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Biomedical subjects

K Hirose

Publications and source records attributed to K Hirose.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Heterogeneity among human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines for inflammatory cytokines mRNA expression levels.

Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we confirmed the expression of interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) by the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line C15 without contribution of either human IL-1 beta or mouse IL-1 alpha in the biological activity previously found in C15. However we showed that IL-1 alpha was not expressed in all NPCs. IL-1 beta and/or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha genes could also be activated, independently from the number of Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) copies harbored by the cells. Interestingly, the primary tumor C15 showed a profile of TNF-sensitive tumor while C17, C18 and C19 which were derived from metastasis have a typical profile of TNF-resistant cells. Furthermore, the inflammatory cytokines whose genes are classically induced by IL-1 and TNF were found expressed only in C17 and C19 suggesting another level of heterogeneity among NPCs.

Animals

Independent protective effect of lactation against breast cancer: a case-control study in Japan.

A case-control study was carried out to assess the risk of breast cancer associated with breast feeding in Japan. The data were obtained in a hospital-based case-control study of 521 women with breast cancer and 521 controls from January 1988 to December 1989. Statistical adjustment for potential confounders as well as a likelihood ratio test for linear trend was done by unconditional logistic regression. Compared with parous women who had never breast-fed, women with a positive history of breast feeding had an odds ratio of breast cancer of 0.62 (95% confidence interval 0.37-1.04). The trend of decreasing risk with increasing average months of breast feeding was statistically significant (chi 2 trend = 4.5, p less than 0.05), while it was was nonsignificant for the number of breast-fed children borne. Among premenopausal women, a significant linear relation with a log-transformed term of average months of breast feeding was noted, regardless of the age of the woman at first full-term pregnancy and parity (chi 2 trend = 5.3, p less than 0.05). The risk was the lowest among premenopausal women who had ever lactated for 7-9 months (adjusted odds ratio = 0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.97). These findings suggest that lactation has an independent protective effect against breast cancer in Japanese women.

Adult

Three types of binding by Porphyromonas gingivalis and oral bacteria to fibronectin, buccal epithelial cells and erythrocytes.

This study showed that the interaction of oral bacteria with fibronectin differed with the type of organism examined. Significant binding of fibronectin was found with Porphyromonas gingivalis non-fimbriated (F-) strain in comparison with the fimbriated strain (F+). However, the F+ strain adhered to buccal epithelial cells in significantly larger numbers than the F- strain. Fibronectin binding and epithelial cell adherence were not associated with haemagglutinating activity. These assays clearly define at least three distinct types of binding by oral bacteria: to fibronectin, buccal epithelial cells and erythrocytes.

Adhesins, Bacterial

Surface electromyographic study of idiopathic cranial dystonia focused on the orbicularis oculi muscles.

We studied 115 Japanese patients with idiopathic cranial dystonia (Meige disease), using surface electromyography (EMG) focused on the orbicularis oculi muscles to classify the findings of the abnormal involuntary movements of this disease and to evaluate the pathophysiology of blepharospasm (BS). Surface EMGs at rest and at voluntary eyelid opening after eyelid closing were investigated. We found 62 (53.9%) patients exhibiting the overblinking type, 37 (32.2%) the tonic BS type, and 16 (13.9%) the normal type of behavior, considering the frequency of spontaneous blinking and presence of spasms. The present results suggest that BS is not a summation of blinking but a spatial and temporal extension of the orbicularis oculi muscle activity engaging in blinking, and the classification of the present study can support the investigation of the temporal characteristics of patients with this disease.

Blepharospasm

Immunological characterization of protective antigens prepared by alkaline treatment of whole cells and from the culture filtrate of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae.

Culture filtrate and alkaline-extracted antigens from whole cells of an attenuated strain of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (strain Koganei: serovar 1a) were fractionated with ammonium sulfate; both induced protective immunity in mice. Sephadex G-200 gel filtration revealed three protein fractions in the alkaline-extracted antigen and four protein fractions in the culture filtrate antigen. A fraction in the alkaline extract (NaOH P-2) and in the culture filtrate (CF P-2) induced protection in mice against challenge with a different serovar strain (strain Agata: serovar 5). Anti-NaOH P-2 and anti-CF P-2 mouse sera were protective against different serovars. Glycoprotein fraction derived from CF P-2 antigen by affinity chromatography with Con A-Sepharose 4B did not show protective activity. Western blotting between the antisera (anti-NaOH P-2, Anti-CF P-2 and anti-Koganei strain) and the antigens (NaOH P-2, and sonicated antigens of Agata, Fujisawa and Koganei strains) showed strong recognition of the same bands at 62, 42 and 41 kDa.

Ammonium Sulfate

Rounded atelectasis with pleuritis: diagnosis and surgical treatment.

A 73-year-old male was admitted with a large rounded atelectasis with pleural effusion. The involved lung was refilled with air as soon as surgical decortication of the thickened visceral pleura covering it was performed. Surgical treatment is believed to be necessary when a large rounded atelectasis with pleural effusion persists for a long time, or when malignancy is not completely excluded.

