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Biomedical subjects

H Kodama

Publications and source records attributed to H Kodama.

At least 757 records · Page 42Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Does CSF copper level in Wilson disease reflect copper accumulation in the brain?

The levels of copper and ceruloplasmin in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Wilson disease were investigated. Ceruloplasmin concentrations in the CSF of all patients were almost the same but were lower than those of the controls. CSF copper concentrations in patients without neurologic signs were within the normal range, 22 +/- 6 ng/ml. In contrast, CSF copper concentrations in patients with neurologic signs (69-98 ng/ml) were significantly higher than the normal levels before and at the beginning of the treatment with D-penicillamine; it gradually decreased in response to treatment. These results suggest that the appearance of neurologic manifestations in Wilson disease is not related to the CSF ceruloplasmin concentration. The CSF copper concentration in this disease appears to reflect copper accumulation in the brain and may be useful as a marker for monitoring therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Intestinal mucosal immune response in chickens following intraocular immunization with liposome-associated Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis antigen.

Induction of intestinal mucosal immune responses against Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis was studied by immunizing chickens with liposome-associated antigen. An ultrasonicated whole cell extract of the bacteria was used for immunizing antigen. Intraocular immunization induced serum IgA, IgG and IgM responses. Also, significant IgA and IgG antibodies were detected in the intestinal tract. Immunization with antigen alone induced only IgG response in the intestine. Salmonella enteritidis-specific antibody-secreting lymphocytes were detected in the spleen and lamina propria of the intestinal tract of immunized chickens. Immunoglobulin (Ig) fractions extracted from intestines of immunized chickens inhibited the adherence of S. enteritidis to cultured HeLa cells. These results indicate that intraocular immunization with liposome-associated S. enteritidis elicits specific antibody-producing lymphocytes in the intestinal tract, and that Ig secreted in the intestine inhibits adherence of the bacteria to intestinal epithelial cells, suppressing the spread of bacterial infection in the host.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A case control study on risk factors involved in inflammatory breast recurrence after breast-conserving surgery.

Recurrence that poses the biggest problem after breast-conserving surgery is local recurrence. Particularly, in the case of inflammatory breast recurrence which is rare but has a specific pathologic nature, it is important to elucidate the pathology and risk factors and to consider appropriate countermeasures. In the present study, we classified 133 cases of recurrence following breast-conserving surgery, collected from 18 key hospitals/institutes in Japan. Recurrence types were divided into three groups, namely, inflammatory breast recurrence, noninflammatory breast recurrence and distant metastasis only, and the risk factors involved in recurrence were investigated by the case control study allotting 2 controls to each case. The study population consisted of 9 cases of the inflammatory type, 64 cases of the noninflammatory type and 60 cases of distant metastasis. The significant risk factor for inflammatory breast recurrence was positive lymph node metastasis, which was significantly more frequent in lymphatic invasion-positive cases unlike in the distant metastasis group. The positive surgical margin and nonradiation therapy which have been shown to be significant risk factors for noninflammatory breast recurrence were entirely unrelated with inflammatory breast recurrence. In addition, the inflammatory-type recurrence time was as short as about 12 months irrespective of whether radiation therapy was performed or not. The inflammatory type was accompanied with local wide extension (cancerous embolus of the dermal lymphatic vessels), and distant metastasis (lymphangitis carcinomatosa) at the time of recurrence, and further surgery was impossible in most cases, with a significantly poorer prognosis than the other recurrence types. These findings suggest that this recurrence corresponds to the so-called 'occult' case of primary inflammatory breast carcinoma. We think it important to predict this recurrence by close pathological examination, particularly in patients with lymph node metastasis, and to consider appropriate measures.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Primary amyloidosis with dry eyes and dry mouth--a case report.

