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Biomedical subjects

K Harada

Publications and source records attributed to K Harada.

At least 721 records · Page 40Linked to original sources

[Emotional condition in alcohol withdrawal acute psychosis].

It is widely known that the acute psychotic states in alcohol withdrawal period, especially delirium tremens and acute hallucinosis, are often accompanied by intense anxiety and fear. On the other hand it is also noted that the emotional condition in delirium tremens is characterized with "Galgenhumor", namely the feeling of mixture of anxiety and euphoria. Fifty-nine patients with alcohol withdrawal acute psychosis, who admitted in Serigaya Hospital, Kanagawa Prefectural Center of Psychiatry, during the period August 1991-January 1993, were investigated clinically in focusing on the emotional condition. The emotional condition has been grasped in following four categories. 1. Moderate to intense anxiety, at least once during the course of withdrawal psychotic state: The patient shows manifest anxiety and irritability on his expression or behaviour and he complains his feeling of fear. 2. Only slight anxiety: The patient affirms his inner anxiety and fear, if he is asked. He is sometimes slightly restless but spends the time in the single room without any trouble. 3. No anxiety throughout the course of acute psychotic state. 4. Euphoric mood in the foreground, included cases which have slight anxiety together sometimes. Of 59 cases 6 belonged to the moderate and intense anxiety-group, 23 cases to the slight anxiety-group, 24 cases to the no anxiety-group and 6 to the euphoric-group. This result indicates that anxiety in the alcohol withdrawal acute psychosis may be fewer in frequency and lighter in intensity in comparison with the past reports. The material is divided into two groups, delirium tremens and acute hallucinosis, with regard to the confusion of thinking and behaviour.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acute Disease↗

[Peduncular hallucination in brain stem cavernous angioma: a case report].

A case of brain stem cavernous angioma associated with peduncular hallucination is reported. A 68-year-old man was admitted with complaints of left sensory disturbance. On the evening of the first hospital day, he developed vividly formed hallucinations. The hallucinations were accompanied by sleep disturbance and agitation. At approximately 2:00 am, he began to feel as though he could see his daughter watching television in a room. At one point he saw vivid pictures. MRI revealed a round mass with a mixed signal intensity core surrounded by a low signal intensity rim in the right brain stem. On the 10th hospital day, there were no hallucinations. On October 12th suboccipital craniectomy was performed and cavernous angioma and the surrounding hematoma was partially removed. Soon after that the patient was discharged with improvement of both ocular movement and left-sided sensory disturbance.

Aged↗

[Effective dose of flecainide for arrhythmia in children].

Nine children with arrhythmia (1 automatic atrial tachycardia, 1 premature ventricular construction, and 7 ventricular tachycardia) who started oral treatment using flecainide were studied. All but 2 cases (1 post operative ventricular septal defect, 1 post operative tetralogy of Fallot) had ostensibly normal heart on physical examination, chest X ray and echocardiogram. To raise serum level above 200ng/ml, flecainide dose over 80mg/m2 or 3mg/kg was needed. There was negative correlation between dose (y: mg/kg) and age (x: year) (y = 5.2-0.16x, r = 0.88) in this group. No serious side effect indicating the need to discontinue further medication was detected. In electrocardiogram, PR, QRS and QT interval was not changed before or after the medication. Premature ventricular contraction disappeared in 2 of 8 cases (25%), decreased in number in 3 (38%), did not change in 1 (13%) and increased in number in 2 (25%). However ventricular tachycardia rate decreased or disappeared in all of the 5 cases whose ventricular tachycardia was detected in Holter electrocardiogram. Flecainide seems more effective for sustained ventricular tachycardia than for nonsustained ventricular tachycardia.

Administration, Oral↗

[The mechanism of pleural liquid transudation and absorption following a new hypothesis].

We have put forward a hypothesis that the pleural fluid is filtered at the arterial ends of the pleural blood capillaries and is absorbed mainly at the venous ends, partly at the lymphatic channels, as it is in the other tissues. Then we have calculated the pleural liquid pressure following the Starling equation applying the ordinary value of factors. The result is that the calculated pleural liquid pressure is low enough to expand the lung.

Capillaries↗

[A girl presenting clinical course and neuroimagings on MRI compatible with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease].