Aged

Menopause related changes of adrenocortical steroid production.

To elucidate changes of adrenocortical steroid production with age, reproductive age (n = 14), peri-menopausal (n = 12) and post-menopausal (n = 13) women were studied using basal hormone levels and the results of a rapid ACTH stimulation test. Peripheral serum levels of pregnenolone, 17 alpha-hydroxypregnenolone, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione were measured by RIA. The basal levels of all steroids except pregnenolone decreased with age. A significant increase in the levels of all steroids after ACTH stimulation was observed in all subjects. Although, there was an age related decrease in the response of C19-steroids to ACTH, the response of pregnenolone and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone to ACTH did not alter with age. The preserved response of 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone to ACTH in post-menopausal women suggests that 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone production plays a role in the age independency of cortisol. In the present paper, the changes in the capacity of the post-menopausal adrenal cortex to produce androgens and C21-steroids were demonstrated.

17-alpha-Hydroxypregnenolone

[An epidemiological evaluation of the efficacy of mass screening for uterine cancer in Japan. The relationship between coverage rate of mass screening and reduction in death rate from uterine cancer].

To evaluate the efficacy of mass screening for uterine cancer, the relationship between the coverage rate of mass screening and the reduction in mortality rate from uterine cancer was analyzed. The percent change in the AADR (Age-adjusted death rate) from 1979-1983 to 1984-1988 were compared between the high coverage rate areas and the control areas with relatively lower coverage rates, and among the high coverage rate areas with varied coverage rates. The main results were: (a) the decreases of AADR from uterine cancer were greater in three groups of high coverage rate areas than in control areas with low coverage rates. (b) Among three groups of high coverage rate areas with variation in coverage rates (> or = 20%, > or = 30%, > or = 40%), the higher the coverage rate was, the greater was the percent reduction (-45.9%, -52.3%, -63.5%) of AADR. These results suggest that systematic mass screening may be effective in reducing mortality from uterine cancer.

Adult

Cloning and overproduction of biodegradative threonine deaminase from Escherichia coli W strain.

We have cloned the structural gene (tdcB) of biodegradative threonine deaminase from Escherichia coli W strain by utilizing the polymerase chain reaction. The JM109/pUCTDA strain, which was obtained by transforming E. coli JM109 with a vector plasmid (pUCTDA) containing the cloned tdcB gene, produced a large amount of the enzyme corresponding to more than 5% of the total soluble protein. Amino acid sequence analysis of this recombinant enzyme showed that the amino acid sequence is identical to the nucleotide-deduced sequence of biodegradative threonine deaminase from E. coli K-12.

Amino Acid Sequence

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism with recurrent polyneuropathy: an autopsy report with special reference to the peripheral nervous system.

The clinical and pathological findings of a 21-year-old girl suffering from pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (PPHP) with relapsing neuropathy are described. Episodic exacerbations were accompanied by intracranial hypertension and were relieved by the administration of corticosteroids. At autopsy, pathologic changes were almost restricted to the peripheral axons and showed distal dominant depletion of myelinated fibers without any active myelin breakdown or inflammatory changes. The neuropathy is thought to be similar to chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP); however, the relationship, if any, between PPHP and CIDP is unknown.

Adult

Conformations of crossbridges in contracting skeletal muscle.

Conformations of crossbridges during isometric contraction were observed and compared with those in rigor state. Rabbit skeletal muscle fibers were chemically skinned, rapidly frozen during isometric contraction or in the rigor state, then freeze-substituted. Longitudinal and cross sections were observed. Crossbridges in contracting fibers are arranged on the thin filament, retaining a periodicity of approximately 14.3 nm with some variability, while crossbridges in rigor fibers tend to attach to actin target zones which have a periodicity of approximately 36 nm. Rigor crossbridges are wide near the thin filament; crossbridges in contracting fibers are thinner and have more uniform width from the proximal region to the distal region. The majority of the mass of the crossbridges during contraction is not as close to the thin filament as in rigor fibers. Shapes of crossbridges during contraction are variable, especially when viewed along the filament axis.

Actin Cytoskeleton

Genotoxicity and cell proliferative activity of omeprazole in rat stomach mucosa.

Induction of unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) as a marker of genotoxicity and induction of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity as a marker of cell proliferative activity by omeprazole were determined in the glandular stomach mucosa of male F344 rats after oral administration. Commercial enteric-coated omeprazole (Losec) at doses of 30 and 100 mg/kg body weight induced a dose-dependent increase in UDS but not replicative DNA synthesis in the pyloric mucosa of rat stomach 4 h after its administration. Dose-dependent significant induction of ODC activity was observed in fundic and pyloric mucosa with a maximum 8 h after administration of omeprazole at doses of 37.5-100 mg/kg body weight. These results show that omeprazole has genotoxicity and cell proliferative activity in the rat glandular stomach mucosa.

Administration, Oral