Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K Tashiro

Publications and source records attributed to K Tashiro.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Neurological manifestations of primary Sjögren's syndrome in Japanese patients.

The neurological manifestations of twenty-one Japanese patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) were evaluated. All patients were women, and sixteen of the twenty-one cases (76%) demonstrated objective abnormal neurological symptoms, the most frequently observed of which was trigeminal neuropathy (50%). Multiple mononeuropathy was seen in almost one-third of the examined cases (31%). Central nervous system (CNS) involvement was observed in three cases (14%). All of these values differed greatly from those previously reported. Therefore, this study revealed characteristic features of Japanese SjS and also implied the existence of different immunopathological mechanisms associated with SjS in Japanese patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Infiltrating cell profiles of sarcoid lesions in the muscles and peripheral nerves: an immunohistological study.

In order to study the pathological mechanisms of neuromuscular sarcoidosis, we carried out an immunohistochemical investigation in five cases (five muscle specimens and two sural nerve specimens). We evaluated the distribution of inflammatory mononuclear cells and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen expressions. Our data showed a dominant infiltration of helper/inducer T cells (CD4-T cells), suggesting the importance of cell-mediated immune responses in neuromuscular sarcoidosis. However, we could not identify the distinct distributional patterns of T cells as reported in sarcoid lymphadenitis. This result may be attributed to the difference of the affected organs. Moreover, failure to detect class II antigens in the muscle fibers may imply the difference in pathogenic mechanism between neuromuscular sarcoidosis and other inflammatory myopathies.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

A rat model of Parkinson's disease induced by Japanese encephalitis virus.

In Fischer rats infected with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) at 13 days after birth and sacrificed 12 weeks later, the major pathological changes resembled those found in Parkinson's disease. Specifically there was neuronal loss with gliosis which was confined mainly to the zona compacta of the substantia nigra, with a notable absence of lesions in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Changes were bilateral being most severe in the central part of the zona compacta. Immunohistochemical studies with anti-tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) demonstrated that the number of TH-positive neurons was significantly decreased in the substantia nigra compared to controls, while comparable numbers of TH-positive neurons were found in the basal ganglia in both JEV-treated rats and age-matched controls. JEV-infected rats showed marked bradykinesia, with significant behavioral improvement being observed following administration of L-DOPA. Immunohistochemical studies failed to detect JEV antigens in any region of the rat brain and the JEV genome was undetectable in the substantia nigra and the cerebral cortex using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The findings suggest that JEV infection of rats under the conditions described may serve as a model of virus induced Parkinson's Disease.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

[Foreskin retraction for phimosis of the newborn].

BACKGROUND: No guideline exists on how to treat boy's phimosis. We examined if retraction of the foreskin of the newborn boy's penis could make true phimosis become false phimosis. METHODS: We taught the mother to retract the foreskin and keep inside the foreskin clean. Exposure degree of glans by retraction of foreskin was defined in 7 grades, 0 (none) approximately III (middle) approximately VI (full). RESULTS: Of the 538 newborn examined, none had full exposure (VI). All of the 372 cases who continued the procedure, including 2 buried penis, gained full exposure (VI). Average time for full exposure according to the first degree of exposure was 2.94 months (0), 1.78 months (III), 1.22 months (V), 2.32 months average, respectively. No serious complications occurred. CONCLUSION: Retraction of the foreskin from the newborn period made all the true phimosis to be false phimosis and operative procedures became unnecessary.

Health Education↗
PubMed1997

[Stone recurrence after stone free status with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy].

BACKGROUND: The objects of this study is to evaluate the ipsilateral stone recurrence who became stone free status after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). METHODS: Three hundred ninety five patients who became stone free after ESWL with Lithostar and followed more than 6 months, were analyzed stone recurrence. Stone recurrence were diagnosed by KUB and/or ultrasound. Actual recurrence free rate were calculated based on the period from the day of achieved stone free status to the day of estimated recurrence. Eight factors examined included sex, side, number, location, size, stone history urological complication, hydronephrosis and also contralateral recurrence was analyzed. RESULTS: Over all ipsilateral recurrence free rate were 96.5%, 78.8%, 65.3% after 1, 3 and 5 years, respectively. Contralateral stone free rate were 98.1%, 92.5%, 87.2% after 1, 3 and 5 years. Five-year recurrence free rate according stone factors, there were significant difference in stone number (Single 71.1% and multiple 31.6%), in stone history (with history 77.1% and without 35.7%), in urological complication (without complication 67.7% and with complication 35.7%). However, there were no significant difference in sex, side, stone, location, stone size and hydronephrosis. CONCLUSION: This results suggested that the stone number, stone history and urological complication were highly related to ipsilateral stone recurrence after stone free status by ESWL. Extracorporeal shock was lithotripsy had probability of higher stone recurrence rate.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

[Analysis of Parkinson's disease and related syndromes using 123I-IMP-SPECT with the ARG method].

