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Biomedical subjects

K Tokunaga

Publications and source records attributed to K Tokunaga.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

[A case of Listeria rhombencephalitis with a secondary vasculitis suggested by MRI].

We reported a rare case of Listeria rhombencephalitis with meningitis. A 48-year-old healthy man suddenly experienced high fever and headache, then he had lower cranial nerve's palsies and mental dysfunction developed during one week period. On admission, his temperature was 38 degrees C. He was slightly delirious and euphoric. He had nuchal rigidity, mild paresthesia over his left cheek to left upper lip, a right sixth nerve palsy, dysphagia, hiccup, nasal voice and left cerebellar ataxia. His tongue deviated toward the right side on protrusion. A CSF culture grew Listeria monocytogenes. Intravenous antibiotic therapy (PIPC, minocycline hydrochloride) produced improvement in one month except for mild paresthesia and dysphagia. He almost recovered after 7 months of illness. Brain MRI on T2 weighted image demonstrated multiple small ischemic lesions in the left lateral medulla, upper pontine tegmentum in the right side, and pontine tegmentum in the left side. These lesions enhanced by Gd. were assumed to be due to the secondary vasculitis. Listeria rhombencephalitis is extremely rare in human beings. To our knowledge only thirteen cases have been reported. In seven cases, post-mortem pathological findings confirmed necrotizing angitis in brainstem. Clinical aspects of Listeria rhombencephalitis were discussed, and the entity of this disease should be considered as a treatable cause of acute progressive brainstem meningoencephalitis.

Humans↗

Clinical application of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to autologous transfusion of patients with open heart surgery.

Patients undergoing surgery for cardiac valve replacement were autologously transfused after their cryopreserved blood was treated with phosphoenolpyruvate. Five patients received red cells treated on the day of operation with a solution containing phosphoenolpyruvate, the other 6 serving as a control group. None of the patients received homologous blood. The treated red cells had a normal adenosine triphosphate concentration; in the control group a 10% decrease was noted. The 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate concentration was 211% of normal in red cells of the treated group and 69% of normal in the control group. The P50 values (mmHg) were 31.1 +/- 3.5 (treated), 20.3 +/- 1.7 (untreated), and 26.1 +/- 0.6 (fresh, not cryopreserved), respectively. Both the 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate and P50 values of the circulating blood were significantly (p < 0.02) increased in the patients receiving treated red cells. The increase in the 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate and P50 remained for 6 hours after transfusion at which time the levels of the 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate were 14.5 +/- 2.2 mumol/gHb (treated group) and 10.5 +/- 0.8 mumol/gHb (control group). Those of P50 were 28.1 +/- 1.5 mmHg (treated group) and 25.9 +/- 0.9 mmHg (control group). The adenosine triphosphate levels were not significantly different. The postoperative values of pH and hematocrit did not differ between the two groups. It was estimated that the oxygen delivery capacity in the circulating blood was about 30% higher in the patients receiving phosphoenolpyruvate treated blood than in those receiving untreated blood.

Adult↗

Evidence for different sites of monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyltransferase in the striatum.

Wistar rats were implanted with a probe for brain microdialysis in the striatum, and measured for two major dopamine metabolites, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA). Intraperitoneal chlorpromazine (5 mg/kg) increased the concentrations of both metabolites in the dialysate when the determinations were carried out before 90 min after the administration. An apparent difference between the declines in concentrations of DOPAC and HVA was observed. Although the concentration of HVA maintained higher levels for over 6 h after the administration, DOPAC underwent a decrease in its concentration after the maximum level, which occurred at 90 min after the administration. These results are discussed in terms of the different distributions of two enzymes related to the metabolism of dopamine, catechol-O-methyltransferase and monoamine oxidase.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Marked enhancement of acyl-CoA synthetase activity and mRNA, paralleled to lipoprotein lipase mRNA, in adipose tissues of Zucker obese rats (fa/fa).

