Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Hirokuni Taguchi

Publications and source records attributed to Hirokuni Taguchi.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Molecular polymerase chain reaction diagnosis of pulmonary mucormycosis caused by Cunninghamella bertholletiae.

OBJECTIVE: Mucormycosis is an uncommon but frequently fatal infection caused by strains of mucorales in immunocompromised hosts. In this study, we report a case of pulmonary mucormycosis associated with acute lymphocytic leukaemia caused by Cunninghamella bertholletiae, a rare pathogen. METHODOLOGY: Retrospective analysis of the stored serum, sputum, and necropsy lung tissue samples from this patient, enabled subspecies identification by means of panfungal polymerase chain reaction (PCR), direct DNA sequencing of the PCR products, and homology search with nucleotide basic local alignment search tool. RESULTS: The development of a reliable diagnostic blood test for angio-invasive fungal infections such as mucormycosis is desirable, because the sensitivity of culture for these fungi is extremely low. CONCLUSION: Panfungal PCR on serial serum samples might be useful for the diagnosis of pulmonary mucormycosis.

Cunninghamella↗
PubMed2004

Multicenter prospective study of interferon alpha versus allogeneic stem cell transplantation for patients with new diagnoses of chronic myelogenous leukemia.

We compared interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy with stem cell transplantation (SCT) for patients with chronic-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia in a multicenter prospective study to investigate the optimal indication and timing of SCT, especially from HLA-matched unrelated donors. Of 257 eligible patients, 145 patients who were younger than 50 years were assigned to the IFN-alpha cohort (n = 87) or the SCT cohort (n = 58), according to family donor availability. In the IFN-alpha cohort, 52 patients received IFN-alpha and chemotherapy (the IFN1 group), and 35 patients received an SCT from an unrelated donor (the U-SCT group). In the SCT cohort, 47 patients received an SCT from a related donor (the R-SCT group). In the IFN1 group, 88% of the patients achieved a complete hematologic response, and 33% achieved a complete cytogenetic response. At a median follow-up period of 53 months, the predicted 6-year survival rate was 72% in the IFN1 group, 81% in the R-SCT group, and 81% in the U-SCT group. When overall survival was evaluated for the IFN-alpha and R-SCT cohorts by intention to treat according to family donor availability, the 6-year survival rates were 76% and 84%, respectively. When the outcomes of the U-SCT and IFN1 groups were compared, the survival rate of U-SCT group patients was significantly better than for IFN1 group patients without a major cytogenetic response and seemed better for IFN1 group patients younger than 35 years. Therefore, U-SCT may be recommendable to patients who fail to achieve a major cytogenetic response in IFN-alpha therapy and to younger patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Efficacy and safety of imatinib mesylate for patients in the first chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia: results of a Japanese phase II clinical study.

Imatinib mesylate is a relatively new drug that targets the BCR-ABL chimeric protein, the molecular basis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). A phase II clinical trial in 39 Japanese patients in the first chronic phase of CML was conducted with imatinib mesylate at a dose of 400 mg/day. Hematologic complete response was obtained in 92.3% of the patients, complete cytogenetic response (CR) was obtained in 43.6%, and major partial CR was obtained in 20.5% of the patients. Although 29 of 39 patients required an adjustment of dosing because of grade 3 or 4 adverse events, most of the events were reversible, and 25 of the 29 patients were able to resume therapy. Between day 15 and day 35, grade 3 or 4 neutropenia and/or leukocytopenia occurred in 13 patients, and grade 3 thrombocytopenia occurred in 5 patients. Overall, nonhematologic grade 3 adverse events occurred in 28.2% of the patients. These data support the use of imatinib mesylate as the treatment of choice for chronic-phase CML patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

HIV-1 protease inhibitor induces growth arrest and apoptosis of human multiple myeloma cells via inactivation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2.

We previously showed that HIV-1 protease inhibitors slowed the proliferation of human myeloid leukemia cells and enhanced their differentiation in the presence of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). In this study, we found that protease inhibitors, including ritonavir, saquinavir, and nelfinavir, but not indinavir, induced growth arrest and apoptosis of U266, RPMI8226, and ARH77 human multiple myeloma (MM) cells in association with down-regulation of antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1. Also, protease inhibitors inhibited the survival of freshly isolated MM cells from patients. In contrast, these protease inhibitors did not affect survival of normal B cells and colony formation of myeloid committed stem cells (CFU-GM) from healthy volunteers. In addition, we found that all of the protease inhibitors, except for indinavir, blocked interleukin-6 (IL-6)-stimulated phosphorylation of both signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT 3) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 in U266 and RPMI8226 MM cells. Moreover, the protease inhibitors inhibited both the basal and IL-6-stimulated STAT 3/DNA binding activity in U266 cells as measured by an ELISA-based assay. Furthermore, ritonavir inhibited production of vascular endothelial growth factor one of the targets of STAT 3, in U266 and RPMI8226 cells as measured by ELISA. Taken together, protease inhibitors might be useful for treatment of individuals with MM.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed2004

