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Biomedical subjects

H Fujii

Publications and source records attributed to H Fujii.

At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources

A single nucleotide substitution in the phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK)-1 gene occurred after the separation of PGK-1 and PGK-2.

The mammalian genome contains two functional loci for the production of phosphoglycerate kinase, PGK-1, an X-linked gene expressed in all somatic cells, and PGK-2, an autosomal intron-less gene expressed exclusively in late spermatogenesis. A nucleotide substitution from guanine to thymine was recently found at position 473 of PGK-1 mRNA in PGK Shizuoka. The mutation was not found in the PGK-2 gene and might have occurred after separation of PGK-1 and PGK-2.

Animals↗

A scintigraphic analysis of colonic movement in patients with colostomy: changes of colonic transit time after acquaintance with irrigation.

For the purpose of making a functional assessment of colostomy irrigation, eight patients were examined. Group A was composed of four patients whose experience of irrigation was less than one year. Group B was composed of four patients who had undergone irrigation for more than two years. The capacity of the remnant colon was determined by a barium enema. Next, 74 MBq of milking technetium 99 diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) was instilled with a predetermined amount of water (37 degrees C). A dynamic scan was performed for 45 min. The mean evacuation time of Groups A and B were 6 min 56 s +/- 2 min 33 s and 13 min 27 s +/- 10 min 50 s, respectively. The mean half emptying time of Groups A and B were 142.5 s +/- 7.9 s and 309.0 s +/- 181.9 s. The results suggest that the remnant colon may be habituated with irrigation. Colostomy irrigation which uses a single instillation of a measured volume of tepid water is recommended.

Adult↗

Osteoclast-like giant cell tumour of the gallbladder.

We describe a rare carcinoma of the gallbladder containing osteoclast-like giant cells. Well-differentiated adenocarcinoma was found in the mucosa of the fundus, and osteoclast-like giant cells were present mainly in a haemorrhagic mass protruding from the mucosal surface. The metastatic hepatic tumour was composed chiefly, if not exclusively, of osteoclastoma-like cells, but minute carcinomatous elements were also present. There was an apparent transition between the giant cells and tubular structures in both the gallbladder tumour and hepatic tumour. However, ultrastructural study did not reveal any evidence of epithelial differentiation in the giant cells. Immunohistochemical studies suggested that the mononuclear and giant cells were mesenchymal and histiocytic in nature (vimentin and factor XIIIa positive). A few exceptional giant cells transforming from the fine tubular structure were positive for epithelial membrane antigen. In conclusion, the osteoclast-like giant cell tumour component was thought to represent mesenchymal metaplasia in pre-existent adenocarcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Oestrogen retards the development of spontaneous thymomas in BUF/Mna rats.

BUF/Mna rats develop spontaneous thymomas with nearly 100% incidence in both sexes. While the thymomas in males develop from around 9 months of age, those in females start from 13-15 months of age. To clarify the mechanism of the delay of thymomagenesis in females, the effect of sex hormones on the development of thymomas was examined after either gonadectomy or oestrogen treatment. Prepubertal ovariectomy accelerated the thymoma development in females, whereas orchiectomy did not affect it. An intraperitoneal injection of oestriol (20 mg) into males at 2 months of age remarkably diminished the thymic weight to about one-tenth of age-matched controls at 16 months of age. These results suggest that oestrogen can actually retard the onset of thymoma in spite of genetic control of its incidence. However, oestrogen did not cause thymic involution when it was injected into rats over 9 months of age. Immunohistochemically, there seemed to be no distinct difference in distribution of oestrogen-receptor-bearing epithelial cells between thymomas and 2- to 3-month-old thymuses. The oestrogen sensitivity of the thymus might be destined to be lost, as the thymic epithelial cells start neoplastic changes with the impairment of oestrogen-receptor function.

Age Factors↗

Lymphocyte responses to food antigens in food sensitive patients with allergic tension-fatigue syndrome.

Scores of radioallergosorbent test (RAST) for cow's milk or buckwheat flour and proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to bovine serum albumin and beta-lactoglobulin or buckwheat flour were measured in cow's milk or buckwheat flour sensitive patients with allergic tension-fatigue syndrome. In all 3 cow's milk sensitive patients with allergic tension-fatigue syndrome, RAST scores for cow's milk were negative or slightly positive, but PBMCs well responded to bovine serum albumin and beta-lactoglobulin, but not to ovalbumin. In a buckwheat flour sensitive patient with allergic tension-fatigue syndrome, RAST scores for buckwheat flour were negative, but PBMCs well responded to buckwheat flour, but not to ovalbumin, bovine serum albumin and beta-lactoglobulin. Conversely, in cow's milk or buckwheat flour sensitive patients with immediate allergic symptoms, RAST scores for offending foods were positive although PBMCs did not respond to offending food antigens. These results suggest that proliferative responses of PBMCs to food antigens are very useful for detection of offending foods in allergic tension-fatigue syndrome.

