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Biomedical subjects

H Hamaguchi

Publications and source records attributed to H Hamaguchi.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Fetal nucleated cells in maternal peripheral blood after delivery in cases of fetomaternal hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how long fetal nucleated cells can be detected in maternal peripheral blood after delivery in cases of fetomaternal hemorrhage, using fluorescence in situ hybridization or polymerase chain reaction. METHODS: Nucleated cells with Y chromosomes were analyzed in 90 blood samples using fluorescence in situ hybridization with a Y-chromosome-specific DNA probe. The samples were obtained from 15 mothers (gravida 1), who were delivered of normal male neonates at University of Tsukuba Hospital, Japan, with fetomaternal hemorrhage 1 and 7 days, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after delivery. The 15 mothers were selected if fetal cells were detected above the ratio of one fetal cell per 3000 mothers' cells at 1 day after delivery. Polymerase chain reaction amplifying two different Y-specific fragments (a 102 base-pair fragment in the pHY10 vector, which was a highly repetitive sequence, and a single-copy, Y-specific 198 base-pair fragment) was also carried out for the analysis of genomic DNA from the same samples. RESULTS: Seven days and 1 month after delivery, Y-positive cells were detected in nine and four of 15 samples, respectively. No cells with the hybridization signal were detected in any of the 45 samples obtained 3 months or more after delivery. When we performed the polymerase chain reaction experiment amplifying the single-copy Y-specific fragment, none of the 45 samples after 3 months or more showed the expected band. However, from the same 45 samples, four obtained from different mothers showed positive results by amplification of the fragment in the pHY10 vector. Because multiple samples taken from these mothers before the collection of the positive samples showed negative results in the three experiments, these findings strongly suggest that the observed positive results were false-positives. CONCLUSION: Fetal nucleated cells in maternal peripheral blood become undetectable 3 months after delivery in most, if not all, cases of fetomaternal hemorrhage.

False Positive Reactions↗

Nanosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy distinguishes two K species in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle.

The photochemical reaction process of bacteriorhodopsin in the nanosecond time range (-120-860 ns) was measured in the 1400-900 cm-1 region with an improved time resolved dispersive-type infrared spectrometer. The system is equipped with a newly developed detection unit whose instrumental response to a 5-ns laser pulse has a full width of the half-maximum of 60 ns. It provides highly accurate data that enabled us to extract a kinetic process one order of magnitude faster than the instrumental response. The spectral changes in the 1400-900 cm-1 region were analyzed by singular value decomposition and resolved into three components. These components were separated by fitting with 10- and 1000-ns exponential functions and a step function, which were convoluted with the instrumental response function. The components with decay time constants of 10 and 1000 ns are named K and KL, respectively, on the basis of previous visible spectroscopy. The spectral shapes of K and KL are distinguishable by their hydrogen-out-of-plane (HOOP) modes, at 958 and 984 cm-1, respectively. The former corresponds to the K intermediate recorded at 77 K and the latter to a K-like photoproduct at 135 K. On the basis of published data, these bands are assigned to the 15-HOOP mode, indicating that the K and KL differ in a twist around the C14-C15 bond.

Bacteriorhodopsins↗

Effects of interleukin-12 on natural killer cell cytotoxicity and the production of interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

The effects of interleukin 12 (IL-12) on natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and on the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were examined in 15 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which are well known to have immunologic defects, and in 11 normal subjects. The NK cell cytotoxicity of all of the normal subjects was augmented by incubation with IL-12 alone, and co-incubation with interleukin 2 (IL-2) further augmented it (type A response). The MDS patients showed varied responses to IL-12/IL-2. Seven patients showed the type A response, resulting in augmented NK cell cytotoxicity which was similar to that in the normal subjects. In five other patients the cytotoxicity was not increased by IL-12 alone, but the combination of IL-12 and IL-2 did augment the cytotoxicity (type B response). The augmented cytotoxicity in these type B patients was lower than that in the normal subjects. In the final three MDS patients the cytotoxicity was low and not affected by IL-12 and/or IL-2 (type C response). All patients with refractory anaemia with excess blasts (RAEB) and patients with RAEB in transformation showed a type B or C response. Conversely, six of eight refractory anaemia patients showed a type A response. In MDS patients there was a positive correlation between the percentage of CD3- CD56+ cells in pre-incubated cells and the cytotoxicity of cells incubated with IL-12/IL-2. The combination of IL-12 and IL-2 augmented IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production by nonadherent mononuclear cells in a synergistic or cumulative manner, respectively, in most patients. These results suggest that IL-12, alone or with IL-2, may modulate these important immunologic functions in most MDS patients.

Adult↗

Short-term topical therapy of experimental tinea pedis in guinea pigs with lanoconazole, a new imidazole antimycotic agent.

The therapeutic efficacy of short-term treatment with a 1% cream of lanoconazole, a new imidazole antimycotic agent, in comparison with that of a 1% cream of terbinafine was evaluated in the guinea pig model of tinea pedis. Each agent was topically applied once a day for 3 or 7 consecutive days, starting on day 10 postinfection, and a culture study was conducted on day 5 after the last treatment with each agent. The 1% cream of lanoconazole was as highly effective as the 1% cream of terbinafine in terms of eradicating the fungi from the infected feet.

