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Biomedical subjects

H Seno

Publications and source records attributed to H Seno.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Schizophrenia-associated idiopathic unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia (Gilbert's syndrome).

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia (Gilbert's syndrome) is a benign hyperbilirubinemia found in the general population. There has been only 1 previous report of Gilbert's syndrome occurring in schizophrenic patients. The present study was conducted to determine the frequency of Gilbert's syndrome in schizophrenic patients relative to patients with other psychiatric disorders. METHOD: Plasma bilirubin concentrations of every patient admitted to the psychiatric hospital during a 3-year period were collected, and patients were examined to exclude all other causes of hyperbilirubinemia. In addition, the psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenic patients (ICD-10 criteria) with hyperbilirubinemia were evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). RESULTS: Schizophrenic patients showed a significantly higher incidence of hyperbilirubinemia (p < .05) relative to patients suffering from other psychiatric disorders, and schizophrenic patients with hyperbilirubinemia showed significantly higher scores on the positive and general psychiatric subscales of the PANSS (p < .0001) than patients without hyperbilirubinemia. CONCLUSION: The apparently higher frequency of Gilbert's syndrome in schizophrenic patients may reflect a relationship between hyperbilirubinemia and schizophrenic psychosis. Hypothetical explanations, such as a possible genetic disposition for Gilbert's syndrome, an increased vulnerability of red cell membranes, and the role of estrogens in schizophrenic patients, are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Can dog-ear formation be decreased when an S-shaped skin resection is used instead of a spindle skin resection? A three-dimensional analysis of skin surgery techniques using the finite element method.

Dog-ear formation is often unavoidable with resection and suturing of the skin, including spindle excision. Regarding dog-ear formation after basic spindle skin resection during removal of a round tumor of the skin, we quantitatively analyzed the frequency of dog-ear formation with respect to the following three techniques: previous spindle skin resection, S-shaped skin resection, which has been experientially considered to induce limited deformity, and mosque-shaped skin resection for control. To date, by using paper models or sponges, various techniques of skin resection have been simulated in the field of plastic surgery. In the present study, we performed three-dimensional simulation and analyzed three different techniques of skin resection by using the finite element method. As a result, image simulation demonstrated that the frequency of dog-ear formation was limited by S-shaped, spindle, and mosque-shaped skin resection, in descending order.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1999

Identification and quantification of cardiac glycosides in blood and urine samples by HPLC/MS/MS.

Cardiac glycosides (CG) are of forensic importance because of their toxicity and the fact that very limited methods are available for identification of CG in biological samples. In this study, we have developed an identification and quantification method for digoxin, digitoxin, deslanoside, digoxigenin, and digitoxigenin by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). CG formed abundant [M + NH4]+ ions and much less abundant [M + H]+ ions as observed with electrospray ionization (ESI) source and ammonium formate buffer. Under mild conditions for collision-induced dissociation (CID), each [M + NH4]+ ion fragmented to produce a dominant daughter ion, which was essential to the sensitive method of selected reaction monitoring (SRM) quantification of CG achieved in this study. SRM was compared with selected ion monitoring (SIM) regarding the effects of sample matrixes on the methodology. SRM produced lower detection limits with biological samples than SIM, while both methods produced equal detection limits with CG standards. On the basis of the HPLC/MS/MS results for CG, we have proposed some generalized points for conducting sensitive SRM measurements, in view of the property of analytes as well as instrumental conditions such as the type of HPLC/MS interface and CID parameters. Analytes of which the molecular ion can produce one abundant daughter ion with high yield under CID conditions may be sensitively measured by SRM. ESI is the most soft ionization source developed so far and can afford formation of the fragile molecular ions that are necessary for sensitive SRM detection. Mild CID conditions such as low collision energy and low pressure of collision gas favor production of an abundant daughter ion that is essential to sensitive SRM detection. This knowledge may provide some guidelines for conducting sensitive SRM measurements of very low concentrations of drugs or toxicants in biological samples.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Use of an ion-pairing reagent for high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry determination of anionic anticoagulant rodenticides in body fluids.

