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Biomedical subjects

K Nakagome

Publications and source records attributed to K Nakagome.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Decreased plasma cortisol level during alprazolam treatment of panic disorder: a case report.

1. Changes in the plasma cortisol level were reported in a male patient with panic disorder during the period of low-dose alprazolam treatment (mean 0.62 +/- 0.15 mg/day) compared with during the period of high-dose period (mean 1.08 +/- 0.28 mg/day). 2. The plasma cortisol level was significantly higher in the low-dose period (mean 13.90 +/- 3.35 micrograms/ml) than in the high-dose period (mean 9.06 +/- 2.75 micrograms/ml) although, paradoxically, the panic attack frequency was significantly lower in the low-dose period (mean 1.35 +/- 0.29/day) than in the high-dose period (mean 2.09 +/- 0.66/day). 3. Thus, the decreased plasma cortisol level during alprazolam treatment of panic disorder was suggested to be caused not by symptom alleviation due to alprazolam but by alprazolam administration itself.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Overnight effects of triazolam on cognitive function: an event-related potentials study.

The effects of triazolam on cognitive function and vigilance on the morning following a nocturnal administration were investigated using event-related potentials (ERP) measurement and a sleep latency test (SLT). We previously reported a significant reducing effect on target N1 amplitude on the morning following triazolam administration, suggesting a residual effect of triazolam. In order to demonstrate, which aspect of cognitive function alteration caused the reducing effect on N1 amplitude, we added the ignore condition for ERP measurement, which enabled us to separate mismatch negativity (MMN) from other subcomponents overlapping N1. As a result, MMN was attenuated and sleep latency was shortened on the morning following triazolam administration. Two possibilities were suggested for the mechanism of MMN attenuation. One is GABAergic activation caused by the residual effect of triazolam per se, and the other is the lowered vigilance level demonstrated in the SLT. Further studies are necessary to determine whether this alteration in physiological bases underlying mismatch detection is specific to triazolam and/or other benzodiazepines or related to nonspecific vigilance level.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1997

Behavioral and P3 amplitude enhancement in schizophrenia following feedback training.

In order to clarify the remediability of behavioral and electrophysiological abnormalities in schizophrenia, hit rate, reaction time, and P3 amplitude from auditory event-related potentials were evaluated before and after feedback training of a task in 14 schizophrenics and 12 age-matched normal controls. Although mean changes in the three indices due to the training were nonsignificant in both schizophrenic and normal control groups as a whole, the changes in hit rate and reaction time correlated significantly with the P3 amplitude change in the schizophrenic (r = 0.60 and -0.58, respectively) but not in the normal control group. The P3 amplitude change also correlated with the P3 amplitude before the training only in the schizophrenic group (r = -0.68), suggesting that the training was more effective for the schizophrenic patients with marked P3 amplitude reduction. The observed P3 amplitude increase due to training may represent an electrophysiological correlate of a remediable aspect of behavioral deficits in schizophrenics, which may underlie the effectiveness of nonpharmacological treatments.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

What influences social skills in patients with schizophrenia? Preliminary study using the role play test, WAIS-R and event-related potential.

Persons with schizophrenia exhibit disabilities which profoundly affect their social and independent living skills, and social skills training is expected to be an effective treatment for reducing the level of severity of disabilities. Many factors may influence usage and learning of social skills; little is definitively known regarding which disabilities related to schizophrenia compromise social skills. The present report deals with factors affecting social skills. Twenty persons with schizophrenia (DSM-III-R) were tested using a Japanese version of the role play test, the reliability and validity of which were verified. Subjects were also tested using BPRS, auditory event-related potential (ERP) and WAIS-R. Nonverbal skills showed significant positive correlation with the amplitude of the N1 ERP component and age of onset, and 59% of the variance of nonverbal skills was accounted for by these factors using multiple regression analysis. Nonverbal skills are at least partially based on either automatic discriminating processes or selective attention, reflected in N1A. Information receiving and processing skills showed significant positive correlation with Performance IQ and Global Assessment of Functioning, and 61% of the variance of receiving and processing skills was accounted for by BPRS score, PIQ score and age. These skills are not directly related to elementary cognitive function as assessed by analyzing, for example, the ERP P3 component, but are based on more complex neuropsychological function.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Plasma vanillylmandelic acid level as an index of psychological stress response in normal subjects.

The relationships between psychological stress responses and plasma levels of vanillylmandelic acid (VMA), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), homovanillic acid (HVA), and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA) were investigated in normal volunteers. Two questionnaires were used to measure stress: the Psychological Stress Response Scale (PSRS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Plasma levels of VMA--but not MHPG, HVA, and 5-HIAA--showed significant positive correlations with PSRS emotional and cognitive-behavioral stress and STAI state anxiety. Significant positive correlations were also found between plasma levels of VMA and MHPG and psychological stress responses measured repeatedly in a longitudinal study of an Olympic swimmer. Plasma VMA measurements, which reflect the level of activity of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system, may provide a useful biochemical index of psychological stress responses in normal subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Event-related potential correlates of functional hearing loss: reduced P3 amplitude with preserved N1 and N2 components in a unilateral case.

