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Biomedical subjects

K Fukao

Publications and source records attributed to K Fukao.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Urine plasmin-like substances as an index of kidney allograft rejections.

Using solid state radioimmunoassays developed by the first author, changes in the urine level of plasmin-like substances (PLS) and fibrin degradation products (FDP) before and after human kidney transplantation were determined in 49 transplant patients. Averages of urine PLS and FDP in a normal population of 51 persons were 0.13+/-0.10 (SD) and 0.14+/-0.07 microng/ml, respectively. In all transplant patients there was an initial rise of both PLS and FDP in urine immediately after transplantation. This elevation peaked on days 4 and 5 and the PLS and FDP levels returned to normal range within 2 weeks in patients without evidence of rejeciton. A secondary rise of urine PLS was detected before or with a rise in serum creatinine in all of the patients experiencing rejections. Of 11 patients who showed a rejection episode within 2 weeks of transplantation, the secondary rise of urine PLS was detectable in 55% of the patients slightly before the serum creatinine level changes; of 6 patients with a rejection episode more than 2 weeks after transplantation, 100% showed a secondary PLS rise 6.7+/-2.3 (SE) days before the serum creatinine increased. The appearance of the secondary rise of urine FDP in the rejecting recipients was slightly later than the rise of PLS. Serial determination of urine PLS levels following human kidney transplantation appears to be an early index of rejections which occurs more than 2 weeks after transplantation, although the clinical usefulness of this measurement is probably limited.

Creatinine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Transjugular retrograde obliteration for gastric varices.

We evaluated the transjugular retrograde obliteration (TJO) in treatment of gastric varices with gastrorenal shunt. Twenty patients with posthepatitic cirrhosis were included in this study. A cobra-shaped 5 French occlusive balloon catheter was inserted into the gastric varices or gastrorenal shunt through the internal jugular vein. As the sclerosants, absolute ethanol and 5% ethanolamine oleate with iopamidol were injected into the varices to make thrombi. In all cases, gastric varices were obliterated successfully. Endoscopic examination 3 months after treatment revealed the complete eradication of gastric varices in all cases. No major complications during or after therapy were observed. We think that TJO can be an effective method for the treatment of gastric varices with gastrorenal shunt.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Control of proinsulin production by sense-anti-sense regulation in response to glucocorticoids.

One difficulty involved in gene therapy for diabetes is a control of proinsulin production by the cells transfected with insulin cDNA. The introduction of a feedback mechanism to control the expression of the introduced gene based on the host's need for insulin is one possible treatment approach. To control proinsulin production at a transcriptional level, we introduced a glucocorticoid responsive promoter in the 3' region of insulin cDNA in reverse orientation (pBCMGS-neo-Ins-invMMTV) so that antisense insulin mRNA is produced in response to glucocorticoids. When fibroblasts transfected with pBCMGS-neo-Ins-invMMTV were cultured with 1 x 10(-5) M dexamethasone, two of nine clones showed a 10-20% reduction in proinsulin production. On the other hand, all clones of the cells transfected with a control vector containing human insulin cDNA (pBCMGS-neo-Ins) showed an 20-80% increase of proinsulin production when cultured with dexamethazone because of the increase of protein synthesis by glucocorticoids. These data indicated that antisense insulin mRNA effectively suppressed the transcription of insulin cDNA in response to glucocorticoids. This sense-antisense regulation system may make it feasible to induce a feedback mechanism to control proinsulin based on the blood glucose concentration.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Trimethadione tolerance test for the quantitative assessment of liver function in rats.

The quantitative estimation of the hepatic functional volume in rats was attempted using the serum dimethadione (DMO)/trimethadione (TMO) ratio in a single blood sampling after oral administration of TMO, which we call the TMO tolerance test, in order to develop a means of pre-operatively assessing hepatic resectability. Serum DMO/TMO ratios correlated well with the total amount of the hepatic microsomal TMO-N-demethylase activity (enzyme activity) and with the remnant liver weight after 37% and 68% partial hepatectomy. These ratios increased after partial hepatectomy in parallel with the changes in the enzyme activity and the remnant liver weight. The results suggest that the quantitative functional changes of the remnant liver after hepatectomy in both CCl4-treated and untreated rats can be estimated pre-operatively by the TMO tolerance test.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Trimethadione tolerance tests for the assessment of feasible size of hepatic resection in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Pre-operative evaluation of the quantity of functional remnant hepatic parenchyma after hepatectomy was carried out to predict the optimal amount of hepatic resection using the trimethadione (TMO) tolerance test. This test is an estimate based on serum diamethadione (DMO)/TMO ratio (DMO is the only metabolite of TMO) 4 h after oral administration of TMO, and computed tomography (CT) scans of the liver in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The percentage of remnant hepatic parenchyma was calculated pre-operatively from the remaining non-cancerous portion and the whole hepatic parenchyma, excluding the HCC portion, using the CT scans. Presumptive remnant DMO/TMO ratio was calculated by multiplying the percentage of remnant hepatic parenchyma and pre-operative serum DMO/TMO ratio in 45 patients with HCC undergoing resection. The presumptive remnant DMO/TMO ratios were 0.31 +/- 0.10 (mean +/- s.d.) in 42 patients who survived hepatectomy and 0.13 +/- 0.02 (below 0.15) in the three patients who died from postoperative hepatic failure. Of these surviving patients, two patients who had the presumptive remnant DMO/TMO ratios under 0.15 developed postoperative severe complications. Thus, hepatectomy may not be indicated in patients where presumptive remnant DMO/TMO ratio is 0.15 and lower. These findings suggest that pre-operative measurement of presumptive remnant DMO/TMO ratio, when obtained with the CT of the liver and TMO tolerance test, is useful for prediction of the quantity of functional remnant hepatic parenchyma after hepatectomy in patients with chronic liver disease.

Adult↗