The on-line combination of high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) has become a powerful tool for trace analysis thanks to the developments in interface techniques. However, non-volatile salts such as ion-pairing reagents are considered to be incompatible with HPLC-MS systems; they cause drops in analyte signals because of contamination of mass analyzers and also because of blocking of the capillary transferring ions from atmospheric pressure to the vacuum manifold. In this work, a new type of ion-pairing reagent, di-n-butylammonium acetate (DBA), was evaluated for use in HPLC-MS. DBA did not cause these problems to HPLC-MS systems; a possible explanation might be that DBA decomposed to volatile compounds under APCI conditions. In addition, DBA was very useful for obtaining sharp peaks, which resulted in high sensitivity. With this ion-pairing reagent, we developed a procedure for the measurement of five (including internal standard) anticoagulant rodenticides in whole blood and urine samples by SIM detection of [M-H]- ions. Calibration range, recoveries and precision of the method were examined; detection limits as low as 1-5 ng/ml blood sample or 0.5-2.5 ng/ml urine sample were achieved.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Increased expression of Wnt-1 in schizophrenic brains.

The regulated expression of Wnt-1, one member of the wingless/Wnt pathway, in the brain is critical for many neurodevelopmental processes. Recently, it has been reported that the wingless/Wnt pathway participates in a complex behavioral phenomenon and suggested that this pathway's molecules are candidate genes for neuropsychiatric disorders. Thus, we investigated the expression of Wnt-1 in the hippocampal region, which is believed to be closely involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, of postmortem brains from 10 schizophrenic and 10 control individuals. Immunohistochemical analysis with polyclonal antibodies recognizing Wnt-1 revealed immunoreactivity primarily in the pyramidal cell layer, particularly in CA3 and CA4 regions. We observed a significant elevation in the number of Wnt-1-immunoreactive neurons in the great majority of schizophrenic brains relative to that in controls. The expression of Wnt-1 may be related to cell adhesion, synaptic rearrangement, and plasticity. Therefore, the increase in Wnt-1 immunoreactivity in schizophrenic hippocampi suggests an altered plasticity of this structure in a large proportion of schizophrenic brains. These findings suggest an abnormality of the wingless/Wnt pathway present in the schizophrenic brain and may support the 'neurodevelopmental hypothesis' of schizophrenia.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Ultra-sensitive method for determination of ethanol in whole blood by headspace capillary gas chromatography with cryogenic oven trapping.

We have established an ultra-sensitive method for determination of ethanol in whole blood by headspace capillary gas chromatography (GC) with cryogenic oven trapping. After heating a blood sample containing ethanol and isobutyl alcohol (internal standard, IS) in a 7.0-ml vial at 55 degrees C for 15 min, 5 ml of the headspace vapor was drawn into a glass syringe and injected into a GC port. All vapor was introduced into an Rtx-BAC2 wide-bore capillary column in the splitless mode at -60 degrees C oven temperature to trap entire analytes, and then the oven temperature was programmed up to 240 degrees C for GC measurements with flame ionization detection. The present method gave sharp peaks of ethanol and IS, and low background noise for whole blood samples. The mean partition into the gaseous phase for ethanol and IS was 3.06+/-0.733 and 8.33+/-2.19%, respectively. The calibration curves showed linearity in the range 0.02-5.0 microg/ml whole blood. The detection limit was estimated to be 0.01 microg/ml. The coefficients of intra-day and inter-day variation for spiked ethanol were 8.72 and 9.47%, respectively. Because of the extremely high sensitivity, we could measure low levels of endogenous ethanol in whole blood of subjects without drinking. The concentration of endogenous ethanol measured for 10 subjects under uncontrolled conditions varied from 0 to 0.377 microg/ml (mean, 0.180 microg/ml). Data on the diurnal changes of endogenous ethanol in whole blood of five subjects under strict food control are also presented; they are in accordance with the idea that endogenous blood ethanol is of enteric bacterial origin.

Calibration↗
PubMed1999

Mathematical modelling for intra-specific brood-parasitism: coexistence between parasite and non-parasite.

