Biomedical subjects

H Abe

Publications and source records attributed to H Abe.

At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

Late-infantile type galactosialidosis. Histopathology of the retina and optic nerve.

We studied histopathologic findings from the retina and optic nerve of a patient with the late-infantile type of galactosialidosis and related them to clinical features of the condition. Markedly fewer ganglion cells were evident histopathologically using light microscopy. Results of histochemical studies demonstrated abnormal accumulation of lipid and proteinaceous material in the residual swollen ganglion cells. Marked loss of myelinated nerve fibers and thickening of the pial septum were also observed in the optic nerve. Both retinal ganglion cells and amacrine cells had intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies, but none were found in the optic nerve. These findings suggested that optic atrophy was induced by axonal wallerian degeneration secondary to retinal ganglion cell death. Although the fundus showed advanced optic nerve atrophy, a cherry red spot was not evident, possibly because of the marked decrease in ganglion cells in this case.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Immunocytochemical localization of an oviductal zona pellucida glycoprotein in the oviductal epithelium of the golden hamster.

The immunocytochemical localization of an oviductal glycoprotein associated with ovulated eggs was investigated. Using a monoclonal antibody, we studied three regions of epithelium in the golden hamster oviduct. The monoclonal antibody reacted with the oviductal epithelium throughout the fimbriae and isthmus. Intense binding was observed in the ampulla and isthmus, especially in the caudal isthmus. In addition, reactive materials were present in the ovarian bursal sac and lumen of the ampulla. At the ultrastructural level, the monoclonal antibody reacted specifically with putative secretory granules and Golgi apparatus of nonciliated cells in the oviductal epithelium. Other cellular organelles did not react. Quantitative data indicated that the immunolabelings were intense in the ampullar and isthmic cells but weak in the fimbrial cells. Lipid droplet-like granules of the fimbriae and lysosome-like vesicles of the isthmus did not react with the monoclonal antibody. In all cases, ciliated cells did not react with the monoclonal antibody. These results suggest that the glycoprotein is primarily produced and secreted by ampullar and isthmic secretory cells and is then accumulated in the ovarian bursal sac. These findings may provide insight into regional and cellular differences in secretion of the golden hamster oviduct.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Transient expression of a calcium-binding protein (spot 35-calbindin) and its mRNA in the immature pituicytes of embryonic rats.

Spot 35 protein is a Ca-binding protein originating from the rat cerebellum; it is now referred to spot 35-calbindin. This protein is expressed in immature pituicytes of the neurohypophyseal anlage in the E11-E18 rat embryo. The gene expression of spot 35-calbindin was detected by in-situ hybridization analysis only at stage E11-E12. Profiles of spot 35-positive nerve fibers of a neurosecretory nature were found in anlage at stage E16. At this stage, some immature pituicytes are partially immunopositive for spot 35-calbindin only in their peripheral cytoplasm; others are immunonegative. At birth and thereafter through adulthood, abundant nerve fibers are the sole structures immunoreactive for spot 35-calbindin; all the pituicytes are immunonegative, resulting in a light-microscopic appearance of numerous immunonegative round profiles, corresponding to pituicytes, and capillaries embedded in the granularly immunostained neurohypophysis. The present findings suggest that, during specific embryonic stages, immature pituicytes exert some as yet unidentified roles related to Ca-mediated functions involving the expression of spot 35-calbindin.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Accelerated myocardial metabolic and functional recovery with terminal nicorandil-Mg cardioplegia in heart transplantation.

Cardiac reperfusion injury after heart transplantation or cardiopulmonary bypass has been difficult to control due to the variable degree of myocardial damage with respect to the length of ischemia and the complexity of the surgical procedure. Here, we evaluated the myocardial metabolic and functional recovery of hearts infused with a nicorandil vasodilator-magnesium (Mg) solution just prior to reperfusion (terminal cardioplegia). Donor hearts (20 dogs) were removed and immersed in a 4 degrees C water bath containing 20 mEq/l KCL-5% glucose for 6 hours, and then were transplanted to recipient dogs. Orthotopically transplanted dog hearts were either reperfused without any further treatment or received a terminal cardioplegic solution containing 8 mg/l nicorandil, 30 mEq/l Mg, and 50 g/l glucose, which was infused at a pressure of 75 cm H2O for 2 minutes. During the reperfusion period, myocardial tissue PCO2 (t-PCO2) and calcium ion (t-Ca) were continuously monitored by an ISFET (ion-sensitive field effect transistor) sensor. Myocardial oxygen consumption and lactate flux were calculated/monitored at 5, 10, 20 and 40 minutes of reperfusion. Thereafter, myocardial function was evaluated at 45 minutes of reperfusion using LVSWI. Just after reperfusion, the treatment group (group B, n = 10) had a significantly greater coronary flow than the control group (Group A, n = 10, 35.0 +/- 10.1; group B, 47.4 +/- 8.5 ml/100 g/min, p less than 0.025).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Proximal clipping and bypass between bilateral vertebral arteries using a radial arterial graft for the treatment of a dissecting aneurysm of the vertebral artery.

