[Nursing of a patient with ascites being treated with OK-432].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Mori.
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We have experienced a case of cytohemolytic hereditary elliptocytosis (HE) in a six-year-old boy. Metabolisms of the erythrocytic membrane were investigated on the members from his pedigree. The results were as follows; 1) The presence or absence of ovalocytic HE were studied in his pedigree. 2) Failure in the process of spectrin dimer to tetramer conversion was found. 3) Although abnormality existed in conversion of D to T by the patient's alpha-chain spectrin and normal beta-chain spectrin, no abnormality was recognized when normal alpha-chain and the patient's beta-chain were combined. 4) Decrease of the alpha-chain (80 kd) domain and appearance of abnormal (74 kd) spot were found by two dimensional peptide mapping of spectrin. 5) In his pedigree, neither patients with hereditary pyropoikilocytosis (HPP) nor carrier states were recognized. In summary, this patient's pedigree was considered to be HE [SP alpha 1/74]. This case appears to be the first case in Japan and only few cases have been reported in the world literature.
Hyperprolactinemia, induced by pituitary isografts for 20 weeks in male mice and confirmed by radioimmunoassay using anti-mouse prolactin serum, did not impair spermatogenesis in the testis and maturing processes of spermatozoa in the epididymis. Incubation of freshly obtained epididymal spermatozoa for 90 min in culture media containing various levels of mouse prolactin did not yield any adverse effects on percentage motility rates of epididymal spermatozoa. When the level of mouse prolactin in the preincubation medium for epididymal spermatozoa was 100 ng/ml, the rate of fertilization by these preincubated spermatozoa in the subsequent in vitro fertilization experiment was significantly lowered compared with that observed in controls. However, when the level of prolactin in preincubation media was 10 ng/ml, no significant reduction in the rate of fertilization occurred. The present experiments seem to indicate the existence of some differences in the effects of prolactin on male germ cells until they reach the tail of the epididymis and on the processes of capacitation and/or fertilization by epididymal spermatozoa after they leave the epididymis.
Hyperprolactinemia is one of the major causative factors of infertility. However, the effect of prolactin on gametes during in vitro fertilization has not been elucidated. In the present study, the effects of mouse prolactin on the motility of spermatozoa, in vitro fertilization, and in vitro development of the zygote were investigated in mice using media containing three different concentrations (10, 50, and 100 ng/ml) of mouse prolactin. The development of unfertilized and fertilized oocytes (zygotes) was not affected in vitro by prolactin regardless of the amount of prolactin added to culture media. However, the fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa was suppressed when they were preincubated for 90 min in culture media containing prolactin at concentrations of 50 and 100 ng/ml. The motility of spermatozoa was not affected by prolactin regardless of the concentration of prolactin used for preincubation. The present study indicates that prolactin may have some effects on the capacitation process of spermatozoa in vitro. This result should be taken into consideration in in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer procedures in humans.
Fluorescence microscopic investigations of nuclear DNA stained with mithramycin or 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) were undertaken in oocytes and zygotes during in vitro fertilization (IVF) and subsequent early embryo development in mice. Mithramycin and DAPI bind stoichiometrically with G-C and A-T pairs of DNA, respectively. In the present study, it was possible to visualize the germinal vesicle, the nucleolus, and the chromosome in the oocyte. After IVF, the nuclei, male and female pronuclei, polar bodies, nucleolus-associated chromatins, and chromosomes were successively observed in the zygote, the blastomere during cleavage, and the blastocyst until the hatching stage. The formation of male and female pronuclei, the process of their fusion, the appearance of the chromosome, and the commencement of the first cleavage of the zygote to form two blastomeres were all clearly demonstrated. The number of blastomeres was easily counted in the morula in spite of the compaction of the blastomeres. The present study indicates that the methods reported herein are useful for the determination of exact functional stages of the oocyte and the zygote during IVF and early embryo development, and thus contributes to the advancement of reproductive and developmental biomedical research.
