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Biomedical subjects

K Kubota

Publications and source records attributed to K Kubota.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Isolation of novel glucosides related to gingerdiol from ginger and their antioxidative activities.

Two novel glucosides of 6-gingerdiol were isolated from fresh ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe). Their structures were determined as 1-(4-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-3-methoxyphenyl)-3,5-dihydroxydecane (1) and 5-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-3-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)deca ne (2) by HRFAB-MS and NMR analyses, and the absolute configurations of both aglycons were identified as (3S,5S) by a comparison with synthetic compounds. After incubating these glucosides with acetone powder prepared from fresh ginger, they were confirmed to have been hydrolyzed to 6-gingerdiol by HPLC. This result suggests that these glucosides are the precursors or intermediates of 6-gingerdiol. To recognize their function, their antioxidative activities were investigated and compared to that of their aglycon, 6-gingerdiol, by a linoleic acid model system and by their DPPH radical-scavenging ability. Although 1 did not indicate any activity, 2 had as strong activity as the aglycon in both measurements.

Acetone↗
PubMed2000

Phase II study of concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy for unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer: long-term follow-up results. Japan Clinical Oncology Group Protocol 8902.

BACKGROUND: Although chemoradiotherapy is standard treatment for unresectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), few long-term survival data exist. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between October 1989 and December 1991, 74 patients with histologically or cytologically proven NSCLC, unresectable stage IIIA or IIIB, were entered into this study. Seventy patients were eligible and evaluable for response, toxicity, and survival analysis. Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin (100 mg/m2 on days 1, 29, and 57) and vindesine (3 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 29, 36, 57, and 64). Thoracic radiotherapy was administered for two weeks (2 Gy given 10 times, five fractions per week), and after a 14-day rest period, the previous schedule of radiotherapy was repeated for two weeks. A 10-Gy to 20-Gy dose of radiotherapy was administered during the third cycle of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Of the 70 evaluable patients, 1 (1.4%) had a complete response (CR) and 51 (72.9%) had a partial response (PR). The median survival time was 14.8 months, and the five-year survival rate was 14.8%. The major toxicity was leukopenia (> or = grade 3, 93%). Other toxicities > or = grade 3 included anemia (34%), nausea/vomiting (27%), alopecia (7%), thrombocytopenia (4%), and serum creatinine elevation (1%). Treatment related death occurred in two patients (2.8%). One patient died of pneumonia and pneumothorax, and the other of hemoptysis. CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy has the potential to provide long-term survival with acceptable toxicities.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Successful hepatic vein reconstruction in 42 consecutive living related liver transplantations.

BACKGROUND: In living related liver transplantation (LRLT), reconstruction of the hepatic vein (HV) by end-to-end anastomosis has been reported to be associated with acute or late outflow block. METHODS: We reviewed 42 patients who underwent LRLT from January 1996 to September 1998. RESULTS: In 7 (27%) of the 26 donor grafts obtained from left lateral segmentectomy or extended lateral segmentectomy and in 9 (56%) of the 16 grafts obtained from left lobectomy, venoplasty was required. In the remaining 26 grafts, 1-orifice left HV was obtained. In addition to the division of the duct of Arantius, the left inferior phrenic vein was divided routinely in 16 patients, which contributed to reducing the venoplasty rate from 46% to 25% (P =.1704). In all 42 patients, HV was reconstructed successfully by end-to-end anastomosis. The median ratio of the diameter of the recipient's HV to that of the graft's HV was 1.2 (range, 0.8-2.1). The grafts were fixed to the abdominal wall by using the falciform and round ligaments at a site where Doppler ultrasound showed sufficient flow in the respective vessels. Three patients developed late-onset HV obstruction and required balloon dilatation either by means of a venous route or a transhepatic route: 1 patient received a new liver on the 232nd postoperative day, 1 patient died of sepsis without outflow block, and the last patient is doing well. CONCLUSIONS: In LRLT, the division of the duct of Arantius and the left inferior phrenic vein followed by extensive clamping of the common trunk contributed to obtaining a 1-orifice HV. This facilitates anastomosis of the HVs of the grafts to the recipients' HVs, and fixation of the grafts by using the falciform and round ligaments prevents rotation of the grafts and subsequent acute outflow block.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

CT-assisted transbronchial brachytherapy for small peripheral lung cancer.

