Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Watanabe

Publications and source records attributed to A Watanabe.

At least 793 records · Page 44Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Mitomycin C, vinblastine and cisplatin combination chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Thirty-one patients with previously untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer were treated with mitomycin C (10 mg/m2, day 1), vinblastine (5 mg/m2, days 1 and 15), and cisplatin (80 mg/m2, day 1). Combination chemotherapy was repeated at 4-week intervals until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The overall response rate was 52.0%, with a median survival time of 8 months. The median duration of response was 16 weeks (range, 7-49 weeks), and 23% of the patients survived for more than 1 year. Toxicity included moderate myelosuppression, mild nephropathy, and severe nausea and vomiting. This combination therapy of anticancer agents appears to have antitumor activity, but not to have satisfactory therapeutic activity for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1987

Immunocytochemical localization of photopigments in cephalopod retinae.

The photopigments, rhodopsin and retinochrome, have been localized in cephalopod retinae using light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical methods. Polyclonal antibodies prepared against squid opsin demonstrated the presence of this protein in the photoreceptor rhabdomes, Golgi zone, Golgi-associated vesicles, plasma membrane, large cytoplasmic vesicles, and axonal membranes of octopus retinae. Monoclonal anti-opsin immunostained the rhabdomes and multivesicular bodies in the photoreceptor inner segments of squid. We believe the multivesicular bodies are involved in rhabdome turnover. Polyclonal anti-retinochrome localized this photopigment to the myeloid bodies of the photoreceptor inner segments, the rhabdomes, and to the extracellular space between opposing rhabdomeres in octopus retina. The results suggest some interesting functional relationships between rhodopsin and retinochrome with regard to chromophore exchange between illuminated forms of these photopigments and chromophore addition to newly synthesized opsin.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Urinary trace amine excretion and platelet monoamine oxidase activity in schizophrenia.

The relationship between subtypes of schizophrenia classified by ICD-9 and 24-hour urinary beta-phenylethylamine (PEA) and phenylacetic acid (PAA) excretion has been studied. Schizophrenia was divided into two types: paranoid and nonparanoid. Increased urinary PEA excretion was found in paranoid schizophrenics, but urinary PAA excretion did not show any significant difference between schizophrenics and normal subjects. A relationship between platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity and urinary PEA excretion was found. These findings offer some indication that PEA may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Enhancement of low-dose N-2-fluorenylacetamide-induced hyperplastic liver nodules by pre-existing cirrhosis.

The potentiating effect of pre-existing cirrhosis on the formation of hyperplastic liver nodules and/or foci was investigated by feeding a low dose (0.008%) of 2-N-fluorenylacetamide (FAA) in a choline-deficient (CD) diet for 32 weeks to cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic rats. Liver cirrhosis was induced by feeding the rats a CD diet for the preceding 36 weeks. The number and area of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase-positive hyperplastic liver nodules and/or foci were significantly larger in cirrhotic rats exposed to low-dose FAA than in non-cirrhotic rats similarly treated. Hyperplastic liver nodules and/or foci were not observed in rats continuously fed a CD diet alone for 68 weeks (control cirrhotic rats). The results suggest that cirrhotic liver might alter the metabolic response to FAA, even at low doses, and lead to enhanced induction of hyperplastic liver nodules and/or foci.

2-Acetylaminofluorene↗
PubMed1987

Change in optical activity of a lobster nerve associated with excitation.

1. To record the change in optical rotation of a nerve fibre associated with excitation, an optical apparatus was constructed using a polarizer, a photo-elastic modulator, an analyser and a lock-in amplifier. The apparatus was calibrated with the sucrose solution as the standard. 2. When a lobster leg nerve was dissected and mounted on the sample stage of the apparatus, stimulation elicited a transient change in the lock-in amplifier output. The signal (here called the 'R-signal') had a rapid time course, formed a peak during the rising phase of the birefringence signal, and often quickly returned to the base line, but sometimes showed a long-lasting later phase. 3. The R-signal arose at about the time when the compound action potential of slowly conducting fibres passed through the window of the chamber for the optical experiment, suggesting that it originates mainly in the smaller fibres. 4. The R-signal reversed its sign when the azimuth of the polarizer was changed by 90 deg, indicating that the R-signal was not due to electrical artifacts. Simultaneously recorded changes in the intensity of the transmitted light had a different time course and an amplitude too small to explain the appearance of the R-signal. 5. When the azimuth of the nerve was changed, the later phase of the R-signal changed its amplitude and direction, but the initial phase of the R-signal was much less influenced, suggesting that the birefringence signal was a component of the later phase. 6. The later phase of the R-signal could be reconstructed as a sum of an R-signal at a different azimuth and the birefringence signal, if the amplitude and direction of the latter were adjusted by multiplication of a factor. 7. Assuming that the nerve is a homogeneous, linearly and circularly birefringent and linearly and circularly dichroic material, the lock-in output was described by mathematical equations. From one of them the birefringence signal could be deduced from a series of R-signals observed at various nerve azimuths. The time course of the calculated birefringence signal agreed well with that of the experimentally recorded birefringence signals. 8. Utilizing the same equations, the contribution of the birefringence change to the R-signal was estimated and subtracted. The remaining part was independent of the nerve azimuth, and could be regarded as representing the time course of the change in optical rotation of the nerve.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1987

Determination of Ca2+-release from the isolated smooth muscle cells in suspension from the guinea-pig ileum.

Collagenase-dispersed cells from the guinea-pig ileum were prepared and Ca2+ release into Ca2+-depleted solution from the isolated single cells obtained by the centrifugation of the dispersed cells on isotonic sucrose solution was determined with a Ca2+-selective electrode. A technique employing an isotonic sucrose solution for washing isolated cells permitted removal of contaminating extracellular fluids and obtaining the isolated cells with minimum loss of cellular Ca2+. The release of Ca2+ from the dispersed cells consisted of at least two phases. The Ca2+ release into an isotonic sucrose-Tris solution (ISTS) was significantly reduced and the early phase of the Ca2+ release disappeared. At 16 degrees C, Ca2+ release depended on the composition of the bathing solution in a Ca2+-free salt solution, the later phase of Ca2+-release was abolished whereas in ISTS both phases disappeared. Furthermore, Ca2+ release was significantly reduced after the treatment of the dispersed cells with disperse (1,500 units/ml) for 10 min. These results show that Ca2+ release into Ca2+-depleted solution from the isolated ileal cells with minimum loss of cellular Ca2+ show a biphasic curve and suggest that Ca2+ sources responsible for these phases may be of distinct origin.

Animals↗