A 5-year-old girl who showed congenital nystagmus and mental and motor developmental delay, is described. Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) revealed wave I at normal latency, but all of the following waves were absent. In T2-weighted images, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated diffuse high intensity area of cerebral white matter, suggesting extensive dysmyelination or demyelination. She has not shown any deterioration through her clinical course. Subsequent MRI examinations did not demonstrate a progressive disorder. These findings suggest the possibility of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher (P-M) disease in this patient, which is a rare form of sudanophilic leukodystrophy, transmitted by an X-linked recessive mutant gene. It is reported that the proteolipid protein, one of the major proteins of myelin, was absent in classical type P-M disease, resulting in dysmyelination. Because chromosomal study showed the normal female karyotype and no family history of a similar disease was found in this case, it might be different from classical P-M disease. Since P-M disease may be heterogeneous, more detailed chromosomal analysis in each case of congenital hypomyelination will give a clue to clarify the pathogenesis of P-M disease and other disorders showing failure in myelination.

Child, Preschool↗

[Effect of rapid mannitol infusion on middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity and pulsatility index--a transcranial Doppler ultrasonography study in monkeys].

Hemodynamic changes immediately after the administration of mannitol were investigated in monkeys (Macaca Fuscata) using transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TC2-64) and were compared with those after CO2 loading. The CO2 loading group was hyperventilated to an end-tidal PCO2 of 36.5 +/- 2.21 and hypoventilated to an end-tidal PCO2 of 46.3 +/- 2.69. Mean flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery (MCA-FV), Pulsatility index (PI) and blood flow in the internal carotid artery (IC-BF) studies were performed twice before and after hypercapnea. In the Mannitol group, Mannitol (2 g/kg) was infused at a rate 20 to 30 ml/min. MCA-FV, PI, IC-BF and intracranial pressure (ICP) studies were performed twice before administration and 10 minutes after administration of Mannitol. In the Mannitol group (n = 8), MCA-FV and IC-BF and ICP increased significantly after administration of Mannitol (p < 0.005, p < 0.005, p < 0.025), but there was no significant difference in the PI. In the CO2 loading group (n = 15), MCA-FV and IC-BF increased significantly (both p < 0.005) and PI decreased significantly (p < 0.005). These results indicated that, in the presence of normal autoregulation without intracranial hypertension, there was no change in the resistance of the peripheral cerebral vessels, while a decrease in viscosity after administration of Mannitol caused an increase in cerebral blood flow. Hence, according to Poiseuille's law, peripheral vasoconstriction occurred in the early period after administration of Mannitol. This change was considered to be due to autoregulation of the cerebral vessels.

Animals↗

Correlative study of behavior and synaptic events during halothane anesthesia in the lamprey.

Behavioral anesthetic effects of halothane were compared with neurophysiological data obtained from monosynaptically coupled, single axon-giant neuron pairs in the isolated central nervous system of the lamprey in vitro. Based on the assumption that the number of halothane molecules at the site of anesthetic action is determined by molar concentration of the bath, depths of anesthesia were characterized in terms of synaptic events. The concentration producing anesthesia in 50% (AC50) and 95% (AC95) of the animals were 0.32 and 0.51 mM, respectively. With these concentrations, the depression of glutamate (GLUT)-mediated synaptic excitation remained less than 50%. Maximum suppression of the excitatory synaptic transmission was observed in the presence of 1.7 mM halothane which would be equivalent to the inhalation of 5.5% of this agent at 37 degrees C. At these concentrations, postsynaptic membranes did not respond to the bath-applied GLUT agonists. The decrease of agonist-induced responses to almost the same extent as excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) amplitudes in the presence of halothane argues against a presynaptic mechanism affecting transmitter release. Persistent voltage-gated Na+ channel function at concentrations less than 2.4 mM is evidence against the involvement of this mechanism at these levels of anesthesia. The present results suggest that with depths between AC50 and AC95, anesthesia is associated with a partial reduction of sensitivity of the postsynaptic membrane to the excitatory amino acid transmitters.

Anesthesia, Inhalation↗

[Study on three patients with malignant glioma showing tumor reduction during maintenance therapy with MCNU].

Tumor regression occurred in three of 19 patients (15.8%) with malignant glioma during maintenance therapy using MCNU. In two patients, the tumor reduced 5 and 8 months after the initial treatment, respectively. In the remaining patient, though the maintenance therapy was interrupted for a while and consequently the tumor size increased, readministration of MCNU reduced the tumor size two months later. Therefore, since the antitumor activity of MCNU against malignant glioma seems to require a certain time depending on the case, it is recommended that MCNU be given as maintenance therapy for at least half a year.

Adult↗

Effects of ouabain on muscle tension and intracellular Ca2+ level in guinea-pig aorta.

