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Biomedical subjects

K Tsuji

Publications and source records attributed to K Tsuji.

At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Inhibition by neosurugatoxin of nicotine-induced antinociception.

We have found a selective inhibition of nicotine-induced antinociception in mice by neosurugatoxin (NSTX, 0.4-3.8 nmol/kg), a neurotoxin with a high affinity for ganglionic nicotinic receptors (ED50 = 0.65 nmol/kg). The toxin also reduced specific [3H]nicotine binding in mouse brain membranes (IC50 = 95 nM). The anti-nicotinic activity of NSTX was markedly greater than that of mecamylamine and pempidine. These data indicate that NSTX may block functional nicotinic cholinoceptors possibly in the central nervous system.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Formation of mast cell colonies in methylcellulose by mouse peritoneal cells and differentiation of these cloned cells in both the skin and the gastric mucosa of W/Wv mice: evidence that a common precursor can give rise to both "connective tissue-type" and "mucosal" mast cells.

We investigated the issue of mast cell heterogeneity by cloning mast cell colonies from peritoneal cells in methylcellulose, injecting the cloned cells into the skin and stomach of mast cell-deficient (WB X C57BL/6)F1-W/Wv (WBB6F1-W/Wv) mice, and staining the mast cells that developed in these sites with Berberine sulfate, a fluorescent dye that identifies heparin-containing mast cells. When peritoneal cells of nontreated WBB6F1-+/+ mice were plated in methylcellulose containing pokeweed mitogen-stimulated spleen cell conditioned medium, pure mast cell colonies developed. In contrast, the peritoneal cavity of genetically mast cell-deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv mice lacked the progenitor cells that made mast-cell colonies. The clonal nature of the mast cell colonies was determined by using the giant granules of C57BL/6-bgJ/bgJ mice as a marker: even when mixture of peritoneal cells of C57BL/6-bgJ/bgJ mice and C57BL/6-+/+ mice were plated, all of the resulting colonies consisted of either bgJ/bgJ-type mast cells alone or +/+-type mast cells alone. Individual mast c 11 colonies of WBB6F1-+/+ mouse origin were divided into two parts; one part was directly injected into the wall of the glandular stomach of a WBB6F1-W/Wv mouse, and another part was injected into the skin of the same W/Wv mouse. Injections of 14 of 46 such colonies resulted in development of mast cells in both the "connective tissues" (skin or stomach muscle or both) and the stomach mucosa. Mast cells in the connective tissues were stained with Berberine-sulfate, indicating that they contained heparin, whereas mast cells in the stomach mucosa were not. These results suggest that a single precursor cell can give rise to both "connective tissue-type" and "mucosal" mast cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Association between HLA and Sjögren's syndrome in Japanese patients.

Japanese patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS), patients with SS and rheumatoid arthritis (SS-RA), and patients with SS and connective tissue disease without RA (nonrheumatoid connective tissue disease [SS-CTD]) were typed for HLA antigens. Patients with primary SS and those with SS-RA had higher frequencies of DRw53 than did those who had SS-CTD; however, the group with SS-CTD showed a negative correlation with DRw52. These data indicate that Japanese and white patients with SS have different HLA specificities, and that genetic factors involved in the development of SS-CTD might be different from those in primary SS and SS-RA.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1986

HLA-DQ structural polymorphism in HLA-DR2 associated HLA-D clusters.

Three homozygous cell lines with different cellular HLA-D specificities associated with HLA-DR2 including Dw2, Dw12, DB9 displayed structural variation in the products of the DQ locus. Nonglycosylated precursor polypeptides of DQ molecules immunoprecipitated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D gel) revealed distinct differences in the patterns of DQ alpha and DQ beta chains.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1986

Southern hybridization analysis of DNA polymorphism in the HLA-D region.

Restriction fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLP) were systematically analyzed by Southern hybridization with restriction endonuclease-digested genomic DNA from 28 HLA-homozygous B cell lines with Dw1-Dw19 specificity using the DR beta and DQ beta chain cDNAs as probes. These probes detected polymorphic fragments unique to each HLA-DR specificity. Furthermore, the DQ beta chain probes permitted us to distinguish between different Dw specificities with an identical DR type much more efficiently than with the DR beta chain probe. Distribution analysis of restriction fragments hybridizing to DR beta in relation to the DR and DQ specificities showed several sets of them forming ten clusters, some of which correlate with DRw53, DQw1, and DR alleles. This DNA typing technique allows the direct definition of HLA types at the gene level and provides a powerful tool for isolating genes controlling HLA-associated diseases.

DNA↗
PubMed1986

Isolation and allelic polymorphism of cDNA clones and genomic clones of HLA-DP heavy and light chains.

