Biomedical subjects

K Niwa

Publications and source records attributed to K Niwa.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

PubMed1995

[A case of Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with anti-GM2 antibody due to cytomegalovirus infection--special reference to the effect of ganciclovir].

We report a case of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) associated with anti-GM2 antibody caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. A 27-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of muscle weakness in all his extremities. He had no background of immunological abnormalities. Within 5 days, generalized muscular weakness had progressed so rapidly that he suffered respiratory dysfunction and dysphagia. Throughout the entire clinical course, enzyme immunoassay (serum) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CSF) for CMV were carried out serially. Only antibodies against CMV were elevated during the clinical course in the serum and CSF. These findings supported the idea that he had developed GBS due to isolated CMV infection. We examined the reactivity of GBS sera with crude ganglioside fraction, and only anti-GM2 antibody was recognized on a high-performance thin-layer chromatogram plate in this case. Although the anti-GM2 antibody was decreased transiently by plasmapheresis, the clinical symptoms progressed. The symptoms advanced very rapidly during high-dose gammaglobulin therapy associated with reelevation of the anti-GM2 antibody. Following ganciclovir administration, however, the symptoms became diminished within 7 days and the anti-GM2 antibody fell dramatically. We speculate that the reason for the observed effectiveness of ganciclovir was direct suppression of activation of CMV, followed by the inhibition of the production of demyelinating antibodies including the anti-GM2 antibody.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Thrombocytopenia: a risk factor for acute myocardial infarction during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease.

BACKGROUND: We report on 10 patients with Kawasaki disease and thrombocytopenia who were found to have a high incidence of coronary artery aneurysm and acute myocardial infarction. The clinical features of these patients, the cause of their thrombocytopenia and the relationship between cardiovascular pathology and thrombocytopenia were analyzed. METHODS: The clinical features of 10 patients with Kawasaki disease found to have thrombocytopenia (group A: mean age 8.0 +/- 7.0 months) and those of 293 patients with Kawasaki disease (group B, controls: mean age 13 +/- 20 months) were analyzed. Coagulation studies and bone marrow aspiration were performed to ascertain the cause of the thrombocytopenia in nine out of 10 subjects in group A. RESULTS: The minimum platelet count was 4-12 x 10(4)/mm3 (average day of illness, 10.3) and platelet counts were elevated to the baseline value within 1-2 weeks of onset of the illness. Low fibrinogen concentrations, high levels of fibrin degradation products, and low erythrocyte sedimentation rates with high C-reactive protein levels were observed in seven patients. In two other patients, immature megakaryocytes with normal coagulation values were observed. The differences in the incidence of coronary artery aneurysm and acute myocardial infarction between groups A and B were highly significant (coronary artery aneurysm: 60% in group A, 8.9% in group B; acute myocardial infarction: 40% in group A, 0.3% in group B). CONCLUSIONS: In many patients with Kawasaki disease and thrombocytopenia, the thrombocytopenia appears to be a result of intravascular coagulation, and to be one of the risk factors for acute myocardial infarction.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1994

Successful pregnancy in a patient with endometrial carcinoma treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate.

A 32-year infertile Japanese woman suffered from endometrial cancer, which was treated with repeated endometrial curettage and medroxyprogesterone acetate for 6 months. The patient then became pregnant and was delivered of a live-born male infant at 37 weeks gestation by cesarean section for placenta previa. At cesarean section there were no abnormal findings in the uterine cavity or other pelvic organs.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1994

Effects of cumulus cells on male pronuclear formation and subsequent early development of bovine oocytes in vitro.

Bovine oocytes were matured in culture with and without cumulus cells. The proportion of oocytes matured to metaphase-II 24 h after culture was not different between those matured with and without cumulus cells. When cultured oocytes were inseminated in vitro, high proportions (84 to 87%) of oocytes were penetrated, with no difference between those matured with and without cumulus cells. However, the proportion of oocytes penetrated at the male pronuclear stage was significantly higher in cumulus-intact than in cumulus-free oocytes (90 vs 31%). The proportion of oocytes cleaved beyond the 8 approximately 32-cell stage was also significantly higher in cumulus-intact than in cumulus-free oocytes. It is concluded that the cumulus cells may have an important function for normal cytoplasmic maturation of bovine oocytes in vitro.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

Completion of first meiosis by sperm penetration in vitro of bovine oocytes inhibited at metaphase-I with dimethylsulphoxide.