We studied regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 8 patients with non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD). 1 patient with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 1 patient with multiple system atrophy (MSA), and 7 normal control subjects using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with the IMP-ARG method. Regions of interest were studied in the cerebral cortex (upper frontal, lower frontal, temporal, occipital, parietal), thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. In patients with PD, rCBF was normal in 4/8, and decreased in occipital lobe in 4/8. In patient with PSP, rCBF was decreased in the upper and lower frontal lobes, and in the cerebellum. In patient with MSA, rCBF was diminished in the cerebellum. The results of our study were almost compatible with the conventional rCBF study by positron emission tomography (PET), however, the decrease of rCBF in occipital lobe had rarely been reported, suggesting that might be related to visuospatial dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

[Bropirimine (U-54461S) late phase II clinical study for carcinoma in situ of the bladder. Japan Bropirimine Study Group].

Late Phase II clinical study with bropirimine (U-54461S), a novel oral antitumor agent that has interferon inducing and anti-proliferative activities, was conducted in patients with bladder CIS at 38 institutions nationwide. To investigate the efficacy and safety of the treatment, bropirimine was administered to the patients at the dose of 750 mg every two hours, three times a day, for three consecutive days with four-day drug withdrawal, based on the results of the preceding clinical studies up to early phase II. Among the 48 patients registered, 41 patients were evaluable for antitumor efficacy. Complete response (CR) was observed in 17 of them, no change (NC) in 18 patients, and progressive disease (PD) in 6 patients; so the efficacy rate was 41.5%. Classified by patient background, the efficacy rates were 58.3% (7/12) in patients with primary bladder CIS, 34.5% (10/29) in those with secondary bladder CIS, 45.5% (10/22) in those with Grade 3, and 23.8% (5/21) in those previously given chemotherapeutic agents or BCG by intravesical or other routes. Adverse drug reactions frequently observed were influenza-like symptoms such as fever and generalized malaise and gastrointestinal symptoms like anorexia and nausea/vomiting; these symptoms were all Grade 2 or milder. Abnormalities in laboratory tests, such as an elevation in GOT/GPT, neutropenia, and leukopenia were observed. These adverse effects were all tolerated by the patients. From the above results, bropirimine was considered to be a useful oral agent for the treatment of bladder CIS.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1997

[Herpes viruses--herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, EB virus, cytomegalovirus].

Herpes simplex encephalitis is the commonest viral encephalitis among individuals, and the mortality has been markedly decreased by the use of vidarabine and acyclovir. Early diagnoses and immediate treatment are essential for favorable prognoses. Neuro-imagings, such as MRI and SPECT, and PCR technique for detection of HSV-DNA in CSF, are useful for early diagnoses, without requiring brain biopsy. Varicella and herpes zoster viruses are complicated, only rarely, with neurological manifestations, such as meningoencephalitis, myelitis, or peripheral neuropathy. Acyclovir is mostly effective in these cases. Neurological complications of Epstein-Barr virus infections are variable, including meningitis, cerebellar ataxia, cranial neuropathy, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Their prognoses are generally good. Cytomegalovirus encephalitis is one of the common complications in AIDS patients. Its clinical diagnosis is difficult and the prognosis is considered to be poor.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1997

[Lack of hyperglycemic rebound after insulinoma removal: two case reports].

Two cases of anesthetic management for insulinoma were reported. The first patient, a 54-year-old man, suffering from repeated episodes of fasting hypoglycemia was scheduled for removal of insulinoma developed in the pancreas under isoflurane-nitrous oxide anesthesia. Preanesthetic plasma glucose concentration was 57 mg.dl-1. Glucose was continuously administered intravenously to maintain plasma glucose around 150 mg.dl-1. The second patient, a 65-year-old man suffering from several episodes of fasting hypoglycemia was scheduled for removal of insulinoma in the pancreas under isoflurane-nitrous oxide anesthesia. Preanesthetic plasma glucose was 103 mg.dl-1. An artificial pancreas was used to maintain plasma glucose at 140 mg.dl-1. In these patients, hyperglycemic rebound was not observed after removal of the insulinoma, and their perioperative courses were uneventful. Although relatively low immunoreactive insulin levels might relate, fine management of fluid and metabolism during preoperative period was thought as one of the reasons that hyperglycemic rebound did not occur in these patients. For the safe management of the patients with insulinoma, we recommend to maintain plasma glucose at the levels of mild hyperglycemia to prevent hypoglycemic episodes until the end of the removal.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

[Analysis of DNA ploidy pattern and overexpression of p53 protein in cases of early gastric carcinoma with lymph node metastasis].