Aberrant methylation in promoter-associated CpG islands of multiple genes in relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Methylation profile was analyzed in nine cases of relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for p14, p15, p16, Rb, MGMT, APC, hMLH1, RARbeta, RIZ, DAPK, and FHIT genes by using methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) analysis. Frequency of methylation in each gene was: MGMT, 56%; RARbeta, 44%; and p16, 22%, respectively. None of the p14, p15, Rb, APC, hMLH1, RIZ, DAPK, and FHIT genes were hypermethylated. Five (56%) of 9 cases showed methylation of at least one gene. All of the samples with hypermethylation in p16 and MGMT gene at relapse, had already acquired the change at the time of initial diagnosis. Interestingly, three of 4 cases with RARbeta gene methylation at relapse did not have methylation of this gene at the time of initial presentation. These results suggest that hypermethylation might be involved in the relapse of childhood ALL.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Cross talk between COX-2 inhibitor and hyaluronic acid in osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

Both hyaluronic acid (HA) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors are used in clinical practice in the treatment of osteoarthritis. There have been no reports regarding cross-talk between HA and COX-2 inhibitors in articular human chondrocytes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether HA, COX-2 inhibitors or a combination of COX-2 inhibitors and HA have different effects in human articular between lower and highly degenerated chondrocytes. Isolated lower and highly degenerated chondrocytes were divided into 5 groups: ethanol (used as a control for the solvents), HA, COX-2 inhibitors, COX-2 inhibitors plus HA, or no additive. After incubating for 48 h, mitochondrial membrane potential analysis and western blotting of p38 and p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were performed. Glycosaminoglycan, nitric oxide (NO) production and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) concentrations were assessed. A combination of COX-2 inhibitors and HA resulted in dendritic, proliferating chondrocytes with strong red fluorescence enriched in the mitochondrial membrane, and indicated reduction of apoptosis in chondrocytes. COX-2 inhibitors alone, and a combination of COX-2 inhibitor and HA inhibited the activation of p38 in highly degenerated chondrocytes. A combination of COX-2 inhibitors and HA decreased NO production in highly degenerated chondrocytes. COX-2 inhibitors decreased PGE2 production, however, HA alone had no effect on PGE2 production. The present study demonstrated that COX-2 inhibitors and HA interacted synergistically the MAPK pathway and inhibition of NO production in highly degenerated chondrocytes. Administration of COX-2 inhibitors plus HA could be used as a new alternative way of treating osteoarthritis.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed2003

Sensitive detection of small cell lung carcinoma cells by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for prepro-gastrin-releasing peptide mRNA.

BACKGROUND: Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) is an autocrine growth factor in patients with small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). The authors developed a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for the detection of SCLC cells in the peripheral blood and the pleural effusion using preproGRP mRNA as a target. METHODS: The current study was conducted to determine the utility of preproGRP-specific nested RT-PCR on the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and pleural effusion samples from 32 patients with SCLC, 39 patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), 28 patients with nonmalignant pulmonary disease, and 20 healthy volunteers. The internal primers were designed to amplify a 244-base pair PCR product, a sequence encompassing exon 1 and exon 2 by the nested RT-PCR assay. RESULTS: Amplification of the preproGRP message was detected in SCLC cell lines (LU165, SBC1, SBC2, and SBC3) but not in other NSCLC cell lines (A549, ABC1, EBC1, and Oka-1). The SCLC cells (LU165) were detected in dilutions of tumor cells of up to 10(-7) in hematopoietic cells from healthy donors. The preproGRP mRNA was detected in 16 of 32 (50%) blood samples, 2 of 11 (18%) marrow samples, and in all 6 (100%) pleural effusion samples. Blood samples gave positive results in 11 of 19 (58%) patients with extensive disease compared with 5 of 13 (38%) patients with limited disease. In contrast, only 1 blood sample (2.6%) from a patient with lung adenocarcinoma gave a positive result among patients with NSCLC. No other samples of blood, bone marrow, and pleural effusion from patients with NSCLC and none of the blood samples from patients with nonmalignant diseases and healthy volunteers were positive. CONCLUSIONS: The current RT-PCR approach may be a sensitive and specific assay to detect SCLC cells in circulating blood as well as in pleural effusions from SCLC patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2003

Pure red cell aplasia in a patient with trisomy X chromosome abnormality and reactivated Epstein-Barr virus infection.