Adolescent↗

Surgical treatment of primary carcinoma of the gallbladder based on the histologic analysis of 48 surgical specimens.

During the past 5 years, extended cholecystectomy and/or more radical procedures, including pancreatoduodenectomy and extended hepatic lobectomy, were performed on 48 patients with carcinoma of the gallbladder in an attempt to cure the disease. It was retrospectively proven from microscopic analysis of the surgical specimens taken from the 48 patients that 28 patients had received curative resections. The 28 consisted of all 4 patients with stage I carcinoma, all 9 with stage II, 6 of 8 with stage III, and 9 of 27 with stage IV. We reached the following conclusions: (1) extended cholecystectomy with resection of the bile duct in the hepatoduodenal ligament is the optimum procedure for patients with stage I and stage II carcinomas, and (2) for patients with stage III carcinoma, more radical procedures, including pancreatoduodenectomy and/or wider resection of the liver, might result in curative resection of the disease. For some patients with stage IV tumors, such as duodenal invasion or direct invasion of the liver, curative resection may be achieved by pancreatoduodenectomy or extended hepatic lobectomy.

Adult↗

Deoxyspergualin, a novel immunosuppressant, markedly inhibits human mixed lymphocyte reaction and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity in vitro.

Deoxyspergualin (DSG) has demonstrated potent immunosuppressive activities in vivo. However, because of its lability in culture medium, the mechanism of activity has not yet been identified in vitro. In this study, a more stable analogue, deoxymethylspergualin (MeDSG), was used to investigate the in vitro immunosuppressive activity of DSG. MeDSG suppressed both human mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity at doses greater than 0.1 micrograms/ml in vitro. In kinetics studies, MeDSG was found to suppress a MLR when added on day 3 of a 7 day MLR incubation but cyclosporin A (CYA) suppressed a MLR only when added during the initial stage of a MLR (i.e. on day 1). In studies of cell surface phenotype in the MLR, MeDSG treatment decreased the numbers of CD8+ lymphocytes but those of CD4+ lymphocytes were not affected. In addition, MeDSG had no significant effect on interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor expression or IL-2 production. These results suggest that MeDSG suppresses the T-cells which are proliferating competent cells such as cytotoxic T-cells (CD8+), but has a different mode of immunosuppressive action compared with CYA.

Cyclosporine↗

Endothelium-dependent dilator response to substance P in patients with coronary spastic angina.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to examine whether patients with coronary spastic angina have an impaired coronary artery dilator response to substance P, an endothelium-dependent vasodilator. BACKGROUND: Impairment of the endothelium-dependent vasodilator response has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of coronary spasm. METHODS: In 11 patients with coronary spastic angina and 11 control patients, substance P was infused into the coronary artery at 20 pmol/min for 5 min. Incremental doses of acetylcholine were then injected into the coronary artery. The effects of these drugs and nitroglycerin on the coronary artery diameter were quantitatively analyzed. RESULTS: Heart rate, systolic blood pressure and rate-pressure product did not change after substance P infusion. In 12 coronary arteries of the patients with coronary spastic angina, spasm was induced with acetylcholine. At the site of coronary spasm documented, the lumen diameter, which was 1.6 +/- 0.5 mm at baseline, increased to 2.1 +/- 0.7 mm after substance P infusion (p less than 0.01). It decreased to 0.2 +/- 0.3 mm during acetylcholine-induced spasm (p less than 0.001) and increased to 2.3 +/- 0.8 mm after nitroglycerin administration (p less than 0.001 vs. baseline and p = NS vs. after substance P infusion). Of the 12 arteries with spasm, 5 were angiographically normal and the other 7 were minimally or moderately atherosclerotic: the diameter change after substance P was +28 +/- 20% and +30 +/- 22%, respectively (p = NS). In control patients, the diameter of the middle portion of the left anterior descending artery, which was 2.0 +/- 0.4 mm at baseline, increased to 2.5 +/- 0.4 mm after substance P infusion (p less than 0.001). The diameter changes after substance P infusion were not different between the patients with coronary spastic angina and control patients. CONCLUSIONS: Substance P dilated the artery with spasm of the patients with coronary spastic angina to a degree similar to that in control patients, indicating the preserved endothelium-dependent dilator response at the site of coronary spasm by way of substance P receptor.

Acetylcholine↗

Early diagnosis of tuberculosis by fibreoptic bronchoscopy.