Twenty-one cases of surgically resected early gastric carcinoma with lymph nodal involvement (4 mucosal and 17 submucosal carcinomas) and 37 cases of that with no lymph nodal involvement (14 mucosal and 23 submucosal) were investigated by means of flow cytometry and immunohistochemical staining in order to clarify the correlation between lymph node metastasis and DNA ploidy pattern as well as overexpression of p53 protein. DNA aneuploidy was found to show a significantly higher frequency in submucosal carcinomas (60.0%) than in mucosal ones (22.2%), and also a significantly higher frequency in node positive cases (76.2%) than in node negative ones (32.4%). Meanwhile, the overexpression of p53 protein showed higher frequency in submucosal carcinomas (52.5%) than in mucosal ones (22.2%), and also higher frequency in node positive cases (47.6%) compared with that in node negative ones (40.5%). However there was no significant difference either in relation to the depth of tumor invasion or the lymph node metastasis. Thus, DNA aneuploidy showed a significant correlation to the depth of cancer invasion as well as lymph node metastasis, which was regarded as a useful indicator for the preoperative estimation of the depth of tumor invasion as well as lymph node metastasis.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMed1997

[Motor dysfunction in the aged--approach to involuntary movements].

The clinical, pathophysiological and therapeutic approaches to the representative involuntary movements encountered in the aged are described. The prevalence rates of Parkinson disease and essential tremor are very high, and their diagnoses and treatments are quite important. Recent advances in treating Parkinson disease with anti-parkinsonian medications and essential tremor with beta-adrenergic blockers were presented. Blepharospasms, though uncommon, but occasionally seen in the aged persons, are disabled conditions. The botulinus toxin injections to the orbicularis oculi muscles proved to show dramatic therapeutic effects, greatly contributing to these patients' ADL. The importance of neuroscience in the coming 21st century is also stressed.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed1997

[Progressive supranuclear palsy with macular degeneration--report of three cases].

Three cases of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) with decreased visual acuity were reported. Case 1 was a 50-year-old man, case 2 a 60-year old woman, and case 3 a 66-year-old woman. They all had vertical gaze palsy and unexplained falls, and were diagnosed as PSP by NINDS-SPSP clinical criteria. All cases had symptoms of difficulty in vision; therefore, detailed ophthalmological tests were performed. Ophthalmoscopic findings of macula revealed atrophy in case 1 and 2, and brownish discoloration in case 3. Fluorescein fundus angiography done in case 1 showed abnormal staining at the macula. Multifocal electroretinography performed in case 3 showed absence of big response in the macula. These results indicated macular degeneration. None of three cases had cataract. And visual evoked potentials of case 2 and 3 showed prolonged P100 latency. From these results, we suspected that decreased visual acuity of our cases were due to macular degeneration and difficulty to catch the object at the fovea because of gaze palsy. There had been no reports of macular degeneration with PSP, but we might have overlooked these findings, because of dementia, gaze palsy, and apraxia of lid opening. The possibility of macular degeneration is raised as a part of neurological signs is PSP.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

[A case of Sjögren syndrome associated with multiple mononeuritis and dysautonomia including bilateral tonic pupils].

Sjögren syndrome (SjS) is a glandular disease characterized by dry eyes and dry mouth. Extraglandular manifestations in SjS are also common, and peripheral nerve involvement has been reported in 10-20% of cases. We report a case of Sjögren syndrome with bilateral tonic pupils, dysautonomia, and multiple mononeuritis. The fact that sural nerve sections, in addition to marked loss of myelinated and unmyelinated fibers, showed an increased number of infiltrating macrophages without lymphocytes and aberrant expression of HLA-DR (class II) antigen in Schwann cells was an especially interesting finding. No evidence of active vasculitis was detected. The patient was treated with corticosteroids and her condition gradually improved, as confirmed by thermography. Our findings suggested the presence of specific immunological abnormalities simultaneously involving the ciliary ganglia, autonomic ganglia, and dorsal root ganglia in this peculiar form of SjS.

Autonomic Nervous System Diseases↗
PubMed1996

Characterization of novel secreted and membrane proteins isolated by the signal sequence trap method.

