Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Matsuda.
N-(3-Acyloxyacyl)glycines were isolated as N-type calcium channel blockers from a marine bacterium Cytophaga sp. SANK 71996. The identification and fermentation of the producing strain and structure characterization of N-(3-acyloxyacyl)glycines by spectral analyses and chemical syntheses are described together with their antagonistic activities.
We conducted corticectomy in twenty-five patients with intractable partial epilepsy due to focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). MRI could not detect FCDs in three patients, interictal SPECT, however, revealed hypoperfusion corresponding to FCDs in two of these patients, while the FCD in one remaining patient was histologically identified in a resected specimen. The location of FCDs was as follows: the frontal lobe in sixteen patients, the temporal in five, the occipital in two, fronto-parietal in one, and the temporo-parietal in one. Prior to the surgery, twenty-one patients underwent invasive long-term intracranial EEG/CCTV monitoring. Of the fourteen patients who were tracked for longer than 2 years following surgery, eleven belonged to Class I according to Engel's criteria, two to Class II, and one to Class III. We compared intracranial EEG findings (interictal and ictal) between these twenty-one patients and eight patients with frontal lobe epilepsy resulting from different lesions. The results of this comparison, together with the seizure outcome following surgery, indicated that FCD is intrinsically epileptogenic. The invasive long-term monitoring should, as a rule, be performed in all patients with FCDs prior to the corticectomy.
We report a case of spontaneous haemothorax in a 19 year old boy with an exostosis of the left second rib. It may have been caused by nontraumatic rupture of markedly dilated pleural vessels, as a result of long-standing friction between the exostosis and the pleura. This is the first report of spontaneous haemothorax, without penetrative injury to the pleura or the diaphragm, in a patient with hereditary multiple exostosis.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The surgical correction was performed successfully in a 14-year-old boy with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (type Ia) associated with Williams syndrome. The diagnosis was made at the age of 3 and he had been well until the age of 13 when sudden chordal rupture caused severe mitral regurgitation and supraventricular tachyarrhythmia. The operational procedure includes common pulmonary vein and left atrium anastomosis through Gersony-Malm approach, chordal reconstruction of mitral valve with 4-0 Core Tex sutures. His postoperative course has been well without the sign of venous obstruction. As far as we know, this is the first documentation of a case of Williams syndrome associated with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection.
Three rare cases of familial aggregation of soft tissue sarcomas (malignant fibrous histiocytoma in a mother and liposarcomas in her two children) are described. The mother developed a late onset of malignant fibrous histiocytoma in her right thigh. Her son and daughter both developed retroperitoneal liposarcomas at the ages of 38 and 33 years, respectively. The mother also developed gastric carcinoma as a second malignancy after a 2-year interval. These clinical features closely resemble those of Li-Fraumeni syndrome, but do not fulfill the exact diagnostic criteria. Genetically, the germline mutation of the p53 gene between exons 4 and 9 was not detected by sequencing DNA obtained from the peripheral blood of the mother. Immunohistochemically, p53 protein was found only in the liposarcoma of the daughter. These results strongly suggest that this familial aggregation of soft tissue sarcomas is very rare, and that it is a unique feature of a familial cancer syndrome that to our knowledge has not been defined or described previously.
UNLABELLED: Although regional cerebral metabolism and blood flow in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been studied extensively with PET and SPECT, few reports have been concerned with cerebellar metabolism or perfusion in Alzheimer's disease. To evaluate cerebellar glucose metabolism in Alzheimer's disease patients, we studied the cerebellar and cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRglc) using 2[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) and PET. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with Alzheimer's disease and 13 age-matched normal control subjects were examined. According to scores obtained on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Alzheimer's disease patients were classified into three groups: severe (n = 9), moderate (n = 33) and mild (n = 26). RESULTS: The cerebellar glucose metabolism in the severe Alzheimer's disease group was significantly lower (cerebellar glucose metabolism: 5.71 +/- 0.62 mg/100 g/min) than that of the control group (6.85 +/- 0.66 mg/100 g/min), while temporal and parietal CMRglc were much more decreased. The cerebellar glucose metabolism in the mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease groups also showed lower levels than that of the control group, but the differences did not reach significant levels. Like other cortical CMRglc, the cerebellar glucose metabolism correlated with cognitive impairments. CONCLUSION: In severe Alzheimer's disease, cerebellar glucose metabolism is significantly reduced. The method of analysis using normalization of regional metabolic data to cerebellar values may be liable to err in severe Alzheimer's disease patients.
