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Biomedical subjects

M Kitahara

Publications and source records attributed to M Kitahara.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Neutrophil myeloperoxidase: a simple, reproducible technique to determine activity.

Neutrophil MPO deficiency has been rarely documented. This is because of the low incidence of infections in these individuals and the lack of use of various screening techniques which would detect them. Using the Hemalog D, we have identified one completely deficient and 18 partially deficient subjects. These subjects were studied by staining their peripheral blood smears for MPO and grading the intensity of the stain on 100 consecutive neutrophils (MPO score) as well as by chemically quantifying the MPO activity. There is an excellent correlation between MPO score and quantitated MPO activity. The MPO score is a simple semiquantitative method to estimate MPO activity.

Autoanalysis↗

Chronic granulocytic leukemia: long-term remission in a patient with familial sarcoidosis.

A patient is described who has chronic granulocytic leukemia (CGL) and familial sarcoidosis, and who has been in complete remission for six years after a single course of busulfan therapy. Her bone marrow Philadelphia chromosome persists and the leukocyte alkaline phosphatase activity remains subnormal. Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase levels in nine white patients with sarcoidosis were all found to be low. Bone marrow chromosomes from two patients with active sarcoidosis showed no Philadelphia chromosome, but one of them, and our patient with CGL, exhibited a pericentric inversion of chromosome 9.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Monocyte functional and metabolic activity in malignant and inflammatory diseases.

Macrophages or monocytes produce CL upon exposure to ingestible particles such as opsonized zymosan or bacteria. In previous studies, we have demonstrated that activated macrophages from mice produce significantly more CL than do normal macrophages. In the present study, we have utilized the CL assay as well as 14C-1-glucose utilization to assess monocyte metabolic activity in a variety of malignant, infectious, and inflammatory diseases. Monocyte peak CL was significantly increased above control values (20.9 +/- 0.5 (S.E.) X 10(3) cpm) in 25 patients with lymphoma (26.7 +/- 1.5 x 10(3)). Markedly increased CL was also seen in inflammatory processes such as bacterial infections, tuberculosis, and sarcoidosis (32.2 +/- 2.7 x 10(3)). In contrast, monocytes from patients with solid tumors, including carcinomas of breast and gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, had peak CL values (22.4 +/- 1.6 x 10(3) which were not significantly different from controls. When studied by determining 14C-1-glucose utilization, hexose monophosphate shunt activity paralleled CL values. Monocyte metabolic activation appears therefore to accompany ongoing infectious or granulomatous processes and may also be present in certain malignancies associated with reticuloendothelial stimulation.

Adult↗

Bilateral Meniere's disease.

A survey of 265 Japanese patients with Meniere's disease revealed bilateral involvement in approximately 29% of all these patients. Somatic and psychiatric aspects of bilateral Meniere's disease were as follows. (1) The duration of the disease in cases of bilateral involvement was significantly longer than cases of unilateral involvement. (2) An abnormal general condition, a more extensive degree of hearing loss and neurotic type were frequently diagnosed in cases of bilateral involvement. Based on these results, it was concluded that psychiatric management and prevention of aggravation of deafness should be part of the management of treatment in bilateral Meniere's disease.

Female↗

Polygyny: insufficient father-son contact and son's masculine identity.

In polygynous societies in which the family consists of husband, wives, and children only, if each cowife lives in a separate quarter with her children, males are more likely to be circumcised or segregated at puberty. These customs are interpreted as the measures to rectify boys' mother-oriented personality development because of limited contact with their fathers due to their mother's separate quarters. Circumcision and segregation can be explained better in terms of the son's insufficient contact with the father rather than a very close relationship with the mother due to the long postpartum sexual taboo.

Circumcision, Male↗

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of six clinical isolates of Aspergillus.

Several different methods of performing susceptibility tests on six clinical isolates of Aspergillus are described. Some of the conditions that affected the level of susceptibility to drugs were: the type of media used, temperature and time of incubation, and the initial inoculum size. For amphotericin B susceptibility testing, the effectiveness of the polyene antibiotic as measured by visual growth was equivalent to the effectiveness as measured by inhibition of ribonucleic acid synthesis and dry-weight increase. For 5-fluorocytosine and rifampin, the visual-turbidity method gave minimum inhibitory concentrations that were much higher than those determined by effects on ribonucleic acid synthesis and dry weight. The reason for these discrepancies in susceptibility testing with 5-fluorocytosine and rifampin are unknown. We conclude that the most relevant test of this fungus to antifungal agents will have to be determined by the correlation of in vitro data with animal experiments and clinical results.

Amphotericin B↗

Activity of amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, and rifampin against six clinical isolates of Aspergillus.

Amphotericin B in combination with 5-fluorocytosine was synergistic against three clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus and one of three clinical isolates of A. flavus. Amphotericin B in combination with rifampin was synergistic against all six clinical isolates of Aspergillus tested. The levels of 5-fluorocytosine and rifampin required for synergism were higher than clinically achievable concentrations when measurements of synergism were based on visual turbidity; but when the effects of the drugs were measured by inhibition of ribonucleic acid synthesis or dry-weight increase, much lower concentrations were effective.

Amphotericin B↗

A cross-cultural test of the Freudian theory of circumcision.

Freud's thesis that circumcision is a symbolic substitute for castration as a result of the Oedipus conflict was tested by examining 111 societies (see the note to Table 1). The results show that circumcision is likely to be found in societies in which (1) the son sleeps in the mother's bed during the nursing period in bodily contact with her, and/or (2) the father sleeps in a different hut, reducing his influence on the son as a superior and competing male. Since these two factors seems to intensify the son's oedipal attachment to the mother, the data are compatible with Freud's theory. Bettelheim's theory of circumcision is less fully formulated, and only when we assume that males significantly reduce their vagina envy after puberty rites is his theory compatible with the data.

Adolescent↗

Menière's disease and diphenidol. A critical analysis of symptoms and equilibrium function tests.

In 24 patients with Ménière's disease, chemotherapy using Diphenidol (1,1-diphenyl-4-piperidino-l-butanol hydrochloride), a non-phenothiazinic antiemetic agent, was carried out using the double-blind technique in the cross-over design. The prevalence and intensity of symptoms at the three stages were recorded every three weeks according to fixed scales which were graded: vertigo, unsteadiness, tinnitus, nausea, headache, and shoulder stiffness. The hearing was measured by tone audiometry. Equilibrium function tests were also performed every three weeks and these included the electronystagmographical procedure to determine caloric response and the ARG-Tilt tests. Both symptoms and the results of equilibrium function tests, showed a higher incidence of improvement during the period of Diphenidol administration than during that of placebo. The difference was statistically significant with respect to vertigo, dizziness or unsteadiness, and general condition subjectively, as well as caloric response and ARG-Tilt tests. The Diphenidol effect consisted of an improvement of imbalance, both in the peripheral and in the central vestibular system through its neural and circulatory action. Only 8% of the patients dropped out and no side effects were observed in this series. Both the feasibility of the graded symptom scales and the utility of each parameter obtained from the equilibrium function tests are discussed in connection with testing of the drug in various stages of the disease.

Audiometry↗