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Biomedical subjects

M Kasai

Publications and source records attributed to M Kasai.

659 records · Page 37Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Relative risks of death due to liver disease among Japanese male adults having various statuses for hepatitis B s and e antigen/antibody in serum: a prospective study.

Taking advantage of the compulsory annual medical check-up at the Central Institute of Health, Japan National Railways, hepatitis B seromarkers were tested in male employees at work and their "dead and alive" status was followed for more than 6 years for their prognostic significance. Two prospective studies were carried out. In the first study, two groups (cohorts) of males age 40 to 55 years were tested in 1973 and 1978, respectively, for HBsAg and anti-HBs. The relative risk of dying from primary liver cancer in HBsAg-positive carriers (n = 126) as compared to the controls who were negative for both HBsAg and anti-HBs (n = 5,322) was 30.03 and significantly high, whereas those positive for anti-HBs (n = 1,470) had no increased risk of dying from primary liver cancer or from other liver diseases. The follow-up period ranged from 6.5 to 11.5 years, averaging 8.5 years. In the second study, three male cohorts of the same ages were tested for HBsAg and HBeAg/anti-HBe (micro-Ouchterlony method) in 1977, 1978 and 1979, respectively. There were 513 HBsAg-positive carriers among 25,547 examinees, who were followed for an average of 7.3 (6 to 8) years. Among these HBsAg carriers, those who were positive for HBeAg on entry had the highest risk of dying from primary liver cancer (relative risk, 50.25) and from other liver diseases (78.06), followed by those negative for both (28.95 and 21.78, respectively) and those positive for anti-HBe (9.47 and 6.43) when compared with 25,034 noncarriers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Hepatitis B Antibodies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of corticotropin-releasing factor on neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus in vitro.

Effects of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) on paraventricular (PVN) neurons of the hypothalamus were investigated in rat brain slice preparations. Of 110 PVN neurons recorded extracellularly, bath application of 10(-7) M CRF excited 31 (28%) and inhibited 27 (25%). In 8 (7%) neurons, excitation was followed by inhibition. Five neurons tested were dose-dependently excited. To know whether these responses still remained under synaptic blockade, 10(-7) M CRF was applied to 30 PVN neurons in a low Ca2+, high Mg2+ medium. Seventeen PVN neurons were excited, but neither inhibition nor excitation followed by inhibition was observed. Of 13 intracellularly recorded PVN neurons, the membrane potential of 9 was depolarized by 10(-6) M CRF. The others were not affected. In the low Ca2+, high Mg2+ medium, the firing rates of the neurons did not decrease but increased even in neurons that decreased their firing rates in the control medium. These results suggest that CRF may excite PVN neurons directly, and depolarize the membrane potential.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mechanism of D-xylose transport in human small intestine.

The transport mechanism of D-xylose across the mucosal border of small intestine was investigated in humans both in vitro and in vivo. A comparative study was also made between infants and adults. We investigated the Na+ dependence of D-xylose influx from the mucosal solution into the epithelial cells, the phlorizin sensitivity of the influx, transport kinetics and electrogenic property of the D-xylose transport. The results of kinetic study indicated that the transport of D-xylose was completely diffusional. The influx of D-xylose across the mucosal border of human small intestine was Na+ independent and phlorizin insensitive. The electrical property of D-xylose transport could not be observed. There was no difference in the characteristics of D-xylose transport between small intestines of infants or adults. These results in the present study suggest that D-xylose does not share a common transport mechanism of D-glucose, and xylose tolerance test does not give any information about the absorptive capacity of D-glucose.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of shock waves on microcirculation, perfusion, and pain management in critical limb ischemia.