From a human cDNA library constructed from consanguineous HLA-homozygous cell line AKIBA (HLA-A24, Bw52, DR2, Dw12, Cp63 Cp63: a new DP type), cDNA clones encoding the heavy and light chains of an HLA-DP Cp63 alloantigen were isolated and analyzed by restriction enzyme mapping and nucleotide sequence determination. Allelic comparisons of DP alpha and DP beta cDNA sequences showed that the amino acid sequence of the DP alpha chain was less polymorphic than that of the DP beta chain. In the DP beta chain, the polymorphic region was restricted to the beta 1 domain. We also isolated and characterized 15 genomic phage clones spanning a 74 kilobase (kb) pair of the DP region which were found to contain one DP alpha gene, one DP-like alpha gene, one DP beta gene, and one DP-like beta gene. Genomic blot analyses with different HLA-DP type cell lines using DP alpha cDNA as a probe revealed EcoRI fragment length polymorphism around the DP alpha gene.

Alleles↗
PubMed1986

Head and body movements produced by electrical stimulation of superior colliculus in rats: effects of interruption of crossed tectoreticulospinal pathway.

Stimulation of the superior colliculus in rats produces movements of the head and body that resemble either orientation and approach towards a contralateral stimulus, or avoidance of, or escape from, such a stimulus. A variety of evidence indicates that the crossed descending pathway, which runs in the contralateral predorsal bundle to the pontomedullary reticular formation and the spinal cord, is involved in orienting movements. The nature of this involvement was investigated, by assessing the effects on tectally-elicited movements of midbrain knife-cuts intended to section the pathway as it crosses midline in the dorsal tegmental decussation. As expected, ipsilateral movements resembling avoidance or escape were little affected by dorsal tegmental decussation section, whereas contralateral circling movements of the body were almost abolished. However, contralateral movements of the head in response to electrical stimulation were not eliminated, nor were orienting head movements to visual or tactile stimuli. There was some suggestion that section of the dorsal tegmental decussation increased the latency of head movements from electrical stimulation at lateral sites, and decreased the accuracy of orienting movements to sensory stimuli. These results support the view that the crossed tectoreticulospinal system is concerned with approach rather than avoidance movements. However, it appears that other, as yet unidentified, tectal efferent systems are also involved in orienting head movements. It is possible that this division of labour may reflect functional differences between various kinds of apparently similar orienting responses. One suggestion is that the tectoreticulospinal system is concerned less in open-loop orienting responses (that are initiated but not subsequently guided by sensory stimuli), than in following or pursuit movements.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Effects of sulpiride-induced hyperprolactinemia on human ovarian follicles during the late follicular phase.

The effect of hyperprolactinemia during the midfollicular through the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle on follicular development and follicular fluid hormone concentrations was studied. Fourteen women underwent laparotomy in the late follicular phase for gynecologic reasons; 6 were treated with sulpiride daily from the midfollicular to the late follicular phase (sulpiride group) and 8 received no treatment (control group). Daily administration of sulpiride (150 mg orally) significantly elevated serum prolactin (PRL) levels in all six women. In the small follicles (less than or equal to 8 mm in diameter), follicular fluid 17 beta-estradiol (E2) concentration was significantly lower (P less than 0.01), and testosterone (T) concentration was higher (P less than 0.05) in the sulpiride group. In the large follicles (greater than or equal to 9 mm in diameter), however, follicular fluid E2 and T concentrations showed no significant differences between the sulpiride and control groups. In the sulpiride group, the mean diameters of the follicles were significantly smaller than in the control group (P less than 0.01). These observations suggest that PRL exerts a suppressive effect on the smaller but not the larger follicles during the late follicular phase.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Peptidyl carbamates incorporating amino acid isosteres as novel elastase inhibitors.

The design and synthesis of 13 novel peptidyl carbamates are described. When tested for inhibitory activity toward porcine pancreatic elastase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin, six compounds were found to specifically inhibit elastase without affecting the other two serine proteases. All the active inhibitors had an amino acid isostere at the P1 position. Kinetic studies indicated that the inhibition was competitive with Ki values ranging from 4.23 X 10(-5) to 2.4 X 10(-6) M. The degree of inhibition was found to be dependent on the specificity of the peptide chain for the extended subsites on the enzyme as well as on the nature of P1'. Preliminary work on one inhibitor indicates that the inhibition is reversible and proceeds via the rapid formation of a strong enzyme-inhibitor complex, followed by slow acylation of the serine residue on the active site of the enzyme. Peptidyl carbamates represent a novel class of elastase inhibitors.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Bioluminescence for USP sterility testing of pharmaceutical suspension products.

