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A Tamura

Publications and source records attributed to A Tamura.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Trapping of secreted molecules at single-cell level using an HPLC resin particle under a videomicroscope.

Particles of HPLC resins are used for the trapping of secreted molecules from a single cell. The basic molecules, e.g., histamine, are secreted from a single RBL-2H3 cell by granule exocytosis and are trapped by cation-exchange HPLC resins outside the cell. Since quinacrine is concentrated into the exocytotic and acidic microgranules in RBL-2H3 cells, which are used as a model cell line of mast cells, we measured the change in the fluorescence intensity of the quinacrine released from the cells and that of molecules trapped on the resin using a videomicroscope. By measuring the increase in the fluorescence intensity of the resins, we can estimate the real time course of molecular secretion from a single cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

[Changes in acetylcholine level and its related enzyme activities in rat brain following focal ischemia].

At 1 to 4 weeks following middle cerebral artery occlusion in Wistar rats, levels of acetylcholine, which is neuro-transmitter, were measured. In the hippocampus, which plays an important role in memory, levels of acetylcholine in the ischemic group could not be detected the significant difference compared with those in the sham-operated group. But in the anterior cortex and the caudate-putamen, levels of acetylcholine in the ischemic group were recognized the significant difference compared with those in the sham operated group. Moreover activities of choline acetyltransferase, which is the synthetic enzyme of acetylcholine, and activities of acetylcholinesterase, which is the degradative enzyme of acetylcholine, were measured in the anterior cortex which was recognized decrease of the acetylcholine level and the hippocampus which could not be detected the difference of the acetylcholine level. Activities of both enzymes in the hippocampus could not be recognized the significant difference between the ischemic group and the normal group. But in the anterior cortex activities of both enzymes in the ischemic group were significantly decreased compared with those in the normal group. These results suggest that these decreases in the ischemic group were due to damage of injection of cholinergic neuron from Meynert nucleus (basal nucleus of Meynert) to anterior cortex.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1998

[High-resolution CT findings in cytomegalovirus pneumonitis after bone marrow transplantation].

In order to explore the high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings of cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonitis after bone marrow transplantation, we retrospectively reviewed the HRCT findings in nine patients with CMV pneumonitis cytologically proven by bronchoalveolar lavege. In 67% of cases, HRCT showed ground-glass attenuation. Consolidation and bronchial wall thickening were demonstrated in 33%, pleural effusion in 22%, and micro centrilobular nodules, bronchiectasis, and reticulation in 11%, respectively. Lymphadenopathy and masses were not seen. The areas of ground-glass attenuation were distributed bilaterally in all cases, diffusely in 67%, centrilobularly in 50%, and panlobularly in 50%. Subpleural lung regions were spared in 83%. The areas of consolidation were bilateral in 67%, nonsegmental in 67%, and involved the lower lobe in all cases. A total of 25 follow-up HRCT were performed in six patients. Small centrilobular ground-glass opacities disappeared after treatment in one patient. Micro centrilobular nodules vanished after treatment in one patient. Small centrilobular ground-glass opacities developed into consolidation and resolved after treatment in one patient. In one patient, diffuse ground-glass opacities progressed to consolidation, and the patient died due to respiratory failure. No abnormal findings were observed in two patients. It may be considered that in the early phase of CMV pneumonitis HRCT shows small or micro centrilobular ground-glass opacities and nodules and that in the advanced phase these lesions progress to dense alveolar opacities as CMV infection advances, although a variety of HRCT appearances is observed in the course of CMV pneumonitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Clinical usefulness of lectin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein in hepatocellular carcinoma].