Shock waves (SW) are used to control pain in different clinical conditions (eg, painful knee, elbow, and shoulder, etc). The effects of SWs may be due to cellular ;;stunning'' (particularly nervous components). It may also be the consequence of unknown metabolic actions on tissues, which may include changes in cellular permeability, the liberation of proteins and mediators locally acting on pain and nerve endings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction in pain and the improvement in microcirculation induced by SW treatment in a 2-week study in patients with chronic limb ischemia (CLI). Of the 32 patients with CLI, 30 (20 with rest pain only, 10 with necrosis) completed the study. The treatment was well tolerated. Foot radiographs performed before and after treatment indicate no bone damage after treatment. Foot (tibial arteries) blood pressure was unchanged after 2 weeks. The increase in laser Doppler flux was significant (p <0.05) after treatment. The ORACLE score at 2 weeks was decreased (p <0.05). The same trend was observed with the analogue scale line for pain (p <0.05). Partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) increased (p <0.05) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) decreased (p <0.05). In all patients an increase in pain-free walking distance was observed (the distance increased on average 2.4 times). Flux improvement was still present after 1 month. The outcome at 3 months in these patients indicates that the improvement (concerning the survival of the limbs) was persistent. In conclusion SWs treatment in CLI produced changes both on the microcirculation and pain. These results are very interesting, confirming previous observations, and opening new treatment options in CLI. The skin flow improvement did not relate to an increase in pressure.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of the nutritional condition and absorptive capacity of nine infants with short bowel syndrome.

Nutritional conditions and absorptive capacity of nine infants with short bowel syndrome were investigated during a long follow-up period from 1.5 years to 14 years and 7 months. The length of the residual small intestine ranged between 13-90 cm. The nine infants had normal meals at home and most of them did not suffer from persistent diarrhea. Most of the infants were thin. Nutritional parameters were kept relatively normal. The results of D-xylose absorption test had gradually improved, but the absorptive capacity of sugars and amino acids, observed by potential differences, were within the normal limits or slightly subnormal except for one infant. This indicated that the absorptive capacity of sugars and amino acids per a given area of the residual small intestine did not increase. Severe steatorrhea continued for several years in infants with less than 50 cm of small intestine. In these infants the concentration of serum vitamin D and total cholesterol were below the normal limits and the absorption of bile acids was disrupted. From our examination, infants with less than 50 cm of small intestine must be followed up for a long period and nutritional supplements are necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Experimental study on expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (E-PTFE) for portal vein reconstruction with combined operation of the digestive tract.

For evaluating the resistance of Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (E-PTFE) to infection, an E-PTFE vascular graft was exposed to intestinal contents and transplanted into the canine portal vein. In group A, E-PTFE tubular graft was inserted into the portal vein defect. In group B, choledochojejunostomy was also performed combined with the E-PTFE graft interposition. In an early stage infiltration of leukocytes was observed around the graft removed from the dog. However, exploration of the periprosthetic adventitial attachment revealed no infiltration of leukocytes in both groups more than three months after operation. The results showed no morphological difference in the formation of neointima and no statistical discrepancy of patency rates (X2-test; 0.5 less than p less than 0.75). These results demonstrated superiority of the E-PTFE vascular substitute in terms of being antithrombogenic and refractory to infection.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New evidence that Candida albicans possesses additional ATP-binding cassette MDR-like genes: implications for antifungal azole resistance.

Emergence of resistance of Candida albicans to antifungal triazoles is increasingly recognized as an important cause of refractory mucosal candidiasis in HIV-infected patients. Recently, CDR1, which is thought to be analogous to the human MDR-1 P-glycoprotein, has been cloned in C. albicans. It has been proposed that its expression is partially responsible for fluconazole resistance in C. albicans. This gene is characterized by the presence of an ATP binding cassette (ABC) region and is distinct from the BENr gene which does not encode such a functional domain. As the molecular basis for fluconazole resistance appears to be multifactorial, we considered that there may be other ATP binding cassette-containing MDR genes that may potentially contribute to antifungal azole resistance in C. albicans. We therefore sought to identify potential target sequences that may be derived from candidate genes that share homology with the ATP binding cassette region of the human MDR-1 P-glycoprotein. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers based on the known sequence from the ATP binding cassette region of the human MDR-1 P-glycoprotein were used to amplify PCR products within the range of 100 bp in length from C. albicans isolates (3 fluconazole-susceptible and 3 fluconazole-resistant). Sequence analysis of individually subcloned PCR products, derived from the six isolates revealed 34 sequences in total. The results of our study identified 14 clones (with at least one per isolate) with a high degree of homology to the ATP binding cassette of the human MDR-1 P-glycoprotein. The BLAST search did not disclose homology of these new sequences to the C. albicans CDR1 gene, suggesting that C. albicans may possess more than one MDR-like gene. We conclude that C. albicans may possess one or more additional genes encoding ATP binding cassette MDR-like proteins that are distinct from CDR 1 and which could participate in the development of fluconazole resistance.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