We carried out a retrospective study of the methods used to achieve an early diagnosis of 67 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis treated at our institute between 1984 and 1989. Sputum bacteriology was positive in 56 of the 67 patients, 22 were positive on microscopical examination of smears and on culture and 34 on culture alone. The 11 patients with negative sputum bacteriology were all diagnosed by fibreoptic bronchoscopy. In addition, 21 of the 34 smear-negative/culture-positive patients were examined by fibreoptic bronchoscopy and the initial diagnosis was made in 7 of these. Thus the initial diagnosis was made by sputum bacteriology in 49 cases and by fibreoptic bronchoscopy in 18 cases. The median number of days between obtaining a specimen and starting therapy was 7 days for sputum microscopy, 41 days for sputum culture, 7 days for microscopic examination of bronchoscopy specimens, 51 days for culture of the same and 19 days for biopsy. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy is therefore useful for the diagnosis of cases of tuberculosis in which tubercle bacilli are not detected in sputum and, in some instances, for an earlier diagnosis of smear-negative/culture-positive patients.

Adult↗

Suppression of cell-mediated immunity by street rabies virus infection.

An attempt to define a severe suppression of cell-mediated immunity by street rabies virus infection was undertaken by using the mice lethally and peripherally infected with a street rabies virus (1088 strain). The cell-mediated cytotoxic (CMC) activity of the spleen cells from those mice once slightly increased until day 4 after infection but declined rapidly thereafter until their death on days 10 to 12 after infection. In parallel with a decrease of CMC response of the spleen cells from 1088-infected mice, proliferative response to Con A, IL-2 activity in the culture supernatants of Con A-induced proliferation, responsiveness to exogenously added IL-2 and to Con A to express IL-2R, of those cells became suppressed, and the marked decrease of the total number of spleen cells was observed. Selective depletion of CD4+ and CD8+ cells in the spleens, abnormalities of IL-1 and E-type prostaglandins (PGE2) production or production of inhibitory component able to block IL-2 activity by spleen cells were not observed and these factors did not appear to be associated with the suppression of proliferative response to Con A. However, an apparent association of CD8+ cells in the suppression of differentiation of pre-cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTL) into CTL was demonstrated in the co-culture experiments of the spleen cells from 1088-infected mice with spleen cells of mice infected with an attenuated rabies virus (ERA strain) which can induce higher levels of CMC response. There was no evidence of the productive replication of rabies virus in thymus and spleen of 1088-infected mice. The relationship of these observations to current theories on virus-induced immunosuppression was discussed.

Animals↗

Genomic organization of the human WT1 gene.

We have analyzed the genomic structure of the human WT1 gene, one of the recessive oncogenes for Wilms' tumor at chromosome 11p13. By analyses of three cosmids covering the WT1 gene as well as products generated by polymerase chain reaction, cleavage sites for 10 restriction enzymes were mapped in a region of about 80 kb, and the positions of 10 exons were defined. We also mapped two polymorphic sites for TaqI. Our genomic map will be useful to analyze DNA abnormalities sometimes found in the tumors, as well as loss of heterozygosity.

Base Sequence↗

Bilineage response in refractory aplastic anemia patients following long-term administration of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

5 patients with refractory aplastic anemia (AA) received long-term administration (2-11 + months) of recombinant human G-CSF (rhG-CSF) in doses from 250-500 micrograms/body/day by intravenous infusion or 75-300 micrograms/body/d by subcutaneous injection. All 5 evaluable patients showed a substantial increase in absolute neutrophil count (ANC) with a recovery of myeloid components in the bone marrow after 1 to 2 months of treatment. Interestingly, 2 out of the 5 patients showed a dramatic improvement in severe anemia after 2 to 4 months of treatment accompanying a recovery of erythroid components in the bone marrow. In addition, there was no serious infection before or during therapy. Long-term administration of rhG-CSF was well tolerated because of its minimal toxicity. Clonal assay revealed a recovery of myeloid progenitors in all patients and a recovery of erythroid progenitors in 3 out of the 5 patients. These results suggest that long-term administration of rhG-CSF at least mobilizes residual myeloid as well as erythroid progenitor cells and induces a bilineage response in severe refractory AA.

Adult↗

Bellini duct carcinoma of the kidney.

We report a very rare case of Bellini duct carcinoma originating from the collecting tubules of the kidney. A left renal tumor was detected during a health examination and radical nephrectomy was performed. Histological examination showed papillary adenocarcinoma. By means of immunohistochemical methods, we felt that the tumor was a renal carcinoma of Bellini duct origin.

Adenocarcinoma, Papillary↗

[A pathological study of incidental carcinoma of the prostate. Pathological study of age-groups].

