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Biomedical subjects

I Kondo

Publications and source records attributed to I Kondo.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Genetic polymorphism of paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and susceptibility to Parkinson's disease.

Toxicologists have thought that the paraoxonase (PON) enzyme polymorphism might contribute to effects of pollutants and other environmental chemicals on susceptibility to cancer, birth defects and Parkinson's disease (PD). We studied a biallelic PON1 polymorphism at codon 192 (A and B alleles) in 166 patients with sporadic idiopathic PD. The frequency of the B (Arg) allele of PON1 was significantly increased in patients with PD than in healthy controls (chi2=8.75, df=1, P<0.005). The relative risk of PD in homozygotes for the B allele was 1.60 fold higher than individuals with the A (Gln) allele (chi2=7.38, df=1, P<0.01). Our data suggest that environmental neurotoxins metabolized by PON1 might be responsible for neurodegeneration with aging and that the B (Arg) allele form might have genetic susceptibility to PD.

Adult↗

Interstitial deletion of chromosome 7q in a patient with Williams syndrome and infantile spasms.

Interstitial deletion of 7q11.23-q21.11 was identified by cytogenetic methods in a 4-year-old boy with Williams syndrome (WS) and infantile spasms. Deletion of the elastin (ELN) gene and the DNA polymorphic markers, D7S1870, D7S2490, D7S2518, and D7S2421, were identified in the patient, but the loci for D7S653 and D7S675 were not involved. Zackowski et al. (1990) reported that 6 of 16 patients with the interstitial deletion of 7q11.2-q22 had abnormal electro encephalograms, or seizures, or both, and that infantile spasms were present in 2 of the 6 patients. WS is a well defined developmental disorder characterized by distinct facial features, gregarious personality, and congenital heart defects. Seizures are not generally associated with this syndrome. WS commonly is characterized by deletion of the loci for ELN and D7S1870, but not those for D7S2490, D7S2518, or D7S2421. This suggests that a gene responsible for infantile spasms is located in the 2.7-cM interval between loci D7S1870 and D7S675.

Child, Preschool↗

Molecular analysis of two pre-mutations in myotonic dystrophy.

Here we report two families with myotonic dystrophy (DM) in which the asymptomatic parent proved to be in a pre-mutation state. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the region spanning the CTG expansion demonstrated that one father of the proband possessed (CTG)n repeats of n = 12 and 44 copies and the other of 15 and 47. Clinical examination showed no definite signs of DM in these two men. Haplotype analysis of DNA markers close to the DM protein kinase (DMPK) gene suggested a common ancestral DM mutation. A continuous gradient of repeat sizes from normal to abnormal range can explain this phenomenon.

Adult↗

[Prognostic significance of clinical stage including extent of disease (EOD) in prostate cancer].

We analyzed the prognostic significance of clinical stage using extent of disease (EOD) grading system in 288 patients with prostate cancer between 1970 and 1994. The cause-specific survival rate for EOD4 was significantly lower (p < 0.01) than that for the other EOD categories. On the other hand, the cause-specific survival rate for EOD1 was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that of the other EOD categories, and moreover, it was similar to the cause-specific survival rates for stage C and D1. The cause-specific survival rate of EOD1 and poorly differentiated cases was higher than that of EOD2 or 3 and well or moderately differentiated cases until 2 years after treatment, but after 3 years, the cause-specific survival rate for EOD1 and poorly differentiated cases was lower than that for EOD2 or 3 and well or moderately differentiated cases. These findings suggest that the volume of cancer is associated with the prognosis of prostate cancer that failed in radical treatment and that in stage D2, histological grade is more closely associated with the prognosis after treatment for 3 years.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[Long-term administration study of propiverine hydrochloride (BUP-4 tablets) in pollakiuria and urinary incontinence].

The safety and efficacy of one-year administration of propiverine hydrochloride (BUP-4 tablets) were assessed in facilities affiliated with the Department of Urology of Yokohama City University School of Medicine. Changes in subjective symptoms showed significant improvement in mean frequency of urination in the daytime from 10.3 +/- 4.0 times before administration to 7.1 +/- 2.9 times 1 year after the start of administration, in mean frequency of voiding at night from 4.2 +/- 1.7 times to 2.1 +/- 1.1 times and in mean incidence of urinary incontinence from 2.9 +/- 2.1 times to 0.7 +/- 1.0 times. The final degree of overall improvement rate was 82.0% (41/50 cases). Adverse effects were observed 26 times in 22 patients, the incidence being 15.6% (22/141 cases). They consisted of digestive symptoms in 9.9% (6 events of dry mouth, 4 of constipation, 2 of abdominal discomfort, 2 of diarrhea and 1 of gastritis), urinary tract symptoms in 3.5% (4 of dysuria and 1 of residual urine), abnormal laboratory findings in 1.4% (increase in glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase or lactate dehydrogenase levels) and others (1.4%). These results provide further evidence of the safety and efficacy of propiverine hydrochloride (BUP-4 tablets) even when administered for a long-term in the treatment of patients with pollakiuria and urinary incontinence.

