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Biomedical subjects

K Uchida

Publications and source records attributed to K Uchida.

At least 1,747 records · Page 97Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Bromocriptine for infertile males with mild hyperprolactinemia: hormonal and spermatogenic effects.

To clarify the influence of hyperprolactinemia on spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in infertile male patients, the serum prolactin (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone, and estradiol concentrations were and the effect of bromocriptine treatment on spermatogenesis was examined. A total of 1234 patients were evaluated and 147 men had hyperprolactinemia. Of these, only 30 had PRL concentrations more than twice the upper limit of normal and most of them had a little excess over the upper limit. For 10 of these 30, serum hormone concentrations were measured and semen was analyzed before and after bromocriptine administration. No relationship between the PRL and other hormone concentrations was found. No changes were noted in the LH, FSH, testosterone, or estradiol concentrations, or in the sperm density and motility after treatment. The mean PRL decreased from 26.5 +/- 4.5 to 1.4 +/- 1.8 ng/mL. In infertile men who are mildly hyperprolactinemic, bromocriptine administration does not improve semen analysis, although it does normalize the PRL.

Bromocriptine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Experimental disseminated trichosporonosis in mice: tissue distribution and therapy with antifungal agents.

Mice treated with cyclophosphamide were infected intravenously with titrated doses of Trichosporon asahii TIMM3140 or TIMM3144. Mortality and survival time correlated with inoculum size and fungal growth was found in the lung, heart, liver, spleen, kidney and brain. Fluconazole and amphotericin B prolonged survival time and reduced the CFU in the kidney, with fluconazole being superior to amphotericin B. The serum level of (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan was reduced by antifungal therapy and correlated well with the CFU/organ in kidney, but not CFU/ml in blood.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of imaging methods for diagnosing enlarged parathyroid glands in chronic renal failure.

Three noninvasive imaging methods, CT, scintigraphy with 201TlCl and 99mTcO4-, and ultrasonography, were performed on 36 patients with chronic renal failure and secondary hyperparathyroidism. The patients subsequently underwent total parathyroidectomy and parathyroid autograft. The detection rates of the three methods for the 143 excised parathyroid glands were compared according to gland weight and location. Computed tomography detected 53.8% of all glands and 77.6% of 76 glands weighing more than 500 mg. Scintigraphy detected 51.0% of all glands and 77.6% of glands heavier than 500 mg. Ultrasonography detected 42.7% of all glands and 65.8% of glands heavier than 500 mg. The detection rate of upper glands was best with CT (53.5 and 87.9%): that of lower glands was best with scintigraphy (62.0 and 78.6%). Although the combination of the three methods diagnosed 66.4% of all glands and 89.5% of glands heavier than 500 mg, CT and scintigraphy, the best two combinations, visualized 64.3 and 88.2%.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Visualization of the cervical spinal cord with FDG and high-resolution PET.

PURPOSE: Our aim was to evaluate the visibility of the cervical spinal cord with [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) and a high-resolution PET scanner and to quantify the glucose utilization by the cervical cord. METHOD: Twenty-one normal subjects and three cervical myelopathy patients were studied. The visibility of the cervical spinal cord in sagittal and coronal sections was evaluated. The metabolic rate of glucose (MRGlu) and standardized uptake value (SUV) of FDG in the cord were calculated. RESULTS: The entire cervical spinal cord was clearly visualized in 57% of the subjects: the upper cord in 81%, the middle cord in 73%, and the lower cord in 57%. The MRGlu of the normal cord was 1.93 +/- 0.37 mg/100 g/min. SUV was constant across all the vertebral levels and negatively correlated with subject age. In the myelopathy patients, the SUV of the entire cervical cord was lower than in the age-matched normal subjects. CONCLUSION: These preliminary results indicate that the cervical spinal cord can be visualized as a normal structure in routine head and neck PET imaging and that FDG-PET may provide quantitative information about spinal cord disorders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sandwich technique via right ventricle incision to repair postinfarction ventricular septal defect.

We describe two cases where postinfarction ventricular septal defect (VSD) was treated with a new technique. Application of direct ultrasonography to the right ventricular (RV) wall enables the surgeon to visualize the region and perform appropriate incision into the right ventricle and trabecula resection. The VSD is sealed with gelatin-resorcin-formal (GRF) glue between two patches, one placed on the left ventricular side and the other on the right ventricular side. RV incision provides easy bleeding control and the "sandwich technique" using two patches and GRF sealing provides geometric preservation of the left ventricular shape and prevents residual shunt.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immunoreactive-somatostatin concentrations of the human stomach and mood state in patients with functional dyspepsia: a preliminary case-control study.