A 21-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with acute progressive dyspnea and a high fever. He had started smoking 6 weeks before admission. A chest radiograph showed diffuse infiltrates with Kerley B lines and bilateral pleural effusions. There was no evidence of infection. His condition improved rapidly and without medication. On admission the concentrations of interleukin-5 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and in blood were high, but they were normal one week later. Acute eosinophilic pneumonia was diagnosed. A positive result of a lymphocyte stimulation test indicated that the development of symptoms was closely associated with ingestion of aspirin. We know of no previous report of acute eosinophilic pneumonia associated with aspirin.
We compared the effectiveness of microwave tissue coagulation therapy (MTC) with the effectiveness of hepatectomy for patients with whole-liver multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The comparison was made using two sub-groups of 67 patients treated for multinodular HCC in the whole liver. One subgroup (group M, 17 patients) underwent MTC while another group (group H, 33 patients) underwent hepatectomy. The clinical stage of the liver in group M was significantly worse than in group H (p < 0.05), and the maximum diameter of HCC nodules in group M was significantly smaller than group H (p < 0.05). Survival rates of both groups were similar, but the group H disease-free survival rate was significantly better than that of group M (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the interval between treatment and tumor recurrence in group H was significantly longer than for group M (p < 0.05). We believe the more frequent incidence of local recurrence in group M may have been due to incomplete coagulation. Thus, MTC provides a possible new option for local treatment of HCC, but it is important to ensure complete coagulation of the tumors.
A case of congenital mitral stenosis, patent ductus arteriosus, pulmonary hypertension was reported. At one year of age, the patient underwent surgical division of PDA because of persistent left heart failure. She went well after the operation. At seven year of age, she was readmitted to our hospital for easy fatigability. The cardiac catheterization revealed remarkably elevated pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary capillary wedged pressure. She underwent a surgical intervention for the mitral stenosis at eight year of age. At operation, the mitral valve exhibited the characteristics of type IIc according to Carpentier's classification: thickened and dysplastic leaflet, extremely short chordae tendanae fused with papillary muscles, obliteration of interchordal space and hypertrophic two papillary muscles. We replaced the valve with 23 mm Carbomedicus prosthetic valve because it seemed to be difficult to repair the native valve satisfactorily without residual stenosis or insufficiency. Her postoperative course was uneventful and the pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary capillary wedged pressure decreased remarkably one year after the operation.
The life of currently-available centrifugal pumps is limited to no more than three days. As a magnetically suspended centrifugal pump (MSCP) contains no shaft or seal, it could be expected to have a longer life expectancy. The MSCP was evaluated in a chronic animal model using eight adult sheep. Left ventricular assist with the MSCP was instituted between the left atrium and the descending aorta. The flow rates ranged from 2.5 to 6.0 L/min. The duration of the experiments ranged from 14 to 60 days. No mechanical failure occurred. The plasma free hemoglobin levels remained within an acceptable range (3-19 mg/dL). No reduction in the counts of red blood cells or platelets was observed. Thrombus formation within the MSCP was recognized in one pump. The main reason for termination was thromboembolism derived from the circuits. Three types of regulation methods (constant rotational speed, constant motor current, and controlled motor current) were also investigated. Regulation by a constant motor current mode altered the pressure-flow (P-Q) characteristics, and thereby, a steadier pump flow was obtained compared with regulation in the constant rotational speed mode. Moreover, the controlled motor current mode can change the P-Q relationship. These results demonstrate that the MSCP is a promising device for long-term use.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The molecular cloning and functional co-expression of a novel nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) non-alpha subunit gene, acr-3, is described. Previously we determined the sequence and demonstrated the functional co-expression of acr-2, a nAChR non-alpha subunit gene from Caenorhabditis elegans. Analysis of the acr-2 genomic DNA revealed the existence of another potential nAChR subunit gene, acr-3, in the same orientation, only 281 bp downstream of acr-2. A cDNA containing the entire acr-3 coding sequence was isolated by RT-PCR and sequenced. The predicted protein contains the conserved features typical of nAChR non-alpha subunits and most closely resembles other invertebrate nAChR non-alpha polypeptides. Unusually, the highly conserved glycine residue (equivalent to residue 240 in the Torpedo alpha subunit) upstream of transmembrane domain 2 (m2) is replaced by a serine residue in ACR-3. When acr-3 cDNA was injected alone into Xenopus oocytes no levamisole-gated channel activity was observed. However when co-expressed with a C. elegans alpha subunit (UNC-38), ACR-3 contributed to the formation of levamisole-gated channels. The response of this hetero-oligomer to levamisole (100 microM) was reduced by the nAChR antagonists mecamylamine (1 microM) and d-tubocurarine (10 microM).