We report a rare case of dry eyes and dry mouth caused by primary amyloidosis. A 66-year-old woman with keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomia died of acute respiratory failure. Shirmer's test, gum test, and sialography indicated Sjögren's syndrome. Lip biopsy revealed amyloid deposition around the salivary ducts. Bence-Jones protein was noted in the urine. At autopsy, amyloid deposition was identified histochemically in many organs, mainly on the vessel walls. Primary amyloidosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A randomized study comparing oral and standard regimens for metastatic breast cancer.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial comparing oral regimen [doxifluridine, an intermediate metabolite of capecitabine, + medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) + cyclophosphamide (CPA)] (Method A) with a standard regimen (5-fluorouracil + adriamycin + CPA) plus MPA (Method B) as first line chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. Overall response rate was 55.8% for Method A, 46.3% for Method B. The total ratio of responder and long stable disease was significantly higher with Method A (p=0.006). Median time to progression and survival were not differences between Methods. Incidence of toxicity was 56.3% with Method A and 80.0% with Method B (p=0.014). Oral regimen is more useful than standard therapy.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of the neurovirulence test of oral poliovaccines in Japan during the period 1963-1982.

The present study showed that the neurovirulence test for the lesion-inducing virus dose in the spinal cord in 50% of monkeys inoculated with oral polio-vaccine (Sabin) (LID50) reflected to a large extent safety and efficacy of the vaccine upon administration to children. The degree of attenuation of the vaccine in terms of LID50 appeared to be related to the decrease in the vaccine-associated cases as well as the seroconversion rate. An exceptional case, however, was noted in which lot No. 301 was not classified into less attenuated vaccine by the neurovirulence test. This fact suggests that the method we have employed awaits further improvement.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Anticancer chemosensitivity profiles of human breast cancer cells assessed by in vitro DNA synthesis inhibition assay.

The present study was designed to assess the profile of the chemosensitivity of breast cancer cells and to screen effective agents for combination regimens. Chemosensitivity to anticancer agents was assessed by the 3H-thymidine incorporation assay, as the rate of inhibition of DNA synthesis in 145 samples (88 primary and 57 metastatic or recurrent lesions) from 136 patients with breast cancer. The correlations of the anticancer agents with various clinicopathological factors were analysed. The effectiveness of the agents was classified as a rate of inhibition on log scale as follows: highly sensitive (> or = 30%), moderately sensitive (25-30%), slightly sensitive (20-25%), resistant (< 20%). The chemosensitivity of breast cancer showed variations according to tumor location: primary lesions seemed to be slightly sensitive to carboquone (CQ), adriamycin (ADR), and cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C); nodal involvement was moderately sensitive to CQ and slightly sensitive to Ara-C, 5-FU, ADR, mitomycin-C (MMC), and cisplatin (CDDP); malignant effusions were highly sensitive to ADR, moderately sensitive to CQ, and slightly sensitive to Ara-C and CDDP; local recurrences were slightly sensitive to Ara-C, CQ and 5-FU; vincristine (VCR) and nimustine chloride (ACNU), however, seemed to be ineffective against breast cancer. There were significant correlations in chemosensitivity between most agents, but no correlation was found between 5-FU and CDDP, 5-FU and ACNU, MMC and VCR, ADR and CDDP, ADR and VCR, and ADR and ACNU. There were no differences in chemosensitivity between stages of primary lesions or between estrogen receptor-positive and -negative tumors. In 10 patients, simultaneous nodal involvement was more sensitive to the agents than were primary lesions, and the correlation of chemosensitivity to ADR and CQ between such lesions was significant. On the other hand, there was no significant difference or correlation of chemosensitivity between the original lesions and recurrent ones after chemotherapy. The heterogeneity and homogeneity in the chemosensitivity of breast cancer suggested not only the necessity of patient-specific chemotherapy based on a sensitivity assay, but also the usefulness of choosing agents for widely-applicable combination regimens against breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mutation analysis of type II Gaucher disease in five Taiwanese children: identification of two novel mutations.

Gaucher disease (GD), one of the most prevalent lysosomal storage diseases, is caused by deficiency of lysosomal acid beta-glucosidase (GBA). It is divided into three types according to the presence and progression of neurologic symptoms. Of those, type II is relatively rare and most severe; patients usually die before the age of two years. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing of GBA gene in five Taiwanese type II GD patients, we identified two novel mutations: G355D and three-nucleotide insertion in exon 7 of GBA. The latter resulted in an in-frame insertion of a methionine residue between Leu241 and Ser242. L444P, the second most common GD allele among non-Jewish Caucasian population, was found in all five type II GD patients (50%). Overall, 9 out of 10 GD alleles were identified in this study. Direct sequencing of all PCR products led to high detection rate of GD alleles and identification of the RecNci 1 alleles. In the future, high throughput sequencing will make it possible identifying more rare mutations in type II GD patients.