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is well known as a tumor marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). AFP shows micro heterogeneity because of a structural variance in its sugar chain, and the sugar chain obtained from HCC patients has a high affinity to lectins such as Lens culinaris agglutinin. The lens culinaris agglutinin A-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3) was detected by a sensitive method using lectin-affinity electrophoresis coupled with antibody-affinity blotting. Of 62 HCC patients examined before initial therapy, 23 patients (37.1%) had an AFP-L3 level greater than 15%. In contrast, none of the patients with liver cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis tested were positive for AFP-L3. Seven (26.9%) of 26 patients with small HCC less than 2 cm in diameter measured on ultrasonography or computed tomography showed elevated AFP-L3 levels. Because there was no correlation observed between AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II, the combined measurement of these two complementary markers appeared to be useful in the diagnosis of HCC. When the results of both assays were combined, 34 (54.8%) of the 62 patients with untreated HCC showed elevated levels of one or both markers. The use of both markers together with imaging modalities during regular follow-up of chronic liver disease patients who are at high risk for HCC might be of great benefit.

Antibody Affinity↗
PubMed1998

[Clinical study on the inhibitory effect of a 5-HT3 antagonist, granisetron, for nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy (CHOP, VEPA, high-dose ETP) for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

The antiemetic effect of granisetron on nausea and vomiting induced by cancer chemotherapy (CHOP, VEPA, VEPA-B, massive dose of ETP) was studied in fifty patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. There was almost no difference in the inhibitory effect by regimen, with the rates of perfect inhibition of nausea and vomiting standing at 55.6% to 60%. Nausea and vomiting was perfectly controlled in 60% of 35 patients receiving CHOP therapy. As a part of this study, a comparison was made of perfect inhibitory effect on nausea and vomiting by potency of chemotherapy under the potency scale of 750 mg/m2 of CPA as 1, revealing no significant difference in the rates of complete inhibition as 71.4% for a drug potency of less than 0.8 vs 52.4% for 0.8 or above (p = 0.26). However, it was clear that the higher the dose of chemotherapy, the lower the rate of complete inhibition. The results confirmed the high efficacy and safety of granisetron in the treatment of nausea and vomiting induced by cancer chemotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Japan Coma Scale as a grading scale of subarachnoid hemorrhage: a way to determine the scale].

BACKGROUND: The grading scale for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with inter-grade outcome differences is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of newly developed therapeutic modalities. Although Hunt's grade and WFNS scale have been widely used, these grading scales do not meet this requirement. We previously proposed a revised WFNS scale based solely on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) that has intergrade outcome differences of high-level significance. The Japan Coma Scale (JCS) has been long and widely used in Japan. The purpose of this study is to show whether it is possible to determine a reasonable SAH grading scale based on the JCS and to show a way to determine an SAH grading scale. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 1398 consecutive cases of aneurysmal SAH operated on within Day 7 of the latest onset. The preoperative JCS and GCS were evaluated just before the surgery and the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), analyzed with numerical transformation (1 = dead to 5 = good recovery), was estimated at 6 months after the onset. All 510 possible combinations of scores of JCS were statistically tested under the following 2 assumptions; (1) JCS = 0 and JCS = 100 fall into a single independent grade. (2) No other single JCS score should fall into a single grade. RESULTS: The outcome differences between JCS 0 and 1, and 100 and 200 are significant. The outcome difference between JCS 30 and 100 is relatively higher than any other set of 2 scores of JCS. Only 5 combinations are practical among the candidates to be analyzed. Out of 510 combinations, the following combination shows the highest inter-grade outcome differences; I (JCS = 0, n = 375, mean GOS = 4.78) II (JCS = 1, 2; n = 310; mean GOS = 4.47) III (JCS = 3-30; n = 476; mean GOS = 3.96) IV (JCS = 100; n = 96; mean GOS = 3.10) V (JCS = 200, 300; n = 141; mean GOS = 2.33). In JCS, the mean outcome of JCS = 3 is worse than those of JCS = 10, 20, and 30. The outcome difference between JCS 0 and 1 is only significant in patients over 60 years old. CONCLUSION: Taking all the 510 possible combinations of JCS into consideration, we obtained a reasonable combination containing 5 grades. Although this grading scale showed good inter-grade outcome differences, JCS is not preferable to GCS as a consciousness evaluation system in the acute phase of SAH. We emphasize the importance of this way to determine a grading scale with a combinatorial approach, which can be applicable for re-evaluating the grading scales in the future.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

[Pathologic reconsideration on allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and mycosis].