Administration, Topical↗

[In vitro antifungal activities of lanoconazole against stock cultures and clinical isolates of Candida albicans].

In vitro antifungal activities of lanoconazole (LCZ) against 9 stock cultures and 10 clinical isolates of Candida albicans were determined using three different testing media, Sabouraud's glucose broth (SGB), Sabouraud's glucose agar (SGA) and casitone agar (CA). MIC values of LCZ against both the stock cultures and clinical isolates measured on CA distributed in a range of 0.63-5 micrograms/ml. The values were 8-64-fold lower than those obtained in SGB and on SGA. MIC ranges and the geometric mean MIC values of LCZ against stock cultures were virtually the same as those against clinical isolates, no matter which assay techniques were used. These results suggest that there is no difference in the LCZ susceptibility between stock cultures and clinical isolates of C. albicans, although anti-Candida activity of LCZ was determined to be greater on CA than that in SGB or on SGA.

Antifungal Agents↗

[Studies on the in vitro antifungal activity of lanoconazole, a new topical antimycotic, against Trichophyton spp].

In vitro studies with a new imidazole antifungal agent lanoconazole (LCZ) were carried out to confirm its fungicidal property of the anti-dermatophytic activity and unlikeliness of dermatophytes to acquire secondary resistance to this drug. Minimal cidal concentration (MCC) values of LCZ against 6 strains each of Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. rubrum determined by the cellophane membrane method were in a range of 0.063 to 0.5 micrograms/ml, and much lower than those of bifonazole (16-32 micrograms/ml). The LCZ-sensitivity of both of the two testing strains of T. mentagrophytes did not decrease to less than one-fourth of the initial level during 15 subcultures on LCZ-containing agar. These results suggest that LCZ potently inhibits dermatophytes in a fungicidal manner and that secondary resistance to LCZ is not easily developed in the dermatophytes tested.

Administration, Topical↗

[Therapeutic efficacy of lanoconazole ointment in guinea pig model of tinea corporis, a comparative study with ointment and cream preparations].

The therapeutic efficacy of ointment and cream preparations of lanoconazole in a guinea pig model of tinea corporis was compared on the basis of degrees of improvement in local symptoms and negative culture rates. When infected animals were treated once daily with 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% lanoconazole ointments, significant improvement of the symptoms and mycological curative effects were observed as compared to those of non-treated control and vehicle-treated control groups of animals. Particularly, in animals treated with 0.5 or 1% lanoconazole ointment, no fungus was recovered from any infected loci. Comparing these results with those obtained with comparable concentrations of lanoconazole cream, no significant difference was found. These studies, therefore, suggested that ointment and cream preparations of lanoconazole on topical application would show basically equivalent therapeutic efficacy in the tinea corporis model.

Animals↗

Localization of Rabphilin-3A on the synaptic vesicle.

Rabphilin-3A is a putative target protein for Rab3A small GTP-binding protein which is implicated in neurotransmitter release. Rabphilin-3A is expressed mainly in brain, but its subcellular localization remains to be clarified. Immunohistochemical analysis has revealed that Rabphilin-3A is most abundant in the synaptic area of the rat cerebellum, retina, and neuromuscular junction. Ultrastructural analysis of the neuromuscular junction using the immunogold method indicates that Rabphilin-3A is localized on the synaptic vesicle. Subcellular fractionation analysis of rat brain has shown that Rabphilin-3A is most highly concentrated in the purified synaptic vesicle fraction. These results indicate that Rabphilin-3A is localized on the synaptic vesicle in the presynapse.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Comparison between the cytogenetic test for fragile X and the molecular analysis of the FMR-1 gene in Japanese mentally retarded individuals.

The prevalence of the fragile X syndrome has been estimated by the results of population studies in which the disease was mostly diagnosed by cytogenetic examinations. To examine the reliability of the cytogenetic analysis for the estimation of the prevalence of the fragile X syndrome, the CGG repeat in the FMR-1 gene was assayed by Southern blot hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in an institutionalized group of mentally retarded individuals consisting of 305 males and 129 females. The data thus obtained were compared with the cytogenetic data. The DNA analysis detected 7 full mutations among the alleles of the 296 unrelated males and 2 full mutations among the alleles of the 129 unrelated females. These findings were consistent with the cytogenetic data. No premutation was found in 554 X chromosomes in the unrelated mentally retarded patients nor 826 X chromosomes in unrelated control individuals. The distribution of the CGG repeat number in the normal range was not significantly different between the mentally retarded individuals and the control individuals. These data suggest that the estimates of the prevalence of the fragile X syndrome based on cytogenetic data in the population studies are almost reliable. Based on the finding that no premutations were found in this study, a small difference in the prevalence of the fragile X syndrome between Caucasians and Japanese is suggested.

Adolescent↗

Association of dopamine D2 receptor molecular variant with schizophrenia.

We have examined a variant of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (Ser311-->Cys) in 156 Japanese schizophrenic patients and 300 controls. The allele frequency of Cys311 was significantly higher in the whole patient group (0.054), among patients with onset before age 25 (0.090), and among those with a family history (0.135) than in the controls (0.018). 3 patients were homozygous for Cys311. The patients with Cys311 showed significantly less severe thought disorder and negative symptoms of schizophrenia than those without Cys311. The Cys311 variant of the D2 receptor may be a genetic risk factor for some types of schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