The effects of dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) on immature oocytes during maturation in culture and following penetration by spermatozoa were examined. Germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) was observed in all oocytes cultured in the maturation medium supplemented with 2, 4 and 8% DMSO. When the oocytes were cultured in medium with 8% DMSO, 95% (57 60 ) of them were inhibited at prometaphase-I. Cumulus cells were significantly (P<0.05) beneficial for resumption of oocyte nuclear maturation during further culture in the maturation medium for 4, 8 and 24 h after DMSO treatment. When the oocytes were additionally cultured for 4 and 8 h in the maturation medium after DMSO treatment, the proportions of oocytes reaching metaphase-II were significantly (P<0.05) higher in those cultured with spermatozoa than without (68 vs 49% and 84 vs 56%, respectively). These results indicate that 8% DMSO does not affect GVBD of oocytes, but conversely it inhibits oocytes at prometaphase-I, and that cumulus cells are important for recovery from DMSO inhibition and for the resumption of nuclear maturation of oocytes. Sperm penetration was also found to stimulate the completion of meiotic maturation of oocytes inhibited at metaphase-I with 8% DMSO.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

The importance of NaCl concentration in a chemically defined medium for the development of bovine oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro.

Bovine oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro were cultured in a chemically defined medium (modified Tyrode's solution) without glucose. When different concentrations of NaCl were added to the medium, the proportions of embryos developed to the >or=8-cell, morula and blastocyst stages 96, 144 and 192 h post insemination, respectively, were significantly higher at 89 to 114 mM than 64 to 76 and 126 to 139 mM NaCl. A high proportion (28%) of blastocyst-stage embryos 192 h post insemination was obtained at 89 mM NaCl. When calculated osmolarity in the medium with 64 mM NaCl was varied by adding D-sorbitol, significantly higher proportions of morula-stage embryos were obtained at 265 to 315 mOsm (27 to 38%) than 215 (9%) and 365 (2%) mOsm, but the development to the blastocyst stage was difficult at any osmolarities (215 to 365 mOsm) tested. In the medium with a fixed osmolarity (315 mOsm) but with different concentrations (64 to 114 mM) of NaCl, there were no differences in the proportions (29 to 33%) of morula-stage embryos among different NaCl concentrations. However, significantly higher proportions of embryos developed to the blastocyst stage at 89 to 101 mM (22 to 23%) than 64 to 76 (0 to 9%) and 114 (11%) mM NaCl. When Cl- concentration in the medium with 64 mM NaCl was adjusted by adding choline chloride, significantly higher proportions of embryos developed to the morula stage at 97 to 122 mM (32 to 40%) than 72 (6%) and 147 (2%) mM Cl-, but few embryos developed to the blastocyst stage at any Cl- concentrations (72 to 147 mM) tested. In the medium with 64 or 114 mM NaCl and each with 2 different Na+/K+ ratios, there were no differences in the proportions of morula- and blastocyst-stage embryos between different Na+/K+ ratios (31 and 39 at 64 mM NaCl, and 39 and 47 at 114 mM NaCl) at each NaCl concentration. When glucose was added to the medium with 89 mM NaCl 120 h post insemination, there were no significant differences in the proportions (40 to 48%) of morula-stage embryos 144 h post insemination among different concentrations (0 to 6.95 mM) of glucose. The proportion (33%) of blastocysts 192 h post insemination at 2.78 mM glucose was significantly higher than the values at 0 (22%), 5.56 (19%) and 6.95 (15%) mM but not different compared with the values at 1.39 (23%) and 4.17 (28%) mM. In conclusion, NaCl concentration in a defined medium is one of the most important factors for the development of bovine embryo to the blastocyst stage, but the development of embryos up to the morula stage is also regulated by osmolarity and/or Cl-concentration.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

