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Biomedical subjects

H Harada

Publications and source records attributed to H Harada.

768 records · Page 43Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of propranolol on peroxidase in tracheal epithelial cells.

Propranolol (beta-blocker) was administered to five guinea pigs in doses of 6 mg/day for ten days; five uninjected animals were used as controls. The first or second tracheal ring was cut in round slices. The number of overall epithelial cells facing the airway and the epithelial cells with peroxidase were counted. The mean percentage of peroxidase-positive cells to total epithelial cells was 49% in the control and 11% in animals after the administration of propranolol. This result apparently meant that the peroxidase activity was decreased by the administration of propranolol. The relationship between allergic diseases and the synthesis of peroxidase is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Technique for iliac artery reconstruction in abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the technique for iliac artery reconstruction in abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, when external and internal iliac arteries were required to reconstruct individually. Among 203 elective infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs, 22 patients (10.8%) required individual reconstruction of bilateral or unilateral iliac arteries, including 56 external or internal iliac arteries. Mainly, three types of procedures were performed: (1) the external iliac artery was anastomosed to the end of the bifurcated graft limb in an end-to-end manner, and the internal iliac artery was attached to the side of the external iliac artery, (2) the external iliac artery was anastomosed to the end of the bifurcated graft limb in an end-to-end manner and the internal iliac artery was bypassed with the use of a straight prosthetic graft extending from the limb of the bifurcated graft, and (3) the internal iliac artery was anastomosed to the end of the bifurcated graft limb in an end-to-end fashion, and the external iliac artery was sewn to the side of the graft limb. In these three types of procedures, the third technique was the easiest and simplest anatomically.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Modulatory effect of acupuncture on the cardiovascular system: a cross-over study.

The effect of acupuncture on the cardiovascular system was studied in 23 healthy males in a cross-over design comparing acupuncture and a placebo pill by measuring skin blood flow and the function of the heart. Acupuncture was found to have a modulatory effect on skin blood flow (correlation coefficient (r) = -0.68; p < 0.0005) and heart rate (r = -0.56; p < 0.005), as well as Blood-Pressure-Heart-Rate-Product (r = -0.70; p < 0.0002). The combination of rest and a placebo pill had no modulatory effect on skin blood flow, but did have a delayed effect on the heart when compared with acupuncture. The results indicate that acupuncture has the ability to enhance the regulatory mechanisms of the cardiovascular system. The possible underlying mechanism is discussed. The findings represent a physiological explanation for the possible utility of acupuncture in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis in healthy people.

Acupuncture Therapy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Local recurrence of early esophageal carcinoma after endoscopic mucosal resection.

We performed endoscopic mucosal resection on 25 patients with early esophageal carcinoma where the depth of invasion was limited to in the lamina propria mucosae (m2) and we observed local recurrent cancer in 2 patients (8%). To reduce the rate of local recurrent cancer, the method of resection was aimed at pathological negative stumps and establishment of a strict standard of judgement on clinically complete resection were considered to be necessary. Furthermore, complete cure was possible even in patients with pathologically positive stumps in cases where no recurrent cancer was observed over a 1 year period following endoscopic mucosal resection.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Polymorphic variation of the ARP gene on 3p21 in Japanese esophageal cancer patients.

Allelic loss of the short arm of chromosome 3 is common in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESC) and its premalignant lesions. The ARP gene (Arginine Rich Protein) was mapped to 3p21, and frequent variations of the triplet, AGG, repeat around codon 50 of the ARP gene were reported in a variety of human cancers. To examine the involvement of the ARP gene in esophageal cancer, we screened mutations around codon 50 in 35 ESC tumours and matched normal tissues. Sequence variants were observed in four ESC tumours; two (AGG)2 insertions, one ATG50-to-AGG substitution and one AGG deletion. However, they were also found in its corresponding normal tissues, suggesting that variation of the ARP gene found in ESC is polymorphic. We next analyzed sequence changes in 48 unrelated Japanese healthy individuals. They consist of 33 wild-type homozygotes, nine (AGG)2 insertion/wild-type heterozygotes, two (AGG)2 insertion homozygotes, one AGG deletion/wild-type heterozygote and three ATG50-to-AGG substitution/wild-type heterozygotes. Allele frequencies for wild-type, (AGG)2 insertion, ATG50-to-AGG substitution and AGG deletion are 0.82, 0.14, 0.03 and 0.01, respectively. Observed genotype frequencies fit well with the Hardy-Weinberg's law. Significant difference was not observed between allele distributions in normal and cancer patient populations.