To clarify the role of acyl-CoA synthetase in development of obesity, the mRNA levels and activities were studied in Zucker fatty rats (fa/fa). In Zucker fatty rats compared with their lean littermates, marked enhancement of ACS were observed in adipose tissues. Obese/lean rats ratio of ACS activity and mRNA in abdominal subcutaneous fat (3.3- and 3.9-fold, respectively) were greater than in mesenteric fat (2.0- and 2.2-fold). The enhancement of ACS activity and mRNA in the liver of fatty rats (1.2- and 1.8-fold) were less than those in the adipose tissues. There were no enhancement of ACS activities and mRNA levels in heart tissue of the obese rats. LPL mRNA levels were also enhanced in adipose tissue of fatty rats and obese/lean ratio of LPL mRNA was also higher in abdominal subcutaneous fat than mesenteric fat (6.2- vs 3.1-fold). The larger obese/lean rats ratio of LPL and ACS parameters in abdominal subcutaneous fat than mesenteric fat may be related to the observation that the increase of subcutaneous fat weight was larger than that of mesenteric fat weight in fatty rats (21.1- vs 4.9-fold). Integrated enhancement of LPL and ACS gene expression in adipose tissue may play an important role in the development of obesity.

Adipose Tissue↗

Strong association of insulin autoimmune syndrome with HLA-DR4.

Insulin autoimmune syndrome is characterised by spontaneous hypoglycaemia without evidence of exogenous insulin administration, a high serum concentration of total immunoreactive insulin, and the presence of insulin autoantibodies in high titre. HLA typing of 27 patients with insulin autoimmune syndrome showed that all had DR4, which was present in only 43% of 51 healthy controls (odds ratio 72.1, p less than 2 x 10(-6), and 19 (70%) of the patients were positive for the allelic combination, Cw4, Bw62, and DR4. Analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1 genes showed that all the patients had DRB1*0406, DQA1*0301, and DQB1*0302, compared with only 14% of the controls (odds ratio 281, p less than 1 x 10(-10). We conclude that the development of insulin autoimmune syndrome is associated with a strong genetic predisposition.

Adult↗

Allotypes of the fourth component of complement in Koreans.

The analysis of genetic polymorphism in C4 was performed on EDTA-plasma from 169 healthy unrelated Koreans. Plasma samples were subjected to high-voltage agarose gel electrophoresis followed by immunofixation. C4B allotypes were further detected by a hemolytic overlay method. The allele frequencies of C4A and C4B were as follows; for C4A, C4A*3 = 0.6099, C4A*4 = 0.1702, C4A*Q0 = 0.1525, C4A*2 = 0.0461, and C4A*R = 0.0213; for C4B, C4B*1 = 0.6406, C4B*2 = 0.2740, C4B*5 = 0.0569, C4B*Q0 = 0.0178, and C4B*R = 0.0107. C4A*3 and C4B*1 were among the most common alleles at each locus. C4A*6 was not detected in this study, but this allele is relatively common in both Caucasoid and Negroid populations. C4B*5 is a common allele in Asian, which is rare in Caucasoids and Negroids. C4B*5 appeared to be a characteristic allele of Oriental. In the C4A locus, five individuals with duplicated allotypes (three C4A 3,3 + 2, one C4A 4,3 + 2, and one C4A 3,3 + 3) were observed, and in the C4B locus, one individual with duplicated allotype (C4B 1,1 + 1) was detected.

Alleles↗

Analysis of determinants of ventricular fibrillation induced by reperfusion: dissociation between electrical instability and myocardial damage.