Transbronchial brachytherapy for small peripheral lung cancer was developed with the use of the CT-guided bronchoscopy technique. Under CT guidance, an applicator carrying a dummy source was introduced into a lesion and stabilized. A radioactive source was then delivered through the applicator using a high dose rate remote afterloading system. For multiple radiation fractions, a marker was placed immediately under the pleura in a peripheral bronchus penetrating the lesion using the CT-guided barium marking technique. During brachytherapy, an applicator with a dummy source was inserted under fluoroscopic guidance up to the marker. A radioactive source was subsequently delivered. CT-assisted transbronchial brachytherapy allows radiation to be delivered from inside a lesion. This minimizes radiation damage to noncancerous tissue and offers distinct advantages over conventional radiation techniques.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2000

Platinum-based chemotherapy with or without thoracic radiation therapy in patients with unresectable thymic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Thymic carcinoma is a rare mediastinal neoplasm with poor prognosis. Although the clinical benefit of chemotherapy for thymic carcinoma is controversial, cisplatin-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy is ordinarily adopted in advanced cases. We evaluated the clinical outcome of platinum-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy in unresectable thymic carcinoma patients. METHODS: Ten patients with unresectable thymic carcinoma were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy in the National Cancer Center Hospital between 1989 and 1998. We reviewed the histological type, treatment, response and survival of these patients. RESULTS: Four of the 10 patients responded to chemotherapy and both the median progression-free survival period and the median response duration were 6.0 months. The median survival time was 11.0 months. There was no relationship between histological classification and prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Platinum-based chemotherapy with or without thoracic radiation is, regardless of tumor histology, marginally effective in advanced thymic carcinoma patients, giving only a modest tumor response rate and short response duration and survival.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

DNA binding properties of DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) analogs having an imidazoline ring or a tetrahydropyrimidine ring: groove-binding and intercalation.

DAPI analogs containing an imidazoline ring or a tetrahydropyrimidine ring have been synthesized to study DNA binding properties. Spectroscopic (absorption, CD, flow dichroism and fluorescence) and viscosity measurements indicate that DAPI analogs interact with DNA both by intercalation and by groove binding. The solution structures of complexes between DAPI analog and DNA oligomers have been characterized by proton NMR spectroscopy.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

EGF receptor attenuates Dpp signaling and helps to distinguish the wing and leg cell fates in Drosophila.

Wing and leg precursors of Drosophila are recruited from a common pool of ectodermal cells expressing the homeobox gene Dll. Induction by Dpp promotes this cell fate decision toward the wing and proximal leg. We report here that the receptor tyrosine kinase EGFR antagonizes the wing-promoting function of Dpp and allows recruitment of leg precursor cells from uncommitted ectodermal cells. By monitoring the spatial distribution of cells responding to Dpp and EGFR, we show that nuclear transduction of the two signals peaks at different position along the dorsoventral axis when the fates of wing and leg discs are specified and that the balance of the two signals assessed within the nucleus determines the number of cells recruited to the wing. Differential activation of the two signals and the cross talk between them critically affect this cell fate choice.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Causes of late mortality in patients with disabling intermittent claudication.

