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Biomedical subjects

H Nakahama

Publications and source records attributed to H Nakahama.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Plasma interleukin-6 levels in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis patients.

Plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine known to be involved in lymphocyte activation and in inflammation, were studied in 10 normal volunteers, 21 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients and 41 hemodialysis patients. Plasma IL-6 levels in hemodialysis patients were significantly higher than those in normal volunteers and CAPD patients (p less than 0.05). The means of plasma IL-6 concentrations before and after hemodialysis did not change significantly. While IL-6 in peritoneal dialysate was detectable in only 3 of the 21 CAPD patients without peritonitis, it was extremely high in 2 patients with bacterial peritonitis. IL-6 levels decreased as peritonitis subsided.

Adult

Distinct responses of interleukin-6 and other laboratory parameters to treatment in a patient with polyarteritis nodosa--a case report.

The authors describe a patient in whom the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and other laboratory parameters were monitored. The IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, which were extremely high before treatment, declined rapidly with administration of prednisolone. Rheumatoid factor, IgG, and platelets count declined more gradually. Thus, determination of the serum IL-6 level might be useful in diagnosing and monitoring polyarteritis nodosa.

Aged

Urinary 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2: a quantitative index of platelet activation in cerebral infarction.

Thromboxane A2 (TXA2) biosynthesis was studied in healthy subjects, patients with chronic cerebral infarction, patients under chronic aspirin treatment and patients with atrial fibrillation. Urinary 11-dehydro-TXB2, as a major metabolite of TXA2, was measured by radioimmunoassay. The extent of carotid atherosclerosis was determined by B-mode ultrasonography. The mean +/- SD urinary excretion in patients with cerebral infarction and distinct carotid-atherosclerotic lesions (1,725 +/- 239 ng/g creatinine, n = 6) was significantly higher (p less than 0.01) than in healthy subjects (911 +/- 239 ng/g creatinine, n = 44) and patients with cerebral infarction who had no distinct carotid lesion (1,050 +/- 191 ng/g creatinine, n = 6). The urinary excretion of healthy subjects was higher (p less than 0.01) in smokers (1,063 +/- 244 ng/g creatinine, n = 17) than in non-smokers (815 +/- 183 ng/g creatinine, n = 27). Aspirin largely suppressed 11-dehydro-TXB2 excretion (266 +/- 114 ng/g creatinine, n = 7). Three of 5 patients with atrial fibrillation showed very high values. Our results indicated that platelet activation occurs in the atherosclerotic lesions, and that urinary 11-dehydro-TXB2 is the appropriate analytic target for detecting platelet activation.

Adult

Evaluation of hemodialysis efficiency by an edema fluid model.

The concentrations of urea, creatinine, and uric acid were measured in edema fluid and plasma during hemodialysis and 18 h after hemodialysis. The concentrations of these solutes in plasma were 15-17% lower than in the edema fluid after hemodialysis. Eighteen hours after hemodialysis, however, the concentrations in plasma were almost the same as those in edema fluid. These data suggest that the removal of these solutes from the extracellular space is delayed during hemodialysis. The plasma concentrations obtained at 18 h after hemodialysis are better indicators of hemodialysis efficiency.

Adult

Parathyroid hormone enhances gentamicin uptake by opossum kidney cells but not by LLC-PK1 cells.

Parathyroidectomy is proposed to be protective against gentamicin nephrotoxicity in rats. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of bovine PTH(1-34) on gentamicin accumulation in cultured kidney epithelial cell lines, opossum kidney (OK) cells which possess PTH receptors and LLC-PK1 cells which are devoid of PTH receptors. Ten days after seeding, the culture medium was exchanged for medium containing 1 mM gentamicin and bovine PTH. The cell gentamicin concentration was measured by a substrate-labeled fluorescence immunoassay (TDA gentamicin kit). Gentamicin uptake was accelerated by bovine PTH in OK cells but not in LLC-PK1 cells. The enhancing effect of bovine PTH seems to be mediated by a cAMP-dependent process. The results suggest that PTH accelerates gentamicin accumulation in renal tissues and potentiates gentamicin nephrotoxicity.

Animals

A case of polycystic kidney disease with nephrotic syndrome.

Nephrotic syndrome developed in a patient with autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease. Renal biopsy revealed minor glomerular abnormalities. This type of nephrotic syndrome complication in an autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease has only rarely been reported.

