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H Adachi

Publications and source records attributed to H Adachi.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

[Direct Gram staining of blood culture sample enabled the early diagnosis of brain abscess due to Listeria monocytogenes].

A 58 year old woman had a long history of immunocompromised state. Since age 28 she had multiple endocrine neoplasm type 2A: her thyroid gland and bilateral adrenal glands were removed because of pheochromocytoma and thyroid medullary carcinoma. Corticosteroid and levothyroxine were supplemented. At age 57 she was afflicted with systemic lupus erythematodes and nephrotic syndrome. Prednisolone therapy was started. Two months later she developed fever, lethergy, headache and left hemiparesis. MRI revealed multiple ring-enhancing lesions in the right cerebrum. CSF was negative for microorganisms. Blood culture hemolysed after 24 hours. Direct gram staining of the blood culture sample revealed gram-positive short rods without spore, suggested listeria. This enabled prompt initiation of high dose penicillin therapy before the official report of listseria infection. Neurological abnormality including left hemiparesis disappeared completely within one month. Enhancement of abscess wall decreased every month, but it persisted for five months despite continuous intravenous penicillin therapy. Listeria monocytogenes is well-recognized as an opportunistic pathogen. It requires prolonged therapy with antibiotics, since it is the intracellular organism. Monitoring of the brain abscess wall by the enhanced MRI is useful to determine the completion of therapy. Since listerial contamination is common among raw meat and unpasteurized milk, immunocompromised patients should be alarmed not to eat uncooked food products.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed1998

Dictyostelium TRFA homologous to yeast Ssn6 is required for normal growth and early development.

The TPR (tetratricopeptide repeat) family became widespread during evolution, having been found from bacteria to mammals. By means of restriction enzyme-mediated integration, we have identified a Dictyostelium gene (trfA) highly homologous to a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene encoding a TPR protein, Ssn6 (Cyc8), which functions as a global transcriptional repressor for diverse genes. The deduced amino acid sequence of the Dictyostelium gene product, TRFA, contains 10 consecutive TPR units as well as Gln repeats, Asn repeats, and a region rich in Glu, Lys, Ser, and Thr. The sequences of some of the 10 TPR units in TRFA are more than 70% identical to the corresponding units in Ssn6. The trfA- cells produced smooth plaques on a bacterial lawn and failed to aggregate normally when starved on a plain agar plate. Individual trfA- cells also failed to correctly respond to cAMP, although the adenylyl cyclase of trfA- cells was expressed upon starvation and activated by stimulation with cAMP as in the wild-type cells. When cultured in a rich medium in suspension, they grew more slowly and stopped growing at a lower density than the wild-type cells. Furthermore, they divided into cells of various sizes and tended to be much smaller than the wild-type cells. These pleiotropic defects of the trfA- cells suggest the possibility that Dictyostelium TRFA may regulate the transcription of diverse genes required for normal growth and early development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

4-Benzylamino-1-chloro-6-substituted phthalazines: synthesis and inhibitory activity toward phosphodiesterase 5.

We synthesized various 4-benzylamino-1-chloro-6-substituted phthalazines (15) and 4-benzylamino-1-chloro-7-substituted phthalazines (16) and evaluated their inhibitory activity toward phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) purified from porcine platelets. The PDE5-inhibitory activities of 15 were greater than those of the isomers (16). The preferred substituent at the 4-position of phthalazine was a (3-chloro-4-methoxybenzyl)amino group, and those at the 6-position were cyano, nitro, and trifluoromethyl groups. Compounds 15a (IC50 = 4.8 nM), 15f (3.5 nM), and 15i (5.3 nM) were more potent inhibitors than E4021 (8.6 nM). Compounds 15a and 15f also showed vasorelaxant activity in isolated porcine coronary arteries precontracted with prostaglandin F2alpha (10(-5) M). The EC50 values for vasorelaxant action of 15a, 15f, and E4021 were 150, 160, and 980 nM, respectively. These results show that novel PDE5 inhibitors possessing a potent vasorelaxant effect may exist among phthalazine derivatives.