Administration, Oral↗

[A case of juvenile type dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) with psychomotor retardation since infancy].

We report here a case of an 11-year-old boy with juvenile type of dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA). His psychomotor development has been delayed since infancy and cerebellar ataxia was noted at the age of 2 years, indicating an early onset. At the age of 6 years, he had progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME) and underwent a series of neuroradiological, electrophysiological and pathological examinations, which failed to reveal the etiology. Gene analysis performed at the age of 11 years revealed an expanded CAG repeat at the DRPLA locus in both the patient and his asymptomatic father. In the absence of a positive family history, a diagnosis of DRPLA may be difficult due to its clinical variability. We conclude that DRPLA should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of childhood PME and that gene analysis should be performed to confirm a diagnosis of DRPLA.

Anticipation, Genetic↗

Genetic association between susceptibility to Parkinson's disease and alpha1-antichymotrypsin polymorphism.

The apolipoprotein E (ApoE*) gene is a major risk factor of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the alpha1-antichymotrypsin (ACT) polymorphism is likely to modify susceptibility of the ApoE* gene for AD. Because pathogenesis of AD is partly similar to that in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), we investigated the distribution of genotypes of the ApoE and the ACT in patients with PD. The number of individuals with two copies of the ACT-A allele (ACT-AA genotype) in patients with PD increased significantly compared to that in healthy controls (19.9% versus 8.3%, P < 0.02), and the ACT-A allele frequency in patients with PD was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (chi2 = 5.96, df = 1, P < 0.015). The odds ratio for developing PD in individuals with the ACT-AA genotype was 3.36 compared to individuals with two copies of another allele, the ACT-T allele (ACT-TT genotype). There was no association between ApoE genotypes and susceptibility to PD. These data suggest that the etiological basis of PD might be partly similar to that of AD and the ACT gene might be one of the susceptibility factors for PD.

Adult↗

The brain finger protein gene (ZNF179), a member of the RING finger family, maps within the Smith-Magenis syndrome region at 17p11.2.

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is caused by a microdeletion of 17p11.2 and comprises developmental and growth delay, facial abnormalities, unusual behavior and sleep problems. This phenotype may be due to haploinsufficiency of several contiguous genes. The human brain finger protein gene (ZNF179), a member of the RING finger protein family, has been isolated and mapped to 17p11.2. FISH analyses of metaphase or interphase chromosomes of 6 patients with SMS show that ZNF179 was deleted in one of the 2 homologs (17p11.2), indicating a possible association of the defect of this gene with the pathogenesis of SMS. Furthermore, using a prophase FISH ordering system, we sublocalized ZNF179 proximally to LLGL which lies on the critical region for SMS.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Clinical spectrum and molecular diagnosis of Angelman and Prader-Willi syndrome patients with an imprinting mutation.

Recent studies have identified a new class of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Angelman syndrome (AS) patients who have biparental inheritance, but neither the typical deletion nor uniparental disomy (UPD) or translocation. However, these patients have uniparental DNA methylation throughout 15q11-q13, and thus appear to have a mutation in the imprinting process for this region. Here we describe detailed clinical findings of five AS imprinting mutation patients (three families) and two PWS imprinting mutation patients (one new family). All these patients have essentially the classical clinical phenotype for the respective syndrome, except that the incidence of microcephaly is lower in imprinting mutation AS patients than in deletion AS patients. Furthermore, imprinting mutation AS and PWS patients do not typically have hypopigmentation, which is commonly found in patients with the usual large deletion. Molecular diagnosis of these cases is initially achieved by DNA methylation analyses of the DN34/ZNF127, PW71 (D15S63), and SNRPN loci. The latter two probes have clear advantages in the simple molecular diagnostic analysis of PWS and AS patients with an imprinting mutation, as has been found for typical deletion or UPD PWS and AS cases. With the recent finding of inherited microdeletions in PWS and AS imprinting mutation families, our studies define a new class of these two syndromes. The clinical and molecular identification of these PWS and AS patients has important genetic counseling consequences.

Adult↗

Possible involvement of placental proteases in bradykinin (BK) degradation.

The hydrolysis of bradykinin (BK) by human placental subcellular fractions and pregnancy sera was studied in the presence of inhibitors by measuring amino acids liberated from BK by high-performance liquid chromatography. The effects of the inhibitors DL-2-mercaptomethyl-3-guanidinoethylthiopropionic acid (MGTA, for kininase I), phosphoramidon (for endopeptidase 24.11) and captopril and rentiapril (for angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE, kininase II]) suggested the essential roles of the above three proteases in BK degradation: among the three proteases, kininase I and endopeptidase 24.11 appeared to be the most important in kininase action in the placenta microsomes, whereas kininase I and ACE appeared to be the most important in kininase action in the placental cytosol, lysosome and pregnancy serum. Measurements of BK concentrations in the umbilical arterial blood, umbilical venous blood and maternal plasma revealed higher concentrations in the mother than in the fetus. The present data suggest that degradation of BK in the placenta and pregnancy serum might contribute to the gradient of BK between mother and fetus.