Asian People↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interferon treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C with normal alanine-aminotransferase activity.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Chronic hepatitis C virus carriers may have repeatedly normal alanine aminotransferase activity despite detectable viremia and histological hepatitis. We aimed to evaluate the effect of interferon treatment in these cases. METHODOLOGY: Twelve patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels at least 6 months before therapy were treated with recombinant interferon (IFN)alpha-2b for 6 months, totaling 840 MU in amount. Alanine aminotransferase levels were measured monthly during treatment and after treatment withdrawal, and HCV-RNA levels were measured by polymerase chain reaction before treatment, and 6 and 12 months after treatment withdrawal. RESULTS: At treatment withdrawal, HCV-RNA levels had significantly decreased and HCV-RNA disappeared in 9 of the 12 patients by polymerase chain reaction. At 6 months after treatment withdrawal, HCV-RNA reappeared in 6 of the 9 patients whose HCV-RNA was negative at treatment withdrawal. Over all, only 4 of the 12 patients (33%) were sustained virological responders (HCV-RNA is negative more than 6 months after treatment withdrawal). Pre-treatment HCV-RNA levels in a sustained virological responder was significantly lower than that of transient and non-responders (4.9 +/- 1.6 vs. 7.7 +/- 1.6 log10[copies/ml], p < 0.05). Of 8 patients who did not achieved sustained virological response, alanine aminotransferase levels had transiently increased above normal during treatment in one patient and after treatment withdrawal in 6 patients; however, in the remaining one patient abnormal values have continued from 8 months after treatment withdrawal till now for 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with chronic hepatitis C with normal alanine aminotransferase levels, the response to interferon therapy was by no means satisfactory. However, if it would be used in cases with the lower pre-treatment HCV-RNA levels with careful attention to a transient alanine aminotransferase elevation, the more a sustained virological response might be expected.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A case of Crohn's disease with recurrent massive life-threatening hemorrhage from terminal ileum.

A case of Crohn's disease that underwent bowel resection two times at 3-year intervals due to life-threatening hemorrhage from ileum is presented. The bleeding sites were located in the ulcer lesions of ileum, in the oral side near to the ileum-colon transition. The first bleeding point was at the longitudinal ulcer of the terminal ileum and the secondary bleeding site was at the profound ulcer of ileum appearing in the oral side near to the ileo-colic anastomosis. This is the first case of Crohn's disease with recurrent life-threatening massive hemorrhage in the terminal region of ileum, for which operative bowel resections were necessary. This case suggests that we should search for the bleeding site in ileal lesions developed in the circumference of and especially the oral side near to the anastomosis due to prior resection, when intestinal massive bleeding occurs again after bowel resection, and that the careful follow-up and strict treatment with diet therapy and/or anti-inflammatory drugs are necessary for the protection of recurrence in patients with Crohn's disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Induction of antimicrobial activity by antitumor substances from pine cone extract of Pinus parviflora Sieb. et Zucc.

Pretreatment with two distinct antitumor substances extracted from pine cone of Pinus parviflora Sieb. et Zucc. protected mice from the lethal effects of E. coli infection. Intraperitoneal administration of these fractions transiently induced differentiation-inducing factor (DIF) with a peak at 1-2hr. The rapid decay of DIF activity from the peritoneal cavity was followed by polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) accumulation and enhancement of superoxide generation (assayed with luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (LDCL] by peritoneal exudate cells. The superoxide generation by adherent cells was similarly enhanced by pretreatment, but was only 10-20% of that of the peritoneal exudate cells. Fractions that showed comparable antitumor/antimicrobial activity were also obtained from seed shells and cones of other pine trees of Japanese and foreign origin. On the other hand, a neutral polysaccharide fraction from Pinus parviflora Sieb. et Zucc. that lacked any of these activities did not induce PMN accumulation, DIF activity or LDCL generation. The results suggest a significant role in PMN activation for the expression of antimicrobial activity induced by pine cone extracts.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Saphenous vein aneurysm following coronary artery bypass grafting.

Aneurysmal dilatation in a venous graft following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is extremely rare. Recently, we performed a resection of aneurysm and redo CABG in two patients who developed aneurysmal changes in the graft, one after 1 year and 10 months and the other after 3 years and 11 months, and obtained good results.

Aneurysm↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Levels of Cd, Hg, As, Cu, Mn, and Zn in Japanese restaurant and box lunches.

Intakes of selected elements from restaurant and box lunches in Shiga Prefecture (Japan) were investigated in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Average intakes of these elements from restaurant and box lunches were, respectively, 14 and 12 micrograms for Cd, 4.6 and 4.5 micrograms for Hg, 85 and 91 micrograms for As, 461 and 561 micrograms for Cu, 1268 and 1235 micrograms for Mn, and 3612 and 2688 micrograms of Zn. There were no great differences between the intakes from the restaurant lunches in 1993 and the box lunches in 1994. The proportion of elements from the lunches constituted 25-38% of the daily intake for Cd, As, Mn, and Zn and 51-65% of the daily intake for Hg.

Arsenic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The importance of initial daily administration of interferon alpha for the eradication of hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C: a multicenter randomized trial.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We studied the effect of initial daily administration of interferon for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, to clarify a more effective treatment protocol for the eradication of the hepatitis C virus. METHODOLOGY: Consecutive patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly enrolled in two groups in this study. One hundred and five patients were randomized and assigned to two groups. Patients, who enrolled in group A, were treated with 6 million units of natural interferon-alpha given subcutaneously daily for an initial two weeks and then thrice a week for 22 weeks. Patients, who were enrolled in group B, were treated with the same dose of interferon-alpha given for 26 weeks thrice a week from the first administration. RESULTS: In groups A and B, 58 and 47 patients were analyzed, respectively. At the end of treatment, 37 patients in group A (63.8%) had negative serum HCV-RNA test, compared with 26 in group B (55.3%), but at 6 months after discontinuation of interferon administration, 27 patients in group A (46.6%), compared with 8 in group B (21.3%). The rate of complete remission in group A (46.6%) was higher than that in group B (21.3%) (P<0.01). In patients with genotype 1b virus, the rate of complete remission was higher in group A (31.3%) than in group B (12.5%) (not significantly), and the relapse rate was lower in group A (9.4%) than in group B (37.5%), significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that initial daily interferon administration is necessary to gain a higher rate of serum HCV-RNA eradication in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Alanine Transaminase↗