We examined lung specimens that fulfilled the pathological criteria of Bosken and were obtained from 5, patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis/mycosis (ABPA/M). A finding common to all 5 was the presence of hard mucous plugs containing numerous eosinophils and fungal hyphae in the bronchi, showing central bronchiectasis. Bronchocentric granulmatosis with tissue eosinophilia (4 cases), xanthogranulomatous lesions (3 cases), eosinohilic pneumonia (2 cases) and organizing pneumonia (3 cases) were recognized only in bronchi distal to the mucous plugs (BMP). Almost normal lung parenchyma could be seen in some areas distal to the BMP. We found clusters of degenerated eosinophils (CDE) showing a "fir-tree like structure" and fungal hyphae in both the mucous plugs and the peripheral lesions. Most CDEs were free in the exudate and were not engulfed by macrophages. The presence of fungi in the mucous plugs may have caused marked inflammation in the wall around the BMP, which may have made the walls fragile and caused central bronchiectasis. The fungi in the mucous plugs may have caused the peripheral lesions via aerogenous dissemination. For this reason, we conclude that ABPA/M is an infectious disease, and that the primary lesion in ABPA/M is the formation of mucous plugs. Therefore, the presence of mucous plugs containing fungi and many eosinophils is diagnostic of ABPA/M.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Toward information extraction: identifying protein names from biological papers.

To solve the mystery of the life phenomenon, we must clarify when genes are expressed and how their products interact with each other. But since the amount of continuously updated knowledge on these interactions is massive and is only available in the form of published articles, an intelligent information extraction (IE) system is needed. To extract these information directly from articles, the system must firstly identify the material names. However, medical and biological documents often include proper nouns newly made by the authors, and conventional methods based on domain specific dictionaries cannot detect such unknown words or coinages. In this study, we propose a new method of extracting material names, PROPER, using surface clue on character strings. It extracts material names in the sentence with 94.70% precision and 98.84% recall, regardless of whether it is already known or newly defined.

Information Storage and Retrieval↗
PubMed1998

[Immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis associated with infective endocarditis with aortic valve vegetation].

A 61-year-old male was referred to our hospital for rapidly progressive azotemia. He was also found to have huge vegetation at the aortic valve causing regurgitation. Biochemical examinations revealed the presence of an immunocomplex associated with decreased circulating complements. In biopsy samples from the kidney, we found the presence of fibrillar crescents, proliferation of mesangial cells, increase in extracellular matrix proteins, atrophy of tubules, infiltration of mononuclear cells in the interstitial regions, high density deposits in the mesangial area and mesangial interposition. Since the patient strongly rejected operative treatment by valvular replacement, we continued non-invasive treatment such as hemodialysis and treatment with penicillin G. This transiently improved the condition of the patient, including biochemical data and cardiac function, but there was no reduction in the size of vegetation at the aortic valve and the bacteria responsible for infective endocarditis were not identified. About three months after admission, overt signs of congestive heart failure emerged and the patients was subjected to intensive care with a respirator and hemodynamic monitoring. Although the cardiac function was improved, concomitant severe pneumonia occurred and the patient died of septic shock. Thus, we report a rare case in whom immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis was associated with infective endocarditis with aortic valve vegetation.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗
PubMed1998

[Clinical usefulness of serum PIVKA-II levels determined by ECLIA system as a tumor maker for hepatocellular carcinoma].