3-Mercaptopropionic Acid↗

Early-childhood progressive myoclonus epilepsy presenting as partial seizures in dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy.

PURPOSE: We explored the characteristics of epileptic seizures of progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME) in 2 brothers with dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA). METHODS: We obtained the case history of the siblings and ictal and interictal EEGs. Postmortem examination or demonstration of elongated CAG repeat in the gene for DRPLA was used to confirm the diagnosis. RESULTS: Two Japanese siblings developed PME characterized by versive or himiclonic seizures with or without secondarily generalized tonic-clonic convulsions. The elder brother regressed mentally and exhibited increasing spasticity after age 1 year. Myoclonus and seizures developed at age 4 years. The younger brother had shown psychomotor retardation before age 4 years, when he began to deteriorate further neurologically as the elder brother had. He also developed myoclonus and seizures at that age. Seizures in both patients remained partial until their deaths at ages 19 and 15 years, respectively. Ictal EEG verified partial onset of seizure evolving to generalized tonic-clonic seizure (GTCS). Interictal EEGs showed multifocal paroxysmal discharges with little or no diffuse paroxysms. Postmortem examination or genetic study confirmed the diagnosis of DRPLA. CONCLUSIONS: Seizures of patients with DRPLA may present as partial seizures in children with early-onset PME.

Adolescent↗

The inwardly rectifying potassium channel subunit Kir2.2v (KCNJN1) maps to 17p11.2-->p11.1.

Inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) channels play important roles in various cellular functions in excitable and non-excitable cells. We recently cloned the human genes encoding the Kir channel subunits Kir2.2v (KCNJN1) and Kir2.2 (KCNJ12). However, the physiological role of Kir2.2v has not yet been clarified. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of human metaphase chromosomes assigned both genes to 17p11.2-->p11.1. The presence of hybridization signals in the paracentromeric regions of both chromosomes 17 from two Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) patients indicated that Kir2.2v and Kir2.2 are not located within the minimum critical region of this syndrome.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Antibacterial activity of (+/-) 6-benzyl-1-(3-carboxypropyl) indane; a possible way to identify leading novel anti-H. pylori agents.

Magainin 2, isolated from the skin of the Xenopus laevis, is an antimicrobial peptide which reacts directly with the biological membrane to lyse various bacteria from negative and positive microorganisms. In a previous report, we showed that (+/-)1-(4-aminobutyl)-6-benzylindane (PM2), which mimicked the conformation of the side-chains of a complementary unit on the amino acid sequence of magainin 2 analogs, expressed the in vitro antibacterial activity not only against Helicobacter, pylori (ATCC43526, ATCC43579), but also against Escherichia coli (ATCC25922) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923). In addition, PM2 caused human blood red cells (RBCs) to lyse at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value. Based on the antibacterial activities of 9-phenylnonanoic acid (pC9c), we further synthesized (+/-)-6-benzyl-1-(3-carboxypropyl) indane (PM2c), which replaced a positive charge of PM2 with a negative one, and tested the biological activities. PM2c had the ability to inhibit the growth of H. pylori strains, but its activity to inhibit the growth of E. coli and S. aureus was not detected and weak, respectively. Moreover, PM2c showed non-hemolytic activity against RBCs at the MIC value. These results indicate the possibility that PM2c may be more useful than PM2 either alone or in combination with well-known therapeutic agents for the treatment of H. pylori infection.

Animals↗

Antibacterial activity of two alkylamines integrated an indane scaffold: mimicry of a complementary unit on magainin 2.

Based on the antibacterial activity of 9-phenylnonylamine (pC9a) against Escherichia coli (ATCC29522) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923), we have further tested the inhibitory ability of the growth of the bacteria by (+/-)1-(4-aminobutyl)-6-benzylindane (PM2) and (+/-)1-benzyl-6-(4-aminobutyl) indane (PM3), that is, two kinds of 1,6-disubstituted indanes. In an in vitro assay, they showed almost the same antibacterial activities against the bacteria as pC9a, as well as that of magainin 2 analogs (i.e., the peptides MSI-78 and 87-ISM), except in the case of 87-ISM against S. aureus. At the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values, however, their killing rate of E. coli is actually quicker than pC9a. This indicates that an indane scaffold, used as a template to mimic a part of the alpha-helical structure of magainin 2, can accelerate the killing rate. At present, however, it is unknown whether either the hydrophobicity or the alpha-helical structure, or both, of the indane scaffold is involved in accelerating the rate. Moreover, these two indanes also showed stronger antibacterial activity against two strains of Helicobacter pylori (ATCC43526, ATCC43579) than either pC9a or magainin 2 related peptides.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