We recently described a method, called the signal sequence trap (SST) method, to clone cDNAs of secreted proteins and/or type I transmembrane proteins containing N-terminal signal sequences by using an epitope-tagging expression plasmid vector. In this paper we describe the summary of a large-scale screening of approximately 5900 clones of an SST cDNA library constructed from mouse bone marrow stromal cell line ST-2 cells. Of 26 positive clones obtained and sequenced, 11 clones appeared to contain authentic signal sequences. Five of the clones corresponded to the 5' ends of the cDNA of known genes containing N-terminal signal sequences. The full-length cDNA clones of the 6 other unknown clones were isolated and sequenced. One clone, termed SDF3, encoded a mouse counterpart of human pigment epithelium-derived factor. Another clone, termed SDR1, had considerable homology with basigin, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. A third clone, termed SDF5, had partial homology with a Drosophila tissue polarity gene frizzled (fz) and its rat homologues, fz-1 and fz-2. The other three clones had no significant homology with sequences in the databases. These results indicate that the SST method is effective and useful for the isolation of secreted and membrane proteins without knowledge of their functions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Isolation and characterization of a novel secretory protein, stromal cell-derived factor-2 (SDF-2) using the signal sequence trap method.

With use of the signal sequence trap method, we isolated a cDNA encoding a novel secretory protein, SDF-2, from the mouse stromal cell line, ST2. The human homologue of SDF-2 was also isolated. The amino acid (aa) sequences deduced from both the clones were conserved more than 92%. The chromosomal localization of the human SDF-2 gene was mapped to 17q11.2. The aa sequence of SDF-2 shows similarity to those of yeast dolichyl phosphate-D-mannose:protein mannosyltransferases, Pmt1p [Strahl-Bolsinger et al. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 8164-8168] and Pmt2p [Lussier et al. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 2770-2775], whose activities have not been detected in higher eukaryotes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Maternal and zygotic expression of mRNA for S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase and its relevance to the unique polyamine composition in Xenopus oocytes and embryos.

From Xenopus tailbud cDNA library, we isolated the cDNA for S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC), an enzyme which provides putrescine and spermidine with the aminopropyl group to form spermidine and spermine, respectively. The cDNA coded for 335 amino acids whose sequence had high homology (ca. 83%) to other vertebrate SAMDCs, preserving the sequences reportedly essential for enzyme activity, proenzyme processing, and putrescine stimulation of the enzyme activity. Northern blot analysis showed one major mRNA signal of ca. 3.5 kb, with a minor signal of ca 2.0 kb which may probably be due to cross-hybridization. In oocytes the SAMDC mRNA occurred from stage I, and its amount peaked at stage II, then gradually decreased from stage III to VI. The decreased level of the mRNA was maintained during oocyte maturation, further decreased from the cleavage to early neurula stage, and then increased greatly due to the zygotic expression during late neurula stages (stage 21-25), reaching a plateau level at the late tailbud stage (stage 28). Enzyme assays showed that the changing level of the SAMDC mRNA was reflected in the level of the functional enzyme, suggesting strongly that the zygotic expression of the mRNA leads to a large increase in the amount of SAMDC, albeit in the pre-neurula embryo the amount of the enzyme is very small. We found that the relative composition of polyamines is the eukaryote-type (high-level spermine) at the beginning of oogenesis, but it changes to the prokaryote-type, or more appropriately Escherichia coli-type (high-level putrescine but background level spermine) during oocyte maturation, and remains E. coli-type throughout embryogenesis. We assume that the E. coli-type polyamine composition is a necessary factor for the normal embryogenic development in Xenopus and its maintenance, especially that in pre-neurula stages, can be explained by the low level of both SAMDC mRNA and SAMDC.

Adenosylmethionine Decarboxylase↗
PubMed1996

Identification of a cDNA encoding a thiazide-sensitive sodium-chloride cotransporter from the human and its mRNA expression in various tissues.

We report here the identification of a cDNA encoding a human thiazide-sensitive sodium-chloride cotransporter (hTSC) using a PCR-based method. The homology of the hTSC with rat TSC (rTSC) and rat bumetanide-sensitive sodium-potassium-chloride cotransporter (rBSC) was 86% and 64%, respectively, at the nucleotide level, and 92% and 61%, respectively, at the amino acid level. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), the hTSC gene has been mapped to chromosome 16q13. Northern blot analysis using polyA+RNA from various human tissues, revealed a major 4.5 kb transcript and a minor 6.5 kb specifically in the kidney, but low level of expression was also observed in small intestine, placenta, prostate, colon, and spleen.

Amino Acid Sequence↗