To assess the underlying mechanisms of ventricular fibrillation induced by myocardial reperfusion after cardioplegic arrest, 62 patients undergoing an open heart operation were divided into two groups based on the absence (group 1, n = 37) or the development (group 2, n = 25) of reperfusion-induced ventricular fibrillation. There was no close relationship between the incidence of reperfusion-induced ventricular fibrillation and aortic clamp time. On reperfusion, the time to onset of cardiac activity was similar in groups 1 (2.4 +/- 1.8 minutes) and 2 (1.9 +/- 1.1 minutes). At that time, there was no significant difference in values of arterial oxygen and bicarbonate contents, pH, or base excess between the two groups, but myocardial temperature was significantly higher in group 2 (25.6 degrees +/- 3.4 degrees versus 27.6 degrees +/- 2.4 degrees C; p less than 0.05). In addition, serum levels of sodium (123.9 +/- 4.2 versus 126.1 +/- 3.7 mmol/L; p less than 0.05) and calcium (0.80 +/- 0.07 versus 0.84 +/- 0.05 mmol/L; p less than 0.05) were significantly higher and serum potassium levels (3.98 +/- 0.58 versus 3.55 +/- 0.61 mmol/L; p less than 0.02) and the serum potassium to calcium ratio (4.94 +/- 0.90 versus 4.29 +/- 0.72; p less than 0.01) significantly lower in group 2. Postoperative serum levels of the myocardial-specific isoenzyme of creatine kinase and myoglobin were similar in both groups. By multivariate analysis, shorter ischemic time, higher myocardial temperature, higher serum sodium concentration, and lower serum potassium to calcium ratio were found to influence induction of reperfusion-induced ventricular fibrillation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Body Temperature↗

Sequence variation in Japanese HLA-DRw8 specificity.

There are four DRw8 haplotypes with different DQ alleles in Japanese: DRw8-DQw6 (w1), DRw8-DQw4, DRw8-DQw8(w3), and DRw8-DQw7 (w3). We previously reported the nucleotide sequence of DRB1 gene of DRw8-DQw6(w1) and it was named DRB1*08032. The nucleotide sequences of the other DRw8 DRB1 alleles and their correspondence to internationally recognized DRw8 subspecificities were still unclear. We have cloned these DRB1 genes and determined the nucleotide sequences. The comparison of the sequences with the published sequences revealed that the differences were occurred at two amino acid positions, and these four haplotypes are classified in two groups: (a) DRw8-DQw6(w1) and DRw8-DQw7(w3), and (b) DRw8-DQw4 and DRw8-DQw8(w3). The DRB1 molecules of DRw8-DQw6(w1) and DRw8-DQw7(w3) have Ser57 and Ile67, and those of DRw8-DQw4 and DRw8-DQw8(w3) have Asp57 and Phe67. The former has the same sequence as that of DRB1*08032, and the latter is same as that of DRB1*0802. The classification corresponds to the serologic subtyping, which divides DRw8 into DR8.1 and DR8.2, reported in the 10th Japan HLA Workshop.

Alleles↗

Family study on HLA-DPB1 polymorphism: linkage analysis with HLA-DR/DQ and two "new" alleles.

An extensive family study on HLA-DPB1 was performed in 105 families living in northeastern Japan. In a linkage study between HLA-DPB1 and other HLA loci, five apparent recombinations between DPB1 and DR/DQ loci were observed. The recombination frequency (theta) with maximum probability was estimated to be 0.017 by the lod score method. DPB1 allele and haplotype frequencies in unrelated parents were determined by direct counting. The most common allele was DPB1*0501 with the frequency of 41.2% and the second was DPB1*0201 with 24.0%. Nine DPB1-DR and six DPB1-DQ haplotypes were in significant linkage disequilibrium. Seven kinds of extended haplotypes were observed to be over 1%, in which the most common haplotype A24-B52-DR15-DQ6-DPB1*0901 occurred at 6.0%. Moreover, we found two "new" DPB1 alleles in this study. The first one possesses a single base substitution from DPB1*0501 resulting in an amino acid change. The other is most likely to be formed by an intraexonic recombination between DPB1*0301 and DPB1*0501.

