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Biomedical subjects

K Fukumoto

Publications and source records attributed to K Fukumoto.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Carbohydrate antigenic determinant (CA 19-9) and other tumor markers in gastrointestinal malignancies.

The serum carbohydrate antigenic determinant (CA 19-9) was assayed in patients with various diseases, and it provides excellent sensitivity for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (25/27, 93%), while only 4% (2/54) of the patients with benign diseases and none of the 40 healthy subjects showed elevated CA 19-9 concentrations over 37 units/ml as upper normal value. Increased serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels over 2.5 ng/ml were observed in patients with pancreatic cancer (18/22, 82%), compared to 22% (12/54) of the patients with benign diseases and 10% (4/40) of the healthy subjects. 12 of the 19, 6 of the 19 and none of the 22 patients with pancreatic cancer exhibited high serum ferritin, beta 2-microglobulin, or alpha-fetoprotein levels, respectively. A significant difference in CA 19-9 was found between patients with pancreatic cancer and gastric cancer, other gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, other non-GI malignancies, benign digestive diseases or normal populations.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Analysis of guanase by agarose gel electrophoresis and activity staining.

A method was developed to separate guanase by agarose gel electrophoresis and to detect its activity by staining of the bands with a mixture of the enzymes xanthine oxidase, catalase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase, the coenzyme NADP+, and a substrate of guanine, ethanol, phenazine methosulfate, nitrotetrazolium blue, and KCN in Tris-(hydroxymethyl)methylamine buffer (pH 8.0). Serum samples showed bands 1 (faster moving) and 2 corresponding to the positions of albumin and alpha 2-globulin, respectively, found by serum protein staining. The same bands were detected with guanase from human liver and kidney, although band 2 from the latter samples was not as distinct as that from the liver samples.

Aldehyde Dehydrogenase↗

Simple, rapid determination of serum guanase activity with the Hitachi 736 automated discrete analyzer.

In this new method for determining serum guanase activity by use of the Hitachi 736-40 automated analyzer, serum is incubated with a mixture of xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase; a reagent containing KCN, guanine, nitrotetrazolium blue, and Triton X-100 is added; and the increase in absorbance at 570 and 660 nm is measured for 2.4 min. Only 20 microL of sample is required, and results are linearly related to the activity concentration of guanase up to 30 U/L. Within-run and day-to-day precision (CV) was respectively 2.6 to 4.2% and 3.5 to 5.5% over 0-30 U of guanase activity per liter. The normal reference interval, as calculated from data on 40 healthy persons, is 0.1 to 2.2 U/L. Results correlate well (r = 0.997) with those by a kinetic method (Clin Chem 27: 560, 1981). The guanase activity of 150 samples can be measured within 1 h by this method.

Adult↗

Clinical evaluation of serum guanase activity in liver diseases.

We measured serum guanase (EC 3.5.4.3) activity in patients with various diseases and in healthy controls, and evaluated the clinical usefulness of this enzyme in liver diseases. The reference range, which showed no significant difference between sexes and ages over the range studied, was 0 to 1.8 U/L. The mean guanase activities for patients with various liver diseases, including acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, hepatoma and metastatic carcinoma, were above the upper limit of the reference range. In acute hepatitis and metastatic carcinoma of the liver, the activities were especially high. Validity (sensitivity + specificity) of guanase, which in all tests was above 1.66, was compared to that of AST and ALT in liver diseases. With guanase, the highest validity (1.98) was found in acute hepatitis and metastatic carcinoma. Specificity of guanase was 0.98, whereas sensitivity of AST was 1.00 in all diseases. Sensitivity and specificity of ALT were 0.85 to 0.97 in all diseases. As guanase was specific, including this enzyme with other liver function tests, such as AST and ALT, may decrease false-positive results and may be effective for prediction of liver disease.

Adult↗

Guanine deaminase in serum as an indicator of survival probability in severe shock patients.

To find ways of predicting survival or death in cases of severe shock, arterial blood pH and gases, vital signs, and the half-life of activity in the enzymes guanine deaminase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), were studied in 24 patients. The mean arterial blood pH (+/- SD) in survivors was 7.325 +/- 0.092 while that in non-survivors was 7.108 +/- 0.251 (p less than 0.05). The mean half-life of guanine deaminase in survivors was 19.8 +/- 3.3 hours, while that in non-survivors was 58.6 +/- 11.8 hours (p less than 0.001). When the screening values were set at 7.190 for the arterial blood pH and 36 hours for the half-life of guanine deaminase activity, the 'validity' (sensitivity plus specificity) for the combination of the two tests was 1.88. The values may be useful for the prognosis of survival in severe shock patients.

Adolescent↗

Effect of lead on erythrocyte membranes.

The effect of blood lead on erythrocyte membrane proteins was studied in 28 workers from a scrap lead refining factory and in 18 controls working in railway construction. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of the polypeptides in the erythrocyte membrane showed that bands 3 and 4.1 had significantly decreased while bands 2.3, 6, and 7 had significantly increased in the lead workers compared with the controls. For the lead workers, the correlation coefficients between blood lead and bands 2.3 and 3 were r = 0.545 (p less than 0.01) and r = -0.51 (p less than 0.01) respectively. These results suggest that the decrease in erythrocyte membrane permeability results from a decrease in the membrane transfer protein responsible for band 3.

Adult↗

Alterations of lipids of the erythrocyte membranes in workers exposed to lead.

Changes in lipids (cholesterol and phospholipids) of the erythrocyte membrane were studied and several laboratory examinations were performed with 25 male workers employed in a scrap lead refining factory using as controls 38 male railway construction workers. The examinations included measurements of erythrocyte count, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), blood and urine lead concentrations, urine coproporphyrin and delta-aminolevulinic acid, membrane cholesterol (CHO) and phospholipids (PL), total and free CHO in plasma, and lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in plasma. The results were: 1) Membrane CHO (P less than 0.01) and CHO: PL ratio (P less than 0.05) of lead workers were higher than those of the controls. But no significant difference was observed in membrane PL between both groups. 2) Membrane phosphatidyl choline was higher (P less than 0.05) and lysophosphatidyl choline was lower (P less than 0.05) in lead workers compared with controls. But no significant difference was observed in membrane sphingomyelin, phosphatidyl serine, and phosphatidyl ethanolamine between both groups. 3) Free CHO in plasma was higher (P less than 0.05) in lead workers compared with controls. But no significant difference was observed in total CHO in plasma, erythrocyte count, hematocrit, MCV, and LCAT activity between both groups.

Adult↗