The effects of ouabain on muscle tension and the intracellular Ca2+ level ([Ca2+]i) were examined in guinea-pig aorta loaded with fura-2. Ouabain caused a gradual and sustained increase in both [Ca2+]i and muscle tension. There was a positive correlation between these two parameters. In Ca(2+)-free solution, ouabain did not affect either [Ca2+]i or muscle tension, suggesting that the ouabain-induced increase in [Ca2+]i was not due to Ca2+ release from storage sites. The ouabain-induced increase in [Ca2+]i and muscle tension was inhibited by Ni2+, which inhibits the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, but not by verapamil. Furthermore, anionic and cationic amphiphiles were used as modulators of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. Sodium dodecyl sulfate accelerated the responses to ouabain, whereas dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide inhibited them. These results suggest that in the guinea-pig aorta, ouabain induces contraction by increasing the Ca2+ influx through the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger on the plasma membrane, but not through verapamil-sensitive Ca2+ channels.

Animals↗

One-step generation of cytoplasmic male sterility by fusion of mitochondrial-inactivated tomato protoplasts with nuclear-inactivated Solanum protoplasts.

Mesophyll protoplasts of Lycopersicon esculentum were treated with iodoacetamide to inactivate mitochondria, and protoplasts of Solanum acaule and Solanum tuberosum were irradiated with gamma- or x-rays to inactivate nuclei. Mixtures of protoplasts thus modified were treated with Ca2+ and polyethylene glycol to obtain heterologous fusion products. Among the fusion products were some tomato plants that were indistinguishable from the original cultivars with respect to morphology, physiology, and chromosome number (2N = 24) but exhibited various degrees of male sterility (MS): complete lack or malformation of anthers, shrunken pollen, and normal-looking stainable pollen that could not germinate. The MS thus induced in five cultivars of different growth types, including one of subspecies L. esculentum cerasiforme, was inherited maternally over several generations and is, therefore, cytoplasmically determined MS (CMS). Analysis of mitochondrial DNA revealed that the mitochondrial genome of the CMS hybrids does not contain all elements of the mitochondrial DNA of either parent but includes sequences of a recombinational nature not present in either parent. The CMS hybrids, therefore, possess a true hybrid mitochondrial genome. The same procedure applied to fusion of tomato with Solanum lycopersicoides and Nicotiana tabacum cells did not produce CMS phenotypes. The advantages of this method over others for generating MS are as follows: (i) only one step is required; (ii) the nuclear genotype of the cultivar is unaffected; (iii) the prospect that cytoplasmic determination allows generation of 100% CMS progenies. The normal-appearing but nonfunctional pollen of certain CMS types might render them attractive to pollinating bumblebees that thus would facilitate production of hybrid seed.

Journal Article↗

Rapid analysis of human serum albumin by high-performance liquid chromatography.

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of human serum albumin, using a column containing quaternized dimethyl-aminomethylstyrene-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, was performed by isocratic elution. This column afforded resolution of albumin components, such as human mercaptalbumin and human nonmercaptalbumin. The method is an alternative to gradient chromatography, and allows rapid determination of the albumin components.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Platelet-derived growth factor induces c-fms and scavenger receptor genes in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Vascular smooth muscle cells proliferate and transform to foam cells in the process of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we demonstrated that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB induced expression of proto-oncogene c-fms in vascular smooth muscle cells, which normally do not express c-fms, isolated from either human umbilical artery or rabbit aorta. No effect of the protein kinase C activator, phorbol ester, was demonstrated on mRNA expression of c-fms. In contrast, the scavenger receptor activity was induced by both PDGF-BB and phorbol ester. These results indicate that two characteristic genes of monocyte-macrophages were induced by PDGF-BB via the different pathways, and suggest that PDGF-BB plays an important role in initiating phenotypic conversion of smooth muscle cells to macrophage-like cells.

Animals↗

Effect of chronic pre- and post-natal low-dose ethanol exposure on brain enolase isoenzyme activities.

Sprague-Dawley dams were treated with 3 v/v % ethanol in liquid diet from the 8th day gestation through 3 weeks nursing period. Offsprings, ages 1, 2 and 3 weeks, and their dams were studied. Brain weights and their total proteins were not affected by this ethanol treatment. Total enolase activity/mg protein and its isoenzymes, i.e. non-neuron-specific, hybrid and neuron-specific, (mumol/min/mg protein) in 100,000 g supernate, were significantly lower in the treated. Additionally, enolase isoenzyme transformation was delayed.

Animals↗