We have isolated cDNA clones encoding dihydropyrimidinase (DHPase) from human liver and its three homologues from human fetal brain. The deduced amino acid (aa) sequence of human DHPase showed 90% identity with that of rat DHPase, and the three homologues showed 57-59% aa identity with human DHPase, and 74-77% aa identity with each other. We tentatively termed these homologues human DHPase related protein (DRP)-1, DRP-2 and DRP-3. Human DRP-2 showed 98% aa identity with chicken CRMP-62 (collapsin response mediator protein of relative molecular mass of 62 kDa) which is involved in neuronal growth cone collapse. Human DRP-3 showed 94-100% aa identity with two partial peptide sequences of rat TOAD-64 (turned on after division, 64 kDa) which is specifically expressed in postmitotic neurons. Human DHPase and DRPs showed a lower degree of aa sequence identity with Bacillus stearothermophilus hydantoinase (39-42%) and Caenorhabditis elegans unc-33 (32-34%). Thus we describe a novel gene family which displays differential tissue distribution: i.e., human DHPase, in liver and kidney; human DRP-1, in brain; human DRP-2, ubiquitously expressed except for liver; human DRP-3, mainly in heart and skeletal muscle.
The actions of THIP (4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol) and ZAPA (Z-3-[(aminoiminomethyl)thio]prop-2-enoic acid) were tested on an ionotropic homo-oligomeric GABA receptor of Drosophila melanogaster. The amplitude of currents activated by THIP and ZAPA declined rapidly during agonist application and a rebound response was observed on washout. By correcting the pH shift induced by these acid salts, responses more typical of GABA agonists were seen. Less striking pH-dependence was observed in the case of GABA responses.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
BACKGROUND: The myocardial protective role of heat shock protein (HSP) has been demonstrated, and there has been increasing interest in stress response in the heart. We examined the DNA-binding activity of heat shock transcription factor (HSF), by which the transcription of heat shock genes is mainly regulated, during heat shock or ischemia/reperfusion in isolated rat heart. METHODS AND RESULTS: Rat hearts were isolated and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer by the Langendorff method. Whole-cell extracts were prepared for gel mobility shift assay using oligonucleotides containing the heat shock element, which is present upstream of all heat shock genes. Induction of mRNAs for HSP70, HSP90, and GRP78 (glucose-regulated protein) was examined by Northern blot analysis. Although the activation of HSF during global ischemia was weak and rapidly attenuated, postischemic reperfusion induced a significant activation of HSF. In addition, although HSP70 mRNA was hardly induced during ischemia, its burst induction was detected during postischemic reperfusion. Supershift assays using specific antisera for HSF1 and HSF2 revealed that ischemia/reperfusion as well as heat shock induced the activation of HSF1 in hearts. Although the expression of HSP70 mRNA during heat shock was more vigorous than the expression during ischemia/reperfusion, the induction of HSP90 mRNA in postischemic reperfusion was significantly greater than that in heat shock. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated that reperfusion causes a significant activation of HSF1 in ischemia-reperfused heart. The striking contrast between the induction of HSP70 mRNA and that of HSP90 mRNA suggests the presence of regulatory mechanisms other than HSF.