Magnetic resonance imaging of heterotaxia in infants.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the usefulness and safety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for systematically diagnosing heterotaxia in infants. BACKGROUND: Although it is important to diagnose and treat infants with heterotaxia, which is associated with viscerobronchial cardiovascular anomalies, systematic diagnosis of these anomalies by a single imaging technique is difficult. METHODS: Twenty patients with heterotaxia were evaluated. The infants ranged in age from 21 days to 12 months (average 5.2 months, average body weight 4.3 kg). Electrocardiographically gated MRI was performed by spin echo imaging techniques operating at 0.5 tesla. RESULTS: In all 20 patients, MRI results were sufficient to evaluate these anomalies without serious complications. In 17 patients, neither a spleen nor splenules were detected, but in 3 patients, a polymorphous spleen was visualized. In all 20 patients, bronchial anatomies were clearly visualized (bilateral eparterial bronchi in 14 patients, bilateral hyparterial bronchi in 2 and normal bronchial patterns in 4). Additionally, in a comparison of 149 observations of cardiovascular anatomy by MRI with those by angiography, discrepancies were found in only 10 observations (6.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic resonance imaging was found to be safe and very useful for the systematic diagnosis of heterotaxia in infants.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

PubMed1994

Effects of fetal calf serum in culture medium on development of bovine oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro.

Bovine oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro were cultured in a chemically defined bovine embryo culture medium (BECM) or polyvinylalcohol (PVA)-free BECM supplemented with 10% heat-treated or unheated fetal calf serum (FCS). When PVA in BECM was replaced with FCS 8 h postinsemination, the proportion of >/=-cell-stage embryos 48 h postinsemination was significantly lower in heat-treated FCS (74%) than in PVA (91%) medium, but the value (84%) in unheated FCS was not different from the values in PVA and heat-treated FCS. However, the addition of either heat-treated FCS or unheated FCS to PVA-free BECM did not depress or increase the proportions (63 to 70%) of >/=-cell-stage embryos 96 h postinsemination and stimulated blastocyst formation 144 (21 to 28%) and 192 (47 to 54%) h postinsemination. Blastocyst formation was also stimulated when heattreated FCS or unheated FCS was added to PVA-free BECM 120 h postinsemination. The mean cell number of blastocysts developed in PVA-free BECM with heat-treated FCS (150 cells) or unheated FCS (152 cells) significantly increased compared with that (119 cells) developed without FCS. These results indicate that, although BECM can support bovine embryo development, a high proportion (about 50%) of morphologically normal blastocysts can be produced from oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro when they are cultured in PVA-free BECM containing FCS.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

Activation of bovine oocytes penetrated after germinal vesicle breakdown.

The present study was designed to examine the ability of bovine oocytes, after germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), to be activated by sperm penetration and the sequence of sperm nuclear transformation. Bovine oocytes cultured for 8 h in maturation medium (tissue culture medium TCM-199 containing 10% fetal calf serum) were inseminated in Brackett and Oliphant's medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin (10 mg/ml), caffeine (5 mM) and heparin (10 micrograms/ml). When oocytes were transferred to the maturation medium 8 h after insemination and additionally cultured for 5-40 h at 39 degrees C in 5% CO2 in air, 71-76% of oocytes were penetrated and polyspermy (67-75%) was common. The proportions of penetrated oocytes that were activated significantly increased with the lapse of the additional culture time, reaching 88% and 87% by 25 and 40 h after additional culture, respectively. When compared with unpenetrated oocytes, significantly higher proportions of penetrated oocytes reached metaphase II or beyond 15 and 25 h after additional culture. After penetration, sperm nuclei were transformed into metaphase chromosomes and then to telophase chromosomes before the formation of male pronuclei. These results provide evidence that bovine oocytes acquire the ability to respond to sperm-mediated activation soon after GVBD.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Alteration of p53 gene in ovarian carcinoma: clinicopathological correlation and prognostic significance.

Inactivation of the tumour-suppressor gene p53 has been demonstrated in a variety of human tumours. We extracted DNA from paraffin-embedded tissues of 67 ovarian carcinoma samples (54 primary tumours, seven metastases and six tumours obtained after chemotherapy), and analysed allelic losses and mutations of the p53 gene using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of DNA fragments amplified by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Allelic loss was observed in 24 of 32 informative cases. The mutation was detected in 14 of 54 primary ovarian carcinomas: eight serous cystadenocarcinomas (SCA), 42%), five endometrioid adenocarcinomas (EA, 42%) and one mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (14%). The incidence of the alteration was higher in SCA and EA than in other histological types, but the difference was not statistically significant. The incidence of p53 gene abnormalities in ovarian carcinomas tended to be increased in patients with disease advanced (over FIGO stage II). Mutations were found in exons 5 and 7 only and consisted mainly of single nucleotide substitutions [9 or 14 (64%) in exon 7; 4 of 14 (29%) in exon 5]. In 13 of 14 cases, p53 gene mutations occurred concomitantly with losses of the normal allele. The status of the p53 gene in metastases and the tumours obtained after chemotherapy was identical to that in the primary tumours. The presence of p53 gene mutation did not correlate with histological grade, response to primary therapy and survival. These findings suggest that mutational alterations of the p53 gene are involved in the development of a significant proportion of some ovarian carcinomas (SCAs or EAs), especially in advanced stages. However, they may not be a marker predicting the biological behaviour or the outcome of the disease.

Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell↗

PubMed1994

Penetration of porcine oocytes during maturation in vitro by cryopreserved, ejaculated spermatozoa.

The present study was conducted to examine the penetrability in vitro of immature porcine oocytes with or without cumulus cells. Porcine oocytes were cultured for 0-36 h, at 39 degrees C in 5% CO2 in air, in modified tissue culture medium 199 (TCM-199B at pH 7.4) supplemented with 10 IU eCG/ml, 10 IU hCG/ml, and 1 microgram estradiol-17 beta/ml. At various times after the beginning of culture, some oocytes were freed from the cumulus (cumulus and corona cells), and cumulus-intact or cumulus-free oocytes were inseminated with cryopreserved ejaculated spermatozoa in TCM-199B (pH 7.8) containing 5 mM caffeine. When cumulus-free oocytes were examined 14 h after insemination, high proportions (69-84%) were penetrated and there were no significant differences among different periods of maturation culture. The incidence (47-68%) of polyspermy and the number (1.7-3.1) of spermatozoa that penetrated per oocyte were also not significantly different among oocytes cultured for 0-36 h. In cumulus-intact oocytes, however, the first evidence of penetration (15%) was observed in oocytes cultured for 6 h. The penetration rates increased significantly as the period of culture was prolonged up to 24 h. Almost all (95-100%) oocytes were penetrated when they were inseminated 24-36 h after the beginning of culture, by which time the cumulus masses showed moderate to complete expansion except for the corona radiata. A similar correlation was also observed for incidence of polyspermy and number of spermatozoa penetrated per oocyte. The presence of well-expanded cumulus around the oocyte during fertilization promoted male pronuclear formation in penetrant oocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1994

In vitro fertilization of bovine oocytes in a chemically defined, protein-free medium varying the bicarbonate concentration.

Bovine cumulus-enclosed oocytes were matured in culture, freed from cumulus cells, and inseminated with frozen-thawed spermatozoa in a chemically defined protein-free medium containing 5 mM caffeine and 10 micrograms/ml heparin. No penetration of oocytes was observed in the medium without polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA); but when the medium was supplemented with 0.1-5 mg/ml PVA, penetration rates (9-16%) significantly increased. Sperm motility was also stimulated during incubation for 2 h in the presence of PVA. In the medium with 1 mg/ml PVA, a high penetration rate (24 of 62 = 39%) was observed at a sperm concentration of 10 x 10(6) cells/ml. When the bicarbonate concentration was changed in the fertilization medium containing 1 mg/ml PVA and 10 x 10(6) spermatozoa/ml, a high penetration rate (47 of 67 = 70%) and a high proportion (44 of 47 = 94%) of oocytes in which male and female pronuclei had developed were obtained at 46 mM NaHCO3. However, the penetration rate (58-95%), the incidence of pronuclear formation (64-96%), and the proportion of polyspermy (9-21%) varied according to the animal (five different bulls). Spermatozoa obtained from two bulls started to penetrate oocytes 5 h after insemination in the presence of 46 mM NaHCO3. This is the first report indicating that induction of capacitation of bull spermatozoa and penetration of oocytes matured in culture are possible in a chemically defined, protein-free medium.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Active efflux system for cisplatin in cisplatin-resistant human KB cells.