Immunoreactive-somatostatin (ir-SS) concentrations of the gastric mucosa and mood state in patients with functional dyspepsia were examined. The subjects were 12 patients with upper abdominal discomfort, nausea and/or vomiting (motility disorder group) and 14 patients complaining of upper abdominal pain (ulcer-like disorder group) for more than a month without any organic upper-gastrointestinal tract disease proven by endoscopy. These patients were compared with either an age- and sex-matched group of asymptomatic outpatients without any organic disease (control group: n = 26) or to a group of patients with peptic ulcer (n = 19). Somatostatin concentrations of the stomach were measured by radio-immunoassay, and the mood state of each subject was assessed by Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale test. Immunoreactive-somatostatin concentrations of the gastric mucosa were significantly higher in the ulcer-like disorder group than in the peptic ulcer, motility disorder or control group, and gastric juice levels were higher in the ulcer-like disorder group. The psychometric tests showed that the motility disorder group was more depressive than the ulcer-like disorder group, but there were no differences between the motility disorder, ulcer-like disorder and peptic ulcer group in MAS scores or environmental factors. These results indicate that there may be two different subgroups in functional dyspepsia influenced by both ir-SS concentration of the stomach and/or mood state.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum levels of macrophage colony-stimulating factor and aortic calcification in hemodialysis patients.

Hemodialysis (HD) patients have accelerated atherosclerosis. Recent reports have shown that aortosclerosis is more frequently observed in HD patients than in healthy subjects. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) secreted by activated macrophages may be involved in the process of aortosclerosis in HD patients. To understand the mechanism behind the increased incidence of aortosclerosis in HD patients, we examined the relationships between serum M-CSF levels and aortic calcification index (ACI) estimated by CT scan. A significant increase in serum M-CSF concentrations was found in HD patients (3.8 +/- 0.2 ng/ml) as compared with controls (1.5 +/- 0.1 ng/ml). No significant differences were observed between chronic glomerulonephritis and diabetes mellitus groups of patients. We also found no significant differences between the groups using different membranes (triacetate 3.8 +/- 0.2 ng/ml vs. polysulfone 3.8 +/- 0.4 ng/ml). There was no correlation between serum M-CSF concentrations and clinical parameters such as age, duration of HD, blood pressure, serum concentrations of nitrogen, creatinine, cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL, Ca x P products, and intact parathyroid hormone. A positive correlation was observed between serum M-CSF levels and ACI in HD patients (r = 0.596, p < 0.01). These results suggest that M-CSF may be involved in the process of aortosclerosis in HD patients.

Aortic Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of cGMP and cAMP on light responses of the photosensory pineal neurons in the lamprey, Lampetra japonica.

We examined in this study how external cyclic nucleotides affect the light response mechanism of the pineal photoreceptors and explored the existence of parietal eye type of photoreceptor of which the internal cGMP concentration increased during the light response. Pineal organs of river lampreys, Lampetra japonica, were treated with 8-bromo guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8Br-cGMP) or 8-bromo adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8Br-cAMP) before light stimuli, and the light responses were recorded from the second order neurons, chromatic or achromatic-type neurons. Excitatory and inhibitory light responses of the chromatic-type neuron became obscure by 9 and 3 mM 8Br-cGMP without changing the spontaneous spike discharge in the dark. 8Br-cAMP (3 mM) increased the frequency of spontaneous spike discharge, though it did not inhibit the light responses themselves. The inhibitory light response of the achromatic-type neuron decreased after adding 3 mM 8Br-cGMP, and it was unchanged by 3 mM 8Br-cAMP. The spontaneous spike discharge of the neurons in the dark was not affected by the cyclic nucleotides. The mechanism of these results can be explained if cGMP is an intracellular second messenger of light responses in the pineal photoreceptors and the blocking effect on photoresponses by externally applied 8Br-cGMP is caused by compensating for the reduction in intracellular cGMP by light. However, it does not indicate that the parietal eye type of photoreceptor found in lizard participates in the chromatic and achromatic-type responses in the lamprey pineal organ.

8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differential pattern of the circadian rhythm of serum melatonin in young and elderly healthy subjects.