Base Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Avian encephalomyelitis virus in chicken pancreatic cell cultures.

Monolayer cell cultures consisting of epithelioid cells were made from pancreatic tissue of 10-to-13-day-old chicks. The maximum virus titer of the cell-culture fluid was obtained 8 days after inoculation with an embryo-adapted avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV). Virus titers also increased in cell cultures inoculated with a chick-pancreas-passed AEV or a field isolant. Cell cultures inoculated with 3 strains of AEV maintained virus titers of 10(2.9)-10(3.7) 50% embryo-infective doses/ml for 15-20 days. In other cell cultures from pancreatic tissues of chicks preinfected orally with the chick-pancreas-passed AEV or the field isolant, the virus titers decreased for several days after cultivation and thereafter increased and persisted until at least the 25th or 30th day. Neither a cytopathic effect nor any inclusion body was observed in the cell cultures infected with AEV. No AEV-antigen-positive cell was detected by direct fluorescent-antibody technique.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Enzyme-inhibitory conformation of dipeptides containing sterically constrained amino acid 2,3-methanophenylalanine.

Dipeptides containing 2,3-methanophenylalanine, a sterically constrained amino acid with alpha,beta-cyclopropane ring, showed fairly strong inhibitory activity for the hydrolysis of Ac-L-Tyr-OEt by chymotrypsin. Kinetic analyses of the inhibition by dipeptides, H-inverted delta E Phe-Leu (or Phe)-OMe (or OH), indicated the mode of inhibition to be competitive. Comparative analyses of the inhibitory constants Ki have clarified several structural elements necessary to elicit an inhibitory activity. Those include the (2R,3S)-configuration of the inverted delta E Phe residue, the phenyl side chain at position 2 and the C-terminal methylesterification. These structural conditions suggested that the peptides are in specific inhibitory conformation. In the conformational analyses of these dipeptide inhibitors by a high resolution 1H-NMR (270 MHz), the measurement of enhancements of the nuclear Overhauser effect indicated that an intramolecular hydrophobic bonding exists between the inverted delta Phe-phenyl and ester-methyl to construct the hydrophobic core in the molecule. It was suggested that this hydrophobic core interacts with the chymotrypsin S2 site and prevents the hydrolysis of methyl ester. The Leu2 or Phe2 interacts with the enzyme S1 site. The structure of dipeptides containing 2,3-methanophenylalanine has been characterized as an enzyme-inhibitory conformation that interacts with the enzyme at its catalytic center.

Chymotrypsin↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Isolation of serotype 2 Marek's disease virus from birds belonging to genus Gallus in Japan.

Serotype 2 of Marek's disease virus (MDV) was isolated from apparently healthy birds belonging to genus Gallus that had no history of vaccination with MDV or herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT). Buffy-coat cells from these birds were inoculated onto chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cultures for primary isolation. Thirteen isolates from one golden pheasant and three white silky fowls, three black silky fowls, three Japanese long crowers, and three Japanese bantams produced herpes-like cytopathic effects (CPE) in the CEF cultures. Using serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies to MDV and HVT, 11 isolates were identified as serotype 2 MDV by indirect fluorescent antibody tests. The other two isolates were complicated with serotypes 1 and 3 of MDV-related viruses. Of 13 isolates, three cloned by the limiting-dilution method were further characterized as serotype 2 MDV biologically, genetically, and serologically. The results showed that the birds of the genus Gallus were naturally infected with serotype 2 MDV. This is the first report ever published about the distribution of serotype 2 MDV among healthy birds of the genus Gallus.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Complement-dependent antibody cytotoxicity test of chicken antibody with duck complement used against cells of a Marek's disease lymphoma-derived cell line (MSB-1).