Mutants, KCP-4 and PC-5, resistant to an anticancer agent, cisplatin, were selected in multiple steps from human epidermoid KB carcinoma cells and human prostate PC-3 carcinoma cells, respectively. KCP-4 and PC-5 were 63 and 10 fold more resistant to cisplatin than the parental cells, respectively. KCP-4 cells exhibited increased resistance to cisplatin analogues and were also slightly cross-resistant to melphalan, cyclophosphamide, mitomycin C and methotrexate. KCP-4 cells were not cross-resistant to doxorubicin, daunorubicin, vincristine or CdSO4. The accumulations of cisplatin in KCP-4 cells and PC-5 in medium containing 50 microM cisplatin were approximately 20% of those in the parental cells. Revertant analysis suggested that a defect in cisplatin accumulation may be related to cisplatin resistance in PC-5 cells. The uncoupling agent of oxidative phosphorylation, 2,4-dinitrophenol, increased the accumulation of cisplatin in KCP-4 and cisplatin-resistant human prostate carcinoma PC-5 cells to nearly the same level as in their parental KB-3-1 and human prostate carcinoma PC-3 cells without 2,4-dinitrophenol, but did not increase accumulation in KB-3-1 and PC-3 cells. Addition of glucose in the medium inhibited the enhancement of cisplatin accumulation in KCP-4 cells by 2,4-dinitrophenol. Enhanced active efflux of cisplatin from KCP-4 cells was observed. A cell-cell hybridization test showed that the cisplatin resistance and the accumulation defect behaved as codominant traits. These data suggest that an active efflux system for cisplatin exists in cisplatin-resistant KCP-4 cells.

Biological Transport, Active↗

PubMed1994

Semi-quantitative analysis of DNA topoisomerase-I mRNA level using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in cancer cell lines: its relation to cytotoxicity against camptothecin derivative.

Expression of DNA topoisomerase (Topo)-I-mRNA in various cancer cell lines was detected using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The cytoplasmic polyadenylated RNA isolated from cancer cell lines was reverse-transcribed and the complementary DNA was amplified by PCR primed with Topo-I specific primers. Fidelity of the amplified sequence was confirmed by restriction endonuclease digestion and Southern blot hybridization. The level of Topo-I mRNA was correlated positively with the cytotoxicity of a Topo-I inhibitor, a camptothecin derivative. This RT-PCR method may be applicable to the assessment of sensitivity of cells to Topo-I targeted drugs, especially when only small quantities of cell samples are available.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1994

Coupling of cerebral blood flow to neuronal activation: role of adenosine and nitric oxide.

We studied the role and relationship of the putative mediators of coupling of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and neuronal activation, adenosine (Ado) and nitric oxide (NO). Topical brain application over the whisker barrel cortex of anesthetized rats (n = 24) of the Ado receptor antagonist theophylline (Theo, 5 x 10(-5) M) for 30 min reduced the CBF response to deflection of the contralateral whiskers from 17.9 +/- 3.0% of baseline to 10.6 +/- 2.7% (P < 0.05). Coapplication of Theo (5 x 10(-5) M) and the NO synthase blocker N omega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, 10(-3) M) for 30 min led to a further reduction in the CBF response to whisker stimulation to 7.5 +/- 1.3% (P < 0.05 compared with Theo alone). The CBF effect of sodium nitroprusside (10(-5) M) was not affected by Theo-L-NNA coapplication (122 +/- 25 vs. 140 +/- 25%, n = 5). Application of adenosine deaminase (1 U/ml, n = 5) reduced the CBF response to whisker stimulation from 18.2 +/- 0.7 to 10.7 +/- 1.9% (P < 0.05). Superfusion of L-NNA (10(-3) M, 30 min, n = 7) attenuated the CBF response to application of Ado (10(-4) M) from 39.4 +/- 10.4 to 22.9 +/- 10.5% (P < 0.05). N omega-nitro-D-arginine did not affect the CBF response to Ado (n = 5). We conclude that 1) Ado is involved in coupling of CBF to neuronal activation, 2) NO is involved in this response as well, and 3) there is an interaction between the vasodilator pathways of Ado and NO.