The long-term prognosis of patients suffering from intermittent ischemic claudication is reportedly worse than that of the normal population. The outcome of patients with ischemic claudication admitted to hospital was reviewed retrospectively to identify the causes of late death. The cumulative survival rates for patients with claudication were 94.6% at 1 year, 79.4% at 3 years, 67.3% at 5 years and 37.4% at 10 years. The 3 major causes of death, that is, ischemic heart disease, malignancy, and cerebrovascular accident, were equally common. The younger patients tended to die of ischemic heart disease, whereas the older patients died of cerebrovascular accidents. Malignancies caused a similar number of late deaths in all age groups. These results suggest that specific care should be given to patients with intermittent claudication based on the age-related causes of death.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed2000

[Analgesic test using neonatal rat: quantification of algesic substance-induced body movement].

A novel analgesic test using neonatal rats was developed. In neonatal rats, body movement was induced by bolus, subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of algesic substances. The body movement was quantified by using a device composed of an audio speaker as a detector. Capsaicin, injected s.c., induced the body movement including scratching and struggling responses. The response peaked at 0-1 min and then decayed during the next 1-3 min. Furthermore, this method also detected that the magnitude of the response increased dose-dependently up to the maximum dose of 3000 ng. Endogenous algesic substances such as bradykinin, serotonin and histamine induced responses similar to those induced by capsaicin. Exogenous algesic substances such as formalin and acetic acid evoked more prolonged responses than those induced by capsaicin and endogenous substances. The effects of drugs on the capsaicin-induced response were examined in the following experiments. Opioid analgesics, morphine, buprenorphine and pentazocine, inhibited the response. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indomethacin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, did not exert any effect on the response. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indomethacin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, did not exert any effect on the response. Neither the sedative diazepam nor the sedative chlorpromazine inhibited the response. It is concluded that this method is useful to quantify the body movement induced by noxious stimulation and is suitable for screening centrally acting analgesics with mu-opioid receptor agonist activity.

Analgesics, Opioid↗
PubMed2000

Overproduction of microbial transglutaminase in Escherichia coli, in vitro refolding, and characterization of the refolded form.

(MTG) The Streptoverticillium transglutaminase gene, synthesized previously for yeast expression, was modified and resynthesized for overexpression in E. coli. A high-level expression plasmid, pUCTRPMTG-02(+), was constructed. Furthermore, to eliminate the N-terminal methionine, pUCTRPMTGD2 was constructed. Cultivation of E. coli transformed with pUCTRPMTG02(+) or pUCTRPMTGD2 yielded a large amount of MTG (200-300 mg/liter) as insoluble inclusion bodies. The N-terminal amino acid residue of the expressed protein was methionine or serine (the second amino acid residue of the mature MTG sequence), respectively. Transformed E. coli cells were disrupted, and collected pellets of inclusion bodies were solubilized with 8 M urea. Rapid dilution treatment of solubilized MTG restored the enzymatic activity. Refolded MTG, purified by ion-exchange chromatography, which had an N-terminal methionine or serine residue, showed activity equivalent to that of native MTG. These results indicated that recombinant MTG could be produced efficiently in E. coli.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Purification and characterization of novel transglutaminase from Bacillus subtilis spores.

Transglutaminase activity was detected in suspensions of purified spores prepared from lysozyme-treated sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis AJ 1307. The enzyme was easily solubilized from the spores upon incubation at pH 10.5 at 37 degrees C. The transglutaminase activity was separated into two fractions upon purification by hydrophobic interaction chromatography (TG1 and TG2). Each enzyme was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity (about 1,000-fold). Both enzymes had the same molecular weight of 29,000 as estimated by SDS-PAGE, had the same N-terminal 30 amino acid sequence, and also showed the same optimal temperature (60 degrees C) and pH (8.2). The purified enzyme catalyzed formation of cross-linked epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine isopeptides, resulting in the gel-formation of protein solutions such as alphas-casein and BSA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

A patient of short stature with normal GH secretion, but a low serum IGF-I level.

