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Biomedical subjects

H Murakami

Publications and source records attributed to H Murakami.

891 records · Page 50Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical analysis of the prognostic value of ultrastructural abnormalities of plasma cells in patients with multiple myeloma.

The prognostic value of ultrastructural abnormalities of plasma, cells was analyzed in 61 patients with multiple myeloma treated in our hospitals from 1985 to 1996. The survival curves demonstrated significant differences by stratification of ultrastructural abnormalities, such as irregular contour of the nuclear membrane, nuclear body, budding, disarrangement of organelles, fibrillar formation, intramitochondrial granules, multilamellar body, single-sac loop-like structure, and vacuole. However, categorizing by nuclear inclusion body, cytoplasmic inclusion body and dense body showed no significant difference in survival curves. Abnormalities, as well as maturity, may be useful in predicting the prognosis of myeloma patients.

Bone Marrow Cells↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrastructural abnormalities of bone marrow erythroblasts in refractory anemia.

Ultrastructural abnormalities of erythroblasts in 30 patients with refractory anemia (RA) according to FAB classification were studied. Nuclear clefts, iron-laden mitochondria, and myelin figures in cytoplasm were most frequently observed. Eleven patients (36.7%) with nuclear clefts of erythroblasts had a higher platelet count and higher incidence of cytogenetic abnormalities linked to poor prognosis than the patients without nuclear clefts. They also had a higher frequency of leukemic transformation and shorter survival than the patients without nuclear clefts. The nuclear clefts of erythroblasts, which are the result of impairment of DNA metabolism or nuclear formation and fusion during mitosis, may be one of the adverse prognostic factors for patients with RA.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Successful treatment with vincristine for an elderly patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura].

A 77-year-old female was referred to our hospital in March 1991 because of a severe bleeding tendency. Her blood count on admission was as follows: Hb 7.5 g/dl, WBC 4.6 x 10(9)/l with normal differentiation and platelet 2 x 10(9)/l. One month prior to admission, her blood count was normal. Initially, acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) was suspected, because of the acute onset of the bleeding tendency and thrombocytopenia. High dose intravenous immunoglobulin (400 mg/kg/day for 5 days) and bolus methylprednisolone (1 g/day for 3 days then tapered) were administered, starting March 13. Her platelet count had increased immediately on March 20 to 40 x 10(9)/l. However, platelet count decreased to 4 x 10(9)/l in the following two weeks. Her clinical course differed from that of typical acute ITP. Because the treatment with prednisolone was not effective, it was changed to intravenous infusion of vincristine (VCR) at a weekly dose of 1 mg for 6 weeks. The treatment was extremely effective, and her platelet count reached over 200 x 10(9)/l. The treatment was discontinued. Three weeks later, her platelet count decreased to 15 x 10(9)/l, the administration of VCR was resumed, and her platelet count recovered again. Throughout her clinical course, no side effect of VCR was noticed except for mild hypesthesia of the fingertips. VCR therapy was considered to be an useful treatment in elderly patients with ITP.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of FC43 emulsion against hyperacute rejection in rodent discordant xenotransplantation.

BACKGROUND: FC43 emulsion is one of several perfluorochemical-based artificial blood compounds developed as a red blood cell substitute. However, these compounds are not promising as red blood cell substitutes because of their immunosuppressive effects. Therefore we used FC43 emulsion as an immunosuppressive agent and not as a red blood cell substitute. METHODS: We assessed the effect of FC43 emulsion treatment on the survival of the grafted hearts in guinea pig-to-rat discordant transplantations. RESULTS: In rats treated with FC43 emulsion (5 microliters/gm body weight), rhythmic beating of the heart was maintained for 433.3 +/- 40.0 minutes, whereas the untreated heartbeat lasted for only 15.3 +/- 5.1 minutes. In the xenografted hearts treated with FC43 emulsion, no pathologic changes such as multiple coronary thromboses caused by hyperacute rejection had occurred by 300 minutes after reperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: FC43 emulsion can prolong the survival time of guinea pig heart xenografts by inhibiting thrombus formation in the xenografted heart.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Plasma alpha 1-acid glycoprotein in chickens infected with infectious bursal disease virus.

The concentration and affinity to concanavalin A (ConA) of plasma alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and AGP levels in extracts of liver tissues were investigated in specific-pathogen-free chickens infected with the highly virulent HPS-2 strain or virulent reference GBF-1 strain of infectious bursal disease virus. The plasma AGP value in uninfected control 3- to 7-wk-old chickens was 161.8 +/- 25.8 micrograms/ml (mean +/- SD), and ConA-unreactive and ConA-reactive AGP comprised 47% and 63% of total AGP. Increases in AGP levels in plasma and liver extracts were observed in both the HPS-2 and the GBF-1 groups, although albumin levels decreased. The plasma AGP values were higher in the HPS-2 group than in the GBF-1 group through the experimental period. In the HPS-2 group, ConA-reactive AGP reached levels 6.8-fold greater than control values and comprised 80% of total AGP at 4 days post-inoculation. In the lipopolysaccharide group, a great increase in ConA-reactive AGP was observed.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Amplification of the CDK4 gene in sarcomas: tumor specificity and relationship with the RB gene mutation.

Amplification of the CDK4 gene, which encodes a key molecule in the cell cycle, has been shown in some types of human neoplasms, including bone and soft tissue tumors. It is also reported that the CDK4 gene is coamplified with other sequences in the 12q13-15 region, including the MDM2 and SAS genes. Using 146 DNA samples derived from a variety of bone and soft tissue tumors, we have studied the pattern of amplification of these three genes, CDK4, MDM2, and SAS, to investigate whether there are any tumor type specific patterns of amplification. Amplification of at least one of these three genes was found in 18 tumors, and five different patterns of amplification were observed. Amplification of all of these three genes was detected in 9 cases. Amplification of the CDK4 gene without MDM2 amplification was observed in osteosarcomas and a chondrosarcoma but not in soft tissue tumors, whereas amplification of MDM2 gene alone was observed in malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFHs), liposarcomas, and lipomas, but not in bone tumors. These results suggested that the CDK4 region is the primary target for amplification in bone tumors, whereas the MDM2 region is in soft tissue tumors. We also investigated the relationship of CDK4 amplification with retinoblastoma (RB) gene mutations in osteosarcomas, for which we have already performed the mutation analyses in detail. Interestingly, contrary to the prevailing theory that CDK4 amplification is an alternative mechanism for RB gene mutation, we found that three of four cases with amplification of the CDK4 gene showed loss of expression of the RB protein, one of which was proved to have an gross DNA alteration in the RB locus. This redundancy of mutations may indicate that the amplification of CDK4 may have some roles other than the inactivation of the RB protein in the development of osteosarcomas.

Bone Neoplasms↗