Proximal clipping has been performed recently as the main surgical treatment for a dissecting aneurysm of the vertebral artery. When there is a contralateral vertebral artery of a smaller size with arteriosclerotic changes, some form of bypass to prevent cerebellar and brain stem infarction is needed in addition to proximal clipping. We treated a 50-year-old man with a ruptured dissecting aneurysm of the left vertebral artery and stenosis at the V3 segment of the right vertebral artery. The caliber of the right vertebral artery was smaller than the left. After an anastomosis between bilateral vertebral arteries using a radial arterial graft, dissecting aneurysm was clipped at the proximal portion of the aneurysm.

Aortic Dissection↗

PubMed1991

Neural and humoral controlling mechanisms of cardiovascular functions in man under weightlessness simulated by water immersion.

To clarify how neural and humoral mechanisms operate to control cardiovascular functions in man under weightlessness, the response of sympathetic nerve activity was observed in healthy human subjects by means of microneurographic technique with the changes of several hemodynamic parameters and hormonal responses during thermoneural head-out water immersion. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity was markedly suppressed by head-out immersion, concomitantly with a reduction of the leg volume, an increase of the stroke volume and a reduction of total peripheral resistance. At the same time, plasma level of norepinephrine, vasopressive and antidiuretic hormones (ADH, aldosterone, renin activity, angiotensin I-II) were reduced, while vasodepressive and diuretic hormone (ANP) was markedly increased. The systemic blood pressure was maintained almost unchanged during head-out water immersion. The suppressive response of sympathetic nerve activity seemed to be age-dependent. This response was less prominent in the elderly than in young subjects. It is concluded that the suppressive response of muscle sympathetic activity plays an important role to maintain hemodynamic homeostasis under weightlessness to compensate for the cephalad fluid shift and the resultant increase of the stroke volume in cooperation with the hormonal responses.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Effects of saikosaponin-d on the functions and morphology of macrophages.

The effects of saikosaponin-d, isolated from Bupleurum Radix, on phagocytosis and spreading of mouse peritoneal macrophages were investigated. Macrophages from saikosaponin-d-treated mice showed a significant increase in spreading activity followed by an increase in phagocytic activity. An intense distribution of microfilaments and microtubules was also observed in these macrophages by immunofluorescence microscopy.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Effect of saikosaponin on the immune responses in mice.

The in vivo effects of saikosaponin, isolated from Bupleurum radix, on the immune responses are still poorly understood. We have already shown that saikosaponin-d increases phagocytic activities of murine peritoneal macrophages such as spreading activity, phagocytosis, lysosomal enzyme activity and intracellular killing activity of living yeast. This work extends these observations by showing that treatment with saikosaponin also increased the antibody response in plaque-forming cell numbers after in vivo immunization with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and an augmentation of spleen cell proliferation responses to stimulation with T- or B-cell mitogens both before and after immunization. Furthermore, after SRBC immunization, the macrophages from mice treated with saikosaponin-d revealed significant increases in spreading activity and lysosomal enzyme activity. The chemiluminescences of the macrophages from mice treated with saikosaponin-d stimulated by opsonized zymosan and PMA were enhanced and interleukin-1 production by the cells was increased in a dose-dependent manner. These results demonstrate that saikosaponin-d may stimulate in vivo immunological lymphocyte functions, partly by activating some macrophage functions.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Interorgan transport and catabolism of carnosine and anserine in rainbow trout.

1. After large amounts of carnosine or anserine were injected into rainbow trout white muscle, they were promptly washed out into blood and incorporated mainly into kidney. 2. These dipeptides were transported only a little to the other portions of white muscle but significantly to red muscle. 3. After anserine administration, pi-methyl-L-histidine, a constituent of anserine, increased largely in the kidney, followed by liver and muscles. 4. Histidine, a decomposed product of carnosine, increased in muscles after carnosine administration prior to the increase in kidney and liver.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Effect of a calcium-entry blocker, nicardipine, on intrarenal hemodynamics in essential hypertension.