3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases↗
PubMed1998

A novel Dictyostelium discoideum gene required for cAMP-dependent cell aggregation.

Using a method of random insertional mutagenesis called REMI (restriction enzyme-mediated integration), we isolated two mutant strains of Dictyostelium discoideum with a defect in cAMP-dependent cell aggregation. On bacterial lawns, both of the cells formed large and smooth plaques. When starved in a non-nutrient medium, they became elongated and extended pseudopods very frequently like starved wild type cells. However, they never formed streams toward an aggregation center. Genomic DNA fragments flanking the sites of insertion of the REMI tag were rescued from the mutant cells. The fragments contained one common open reading frame encoding a protein of 1148 amino acid residues. The protein's sequence is homologous to those of two hypothetical proteins of S. cerevisiae and S. pombe.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Recovery from lymphocytopenia and prognosis after adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Extracorporeal circulation severely impairs the host immune system. Also decreases in circulatory lymphocytes correlate with greater degrees of surgical damage. In this study, the pattern of recovery from lymphocytopenia after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was retrospectively evaluated from a prognostic viewpoint. The results showed that the circulatory lymphocyte count of survivors returned to normal levels within 5 days after their being weaned from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, while the circulatory lymphocyte count of nonsurvivors remained at low levels. Because it is easy to measure the number of peripheral lymphocytes, the changing pattern of the circulatory lymphocytes might be a simple and reliable prognostic factor after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Early and delayed Tc-99m-tetrofosmin myocardial SPECT in patients with left bundle branch block.

UNLABELLED: To determine the utility of the myocardial tracer Tc-99m-tetrofosmin in the examination of patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) and to investigate Tc-99m-tetrofosmin uptake and retention in the myocardium, early and delayed Tc-99m-tetrofosmin SPECT was performed in 10 patients having LBBB without coronary stenosis. METHODS: After 740 MBq of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin injection in the resting state, the early and delayed SPECT imaging was done at 30 min and 180 min, respectively. RESULTS: Decreased Tc-99m-tetrofosmin uptake in the septal segments was observed in 4 patients (40%) at 30 min and in 9 (90%) at 180 min. Reverse redistribution was seen in 9 of 10 patients. In patients with LBBB, the septal-to-lateral uptake ratio was lower in the delayed images than in the early images (0.80 +/- 0.09 vs. 0.89 +/- 0.09, p < 0.001). In patients with LBBB, the washout rate of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin was higher in the septal segments than in the lateral segments (28.3 +/- 4.3% vs. 22.8 +/- 3.3%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The SPECT data indicate that in LBBB without coronary stenosis, the uptake of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin is decreased in the septal wall, and that reverse redistribution occurs frequently. Our results contribute to the elucidation of both the cellular biokinetics of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin in the myocardium and the hemodynamics of the septum in LBBB, and indicate the possible clinical utility of Tc-99m-tetrofosmin.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Surgical treatment with infarction exclusion technique and postoperative percutaneous cardiopulmonary support for a patient with ventricular septal perforation--a case report].

A 76-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of postinfarction ventricular septal perforation (VSP). VSP occurred twelve days after acute myocardial infarction and resulted in interventricular shunt with Qp/Qs of 4.8. Because she suffered from pulmonary edema and oligouria, she underwent emergent surgical treatment after application of the intraaortic balloon pump. The infarction involved whole of right ventricle and the infero-posterior wall of left ventricle, and the location of the perforation was infero-septum with the size of 10 x 6 mm. A bovine pericardial patch was tailored in a triangular shape of approximately 7 x 7 x 5 cm. The base of the patch was sutured to the fibrous annulus of the mitral valve and medial margin of the patch was sewn to healthy septal endocardium. And the lateral side of the patch was sutured to the posterior wall of the left ventricle. Because of difficulty in weaning of the cardiopulmonary bypass, a percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system (PCPS) was inserted via femoral artery and vein with a flow support of 2.0 L/min. After 4 days support of PCPS, improvement of right ventricular function was detected by echocardiogram and PCPS was removed. While PCPS support, low dose heparin to maintain ACT level around 150 seconds was continuously administered. Any complication including bleeding and thrombosis was not remarkable. The patient was discharged on the 53th postoperative day, and is now doing well.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

A combination of preductal aortic coarctation and type B dissection: report of a case.