Complement-dependent antibody cytotoxicity (CDAC) against cells of a lymphoblastoid cell line (MSB-1) derived from Marek's disease lymphoma was investigated in a chicken antibody system using complements from several animal species. Cytotoxicity was seldom observed when rabbit, guinea pig, or chicken complements were used in the presence of hyperimmune chicken serum against MSB-1. With duck complement, however, cytotoxicity was always observed. Therefore, duck complement appears to be suitable for assay of hyperimmune chicken serum against MSB-1 cells by the CDAC test.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Design and synthesis of dimeric analogs of neurokinin A and B: effect of dimerization of COOH-terminal heptapeptides on receptor selection.

Dimeric analogs of neurokinin A and neurokinin B COOH-terminal heptapeptides were synthesized in order to examine the effect of ligand dimerization on the receptor selection. Dimerization was carried out at the NH2-terminus of peptides with succinic acid, yielding succinyl bis[Asp-Ser-Phe-Val-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2] (D-NKA4-10) and succinyl bis[Asp-Phe-Phe-Val-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2] (D-NKB4-10). In the assay using rat vas deferens (RVD), it was found that the deletion of the NH2-terminal tripeptide from native neurokinin A or B enhances the activity 1.5- to 8-fold, resulting in formation of NK-2 receptor specific ligands NKA4-10 and NKB4-10. When dimeric analogs of these shortened peptides, namely D-NKA4-10 and D-NKB4-10, were examined in RVD and guinea pig ileum (GPI), they were fairly potent in GPI, but not in RVD. Under conditions in which the NK-1 receptors in GPI were desensitized with NK-1 specific substance P methyl ester, dimers reduced the activity drastically, while the corresponding monomers exhibited unchanged activity. These results suggest that dimerization of the COOH-terminal heptapeptide of neurokinins changes the receptor selection of peptides from NK-2 to NK-1, and that the NK-1 receptor has a structure favorable to a dimeric peptide ligand.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serological and pathological studies of Newcastle disease viruses isolated from caged birds from Southeast Asia.

Eleven isolates of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), from caged birds imported from or captured in Southeast Asia in 1979-80, were antigenically divided into five distinct groups. Most of them were distinguishable from more classical NDVs (vaccine B1 strain and Miyadera strain) on the basis of their reactivity to eight monoclonal antibodies against the HN molecule of NDV in hemagglutination-inhibition tests. However, when three representative isolates were evaluated for their biological properties and pathogenicity against 1-day-old chickens, all three were found to be velogenic types that could induce serious symptoms of Newcastle disease and which eventually killed all of the chickens, regardless of the route of infection. There was not any significant correlation between their reactivity patterns with the monoclonal antibodies and their virulence.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Inhibition of turkey herpesvirus replication by anti-cellular serum.

Quail embryo fibroblasts were used to investigate how rabbit and chicken antisera against chicken erythrocytes carrying different B alleles of the major histocompatibility antigens affect the neutralization of herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT). Although the neutralizing activities of these antisera were rather low, the HVT propagated in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) from certain genotypic embryos was neutralized more by the antisera to the corresponding erythrocytes. After absorption of these antisera with homologous erythrocytes, the neutralizing activity of the absorbed sera was reduced slightly. These results reveal that the virion antigens of HVT might be partially associated with the host cell antigens of the fibroblast infected with the virus. The virus grown in these cells might incorporate the host cell antigens, including histocompatibility antigens, into the virion envelope.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Soluble fractions of Pasteurella multocida: their protective qualities against fowl cholera in turkeys.

Soluble fractions of Pasteurella multocida strain P1059 were extracted from a single source by four methods, and their immunogenicity was evaluated by challenge exposure in turkeys. The fractions were extracted by 1) heating in 2.5% NaCl, 2) 0.5M potassium thiocyanate, 3) 1.0M sodium salicylate, and 4) prolonged stirring in formalin solution followed by pelleting (LPS-protein antigen). Eighty percent to 90% of infected turkeys were protected in two trials by vaccination with the saline extract or LPS-protein antigen, whereas less consistent protection was associated with the other two preparations. Endotoxin content was the highest in LPS-protein antigen, followed by KSCN, Na salicylate, and saline extract in that order. The four fractions contained at least one common antigen, which had previously been shown to be a surface-protective antigen.

Animals↗