PIVKA-II is well known as a tumor maker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We measured serum PIVKA-II concentrations with a commercially available PIVKA-II immunoassay kit (Picolumi PIVKA-II: Eisai Co., Ltd., Tokyo) using Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay (ECLIA). ECLIA system is a novel immunoassay system using a Ruthenium (II) Tris (bipyridyl) luminesced by electric energy. Cut off value was 40 mAU/ml by receiver-operating characteristic curves as a tumor maker for HCC. Eighty-nine out of 142 (62.2%) patients with HCC had elevated serum PIVKA-II levels and seventeen out of 36 (47.2%) patients whose tumor size was below 2 cm in diameter showed high PIVKA-II levels. We determined the serial changes in serum PIVKA-II levels of two patients with HCC following initial therapy. In these patients, elevations of serum PIVKA-II levels determined by ECLIA system preceded the HCC relapse detected by imaging diagnostic procedures. In summary, this assay system is suitable for detecting small increases in PIVKA-II concentrations. Determination of PIVKA-II by this assay system is found to be useful for the early detection of HCC.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

[Clinical evaluation of cefozopran for infections associated with hematological malignancies].

Cefozopran (CZOP) was used as an initial antibacterial therapy for infections in patients with hematological malignancies. CZOP was given at a daily dose of 4 g by drip intravenously to patients who were febrile over 38 degrees C and were suspected as having bacterial infections. As underlying diseases, 8 patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 9 acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), 2 aplastic anemia (AA), 2 adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), 28 non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and 2 multiple myeloma (MM). Bacterial infections diagnosed were sepsis in 7 patients, suspected sepsis in 32, bronchitis in 6, pneumonia in 5 and acute peritonitis in 1. Clinical responses among 51 evaluable cases were excellent in 14, good in 15, fair in 3, poor in 19 and the overall response rate was 57%. The overall response rates for AML, ALL, AA, ATLL, NHL and MM were 56%, 63%, 100%, 50%, 50%, and 100%, respectively. Those for sepsis, suspected sepsis, bronchitis, pneumonia and acute peritonitis were 14%, 63%, 100%, 40%, and 0%, respectively. This therapy was effective in 53% (9/17) of patients whose granulocyte count remained below 500/microliter throughout the course of CZOP therapy. Six bacterial and one fungal strains were isolated from blood and sputum of six patients including five sepsis cases; two bacteria were eradicated and bacterial change was observed in one case. As side adverse effects, 10 patients had liver dysfunction, 1 anemia, 2 proteinemia, 1 indirect bilirubinemia, 2 thrombocytopenia, and 1 eosinophilia. We tried to establish a scoring system for the severities of patients with their infections, underlying diseases, treatments for the underlying disease, and granulocyte counts in order to evaluate the efficacy of CZOP more precisely. This scoring system was consisted of three grades; severe, moderate, and mild. CZOP was effective on mild and moderate grades. These results indicate that the initial antibacterial therapy by CZOP is useful for the treatment of mild and moderate grade infections complicated with hematological malignancies.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

[Clinical evaluation of panipenem/betamipron as a second line chemotherapy in severe infections associated with hematological disorders].

Thirty three patients with severe infections associated with hematological disorders were treated with panipenem/betamipron as a second line chemotherapy. Of these, 30 patients were evaluated for effectiveness. An excellent response was obtained in 14 patients (46.7%) and a good response in 5 (16.7%), and the overall efficacy rate was 63.3%. Efficacy rates were 3/6 in patients with sepsis, 68.4% (13/19) in patients with fever of undetermined origin, 2/4 in patients with pneumonia. In patients whose peripheral granulocyte count was below 100/microliter at the start of chemotherapy, the efficacy rate was 3/7. Side effects were observed in 5 of 33 patients (15.2%). These results show that PAPM/BP is useful as a second line chemotherapy for the treatment of severe infections in patients with hematological disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Clinical review of 74 cases with miliary tuberculosis].