Adolescent

Pharmacokinetics of denopamine in hemodialysis patients.

The pharmacokinetics of denopamine on a hemodialysis day and on an interdialysis day was evaluated in 11 hemodialysis patients. Tmax was the only pharmacokinetical parameter that differed significantly between healthy volunteers and hemodialysis patients. It is suggested that denopamine can be administered to hemodialysis both on hemodialysis days and on interdialysis days without dosage adjustments.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists

Binding of 2-amino-4-chloro-m-benzenedisulfonamide as a metabolite of hydrochlorothiazide to erythrocytes.

2-Amino-4-chloro-m-benzenedisulfonamide (ACBS) is a metabolite of hydrochlorothiazide. We reported that the ACBS concentration in erythrocytes was higher than in plasma in a patient. Therefore the binding of ACBS to rabbit erythrocyte was studied. The Scatchard plot showed the nonlinear plot and the horizontal asymptote. Curvature in this plot indicated the existence of 2 classes of binding. One class was at a specific site, probably at carbonic anhydrase. Chromatographic data seemed to support the possibility.

Animals

Slow fluctuations of single unit activities of hippocampal and thalamic neurons in cats. I. Relation to natural sleep and alert states.

Spontaneous unit discharges during the natural sleep-wakefulness cycle in two different neuronal groups, the hippocampal pyramidal cells and thalamic ventrobasal neurons, have been analyzed. The results show that both neurons fire with white-noise-like fluctuations during the slow-wave sleep, and with slow fluctuations with power spectral densities inversely proportional to the frequency in the frequency range of 0.02-1.0 Hz, during the paradoxical sleep. This confirms that the characteristics of fluctuations in neuronal activities of the mesencephalic reticular formation observed in our previous study are more general phenomena in the cat's brain. Partly similar behavior of spectral densities is also observed during the alert state. These observations are quantitatively confirmed by the statistical time series analysis of the spike density processes of spontaneous activities.

Action Potentials

Decrease in the fluidity of brush-border membrane vesicles induced by gentamicin. A spin-labeling study.

In our previous paper (Horio et al., Biochim Biophys Acta 858: 153-160, 1986), we reported that the addition of gentamicin in vitro to rabbit renal brush-border membrane vesicles decreases the apparent Vmax of Na+-dependent D-glucose transport without affecting the apparent Km. In the present study, we investigated the effects of gentamicin on the physical state of spin-labeled rabbit renal brush-border membranes, using electron spin resonance spectrometry. Brush-border membrane vesicles were prepared from outer cortex (mainly contains early proximal tubule) and outer medulla (containing primarily late proximal tubule), and the gentamicin toxicities in both preparations were compared. Significant decreases were observed in the membrane fluidity of 5 mM gentamicin-treated brush-border membranes. The fluidity of outer cortical brush-border membranes was affected at both 25 degrees and 35 degrees, whereas that of outer medullary membranes was affected only at 35 degrees. Two different stearic acid spin labels revealed that gentamicin affected the fluidity only in the superficial region of the membranes. We also demonstrated that the gentamicin-induced decreases in Na+-dependent D-glucose transport and in the membrane fluidity were recovered by washing gentamicin-treated brush-border membranes. We suggest that gentamicin binds to the superficial region of brush-border membranes and inhibits Na+-dependent D-glucose transport across brush-border membranes through the decrease in the membrane fluidity.

Animals

An interpretation of 1/f fluctuations in neuronal spike trains during dream sleep.

The mesencephalic reticular formation (MRF) neurons are regarded as contributing to the activation of the cerebral cortex. We have investigated the statistical characteristics of the single neuronal activity in the MRF of cat during two activated states: paradoxical sleep (PS) and state in which the animal is watching birds (BW). 1/f-like spectra are observed for both PS and BW states, being more pronounced for PS state. For the interpretation of these findings, we have applied the clustering Poisson process, which not only gives rise to a 1/f spectrum but also suggests a generation mechanism. The MRF neuronal activities in PS and BW are closely fitted by the clustering Poisson process, both in terms of power spectral density and counting statistics. These results strongly suggest that the activities of MRF neurons in PS and BW can be interpreted as the superpositions of randomly occurring clusters which consist of various number of impulses.

Animals