Adenosine↗

PubMed1994

Cortical hypoperfusion after global forebrain ischemia in rats is not caused by microvascular leukocyte plugging.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that cerebral hypoperfusion after experimental global cerebral ischemia is caused by plugging of the microcirculation with activated leukocytes using in vivo microscopic observation of the behavior of leukocytes in the cortical microcirculation during the transition from postischemic hyperperfusion to hypoperfusion. METHODS: Anesthetized and ventilated rats (n = 24) were equipped with a closed cranial window. Physiological variables and cortical regional cerebral blood flow (laser-Doppler flowmetry) were measured continuously. Leukocytes were labeled intravitally with rhodamine 6G and visualized in the microcirculation of the brain surface and outer layers of the cortex with confocal laser scanning microscopy from preischemia to 4 hours after reperfusion that followed 10 minutes of global cerebral ischemia (rCBF < 10% of control). RESULTS: In controls (n = 8), there were no signs of leukocyte activation over the 4-hour observation period. In ischemic rats (n = 16), during the transition from hyperperfusion to hypoperfusion there was no change in the behavior of leukocytes. Most notably, no capillary pluggers were seen. In the postischemic period only a slight increase of the number of leukocytes rolling along or sticking to the venular endothelium was seen, and very few capillaries were plugged by leukocytes. Extravasation of leukocytes into the brain tissue was observed in 8 rats beginning 2 hours after ischemia with a variable degree between animals. CONCLUSIONS: Because there was only mild activation of leukocyte-endothelium interaction within the first hours of reperfusion after 10 minutes of global forebrain ischemia, because no leukocytes plugged superficial cortical capillaries during the transition from hyperperfusion to hypoperfusion, and because the regional cerebral blood flow transition was very rapid, we speculate that leukocyte plugging is not responsible for the early cortical hypoperfusion seen after brief global ischemia in rats.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Development of rat one-cell embryos in a chemically defined medium: effects of glucose, phosphate and osmolarity.

Rat one-cell embryos recovered from naturally mated females were cultured in modified hamster embryo culture medium 1 without amino acids. In the presence of 0.4 mmol phosphate l-1 (NaH2PO4), no embryos developed beyond the two-cell stage, regardless of the presence of 5.0 mmol glucose l-1. This inhibition was dose dependent at very low concentrations of phosphate in the medium supplemented with 7.5 mmol glucose l-1 and osmolarity adjusted to 244 mosmol; development to the blastocyst stage was not inhibited at 0.001-0.01 mumol phosphate l-1, but development to the morula and four-cell stages was markedly inhibited at 0.1 and 1.0 mumol phosphate l-1. In the medium without phosphate, glucose did not inhibit or promote development to the morula stage, but adequate concentrations of glucose were necessary for the development of morulae to the blastocyst stage; the percentage of one-cell embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage at 7.5 mmol glucose l-1 (67%) and 10.0 mmol glucose l-1 (60%) were not statistically different from the percentage at 5.0 mmol glucose l-1 (46%), but was significantly greater than the percentage at 2.5 mmol l-1 (33%). When osmolarity of the medium with 5.0 mmol glucose l-1 was varied by adjusting the amount of NaCl added, more (82-98%) of the one-cell embryos developed to the four-cell stage at 212-276 mosmol, but development was greatly inhibited at 304 mosmol. Development to the blastocyst stage was largely dependent on osmolarities; at 244 mosmol, 61% of embryos developed to the blastocyst stage, although this percentage was not significantly different from the percentage (43%) at 264 mosmol.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

[Recurrence and prognosis in ischemic stroke patients with anticardiolipin antibody in Japan].

Anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) is considered to be one of the contributory factors in the development of cerebral infarction. We compared the recurrence and prognosis of 20 ischemic stroke patients with positive IgG aCL who had no collagen vascular diseases with those in 120 patients with negative IgG aCL. The aCL-positive patients comprised 18 females and 2 males aged 43-79 (mean 64) years and the mean follow-up period was 5.6 years. The aCL-negative patients comprised 82 males and 38 females aged 40-84 (mean 64.2) years and the mean follow-up period was 5.8 years. There was no significant difference in age and mean follow-up period between the two groups. We examined the recurrence rate and the intervals from the onset to the recurrence in both groups. We investigated the relationship between the recurrence of stroke and chronological changes in titer of aCL in patients with positive aCL. We also evaluated the effectiveness of antiplatelet agents for the prevention of recurrent stroke in both groups. A positive aCL level was defined as one which was > 3 standard deviations (S.D.) above the mean level for normal controls. A high titer of aCL was defined as being > 7 S.D. above the normal mean value. Among the 20 patients with positive aCL, recurrence of ischemic stroke occurred in 10 (50%) (cerebral thrombosis in 8 and cerebral embolism in 2) and myocardial infarction developed in 2 patients. As regards the number of ischemic episodes of stroke, recurrence occurred twice in 4 and once in 6 patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