The daily profile of serum level of melatonin was studied in 10 young and 13 elderly subjects. All of the subjects were physically and psychiatrically healthy and did not have any clinical symptoms related to rhythm disturbance. Blood samples were taken every 3 h for 1 day and serum melatonin levels were determined by RIA. All except for 1 of the elderly subjects exhibited a clear circadian rhythm of serum melatonin level with a nocturnal peak. In both subject groups, the melatonin rhythm showed significant diurnal variation. There was no significant difference in the total melatonin level per day between young and elderly groups, suggesting that there was no influence of aging on daily total melatonin secretion. However, there was a marked difference in the features of the melatonin rhythm between the two groups, i.e., a rapid decline of the melatonin level from the nocturnal peak in the elderly group, suggesting that the off-set time of melatonin secretion advances with aging. Our findings suggest that the pattern of melatonin rhythm alters significantly without clear clinical symptoms in the process of senescence.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Transient increase of plasma lipoprotein(a) in patients with unstable angina pectoris. Does lipoprotein(a) alter fibrinolysis?

It has been shown that lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) may interfere with the fibrinolytic system and that the Lp(a) level in an individual remains constant. To evaluate the effects of Lp(a) on the fibrinolytic system in patients with unstable angina, we measured plasma levels of Lp(a), the alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex, and the thrombin-antithrombin III complex. The latter is a marker of thrombin generation, and the alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex is an indicator of plasminogen activation. Venous plasma samples were taken from 18 patients with unstable angina and 18 patients with stable exertional angina who had been matched for clinical variables. On admission, plasma levels of Lp(a) were significantly higher in patients with unstable angina than in those with stable exertional angina (319 +/- 193 mg/l versus 191 +/- 141 mg/l, respectively; p less than 0.05). On admission, plasma levels of the alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex and of the thrombin-antithrombin III complex were also significantly higher in patients with unstable angina than in those with stable exertional angina (0.78 +/- 0.42 micrograms/ml and 3.6 +/- 1.3 ng/ml versus 0.41 +/- 0.13 micrograms/ml and 1.9 +/- 0.5 ng/ml, respectively; p less than 0.01). In nine of the 18 patients with unstable angina, serial changes of plasma levels of Lp(a), the alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex, the thrombin-antithrombin III complex, and the acute-phase proteins C-reactive protein and alpha 1-antitrypsin were examined for 3 weeks after admission.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neurite growth capability of rat fetal neuronal cells against matured CNS myelin in vitro.

Reconstruction of neurocircuits by transplanted cells is expected to become an effective therapy for brain damage. In order to establish the transplantation therapy, it is necessary to find transplantable cells capable of reconstructing the lesioned neurocircuitry. We have reported that the younger neuronal cells such as neural stem cells are useful transplant materials because of their vigorous capacity for forming abundant neurites. On the other hand, it was reported that myelin-associated neurite growth inhibitor prevents neurite regeneration. In this study, we used rat fetal neuronal cells to examine the neurite growth capacity in the presence of mature CNS myelin. Crude CNS myelin was prepared from the brains of adult Wistar rats using previously described procedures. Testing wells were precoated with poly-L-lysine and additionally by over-night drying of a suspension containing 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20 microg/cm2 of the crude myelin protein. On embryonic days 10, 12, 15, and 17 (E10, E12, E15, and E17) embryos were surgically removed, mesencephalic neural plates were dissected out from the E10 embryos, and midbrain cells were taken from the E12, E15, and E17 embryos. The neural plates and midbrain cells were placed on the myelin-coated wells. After 24 h of culture (72 h in the case of neural plates), the number of surviving cells and the length of the neurites were examined immunocytochemically using anti-neurofilament (NF) antibody. Neurite length was measured by image analyzer Luzex-F. The mesencephalic neural plate was able to grow neurites even on 20 microg/cm2 central myelin. Almost the same number of midbrain cells attached themselves to the wells without myelin in every culture obtained from various stages of embryos. The number of cells attached on the myelin-coated wells decreased with the concentration of myelin. The number of NF-positive cells was higher in cultures of materials obtained from older embryos than in cultures obtained from younger embryos. The younger cells grew longer neurites than the older cells in the myelin noncoated wells. Neurite growth was inhibited strongly when the concentration of the central myelin was 10 microg/cm2 or greater, but on the 5 microg/cm2 myelin, the younger the cells were, the longer neurites they had. When the length of the longest neurites in one field of the image analyzer was further examined in the same way, the younger the cells were, the longer their axons grew on 0 and 5 microg/cm2 myelin. Thus, CNS myelin was seen to be a significant inhibitor of the recovery of injured neural tissue of the adult CNS. Younger cells grew longer neurites than older cells on CNS myelin, and so it was suggested that neural stem cells or younger neurons may serve as tissue for transplantation therapy.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Implantation of xenogeneic transgenic neural plate tissues into parkinsonian rat brain.