In this paper, we consider an aspect of the intra-specific brood-parasitism with a mathematical modelling. As in case of moorhen Gallinula chloropus, the case dealt with in this paper in such that just a part of the whole population has the parasitising behaviour against the individuals belonging to another part of non-parasite subpopulation that does not have such behaviour. Analysing the expected fitness gain from the brood-parasitism, we consider the condition in order that parasite individuals coexist with non-parasite ones within a population. From the mathematical modelling analysis, it is shown that the stable equilibrium frequency of parasite individuals within a population, if exists, depends on the difference among individuals in terms of the individual quality reflected to the survival probability of bred offsprings.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

High performance liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for phenothiazines with heavy side chains in whole blood.

Eleven phenothiazine derivatives with heavy side chains contained in human whole blood have been analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/electrospray (ES) tandem mass spectrometry (MS). All compounds gave the base peaks due to [M + 1](+) by HPLC/ES single MS. The product ions formed from each quasi-molecular ion by HPLC/ES tandem MS showed the base peaks due to side chains liberated. The mass chromatography of HPLC/ES tandem MS showed much higher sensitivity than that of HPLC/ES single MS for phenothiazines spiked to whole blood. Therefore, regression equations, detection limits, recovery rates and reproducibility were studied for thiethylperazine, clospirazine and flupentixol spiked to human whole blood by means of mass chromatography of HPLC/ES tandem MS. The three compounds showed good linearity in the range of 2-40 ng/mL with a detection limit of about 0.5 ng/mL. Recoveries of the three compounds spiked to whole blood (2 and 8 ng added to 1 mL whole blood) were 43.4-72.5 %; the coefficients of intraday and interday variations were 3.7-9.3 and 12.6-17.9 %, respectively. Thiethylperazine, clospirazine and flupentixol in whole blood could actually be determined with sufficient sensitivity 3 and 6 h after oral administration of 5-10 mg of each compound in a volunteer.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1999

Acute pancreatitis secondary to 5-aminosalicylic acid therapy in a patient with ulcerative colitis.

Therapy with oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) for ulcerative colitis has been reported to be effective and safe. We describe a case of biochemically proven mild acute pancreatitis occurring after 9 d of oral 5-ASA therapy for ulcerative colitis. A hypersensitivity mechanism seemed to be involved in the development of pancreatitis probably owing to erratic systemic absorption of the drug. We suggest clinical and biochemical monitoring for early diagnosis of pancreatitis in patients with ulcerative colitis receiving 5-ASA administration. This is the first report of acute pancreatitis developed by oral 5-ASA therapy for the treatment of ulcerative colitis in the literature of Japan.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

The optimal strategy for brood-parasitism: how many eggs should be laid in the host's nest?

We consider the optimal strategy for intra-specific brood-parasitism, especially with respect to the number of eggs laid by the parasitic individual in the nest of non-parasitic individual, in particular, a host that does not reject the parasite's eggs. With a fundamental mathematical model, assuming that the survival probability of the parasite's offspring in the nest of the host is significantly smaller than that in parasite's own nest, we determine the optimal number of eggs laid in the nest of host that maximizes the expected reproductive fitness of the parasite. We show that the invasion success of brood-parasitism could significantly depend on the total number of eggs laid by the parasite in a breeding season, and that the successfully invading brood-parasitism could realize maximum fitness with a specific number of parasite's eggs laid in the nest of the host.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Efficacy of an implanted drug delivery system for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma using 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and mitomycin C.

BACKGROUND: In order to assess the efficacy of repeated hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, we administered HAI therapy using 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and mitomycin C, with an implanted drug delivery system. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients received HAI therapy with a response rate of 21.6%. The 6-month and 1-year survival rates were 67.6 and 29.7%, respectively. Responders to HAI therapy showed significantly longer survival than non-responders, while patients with mild liver dysfunction tended to survive longer than those with severe dysfunction. Neither tumour thrombosis of the main trunk of the portal vein nor extrahepatic metastases were considered to constitute contraindications for HAI therapy. Catheter-related trouble occurred in eight patients and biloma in one patient, but other side effects were transient and tolerable. These patients received HAI therapy as outpatients for an average of 79.6% of the entire course of therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic arterial infusion therapy proved effective for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in terms of improving survival and outpatient rates.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

A case of seizures 1 week after the cessation of interferon-alpha therapy.