Bioluminescence measurement significantly improved the accuracy, sensitivity, precision, and reliability of the current visual endpoint determination for the USP sterility test and eliminated the day 7 transfer/dilution step required for testing suspension products. Thirteen strains of bacteria and fungi (representing potential contaminants in sterile products), three pharmaceutical suspension products, and four media were used in the experiment. No interference from suspension products was encountered in the detection of microbial growth by the bioluminescence measurement. The poor fungal growth encountered was attributed to insufficient diffusion of oxygen into the medium and was circumvented by use of a large tube size (38 by 200 mm) or by vortexing the medium once during the 2-week incubation period. Bioluminescence measurement would facilitate automated handling of the sterility test endpoint readout operation. The optimum parameters of bioluminescence measurement for application in sterility testing were determined.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1986

Automation of microbial enumeration: development of a disposable hydrophobic grid-membrane filter unit.

A disposable filter unit containing a hydrophobic grid-membrane filter (HGMF) was developed. The unit is liquid tight to serve as a specimen transport container and, by removal of the funnel extender (175- or 300-ml capacity), the unit becomes less than the height of two stacked petri plates to save space during in situ incubation. The polyethylene mesh which supports the HGMF facilitates rinse removal of any substance(s) that would interfere with microbial growth. The correlations between a pour plate, a conventional square HGMF, and a disposable filter unit on microbial enumeration were examined. Characteristics (e.g., clumping, spreading, etc.) of some microorganisms limit the linear counting range to less than 1,000 CFU per filter.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1986

Secretion of pyruvate and lactate in pancreatic juice induced by acetazolamide or secretin.

In vivo studies using pentobarbital sodium-anesthesized dogs were performed to investigate whether a transport pathway for pyruvate and lactate is present in the exocrine pancreas. Concentrations of both acids were measured in peripheral blood and pancreatic juice before and after intravenous 15-min administration of 2.25 mmol/kg DL-lactate, superimposed on continuous intravenous infusion of 3 U X kg-1 X h-1 secretin. The concentration ratio of lactate to pyruvate in pancreatic juice was found to be approximately 1, a lower value than found in other tissues or body fluids. D-lactate, not detected in either blood or juice during basal periods, rapidly appeared in both fluids in parallel with the physiological isomer L-lactate, after the infusion of DL-lactate. Further addition of acetazolamide or a high dose of secretin caused a marked secretory response of pyruvate and lactate with no increase in juice bicarbonate levels. We conclude that these acids can be transported from blood to lumen when the transmembrane pH gradient across the duct cell membranes is augmented by stimulants via a proton pump mechanism involving a CO2-HCO3-buffer system.

Acetazolamide↗
PubMed1986

The prevalence of islet cell antibodies in Japanese insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients studied by indirect immunofluorescence and by a new method.

Islet cell antibodies (ICA) were measured in Japanese patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) by a standard, indirect immunofluorescence method (IF method) and by a newly established, three-layer immunofluorescence method applying a biotin-avidin system (BAS method). In addition, the relationship between ICA and HLA was studied in IDDM patients. ICA titers detected by the BAS method correlated well with those determined by the standard IF method (rS = 0.987, P less than 0.01). The BAS method had about an eightfold higher sensitivity for ICA than the IF method. The overall prevalence of ICA detected by the BAS method (ICA-BAS) versus that by the IF method (ICA-IF) was 41% (82/198) versus 28% (56/198) in IDDM patients and 3% (19/593) versus 2% (14/593) in patients with NIDDM. In IDDM patients, ICA-BAS was all positive less than 1 mo after the onset of diabetes, while the prevalence of ICA-IF was 83% (20/24) during the same period. The prevalence of ICA-IF decreased rapidly with the duration of disease, reaching a value of 6% (3/55) in the patients with a disease duration of 10 yr or more. The incidence of ICA-BAS also decreased with the duration of disease, although to a lesser degree than ICA-IF. No association was found between HLA types and persistence of ICA-BAS or -IF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Stimulation of chenodeoxycholic acid excretion in hypercholesterolemic mice by dietary taurine.

The effects of dietary taurine on fecal steroid excretion and bile acid pool size were investigated in Jcl: ICR strain mice. The mice were fed on semi-purified diets for five weeks: a cholesterol-free diet (Standard), a lithogenic diet containing 0.5% cholesterol and 0.25% sodium cholate (C-CA) and a lithogenic diet supplemented with 5% taurine (C-CA + 5% taurine). The changes in fecal steroid excretion were studied as a function of time and the bile acid pool size was estimated. Dietary taurine affected fecal bile acid excretion both quantitatively and qualitatively. No change in bile acid pool size was observed. The fecal excretion of bile acids increased in taurine-supplemented mice. The increase in the fecal neutral steroid excretion was less than that in C-CA fed mice. The proportion of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and the related bile acids to total bile acids increased both in the fecal bile acids and in the bile acid pool. Therefore, the protective effect of dietary taurine against cholesterol gallstone formation may be related to the stimulation of bile acid synthesis, especially of CDCA and related compounds.

Administration, Oral↗