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Biomedical subjects

K Okano

Publications and source records attributed to K Okano.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Impaired delayed hypersensitivity in lipoid nephrosis.

Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) was evaluated in 76 patients with renal disease by summation of delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity (DHS) responses to 4 test antigens, purified protein derivative (PPD), candida, mumps and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). Patients with lipoid nephrosis (LN) in the nephrotic stage had less mean induration of skin reactivity and a smaller proportion reacting to the former 3 antigens as compared with normal controls or LN patients without the nephrotic syndrome (NS). In contrast, the intensity of skin reactivity and the frequency of negative reactions in LN patients in remission and chronic mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (CGN) were similar to those of the control subjects. Immune response to KLH was also impaired in LN patients with the NS as measured by skin testing. The data indicate an impaired DHS in LN and suggest that the impairment relates to the clinical stage of disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Defective cell-mediated immunity in lipoid nephrosis.

Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) was studied in 28 patients with biopsy-proven lipoid nephrosis (LN). The LN patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS) had a significant depression in CMI, characterized by impaired delayed hypersensitivity skin reactivity to purified protein derivative (PPD), depressed local graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR), decreased proportion of T lymphocytes and diminished lymphocyte transformation to phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Concanavalin A (Con A)-induced suppressor cell activity (SCA) was found to be significantly increased in LN patients with NS compared to that in normal individuals. In contrast, the mean levels of CMI and SCA studied in LN patients in remission and in patients with chronic mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (CGN) did not differ from normal subjects. Our findings support the notion that at least in some LN patients with the NS, activated suppressor cells are present and possibly account for their decreased CMI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Defective concanavalin A-induced suppressor cell activity in lupus nephritis.

To determine whether patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and active nephritis have more profound defects in suppressor cell activity, we studied concanavalin A (Con A)-induced suppressor cell activity (SCA) in 12 patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and 11 patients with chronic mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (CGN) without renal insufficiency. The levels of Con A-induced SCA were decreased in patients with LN compared with those in normal controls and those in CGN patients and lower in LN patients with the nephrotic syndrome (NS) than in those without NS. In contrast, the mean responses of Con-A-induced SCA in CGN patients with or without NS did not differ from normal subjects. These findings may lend further insight into the understanding of the immunoregulatory defect in LN.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Antigen presentation by Kupffer cells in the rat.

Sprague-Dawley rats were immunized with liver-specific protein (LSP), and the functions of isolated Kupffer cells, as accessory cells and antigen-presenting cells, were examined. More than 70% of the cells showed phagocytic activity for latex particles. The proliferative response of spleen lymphocytes stimulated with concanavalin A was lost in the absence of macrophages but was restored by the addition of Kupffer cells. In vitro stimulation with LSP induced binding of lymphocytes to Kupffer cells and enhanced 3H-thymidine incorporation when lymphocytes were incubated with Kupffer cells from immunized rats. These results indicated that Kupffer cells can act both as accessory cells and as antigen-presenting cells for LSP.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Changes in deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate pools in the starfish oocyte during maturation and early embryogenesis.

dNTP pools are quite low in immature oocytes of the starfish, expand during the 1-methyladenine-induced maturational process and thereafter reach a maximal level (approx. 35, 20, 15 and 5 fmoles/egg for dTTP, dCTP, dATP and dGTP, respectively) which is maintained in overmatured eggs. Maturing oocytes were inseminated at the stage just before extrusion of the first polar body and determination of dNTP pools during early embryogenesis showed the same expansion pattern as that of the 1-methyladenine-treated oocytes. Therefore, the increase in dNTP pools during early embryogenesis is dependent on 1-methyladenine (1-MA) but independent of fertilization. Aphidicolin, a specific inhibitor of eukaryotic DNA polymerase alpha, has no effect on dNTP pool size in 1-methyladenine-treated oocytes, but causes considerable expansion of dNTP pools in fertilized eggs which cleave achromosomally in the presence of the drug.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Structural analysis of gene loci for rat U1 small nuclear RNA.

Four phage clones which hybridize with U1 small nuclear RNA were obtained from a rat gene library. Two clones contain a presumed pseudogene. A third clone includes two gene candidates that are co-linear with the rat U1-RNA, 3.6kb apart and in the opposite orientation. The two genes are surrounded by identical sequences of 491bp upstream and 178bp downstream. The upstream sequences do not contain a TATA box, but share many block homologies with those for the human U1-RNA gene(1-3). A 101bp "identifier (ID) sequence", which was reported to be specifically expressed in rat brain (4), is inserted immediately after the shared sequence downstream of one of the genes. In the fourth clone, there are two putative pseudogenes, which have one or three nucleotide changes, 3kb apart and in the same orientation. Southern blot analysis of total rat DNA reveals about 50 U1-RNA genes/pseudogenes in the genome.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Mitochondrial DNA synthesis in overmatured eggs of the starfish.

DNA synthesis was studied during the overmaturational stage of starfish eggs. Some DNA synthesis took place in the overmature eggs of the starfish. The DNA synthesis was resistant to aphidicolin. Judging from its circularity and small molecular size, the DNA synthesized is of mitochondrial origin.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

[HBs antigen-positive adult type liver cancer in a child with sustained remission induced by infusion of antineoplastic agents into the hepatic artery].

A 9-year-old boy with non-resectable hepatocellular carcinoma was treated with irradiation and intra-hepatic arterial infusion of antitumor agents. His blood was positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag), but negative for hepatitis B e antigen (HBe Ag). Maternal transmission was suspected, because his mother's blood was positive for HBs Ag and his grand mother died from hepatic cirrhosis. The patient received a total dose of 4000 rad in 30 fractions. A chemotherapy cycle consisted of 5-FU (6 mg/M2/day, given continuously), EX (300 mg/M2, given on 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th week), VCR (1.5 mg/M2, on 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th week), and ADM (30 mg/M2, on 13th and 16th week). Since 6 months after the initiation of the chemotherapy, alpha-fetoprotein has become negative (less than or equal to 100n g/ml), and now, 2 years and 11 months after the diagnosis was settled, the patient remains a disease free state. His blood continues to be positive for HBs Ag.

Antineoplastic Agents↗