The effects of long-term diltiazem treatment on hemodynamic and cardiovascular characteristics were investigated in young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and their respective untreated controls. The drug was administered to treated rats over a period of 24 weeks. Body weight, left ventricular weight, mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate, max dp/dt or maximum velocity of the contractile element (Vmax) were not significantly different in diltiazem-treated SHR and untreated SHR. In diltiazem-treated SHR, cardiac index (CI) and stroke volume index (SI) were significantly increased and total peripheral resistance and the index of left ventricular compliance (delta P/delta V) were significantly decreased compared with untreated SHR. Left ventricular pumping ability in treated SHR was higher than that in untreated SHR, despite the low dose of diltiazem given. However, there was no significant difference between treated and untreated WKY. Long-term diltiazem treatment did not affect left ventricular function or biochemical properties in SHR and WKY. These data suggest that long-term diltiazem treatment improves pump function in SHR without changing blood pressure.
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A 74 year old man was found at necropsy to have multiple coronary arteriosystemic fistulae involving all three major coronary arteries and both ventricles. This is the second such case reported. All terminal branches of the coronary arteries entered the myocardium and numerous tiny vessels opened into the cardiac chambers. No coronary veins or coronary sinus were recognized. This vascular anomaly is considered to result from the abnormal persistence of intertrabecular spaces within the embryonic myocardium.
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The correlation of left ventricular end-systolic wall stress (ESS) with the mean velocity of fiber shortening (mVcf) is an index of the myocardial contractile state, independent of the ventricular loading conditions (afterload). However, there have been few reported estimates of the effect of changes in the heart rate on the ESS-mVcf relationship. In the present study, 25 subjects with histories of Kawasaki disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome: MCLS) were evaluated for the effects of changes in heart rate, afterload and preload, on the ESS-mVcf relationship. The latter was independent of afterload. After atrial pacing, ESS decreased and mVcf increased, both significantly, compared to those of subjects at rest. The change of the ESS-mVcf relationship induced by atrial pacing approximately paralleled the mean regression line obtained in the resting state. However, the shift induced by preload was not parallel to the mean regression line for the resting population. These data suggest that the ESS-mVcf relationship is independent of any change in heart rate, and that it may depend on preload.
The normal values for left ventricular diastolic function in children are influenced by numerous factors. As an index of this function, the maximum velocity of left ventricular internal dimension expansion (+ max dD/dt) was calculated from M-mode echocardiography for 33 normal persons who ranged in age from seven days to 18 years. This index showed a linear correlation with left ventricular end-diastolic dimension in the resting state. This index was compared with the E/A ratio which is ordinarily used as the diastolic functional index for children. Considering changes in physical development during childhood, both indices showed similar trends in relation to body surface area. The E/A ratio was strongly influenced by heart rate, but + max dD/dt was not. This was the major difference between two indices.
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the eustachian tube (auditory tube) was performed in normal subjects and in a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The MR images obtained in an anteriorly tilted transaxial plane parallel to the eustachian tubes were compared with serial slices of a cadaver specimen. The eustachian tube cartilage, mucous lining of the eustachian tube, the lateral pharyngeal recess, the tensor veli palatini muscle, and the levator veli palatini muscle were identified in MR images using anatomical relationships. A patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma is described to demonstrate an example of topographical morbid changes appearing around the eustachian tube.
Purified Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus was solubilized under reducing condition by using 2-merceptoethanol (2 ME) or nonreducing condition without 2 ME and its structural proteins were separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE), followed by the Western blotting using polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against JE. The mobilities and reactivities against polyclonal antiserum of V3 (E) and V2 (C) were reduced when virion was disrupted under reducing condition. The 54 K band corresponding to V3 was treated with cyanogen bromide (CNBr) and analyzed by the second SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. By Coomassie Blue staining multiple bands of molecular weight ranging from 54 K to 8 K daltons were revealed for CNBr-treated V3. For the specimens disrupted under reducing condition, uncleaved 54 K and cleaved 8 K, 14 K, 45 K, and 48 K bands were reactive by one of the JE and Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) crossreactive monoclonal antibodies (NARMA 16), while other monoclones did not show any reactivity. The uncleaved V 3 prepared under nonreducing condition was reactive with several monoclones to almost similar levels. After CNBr treatment, the antigenic epitope(s) for a flavivirus-common monoclone (NARMA 24) and those for NARMA 16 appeared to locate on different fragments, while the epitopes for other monoclones lost their antigenicities. These results indicate the importance of disulfide bond and highly organized structure to maintain some of the epitopes on V 3.