Seventy-four cases of miliary tuberculosis were studied retrospectively. The mean age of the patients was 45.3 years. Twenty-two patients suffered from another underlying diseases. Six were infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Twelve had been treated with corticosteroids. Fever was present in 97.3 per cent of patients. Elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase was found in 67.6 per cent of cases. The skin reaction to tuberculin was positive in 61.2 per cent. Nodular shadows were found in the chest X-ray in 98.6 per cent of cases. The nodules were smaller than 2 mm in diameter in 52.7 per cent of cases. Other findings were enlargement of mediastinal lymph node (17.6%), cavities (23.0%), pleural effusion (27.0%), and consolidation (35.1%). Sputum cultures and urine cultures were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 76.8 per cent and 58.6 per cent of cases respectively. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological findings in some cases. The rate of positive biopsies was 61.5 per cent by bone marrow aspiration, 83.3 per cent by lymph node biopsy, 100 per cent by liver and lung biopsy. Antituberculosis therapy was successful in most of the patients. Seven patients died of miliary tuberculosis, 4 of them had adult respiratory distress syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

[Lung cancer in patients with sequelae of tuberculosis].

To clarify features of lung cancer in patients with tuberculosis sequelae, we analyzed data on 15 cases (5.1%) who were diagnosed with lung cancer before death among 294 deceased cases with tuberculosis sequelae at our hospital. There were 12 men and 3 women, with a mean age of 64 years. Most of the 15 patients had pulmonary dysfunction, and 4 had received home oxygen therapy. All 12 men had a history of smoking, and 10 of them had squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. There was no definite correlation between the locations of the tuberculosis lesion and those of lung cancer lesion on chest X-rays. Twelve patients had had thoracoplasty for tuberculosis, and in 6 of these patients the lung cancer occurred in the same lung. Lung cancer was apt to be diagnosed in an advanced stage. However, in patients who received home oxygen therapy, diagnosis had been made at an early stage because of the frequent chest X-ray follow-up. We conclude that lung cancer is an important complication in patients with tuberculosis sequelae, and early diagnosis of lung cancer by careful follow-up is essential in the care of cases with tuberculosis sequelae who have poor pulmonary function and/or systemic conditions.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Determination of melanin in human hair by photoacoustic spectroscopy.

A highly sensitive photoacoustic spectroscopy for the determination of melanin in human hair has been developed. Both synthetic melanin and human hair were treated with 50% sulfuric acid. The melanin suspension was passed through the membrane filter to collect melanin, and the filter was transferred into a homemade photoacoustic cell, followed by measurement of the photoacoustic signals produced by 10 mW He-Ne laser beam. The good correlation between the method described in this paper and absorption spectrophotometry was confirmed quantitatively. The linearity observed between the photoacoustic signal and the weight of samples was in the range of 0.1-20 micrograms for synthetic melanin and 10-800 micrograms for human hair, with detection limits of 5 ng and 0.38 microgram, respectively.

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy↗
PubMed1997

The entropy cost of protein association.

The temperature induced unfolding/dissociation of the dimeric subtilisin inhibitor from Streptomyces and its mutant D83C having an S-S crosslink between the subunits has been studied calorimetrically. Comparison of the entropies measured at different concentrations of dimer showed that the entropy cost of crosslinking is small. Its value at the standard concentration of 1 M is of the order of -(5+/-4) cal/K.mol, i.e. it is more than one order of magnitude smaller than the values of translational entropies calculated on the base of statistical thermodynamics, using in particular the Sackur-Tetrode equation, and is close to the cratic entropy value suggested by classical mixing theory.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1997

Regionally different effects of scopolamine on NMDA antagonist-induced heat shock protein HSP70.

Using immunohistochemical technique, we investigated the regionally different roles of muscarinic receptors in the induction of HSP-70 by NMDA receptor antagonists. The administration of memantine and phencyclidine induced HSP-70 in the retrosplenial cortex of rat brain. Pretreatment with the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine (0.1-1 mg/kg) blocked induction of HSP-70 in layer III of the retrosplenial cortex. However, induction of HSP-70 in layer V was augmented by scopolamine. These results suggest a regional difference in the mechanism of neurotoxicity induced by NMDA receptor antagonists.

Animals↗