The effects of a calcium-entry blocker, nicardipine, on intrarenal hemodynamics were studied in essential hypertension. A 4-week study was performed in eight patients with essential hypertension who were given a regular sodium diet in the first and third weeks, and a sodium-restricted diet in the second and fourth weeks. Nicardipine, 60 mg/d, was administered in the third and fourth weeks. The urinary sodium excretion rate (UNaV) was plotted on the y-axis against the mean arterial pressure (MAP) on the x-axis before and after the administration of nicardipine. Assuming the difference between MAP and the x-intercept of this renal function curve represents the effective filtration pressure across the glomerular capillaries, the intrarenal hemodynamics such as afferent arteriolar resistance (RA) and efferent arteriolar resistances (RE), glomerular pressure (PG), and gross filtration coefficient (KFG) were calculated. Although the MAP on regular salt diet was lowered from 125 +/- 3 to 109 +/- 2 mm Hg by nicardipine, neither the renal blood flow rate (RBF) (670 +/- 40 mL/min) nor the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (79 +/- 2 mL/min) was altered. The RA was estimated to be reduced from 9,300 +/- 900 to 7,400 +/- 700 dyne.s.cm-5 (P less than 0.01), while no changes were noted in RE (4,900 +/- 400 dyne.s.cm-5), PG (50 +/- 1 mm Hg), or KFG (0.180 +/- 0.041 [mL/s]/mm Hg). Essential hypertension has been characterized by a prominent increase in RA, resulting in maintenance of normal PG. This Ca-entry blocker worked to normalize intrarenal hemodynamics in essential hypertension by dilating afferent arterioles alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Diet, Sodium-Restricted↗

PubMed1991

The effects of saikosaponin on macrophage functions and lymphocyte proliferation.

The effects of saikosaponin-d (ssd), isolated from Bupleurum radix, on phagocytic functions of mouse peritoneal macrophages were investigated after treatment in vitro. The macrophages treated with ssd showed a significant increase in PMA-induced chemiluminescence. An increase in phagocytosis was detected after treatment with saikosaponin-b2 (0.1 microM) for 24 h in vitro, while a suppression of phagocytosis was observed following treatment with saikosaponins (0.5 microM). Treatment with ssd markedly increased the random migration of resident peritoneal macrophages, but did not affect the migration towards FMLP. We further investigated the effect of ssd on proliferative responses of spleen cells and found that ssd, which itself has no mitogenic activity, decreased spleen cell proliferative response to T-cell mitogen, but increased the response to B-cell mitogen.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Evaluation of EC-IC bypass for patients with atherosclerotic occlusive cerebrovascular disease: clinical and positron emission tomographic studies.

The authors report clinical evaluations of extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery for patients presenting with misery perfusion on positron emission tomography (PET) due to atherosclerotic occlusive cerebrovascular disease. Seven patients underwent PET both before and after undergoing EC-IC bypass surgery. Three of the 7 patients had transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) and 4 had minor strokes. Five of the 7 had unilateral superficial temporal-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) anastomosis, one had bilateral STA-MCA anastomoses and one had STA-MCA anastomosis on one side and carotid endarterectomy on the other side. PET showed postoperative improvement in regional cerebral blood flow and metabolism in 5 of the 7 patients. In the remaining 2 patients, one showed no remarkable changes on PET and the other showed exacerbation on PET due to postoperative cerebral infarction. All three patients who had TIAs had no further TIAs after surgery. Two of the 3 patients postoperatively showed improvement in misery perfusion on PET. In the 4 patients who had minor strokes, 2 showed clinical improvements. One of the 2 showed improvement not only in motor function but also in the higher cortical functions such as verbal and performance intelligence quotients. Changes on PET correlated to the clinical improvement in 4 of 7 patients. The EC-IC bypass is therefore effective in patients with haemodynamic hypoperfusion syndromes by improving the state of low perfusion.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Spinal cord herniation associated with an intradural spinal arachnoid cyst diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging.

Two rare cases of spinal cord herniation associated with intradural spinal arachnoid cyst are reported. A preoperative magnetic resonance imaging scan demonstrated the presence of spinal cord herniation, identified as a protrusion continuous with the spinal cord. Surgery upon the intradural spinal arachnoid cyst improved progressive neurological dysfunction. The authors postulate that spinal cord herniation occurred for the following reason: The pressure of the intradural arachnoid cyst on the dorsal aspect of the spinal cord caused thinning of the dura, leading to a tear and, thus, the development of an extradural arachnoid cyst. Along with the enlargement of intradural arachnoid cyst, the spinal cord herniated through the tear in the dura into the extradural arachnoid cyst.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Effects of calcium antagonists on the erythrocyte membrane.

