decrease and a subsequent (96-120 h after irradiation) increase in thymidine incorporation. The CaM content was not significantly altered during the initial hypoproliferative phase, but was significantly increased during the 72-120 h after UVB irradiation sometimes slightly preceding but mostly coinciding with the increase in thymidine incorporation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Pentachlorophenol-induced oxidative DNA damage in mouse liver and protective effect of antioxidants.

8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) was determined as a marker of oxidative DNA damage in male B6C3F1 mice treated with the hepatocarcinogen pentachlorophenol (PCP). A single oral administration of PCP (0-80 mg/kg) significantly and dose-dependently increased the 8-OH-dG level specifically in the liver at 6 hr. Repeated doses (0-80 mg/kg) over 5 days caused a further increase. Elevation of the 8-OH-dG level caused by a single dose of PCP (60 mg/kg) was not affected by ip injection of buthionine sulfoximine (2 mmol/kg), an inhibitor of GSH synthesis, or aminotriazole (1 g/kg), an inhibitor of catalase, showing no clear evidence for enhancement by the oxidative stress due to reduction of antioxidative factors under these experimental conditions. However, examination of the effects of natural antioxidants on repeated PCP treatment (60 mg/kg/day, for 5 days) revealed that oral administration of vitamin E and diallyl sulfide 3 hr before each PCP challenge significantly protected against elevation of hepatic 8-OH-dG levels. beta-Carotene did not have any effect. Ellagic acid, epigallocatechin gallate and vitamin C demonstrated partial protection. These findings indicate that PCP causes oxidative DNA damage in the target organ liver which can be blocked by a number of antioxidant agents.

8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine↗
PubMed1995

Malignant hyperthermia in a patient with Becker muscular dystrophy: dystrophin analysis and caffeine contracture study.

We present a 17-year-old boy with Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) who developed hyperthermia and heart failure after general anesthesia. He presented clinical features of malignant hyperthermia (MH), and had masseter spasm and elevated body temperature (38.7 degrees C) with very high serum CK activity (107,000 IUl-1). Dystrophin tests confirmed a clinical diagnosis of BMD in the patient, i.e. faint and patchy immunostaining pattern of skeletal muscle, truncated dystrophin protein and a deletion of exons 3 and 4 of the dystrophin gene. To inquire into the mechanism of MH associated in the patient, we tested caffeine contracture reaction by the skinned fiber method. We found an increased sensitivity to caffeine only in type 1 muscle fibers. The rate of Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) was normal, suggesting that the mechanism of "MH" observed in our patient with BMD is not the same as that of classical MH. A possible mechanism might be related to derangements of the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane in BMD, which sensitize the membrane to caffeine or other agents.

Adolescent↗