We present herein the case of a 39-year-old man found to have significant coarctation of the preductal aorta combined with a type B dissection, associated with Marfan's syndrome. This extremely rare pathological combination could be defined preoperatively only by a three-dimensional computed tomography scan. By means of selective cerebral perfusion, the coarctation was resected, and the total aortic arch was replaced with a Dacron graft.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Left ventricular volume predicts postoperative course in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: The left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) helps to predict postoperative left ventricular function in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed the ability of preoperative variables to predict death and the development of postoperative congestive heart failure in 41 patients with a preoperative ejection fraction of less than 0.30. RESULTS: A preoperative LVESVI of greater than 100 mL/m2 was identified as an independent predictor of death by Cox's proportional hazards model. Diabetes and a preoperative LVESVI of greater than 100 mL/m2 were independent predictive risk factors for the development of postoperative congestive heart failure. Postoperative congestive heart failure developed in 2 of the 23 patients (8.7%) who had a preoperative LVESVI of less than 100 mL/m2 and in 10 of the 16 patients (62.5%) who had a preoperative LVESVI of greater than 100 mL/m2. The actuarial survival rate during follow-up in patients who had a preoperative LVESVI of less than 100 mL/m2 was significantly greater than that in patients who had a preoperative LVESVI of greater than 100 mL/m2. The actuarial rate of freedom from congestive heart failure during the follow-up period also was greater in patients who had a preoperative LVESVI of less than 100 mL/m2. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the preoperative LVESVI predicts the development of postoperative congestive heart failure and the actuarial survival rate in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Detection of adrenal and retroperitoneal masses in a general health examination system.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the detection rate of adrenal and retroperitoneal masses other than kidney diseases in a general health examination system. METHODS: From May 1991 through February 1996, 41,357 subjects participated in the general health examination system in our hospital. Approximately 80% of participants were 40 to 59 years old. For all participants, transabdominal ultrasound (US) was performed by five expert examiners using an Aloka SSD-650 with a 3.5-MHz convex-type transducer. When US revealed abnormal lesions on the adrenal gland and in the retroperitoneal space, we recommended that participants be examined with computed tomography (CT), with a slice width of 5 mm. RESULTS: Forty-three participants (0.1%) had abnormal findings on US. Of the 28 of those who underwent CT examination to confirm the lesions, 12 had adrenal and retroperitoneal masses. The detection rate was 0.029% of total participants and 42.9% of those who underwent CT examination. Clinical diagnoses were primary aldosteronism (1), preclinical Cushing syndrome (2), nonfunctioning adrenocortical tumor (5), pheochromocytoma (1), ganglioneuroma (1), adrenal cyst (1), and retroperitoneal neurinoma (1). False-positive results were dominant on the left side of the body (right 3, left 13). A deformed or accessory spleen (3), a cyst on the upper pole of the kidney (2), bowel air (2), and a pancreatic cyst (1) were misdiagnosed as adrenal lesions on US. CONCLUSIONS: The low detection rate of adrenal and retroperitoneal masses by US does not support screening for the diseases in healthy subjects. However, if it is done as part of a general health examination, examiners should attentively observe not only the kidneys but also the adrenal gland and retroperitoneal space because clinically important diseases may be detected.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed1998

Clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in hyperinsulinemia in Japanese without diabetes.

Clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in hyperinsulinemia was investigated in 247 Japanese subjects without diabetes. After adjustment for age and sex, the highest quartile of the summed values of insulin concentrations after oral glucose loading showed high odds ratios (OR; 95% confidence intervals) for the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors: OR = 2.02 (1.07-3.83) for hypertension, 3.91 (1.82-8.40) for hypertriglyceridemia, 2.41 (1.30-4.46) for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 2.41 (1.28-4.51) for impaired glucose tolerance, and 3.58 (1.44-8.88) for high uric acid. Two or more of these factors were clinically elevated in 50% of those in the highest quartile of the summed values of insulin, compared to 16-28% of those in the lower three quartiles. These findings were slightly attenuated after further adjustment for body mass index and sum of skinfolds. In conclusion, multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease existed in the subjects with hyperinsulinemia in Japanese without diabetes.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Induction of apoptosis by the novel retinoid AHPN in human T-cell lymphoma cells involves caspase-dependent and independent pathways.

Retinoids play an important role in the control of lymphocyte function and homeostasis in the thymus. In this study, we show that the induction of growth arrest and apoptosis in a variety of T-cell lymphoma cell lines, including Jurkat and Molt-4 cells, is highly specific for the synthetic retinoid 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]-2-naphthalene carboxylic acid (AHPN) since all-trans retinoic acid (RA), the RAR-selective retinoid TTAB, the RXR-selective retinoid SR11217 and the retinoid SR11302 exhibiting selective anti-AP1 activity, do not induce apoptosis or cause growth arrest. These findings support the concept that the effects of AHPN on proliferation and induction of apoptosis are mediated by a novel signaling pathway. AHPN-induced apoptosis is associated with an induction of internucleosomal DNA-fragmentation, increased annexin V binding and a 30-fold stimulation of caspase-3-like activity. Overexpression of Bcl-2 in Molt-4 cells greatly inhibits the induction of apoptosis by AHPN as indicated by the inhibition of DNA-fragmentation, annexin V binding and caspase-3-like activity. However, Bcl-2 overexpression does not interfere with the ability of AHPN to cause growth arrest or accumulation of cells in the early S-phase of the cell cycle, indicating that the effects of AHPN on growth arrest can be uncoupled from the effects on apoptosis. The caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK, at concentrations that totally block caspase activity, delays but does not prevent cell death and does not affect the accumulation of cells in the S-phase of the cell cycle. Our results show that induction of caspase-3-like activity plays an important role in the execution of AHPN-induced apoptosis but cells can undergo cell death in the absence of this activity suggesting that AHPN-induced cell death involves caspase-dependent and -independent mechanisms.

Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones↗
PubMed1998

Evaluation of the alleviative action of neurotropin for penile pain associated with intracavernous injection of prostaglandin E1 assessed using the visual analogue scale.

We examined whether penile pain associated with intracavernous injection of PGE1 could be alleviated with a intracavernous injection of neurotropin, a non-protein, bioactive agent extracted from skin tissue with inflammation elicited by the Vaccinia virus. Twenty-three patients with erectile dysfunction were enrolled in this study. They were divided into two groups. The first group was allocated 20 micrograms of PGE1 alone first, followed by PGE1 plus 1.5 ml of neurotropin after two weeks. The second group was allocated PGE1 plus 1.5 ml of neurotropin first, followed by PGE1 alone after two weeks. Pain was evaluated by the visual analogue scale (VAS). In the 17 patients reporting discomfort, pain scores for PGE1 injection with neurotropin were significantly lower than those without neurotropin. No patients showed local or systemic complications that might be related to neurotropin. From these data we conclude that neurotropin may be an effective and safe drug for penile pain associated with PGE1 intracavernous injection.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Metastatic cervical carcinoma mimicking kidney abscess.

A 26-year-old female, who had been treated for cervical carcinoma, presented with high fever and right flank pain. A right renal abscess was initially suspected from the clinical symptoms and diagnostic imaging. However, pathologic findings for the right kidney revealed squamous cell carcinoma, which was consistent in type with the original cervical carcinoma. Demonstration of human papillomavirus 16 in tissues from both the renal tumor and the cervical carcinoma confirmed that the right kidney carcinoma was a metastasis from the cervical carcinoma. The role of interleukin-6 in occurrence of the unexplained fever is discussed.