The effects of dihydropyridine compounds nimodipine, nicardipine and NB818 (isopropyl methyl-6-carbamoyloxymethyl-4-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-1,4-dihydro-2-methyl- 3,5- pyridine-dicarboxylate) on erythrocyte membranes have been studied. These compounds showed protective effects against hypotonic haemolysis, but not against heat-induced haemolysis. An increase in deformability of erythrocytes by these calcium antagonists was observed using a capillary tube centrifugal method. The erythrocytes showed slight stomatocytosis after 30 min of incubation with calcium antagonists, but did not show significant changes in mean corpuscular volume and ATP levels.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Cholera enterotoxin production in Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated from the environment and from humans in Japan.

Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated from various sources in Japan over the years 1977 through 1987 were examined to confirm the presence or absence of the cholera enterotoxin (CT) gene and production of CT and to determine the kappa-phage type. The CT gene was detected in none of 225 isolates from natural waters but was present in all of the 10 isolates from environmental waters implicated in domestic cholera cases, in 64 strains (26.6%) of the 241 isolates from imported seafoods, in 43 strains (95.6%) of the 45 isolates from domestic cholera cases, and in 119 strains (93.7%) of the 127 isolates from imported cholera cases. The results suggest that the CT gene-positive strains of V. cholerae O1 have been imported into Japan through seafoods and/or by travelers. Sporadic cholera cases have resulted in contamination of the surrounding environment, but the CT gene-positive strains may not have persisted in natural waters to serve as a reservoir for epidemic cholera. The commercially available VET-RPLA kit (a latex agglutination kit for immunological detection of CT) detected production of CT in all of the CT gene-positive strains, indicating that there was no silent CT gene in the test strains. There was a strong correlation between the kappa-phage type and the presence or absence of the CT gene, suggesting a significant clonal difference between CT gene-positive and -negative strains. Five CT gene-negative strains isolated from imported cholera cases (travelers with mild diarrhea) induced a considerable amount of fluid accumulation in rabbit and/or suckling mouse intestines, indicating production of an enterotoxic factor(s) other than CT.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Prevalence of migraine in low-tension glaucoma and primary open-angle glaucoma in Japanese.

We studied the prevalence of migraine in low-tension glaucoma (LTG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Seventy seven Japanese patients with LTG, 73 with POAG, and 75 normal subjects were randomly selected and tested with a headache questionnaire. The prevalence of headache with or without typical migrainous features (unilateral headache or ocular pain, nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbance before headache) was 51% in LTG, 42% in POAG, and 44% in normal patients. The prevalence of headache with two migrainous features or more (probable migraine) was 17% in LTG, 11% in POAG, and 12% in normal subjects. The prevalence of headache with three migrainous features (classical migraine) was 5% in LTG, 3% in POAG, and 3% in normal subjects. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of any types of migraine between the three groups of patients (p greater than 0.05). These results suggest there is no significant relationship between migraine and LTG or POAG in Japanese patients.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Ultrastructural study on a variety of non-neural cells immunoreactive for nerve growth factor receptor in developing rats.

The occurrence of nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) immunoreactivity was newly demonstrated in mesenchymal cells of lung bud and lateral palatine processes. Nerve fibers and enclosing Schwann cells with or without immunoreaction were present only in the periphery of the immunoreactive mesenchymal cell aggregation, but were not found within them. The NGFR-immunoreactive cells in immature skeletal muscles were revealed by immunoelectron microscopy to be perimysial cells without myofilament bundles, but not myoblastic cells. NGFR immunoreactivity was detected in noninnervated epithelial cells performing the invagination such as epithelial cells of the renal glomerulus and the lens placode. The immunoreactivity was also expressed in the innermost cells of the theca cell layer of the postnatal ovary and they contained no lipid droplets. In postnatal lymphatic tissues, NGFR-immunoreactive cells were identified as the interdigitating cells which were located in the internodular and deep cortex of the lymph nodes, in the marginal zone of the splenic white pulp, and in the medulla of the thymus. These findings suggest a potentially more widespread involvement of nerve growth factor and NGFR in the program of ontogeny than expected.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Effects of geraniin on morphology and function of macrophages.

The effects of geraniin, a tannin, isolated from Geranium thunbergii Sieb. et Zucc. on the morphology and function of macrophages were studied. Geraniin caused a marked retardation of the recovery from fully spread surface membrane and a highly reorganized cytoskeleton of macrophages, whereas endocytotic activity, phagocytosis and pinocytosis in the cells were significantly inhibited.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