We report on a 60-year-old woman with a history of bipolar mood disorder who had seizures and developed a delirious state 1 week after the cessation of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) for chronic hepatitis C. The IFN-alpha was administered to the patient for 7 weeks (266 million IU). One week after the cessation of IFN-alpha therapy, the patient had four generalized tonic-clonic seizures over a 2-day period and developed a delirious state for 2 months. We consider these seizures and delirious state to be related to IFN-alpha.

Delirium↗
PubMed1999

A case of small cerebral cyst and pericentric inversion of chromosome 9 that developed schizophrenia-like psychosis.

A case of schizophrenia-like psychosis (psychotic disorder not otherwise specified according to the DSM-IV criteria) with pericentric inversion on chromosome 9 [inv.(9) (p11; q13)] is reported. In this case, a minor brain anomaly, a small cyst in the left subcortex, was observed on magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. In the clinical course, prominent chronic hallucinations were observed; however, there was no evidence of the disorganization of personality, delusion, and deterioration in level of functioning that are usually seen in schizophrenia. This case and a review of the literature indicate that the pericentric region of chromosome 9 might be a potential areas of interest for the aetiology of psychiatric disorders. The phenotype-karyotype relationship of pericentric inversion on chromosome 9 and its relationship to psychosis are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

A neuropathological study of dementia in nursing homes in Shimane prefecture, Japan: evaluation of the age and gender effect.

BACKGROUND: Vascular dementia (VD) has been held responsible for the majority of all dementia cases in both epidemiological and neuropathological studies in Japan. The aim of this study was to clarify relative frequencies of dementia neuropathologically in Japanese nursing home residents over a 17-year period and to clarify the gender and age effect on the relative frequencies. METHODS: Three hundred ten aged nursing home residents (146 men and 164 women), including dementia cases in Shimane prefecture, Japan, were evaluated clinically and neuropathologically over a period of 17 years. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-two (48 men and 74 women) of the 310 autopsied (39%) had shown signs of dementia during their lives. In classifying dementia type, Alzheimer's disease (AD) accounted for 34% (41); VD 35% (42); mixed dementia 11% (14); and "other" dementia 20% (25) of all samples. As to the gender and age effect, the most characteristic findings were as follows: (a) There were only VD cases in the 57-69-year-old group; (b) the 70-79 male age group lacked any cases with only AD; (c) more AD than VD was found in elderly men; and (d) in women, AD was the major cause of dementia in total. CONCLUSIONS: VD is responsible for the major cause of dementia in the younger women and the men under 90 years of age; AD is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly men and the women over 79 years of age in nursing homes, Shimane prefecture, Japan.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1999

TT virus infection in hemodialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, TT virus (TTV), associated with posttransfusion hepatitis, was discovered. Prevalence of TTV infection in maintenance hemodialysis (HD) units and its pathogenicity to liver was investigated. METHODS: A total of 115 patients on HD were assessed for presence of serum TTV. DNA was purified from sera, and nested polymerase chain reaction was done for the detection of TTV DNA. RESULTS: TTV was detected in 59 patients on HD (51.3%), as compared with healthy blood donors (15 of 91 [16.5%], p < 0.0001). Serum HCV RNA and HBs antigen were positive in 16 and three patients, respectively. The prevalence rate of TTV was already 58.3% in the patients on HD for only 1 yr, and did not change according to the duration of HD until 15 yr on HD. TTV was positive in 51.2% (43 of 84) of the patients with history of blood transfusion, and in 51.6% (16 of 31) of those without it. In HCV-negative patients, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels of TTV-positive patients were similar to those of TTV-negative patients. Contrarily, in HCV-positive patients, ALT levels were more frequently > or =15 IU/L in TTV-positive patients (14 of 18) than in TTV-negative patients (five of 15) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: TTV infection is remarkably prevalent in patients on HD and in healthy blood donors. It is suggested that TTV generally does not cause liver disease by itself, but there remains the possibility that TTV may aggravate liver disease caused by HCV.

Aged↗