We reviewed 66 patients with stage A adenocarcinoma of the prostate who were treated at our 7 affiliated hospitals in Yokohama between 1984 and 1988. Of 1377 patients who underwent subcapsular prostatectomy (SCP) or transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) for benign prostatic hyperplasia, 66 patients (4.8%) were diagnosed as an incidental carcinoma of the prostate. Of these patients, 36 and 30 were in stage A1 and A2, respectively. In the 66 patients, 59 (4.5%) were detected in 1315 TUR-P and 7 (11.3%) in 62 SCP. Elderly patients over 80 years of age had a higher risk of stage A2 disease. In histological grade, well, moderately and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma were found in 48 patients (72.7%), 13 (19.7%) and 5 (7.6%), respectively. Among the patients with stage A prostate carcinoma the majority of the age-group less than 79 years old had well differentiated adenocarcinoma. In the age-group more than 80 years old, there were 6 (37.5%) moderately and 2 (12.5%) poorly differentiated tumors. In other words, the age-group more than 80 years old tended to have the moderately or poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma more frequently than those other decades. We expect an increase in the number of patients with stage A2 disease in the future with the expansion of the operative indication, especially in elderly patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[Biochemical analysis of the external urethral sphincter of female rabbits].

The proportion of fast and slow myosin molecules in external urethral sphincter (EUS) was studied. The contents of fast and slow myosin light chains in EUS from 6 female rabbits (Japanese White, 6-month-old) were estimated using two-dimensional electrophoresis. The percentages of fast and slow myosin molecules were 54.5 +/- 14.9 and 46.0 +/- 14.9, respectively. It was thus shown that female rabbits EUS is composed of both fast and slow muscle fibers. The ratio of fast to slow myosins in female EUS was different from that in male EUS (fast myosin 90%). These results implicate that female and male EUS would be functionally distinct.

Animals↗

[Clinical significance of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rG-CSF) in the chemotherapy of patients with malignant lymphoma].

We examined the effects of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rG-CSF) on neutropenia induced by chemotherapy in 10 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). The numbers of peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitors were also evaluated before and after administration of rG-CSF. Six patients received an administration of 2 micrograms/kg/body weight of rG-CSF subcutaneously for 14 days after 2nd chemotherapy. Four patients received intravenous infusion of rG-CSF (300 micrograms/body/day) for 4 days from nadir state after chemotherapy. Administration of rG-CSF from the termination of chemotherapy, markedly shortend the period of bone marrow hypoplasia induced by chemotherapy. On the other hand, administration of rhG-CSF from nadir state after chemotherapy have accelerated the recovery of neutrophil counts. In addition, this type of therapy induced 26 to 60 folds increase of peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitors. These results demonstrate the validity of administration of rhG-CSF not only in the chemotherapy of NHL, but also in peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT).

Adult↗

[Vacuolar inclusions with multivesicular structure in leukemic multiple myeloma].

A case of leukemic multiple myeloma with IgG-lambda type, which plasma cells in the peripheral blood and the bone marrow had large vacuolar inclusions is reported. A 67-year-old male was admitted because of bone pain. A diagnosis of leukemic multiple myeloma of IgG-lambda type was established, based on Bence Jones proteinuria (1.5 g/day), marked plasmacytosis in peripheral blood (63%) and bone marrow (90%), serum M-component (IgG-lambda type, 6.0 g/dl) and multiple osteolytic lesions. Most plasma cells in the bone marrow as well as in the blood had vacuolar inclusions in the cytoplasm which were 1-8 microns across and were negative with PAS and myeloperoxidase staining. Acid phosphatase reaction was distributed densely around vacuolar inclusions and sparsely within them in the form of fine granules. Ultrastructurally, most of the vacuolar inclusions were electron-lucent cytoplasmic spaces, encircled in a distinct limiting membrane, in which inner microvesicles were distributed diffusely. A few vacuoles showed fibrillary structures. These findings suggested that the lysosomal system might play a major role in the vacuolation of these plasma cells.

Aged↗

[Superficial and pedunculated signet ring cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder: a case report].

A case of primary signet ring cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is described. A 63-year-old man presenting with difficulty of urination and miction pain had a pedunculated soybean-size tumor on the left lateral wall of the bladder. Specimens of the tumor were obtained by transurethral resection and the pathological diagnosis was signet ring cell carcinoma. There was no evidence of bladder metastasis from other organs. The patient then had intraoperative radiotherapy and he is alive without recurrence 20 months after the operation. We briefly discuss 73 cases of signet ring cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder collected from the English and Japanese literature. The tumor in this patient was the smallest of all cases reported previously.

Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous↗