Alleles↗

Effects of diltiazem and noradrenaline on extracellular potassium changes in the globally ischaemic rat heart.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to investigate the effects of a calcium antagonist (diltiazem) and a catecholamine (noradrenaline) on extracellular potassium accumulation during global ischaemia. METHODS: Extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]e) was measured during 30 min global ischaemia in the isolated rat heart using a valinomycin potassium sensitive electrode. Contracture development during ischaemia was measured throughout with an intraventricular balloon inserted into the left ventricle and myocardial adenine nucleotides were measured in separate series of hearts. RESULTS: In control hearts, [K+]e showed a characteristic triphasic change during 30 min global ischaemia. This consisted of an early rising phase followed by a transient falling phase after the initial peak of [K+]e, and then a late rising phase. Diltiazem suppressed the rate of rise of [K+]e during early ischaemia, but extended the time course of the early [K+]e rise with the higher dose, abolishing the transient falling phase of [K+]e. During late ischaemia, the rise in [K+]e was attenuated by diltiazem. Noradrenaline also suppressed the early extracellular potassium accumulation, but in contrast to diltiazem, hastened the time course of the late [K+]e rise. CONCLUSIONS: Although diltiazem suppresses the early potassium loss during ischaemia as previously described, the drug also decreases the [K+]e fall by some as yet unknown mechanism, so that the [K+]e level becomes higher than control during the falling phase.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Genetic polymorphisms in the fourth component of complement (C4) and in properdin factor B (BF) in Japanese patients with palmoplantar pustulosis.

Genetic polymorphisms in the fourth component of complement (C4) and in properdin factor B (BF) were investigated in 49 and 32 Japanese patients with palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP), respectively. C4B2 was significantly increased in frequency, whereas no significant deviations were detected in BF compared with the controls. These results may indicate that complement polymorphisms are involved in the pathogenesis of PPP.

Adult↗

Altered cell tropism and cytopathicity of feline immunodeficiency viruses in two different feline CD4-positive, CD8-negative cell lines.

Two interleukin-2-dependent feline CD4-positive and CD8-negative cell lines, MYA-1 and the newly established FeL-039, were used as host cells for infection with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). All FIV strains used, the Petaluma strain and several new isolates, were highly cytopathic to MYA-1. In contrast, the kinetics of FIV replication in FeL-039 differed greatly depending on the strain tested, i.e., noninfectious strain, highly cytopathic strain, and less cytopathic strain producing a persistent state for a long period. It appears, therefore, that cell tropism for FIV differed with each FIV strain tested even in T-cell lines showing similar cell surface phenotypes. Cytopathicity of FIV is evidently due to both the FIV strain and the host T cell.

Animals↗

Analysis by the polymerase chain reaction of histocompatibility leucocyte antigen-DR9-linked susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

DNA sequence analysis of class II HLA from Caucasian and black patients with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus has suggested that aspartic acid at position 57 (Asp 57) of the DQ beta chain provides protection against insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). In contrast, most Japanese patients with IDDM have Asp 57-positive alleles. To determine the reason for the differences and to localize the HLA-linked diabetogenic gene in Japanese, we studied the DQA1 and DQB1 genes of Japanese patients with IDDM and control subjects by the polymerase chain reaction in combination with restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Associations of DQA1*0301 and DQB1*0303 with IDDM were observed. DQA1*01 was associated negatively with IDDM. The HLA-DR9 haplotype, which is associated positively with IDDM in Japanese, was associated with DQA1*0301 and DQB1*0303, indicating that the Japanese DR9 haplotype is the same as that in caucasians but different from that in blacks. Of the loci on Japanese DR9 haplotypes, the DQA1*0301 allele showed the highest association with IDDM. DQB1*0303 was also positively associated with IDDM. Since DQB1*0303 is identical to DQB1*0302 except that it contains Asp 57, the data suggests that an Asp 57-positive allele confers susceptibility to IDDM when the whole molecule of the DQ beta chain is similar to other susceptible DQ beta chains. DQA1*0301 appears to be a marker of IDDM in all these populations: Japanese, caucasian, and black.

Adult↗