Abscess↗
PubMed1998

Pre-operative radio-chemotherapy enhances apoptotic cell death in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

The effect of pre-operative radio-chemotherapy (RCT) has been examined in a total of 15 oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), in terms of apoptosis (cell loss) and proliferation. All the patients received pre-operative radiation at a dosage of 30 or 40 Gy, as well as anticancer agents including tagaful (FT), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), bleomycin (BLM) and peplomycin (PEP). Surgical specimens were obtained before and after RCT, and serial sections were prepared for immunohistochemistry for p53 oncoprotein and Ki-67 antigen, as well as for terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL). TUNEL indices (TI; percentage of TUNEL-positive cells in the tumor cells) before and after RCT were 1.2+/-1.1 and 4.7+/-2.9 in the nine well-differentiated oral SCCs, and 1.0+/-0.7 and 3.9+/-2.1 in the six poorly differentiated SCCs, respectively. Similarly, Ki-67 indices (KI; percentage of Ki-67 antigen-positive cells in tumor cells) before and after RCT were 31.1+/-14.2 and 15.8+/-11.1 in the former, and 37.1+/-7.8 and 8.7+/- 13.4 in the latter, respectively. Thus, pre-operative RCT enhanced apoptotic cell death and abated proliferative activity significantly (P<0.05), regardless of histological differentiation. Enhancement of apoptosis was more prominent in the group treated with FT or 5-FU than with BLM or PEP. Oral SCC with >20% of nuclear p53-positive tumor cells was noted in six cases. Enhanced TI and abadement of KI did not differ among the p53-positive and -negative tumors.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Effect of the nitric oxide level in the medial preoptic area on male copulatory behavior in rats.

We investigated the influence of the extracellular nitric oxide (NO) level on male copulatory behavior. We confirmed the changes of nitrite (NO2-) and nitrate (NO3-) in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) by administration of the NO precursor L-arginine (L-Arg, 10 mM) or the NO synthase inhibitor NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA, 10 mM) via a dialysis probe. NO2- and NO3- were measured simultaneously by an in vivo microdialysis method coupled with the Griess reaction. L-Arg induced significant elevations of extracellular NO2- and NO3-. L-NMMA significantly reduced NO2- and NO3- levels. We observed male copulatory behavior during infusion of L-Arg or L-NMMA. The mount rate of male rats significantly increased during infusion of L-Arg in the MPOA. Administration of L-NMMA reduced the mount rate. These findings suggested that the elevation of extracellular NO in the MPOA facilitates male copulatory behavior of rats, whereas the decrease of NO reduces their copulatory behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis by the retinoid AHPN in human lung carcinoma cells.

In this study, we investigated the effect of the novel retinoid 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]-2-naphthalene carboxylic acid (AHPN/CD437) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell lines. AHPN inhibits the proliferation of all cell lines tested, irrespective of the lung tumor type, in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. A dramatic reduction in cell number was observed in adenocarcinoma H460 cells, and was shown to be related to an induction of apoptosis. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation and flow-cytometric analyses indicated that treatment of H460 cells with AHPN induces cell-cycle arrest at the G1 phase. We therefore investigated the effect of AHPN on several regulatory proteins of the G1 phase of the cell-cycle. The cell-cycle arrest induced by AHPN was accompanied by an inhibition of the hyperphosphorylation of the retinoblastoma (Rb) protein, an indication of G1 arrest. Furthermore, two cyclin-dependent kinases, cdk2 and cdk4, which are normally involved in the phosphorylation of Rb, were shown to have decreased activity. In some cell lines, the decrease in cdk activity may be partly related to an increase in p21(WAF1/Cip1) (p21), an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. No changes were observed in the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(Kip1). The observed increase in p53 in response to AHPN could at least to some extent be responsible for the increased levels of p21. The increase in p53 expression was found to be regulated at a post-transcriptional level. Our results suggest that the growth inhibition of certain lung carcinoma cell lines by AHPN is at least partly related to an increase in p21. However, in other cell lines, different mechanisms appear to be involved. The specificity with which AHPN and other retinoids induce growth arrest and p21 expression indicates that the action of AHPN is not mediated by RAR or RXR receptors, but involves a novel signaling pathway.

Apoptosis↗