The complete nucleotide sequence of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) genome RNA was determined. The JEV genome contains 10,976 nucleotides and encodes a single long open reading frame (ORF) of 10,296 nucleotides corresponding to 3432 amino acid residues. This long polypeptide is thought to be cleaved into three structural proteins and several nonstructural proteins of the virus. The genetic location of the three structural proteins was determined by comparing the deduced amino acid sequence from the nucleotide sequence with the N-terminal amino acid sequences that were determined from the three purified structural proteins. The C-terminal region of the ORF may encode a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase which has significant sequence homology with those of other RNA viruses.
The plasma alpha-atrial natriuretic polypeptide (alpha-ANP) concentration in the peripheral veins of children with congenital heart diseases was measured by radioimmunoassay and compared with cardiac catheterization data. Every patient with heart failure had a higher alpha-ANP concentration (132.1 to 858.7 pg/mL) than the upper limit of the normal range (11.7 to 98.7 pg/mL), whereas more than half of the patients without heart failure had a normal alpha-ANP concentration. Although none of the 13 children with atrial septal defect had heart failure, their mean (+/- SD) plasma alpha-ANP concentration (99.4 +/- 40.7 pg/mL) was significantly higher than that in control children (44.6 +/- 22.3 pg/mL). The plasma alpha-ANP concentration was significantly correlated with the pulmonary blood flow/systemic blood flow (Qp/Qs) ratio in the children with atrial septal defect. In the 34 children with ventricular septal defect the plasma alpha-ANP concentration increased in relation to increasing size of the defect. The plasma alpha-ANP concentration was significantly correlated with the Qp/Qs ratio, pulmonary artery pressure, and left atrial pressure, estimated from mean pulmonary artery wedge pressure, in the children with ventricular septal defect. In the children with tetralogy of Fallot, the mean plasma alpha-ANP concentration was normal, and mean right and left atrial pressures were not increased. The elevated alpha-ANP concentration in the three patients with heart failure decreased after their conditions improved with various treatments. Thus the measurement of alpha-ANP concentration may be valuable in evaluating the presence or absence of heart failure and the response to treatment in children with congenital heart diseases. Distention of the right and left atrial might induce the release of alpha-ANP in patients with atrial and ventricular septal defects, respectively.
An eight-year-old girl with mitral regurgitation in acute rheumatic fever was examined by echocardiography. The examination showed posterior displacement of the coaptation point of the anterior mitral leaflet, i.e. anterior mitral prolapse, and did not indicate signs of edematous change or verrucous fibrin deposits on the valves. Mitral valve prolapse is thought to be one of the causes of mitral regurgitation in acute rheumatic carditis.
The tracking of systolic blood pressure (SBP) was analyzed in a cohort of children. The study population consisted of 1009 Japanese children in Izumo City, a rural community in the northwest of Honshu. There were 252 subjects in cohort (C)-1, 235 in C-2, 286 in C-3, 131 in C-4 and 105 in C-5. Follow-up periods were from 6 to 9 years of age in C-1, 9 to 12 in C-2, 12 to 15 in C-3, 6 to 12 in C-4 and 9 to 15 in C-5. BP was measured by conventional method. Tracking index (TI) was calculated as follows: TI = (2x + y - z)/N/.24; x, y and z are numbers of subjects who remained at the same quintile, who moved to the next quintile and who moved to a remote quintile, respectively; N = x + y + z; TI becomes 1.0 when SBP changes randomly. SBP tracking was apparent in both sexes of C-1 (TI = 2.4 in boys, 2.5 in girls), in girls of C-2 (TI = 3.5), in both sexes of C-3 (TI = 3.2 in boys, 2.7 in girls) and in girls of C-4 (TI = 4.1) and C-5 (TI = 3.3). TI agreed well with the tracking phenomena visualized by distribution bar graph. We conclude that TI can assess the degree of tracking quantitatively and can be applied to analysis of the tracking phenomena of BP and its related factors.