We report the case of a 7-year-old patient of short stature who had normal GH secretion, but a very low serum IGF-I level. On admittance, his height and weight were 102.2 cm (-3.8S.D.) and 15.7 kg (-1.8S.D.), respectively. His bone age was 2 years and 8 months. The serum GH responses to insulin, glucagon and L-dopa were all normal. GH secretion during sleep was also normal, but the serum IGF-I level was very low (29 ng/ml). The serum IGF-I level was greatly increased by the administration of GH. No mutation was detected in the GH-1 gene. His height velocity was noticeably improved by GH treatment.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗
PubMed2000

Demographic and reproductive factors for high seroprevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among pregnant women in Japan.

In order to elucidate demographic and reproductive factors associated with Chlamydia trachomatis seropositivity, serological screening and questionnaire survey were conducted on pregnant women in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Serum samples were taken from 1718 pregnant women between September and December, 1996, at the cooperative obstetric hospitals and clinics, and tested for the presence of antibodies to C. trachomatis using the enzyme immunoassay. A questionnaire was administered on a sub-sample (n -409), among whom 85 (20.8%) were seropositive. A multiple logistic analysis revealed that four characteristics showed a significant association with the seropositivity: (i) experience of premarital pregnancy, (ii) non use of condoms, (iii) short duration of education, and (iv) more frequent induced abortion. The unsafe sexual behavior of young people lacking proper knowledge of how to prevent STD is the most important intervention target for control of the C. trachomatis epidemic in Japan.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2000

[Natriuresis and blood pressure in patients with chronic renal failure following L-arginine infusion].

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be generated from L-arginine and may regulate glomerular filtration, tubular sodium reabsorption, and renin secretion. Impairment of renal function might influence NO production secondary to endothelial dysfunction, decreased NO synthesis and increased activity of arginine analogues inhibiting NO synthase. In this study, we evaluated the effect of L-arginine on the blood pressure and urinary sodium excretion in patients with chronic renal failure. A 300-ml dose of 10% L-arginine solution was administered intravenously over 30 min and blood pressure was monitored every 10 min under basal conditions and for 120 min after infusion. The patients were divided into two groups based on the reduction in mean blood pressure (dMBP) following infusion, namely non-responders (dMBP < 10 mmHg) and responders (dMBP > 10 mmHg). Urine and blood samples were collected to determine electrolytes, urinary NO2 + NO3 by the Griess method, urinary cGMP, plasma renin activity (PRA), and the plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC). L-arginine significantly decreased MBP in 8 patients and caused no significant change in 10 patients. Urinary sodium excretion and the NO2 + NO3 level were significantly increased following L-arginine infusion and the increment of fractional excretion of sodium was higher in responders. However, there were no significant changes in PRA, PAC, and cGMP. Our findings suggest that a vasodilator effect of NO induced by L-arginine loading may, at least in part, be associated with increased renal sodium excretion in patients with chronic renal failure.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Informed consent, QOL and cost benefit in the treatment of lung cancer].

Ethical issues, including informed consent, quality of life and cost/benefit, are discussed. Informed consent is not only ethical discipline but also legal concept. It is important to know how and when to disclose the truth. Training and experience are critically important to acquire clinical-behavioral skill. Physicians also should know some pitfalls, including patient's right to decline information especially in terminal situation. Quality of life(QOL) is an important concept for medical practice in the treatment of lung cancer. Although several instruments have been developed for QOL measurement, poor compliance and feedback to patient care, and meaningless domains are criticized. Disease related symptom(DRS) and cost analysis should be used in future clinical trials of lung cancer.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2000

Rupture of infected pseudoaneurysms in patients with implantable ports for intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy.

Intra-arterial hepatic chemotherapy via implantable reservoirs is being used increasingly. In our department, five patients have undergone emergency surgery since 1991 because of rupture of an infected pseudo-aneurysm at the site of entry of the catheter. Surgical procedures included removal of the catheter and the reservoir, and closure of the affected artery with or without reconstruction. Of these patients, three (60%) died from uncontrollable sepsis. The poor prognosis emphasizes the need, in patients with carcinoma, for strict aseptic technique and hemostasis at the time of catheter placement, and for careful device maintenance.

Adult↗