Xenografting must be considered as a means of establishing neural transplantation therapy and of securing fetal neural tissues as donor material. The early stage (embryonic day 8.5, E8.5) embryonic mesencephalic neural plate (NP) from transgenic mice was examined for possible application in effective xenografting therapy. As recipients, Parkinsonian rats treated with 6-hydroxydopamine were used, and as donors, GT4-2 mice into which a beta-galactosidase gene was introduced to allow brain tissue differentiation from the recipients by X-gal staining. Three microscopic pieces of E8.5 GT4-2 mice NP were injected into the striatum of the Parkinsonian rats. Some hosts were given immunosuppressants (cyclophosphamide and FK506) (IS group), others were not (non-IS group). Amphetamine-induced rotation was examined at days 11 and 21 after grafting (D11 and D21, respectively), and morphological investigations were performed using hematoxylin-eosin (H-E), X-gal, and thyrosine hydroxylase (TH) staining. The rotations were counted in 30 of the 38 transplanted rats before and after grafting. Histological data were obtained from 19 of these 30 rats. In 11 of them the grafts survived (survival group) and in the remaining 8, the grafts were unsuccessful (rejection group). In the survival group at D11, the mean number of rotations made by transplanted rats expressed as a percentage of the number before grafting (rotation percentage) decreased to 43.8% (n = 9), which, in comparison with the average of 125.9% (n = 6) in the rejection group, reveals significant behavioral recovery (p < 0.01). The rotation percentage at D21 was 23.8% in the survival group (n = 4) and 84.5% in the rejection group (n = 3). Behavioral recovery was thus seen to improve with time in the survival group. In the IS group (n = 19), the rotation percentages averaged 74.9% (D11, n = 15) and 51.1% (D21, n = 7), while the non-IS group averages were 136.7% (D11, n = 9) and 140.7% (D21, n = 9), indicating a tendency for better behavioral recovery in the IS group than in the non-IS group (p < 0.05). Fifteen IS group rats were studied histologically, 10 (sacrificed on D11, D21) from the survival group and 5 (sacrificed on D11, D21) from the rejection group, In the non-IS group (n = 4), there was a graft in only one rat sacrificed on D11. There were many X-gal positive and TH positive cells in the grafts, suggesting that mouse NP survived, and differentiated into TH positive neurons in the rat brain. Xenografted NP has the potential to cure central nervous system diseases.

Amphetamine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differentiation and angiogenesis of central nervous system stem cells implanted with mesenchyme into ischemic rat brain.

After cerebral infarction, necrosis in neural tissues is not usually repaired or reconstructed by the injured brain. We therefore examined the effects on postinfarction repair of implanting central nervous system (CNS) stem cells together with mesenchyme, because CNS stem cells can be expected to adapt and survive in the adult brain. Cerebral infarction was induced by the Koizumi-Longa method, using the adult male spontaneous hypertensive rat model. Reperfusion was performed an hour after middle cerebral artery occlusion. The rat mesencephalic neural plate at the early somite stage (embryonic day 10.5) together with the adjacent ventral mesenchymal tissues was dissected out under the microscope and immediately implanted into the ischemic rat striatum. One month later, the cognitive function was evaluated by the Morris water maze method. Histologic and immunohistochemical examinations of the graft were made with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), neurofilament-200, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) stains. In the water maze study, mean latency times required to reach an escape platform in the implanted animals with surviving grafts were found to be shorter than in those without grafts, but longer than in normal animals. In the spatial probe trial, the number of animals seen to cross the area in the pool where the platform had been located was greater in the implanted rats with surviving grafts than in other groups. Multiple vascularization in the grafted area was observed histologically in H&E-stained tissues, and neurofilament-200-positive cells were recognized in the graft. TH staining revealed within the graft many immunoreactive neuron-like cell bodies with long dendrites. It was suggested that grafted CNS stem cells with mesenchyme may survive and differentiate into mature CNS tissue within the adult ischemic rat brain, constructing vessels in and around the grafts, and may therefore have the potential to be effective in the recovery of the cognitive function of the rat model.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Altered responses of plasma 18-hydroxycorticosterone and aldosterone to angiotensin II and adrenocorticotropin in patients with a 18-hydroxycorticosterone-producing tumor.