We describe a woman with a congenital chromosome anomaly, 47,XXX, who developed chronic pure red cell aplasia (PRCA). The patient had serologic reactivity consistent with that of reactivated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, as judged by high titers for anti-EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) immunoglobulin G (IgG) and anti-early antigen (EA) IgG. Detection of EBV genome in peripheral blood cells and cell-free serum also supported the diagnosis. Although EBV infection has been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute PRCA, the viral infection rarely results in a chronic disease state. So far, only 1 case of EBV-associated chronic PRCA has been reported, to the best of our knowledge. Chronic PRCA also is known to occur on an autoimmune basis. Individuals carrying an extra X chromosome, such as XXY and XXX, are prone to development of immune abnormalities. Our patient had an anti-DNA autoantibody and a positive result of the direct Coombs test. The pathogenesis of PRCA in this case seemed to involve multiple factors. In addition to the infectious agent, host factors may have played a role. Although the etiologic link between chronic PRCA and trisomy X remains to be elucidated, our findings suggest the importance of karyotype analysis as well as search for infectious agents in patients with chronic PRCA.

Chromosomes, Human, X↗
PubMed2003

Phase II study of cladribine (2-chlorodeoxyadenosine) in relapsed or refractory adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma.

Adult T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATL) is a retrovirus-associated T-cell malignancy with an extremely poor prognosis; the median survival time of ATL patients with the acute or lymphoma type is less than 1 year with various combination chemotherapies. Cladribine (2-chlorodeoxyadenosine; 2-CdA), a purine analog resistant to degradation by adenosine deaminase, has shown definitive clinical activity against various lymphoid malignancies, including hairy cell leukemia, indolent lymphoma, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. An in vitro study showed the sensitivity of T-lymphoblastoid cell lines to cladribine, and a preceding Japanese phase I study of cladribine showed that 1 refractory patient with ATL achieved an objective response. To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of cladribine in treating ATL, we conducted a multicenter phase II study. The plan was to administer cladribine to 30 ATL patients as 0.09 mg/kg per day by 7-day continuous intravenous infusion every 4 weeks for up to 3 courses. Before the planned interim analysis, 16 patients with relapsed or refractory ATL were enrolled, 15 of whom were eligible. Only 1 of the 15 eligible patients showed an objective response (overall response rate, 7%; 90% confidence interval, 0% to 28%), and 11 patients (73%) showed progressive disease, mostly during the first course of treatment. Because the upper limit of the 90% confidence interval of the overall response rate did not reach 30% in the interim analysis, the Independent Monitoring Committee advised us to discontinue patient enrollment. In conclusion, cladribine is not worthy of further investigation for the treatment of ATL.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Analysis of K-ras codon 12 mutation in flat and nodular variants of serrated adenoma in the colon.

PURPOSE: The developmental process of serrated adenomas is obscure, and the importance of genetic alterations has not been elucidated clearly. The possibility that the developmental process and genetic alterations of serrated adenomas could differ from those of ordinary tubular adenomas was explored in this work. METHODS: Serrated adenomas were obtained by endoscopic resection (n = 57) and divided into two groups: flat (n = 10) and nodular (n = 47). Mutation of the K-ras gene was analyzed by enriched polymerase chain reaction-enzyme-linked mini-sequence assay, which can detect not only the presence of a mutation but also the mutation type of K-ras codon 12 with high sensitivity. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was performed with specific primers for the DNA repair gene O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase. RESULTS: Serrated adenomas located in the rectum were more likely to have a K-ras mutation (9/12, 75 percent), whereas serrated adenomas of the flat type were less likely to have one (1/10, 10 percent). Furthermore, nodular serrated adenomas that occurred in the rectum possessed a high frequency of K-ras gene codon 12 point mutation (8/10, 80 percent) despite an overall frequency of 46.8 percent (22/47). A mutation of the K-ras codon 12 gene was detected in 23 (40.4 percent) of 57 serrated adenomas. Three types of point mutations of codon 12 were detected, with the mutation of GAT being observed most frequently. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that development of nodular serrated adenomas may depend on the mutation of the K-ras codon 12 gene, whereas development of flat serrated adenomas may not. Additionally, serrated adenomas that occur in the rectum are closely related to the mutation of the K-ras codon 12 gene. K-ras mutations in serrated adenomas may be unaffected by the epigenetic silencing of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase by promoter hypermethylation.

Adenoma↗