A female patient exhibiting functional hearing loss in her left ear demonstrated reduced amplitude of P3 component in event-related potentials (ERP) to left monaural stimulation, with preserved N1 and N2 components to stimulation of either ear. This result suggested that stimuli in the affected ear were conducted successfully up to the auditory cortex but that further processing in higher brain regions was 'repressed'. Event-related potential examination for such hysterical disorders could be useful in clarifying their brain mechanism and offer a useful diagnostic clue to its nature.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[A case of marked eosinophilia in peripheral blood induced by rhGM-CSF].

A 53-year-old man underwent chemotherapy (CDDP, VDS, MMC) for treatment of lung cancer. He was given 125 micrograms/m2 of GM-CSF subcutaneously every day for 8 consecutive days, in order to prevent neutropenia. Three days after starting GM-CSF therapy, marked eosinophilia in peripheral blood was observed. The maximum eosinophil count was 89% of leukocytes. Nine days after stopping the treatment with GM-CSF, the number of eosinophils had normalized spontaneously. There were no clinical symptoms except for slight fever, up to 37.5 degrees C. Moreover, there was no relationship between the number of eosinophils and the serum levels of cytokines (IL-3, IL-5, GM-CSF), although we observed minimal but significant elevation of serum ECP level. This case indicates that GM-CSF may induce marked eosinophilia rather than widely stimulating granulocytes and monocytes.

Blood Proteins↗
PubMed1992

Distributions of the Nd and P300 in a normal sample.

To obtain objective criteria for assessing the attentional and cognitive functioning of psychiatric populations, we attempted to standardize values of two components in Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), namely the attention-related negative potential (Nd) and the P300, in normal populations. The study consisted of 100 healthy volunteers (50 females, 50 males) who were given the task of making dichotic syllable discriminations requiring key-press responses. Their ages ranged between 18 and 59 years (mean +/- S.D., 32.3 +/- 11.3 years). Nd was found to be maximum in the Fz region, P300 being maximum in the Pz region. The means and standard deviations of Nd and P300 areas in their maximum regions were 554.1 +/- 307.8 microV ms and 2148.5 +/- 1248.5 microV ms, respectively. The transformation plot for symmetry indicated the suitable power of transformation to be 1/2 for both Nd and P300 distributions. After being transformed into square-root values, the distribution patterns of Nd and P300 areas were examined. When the lower limit of normal values was tentatively assigned to mean -2 S.D. using square-root transformed data for both Nd and P300, 97% of the subjects were found to display values above the lower normal limit for Nd, and 98% for the P300. Neither, Nd nor P300 areas correlated with age, while P300 latencies displayed a weak positive correlation with age. Females displayed relatively larger values than males for Nd and P300 areas and P300-peak amplitudes. However, the differences between females and males were not statistically significant. Females and males showed nearly equal P300-peak latencies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Shortening of N1 and P3 latencies in event-related potentials observed coincidentally with clinical improvement during nootropic medication in a demented patient: specific effect of nicergoline.

Event-related potentials, measured eight times in a patient in the early stages of dementia, demonstrated that clinical symptoms, especially loss of motivation, improved coincidentally with a shortening of reaction time, N1 latency, and P3 latency during nicergoline medication among three nootropics prescribed. Such a longitudinal study design was considered to be useful for quantifying and objectively comparing effects of various nootropics noninvasively.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[The perineal implantation of a bladder tumor through urethro-vasal reflux].

Perineal implantation of urinary bladder cancer in a 57-year-old male is reported. The patient had been suffering from incomplete paraplegia and neurogenic bladder for these 29 years because of accidental injury of lumbar spinal cord with episodes of bladder stones two times and right epididymitis three times, and presented urinary leakage from a perineal fistula. The fistula orifice was surrounded by a hard mass lesion. Bilateral swelling of inguinal lymph nodes was present. Fistulogram and voiding cysto-urethrography revealed reflux from posterior urethra to the fistula through right vas and epididymis. Histological diagnosis of resected perineal mass and biopsied left inguinal lymph node was transitional cell carcinoma with predominant metaplasia of squamous cell carcinoma. Tissues obtained by TUR-biopsy of a mass lesion at bladder wall was also histologically diagnosed transitional cell carcinoma with metaplasia of squamous cell carcinoma. The present case indicates implantation of a bladder tumor to perineum by urethero-vasal reflux and metastases to inguinal lymphnodes from the perineal lesion.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗
PubMed1989

Psychological intervention can partly alter P300-amplitude abnormalities in schizophrenics.

In the present study, we investigated whether psychological interventions can alter P300-abnormalities, specifically enhancing reduced P300-amplitudes, in schizophrenics. A three-tone discrimination task was employed for recording P300s, in which psychological intervention to facilitate target detection was performed through delivering a buzzer sound one second after each designated target tone that informed its occurrence. This procedure was done exclusively during the third and fourth sessions among the six sessions in total. When the data for all the patients were analyzed as a whole, no significant change was observed. However, when the patients were broken down into two groups based on the P300-amplitudes in the first and second sessions, significant effects of the intervention emerged. The group with smaller P300-amplitudes showed a significant increase in P300-amplitudes as well as improved performance levels during and after the intervention sessions. On the contrary, the group with larger P300-amplitudes displayed a significant decrease in P300-amplitudes in these sessions. Interestingly, the above results were consistent with the subjective difficulty changes experienced by the patients through the sessions. Overall, the above results indicate that psychological interventions can partly enhance reduced P300-amplitudes in schizophrenics.

Adult↗