Plasma 18-hydroxycorticosterone (18-OHB) and aldosterone responses to angiotensin II (AII) and ACTH were examined in 2 patients with a 18-OHB-producing tumor (18-OHBPT) versus those in 8 patients with a aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA), 7 patients with low renin essential hypertension (LREH) and 10 normal subjects. Plasma 18-OHB and aldosterone levels and the 18-OHB: aldosterone ratio were high in patients with an APA and normal in patients with LREH. In patients with a 18-OHBPT, plasma 18-OHB and aldosterone levels were high and normal, respectively, resulting in a 2-fold greater 18-OHB: aldosterone ratio than that in patients with an APA. Patients with an APA had a blunted response of plasma 18-OHB and aldosterone to AII and a supranormal response of these corticoids to ACTH. Patients with LREH had a supranormal response of plasma 18-OHB and aldosterone to AII and a normal response of these corticoids to ACTH. In patients with a 18-OHBPT the responses of both plasma 18-OHB and aldosterone to AII and ACTH closely resembled those in patients with an APA but not in patients with LREH. These data suggest that 18-OHBPT may be a variant of aldosteronomas, producing a large amount of 18-OHB and a small amount of aldosterone.

18-Hydroxycorticosterone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Studies on skin-electrode ERG in the closed-eye state.

Electroretinograms (ERG) were recorded using contact lens electrode and periorbital skin electrode in the opened- and closed-eye states in 15 volunteers. The implicit times of a-wave and b-wave were almost equal between recordings by contact lens electrode and those by skin electrode, when the tested eye was opened. Implicit times were prolonged when tested in the closed-eye state. In the opened-eye state, the b-wave amplitude by skin electrode was decreased to an extent of about 40%, compared to that by contact lens electrode. If repetitional stimuli of higher intensities were employed and responses were averaged, clinically satisfactory ERGs were recordable with skin electrodes in the closed-eye state.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immunohistochemical detection of thymidylate synthase in advanced gastric cancer: a prognostic indicator in patients undergoing gastrectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluoropyrimidines.

To investigate prognostic indicators for gastric adenocarcinomas in advanced stage, we have carried out immunohistochemical determination of thymidylate synthase (TS) in carcinoma tissues. Sixty seven cases of curatively resected gastric carcinoma, under 70 years old at the time of surgery, who had been in the same grade of invasion and lymph nodal involvements (pT3/pN2, Stage IIIB), and had underwent postoperative 5FU-related chemotherapy for a long period were extracted from the files of our hospital. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens were stained with an antibody for human TS (polyclonal). A positive signal was always compared with some types of inflammatory cells in the same slide because of their constantly strong signal. Normal control tissue used was human bone marrow containing blastic cells. Both staining intensity and the fraction of positively stained carcinoma cells were examined in each case, and then the results were summarized with respect to fraction of positively stained carcinoma cells. The present study indicates that the TS-negative group had better survival than the positive group (p < 0.05), the 5 year survival rates being 42.3% and 25.1%, respectively, which suggests that the frequency of TS-positive carcinoma cells could also be a prognostic indicator.

Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The development of male reproductive organ abnormalities after neonatal exposure to tamoxifen is genetically determined.

Responses of the male reproductive organs to neonatal exposures of tamoxifen (Tx) were examined in seven different strains of mice (A/J, AKR/J, BALB/cAnN, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, DBA/ 2J, and FVB/N). Male mice were given daily subcutaneous injections of 2 microg Tx from postnatal day 1 to 5, and the testes, epididymides, ductus deferens, and seminal vesicles were examined at 3 months of age. At necropsy, the testes and seminal vesicles of Tx-treated groups were significantly smaller in size than those of the control groups in all strains. Histologically, the testes of AKR/J, BALB/cAnN, and FVB/N mice showed no abnormality after neonatal treatment with Tx. In contrast, the testes of A/J, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, and DBA/ 2J mice were often necrotic and highly disorganized, with severe inflammation. In the connective tissue surrounding these testes, relatively large arteries were involved in the inflammation, and the vascular lumen was occluded by the thickened tunica interna, suggesting that these testicular changes were due to infarction. Similarly, the epididymides and ductus deferens of Tx-treated A/J, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, and FVB/N mice showed chronic pyogranulomatous inflammation. The epithelium of the seminal vesicles of Tx-treated A/J, C3H/HeJ, C57BU6J, DBA/2J, and FVB/N mice also exhibited moderate hyperplasia, with squamous metaplasia. These results indicate that neonatal exposure to Tx causes various abnormalities of the male reproductive organs in postpubertal mice, depending on the strains, and suggest that a genetic component plays a major role in determining the phenotypic variation observed.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