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Biomedical subjects

M Kurachi

Publications and source records attributed to M Kurachi.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Effect of taurine on depolarizations induced by L-glutamate and other excitatory amino acids in the isolated spinal cord of the frog.

The effect of taurine on depolarizing responses to L-glutamate (L-glu) was examined in isolated frog spinal cord using the sucrose gap method. Taurine (1 mM) reduced L-glu-induced depolarization in ventral and dorsal roots, even when calcium ion was deleted from or EGTA was added to the perfusate. GABA (1 mM) showed little or no effect on the L-glu response. A log dose-depolarization curve for L-glu was found to be shifted by taurine (1 mM) to the right in a non-parallel fashion. Strychnine blocked the taurine effect completely, while picrotoxin produced a partial reduction, and bicuculline exhibited no blockade at all. The depolarizations by 3-types of excitatory amino acids were also inhibited by taurine in the following order: N-methyl-D,L-aspartate greater than kainate greater than quisqualate. These results suggest a possibility that taurine but not GABA inhibits the depolarization mediated by excitatory amino acid receptors, and this may explain, in part, the inhibitory action of taurine in the central nervous system.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

[An autopsy case of transcortical motor aphasia].

An autopsy case of transcortical motor aphasia is presented with a pathology located anterior and superior to the pars opercularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus. Case H. Y. A 60-year-old right-handed man. On Nov. 14, 1978, the patient had surgery to remove cerebral hematoma in the left frontal lobe. In the neuropsychological examination before the operation, he had shown the clinical features of transcortical motor aphasia characterized by good comprehension of language, preserved repetition, and spontaneous speech disorder. In this stage, it was supposed that the underlying disturbance of spontaneous speech was due to the disabilities of contextual constructions of sentences rather than the lack of speech initiation. Following the operation, however, spontaneous speech disappeared completely for several days. At the same time, the patient showed problems in comprehension, reading, writing and confrontation naming as well as symptoms of disorientation, pathological inertia and 'loss of initiation' in the psychomotor domain. During the following three months, however, the patient did show slight improvement, except for contextual sentence constructions and pathological inertia when taking the complex animal drawing test. In his terminal stages, the clinical symptoms could be summarized as transcortical motor aphasia and mild frontal lobe syndrome. On March 1, 1979, the patient died of Hamman-Rich syndrome. Postmortem examination: The brain weighed 1294 gm. The external observation of the brain disclosed the linear tissue defect, about 15 mm in length and 10 mm in width, along the radial sulcus of the pars triangularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aphasia↗
PubMed1983

[Locked-in syndrome with bilateral midbrain infarcts--report of an autopsy].

A case of "Locked-in" syndrome with bilateral midbrain infarcts was reported. A 51-year-old man had a memory disturbance and a change of his personality after head trauma, and then became rapidly "Locked-in" state. He was quadriplegic and bulbar paralytic, but ocular movements were preserved. Left VAG showed the narrowing of the basilar artery and there was a striking anastomosis between the SCA and PICA. Neuropathological findings were as the following; 1) The lateral two third of bilateral cerebral peduncles were extensively infarcted. 2) There were contusion of the left frontal orbital surface and the ischemic infarction of the left frontal white matter. 3) Two small infarcted lesions were found in the ventral pons without involving the pyramidal tracts. 4) Additional findings were retrograde degeneration of the medial nucleus of the left thalamus from the left frontal orbital lesion, and were loss of the Purkinje cells and neurons of pontine nucleus from the infarction of the middle cerebellar peduncle. Tegmentum of the midbrain, pons and medulla were preserved, which was considered to be due to the anastomosis of the SCA and PICA. Bilateral midbrain infarcts are responsible lesions in this case and it seems that "Locked-in" state is not synonymous with the "Ventral pontine syndrome".

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMed1982

Effect of des-Tyr1-gamma-endorphin on serotonin metabolism in rat brain regions.

Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of des-Tyr1-gamma-endorphin (0.1 and 1.0 microgram) caused a decrease of the serotonin (5-HT) concentration of the hippocampus. The concentration of 5-HIAA and the pargyline-induced alterations in 5-HT and 5-HIAA were not affected. No effects were noticed in other brain regions.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Translateral retroperitoneal approach in radical surgery for pancreatic carcinoma.

Investigations of the lymphatic routes using dye during operations and histological studies on the resected specimen of the pancreas and autopsied cases with pancreatic carcinoma have led to the conclusion that the surgery should be performed more extensively to improve the results and should consist of a complete lymphatic excision surrounding the celiac axis and the trunk of the superior mesenteric artery including dissection of the nerve plexus and wide retroperitoneal dissection surrounding the pancreas, upwards to the level of adrenal glands, and downwards to the level of iliac bifurcation. A translateral retroperitoneal approach was found to be the most useful and safe method for such extended resection in patients with pancreatic carcinoma. Our radical procedure for pancreatic carcinoma is described herein.

Duodenum↗
PubMed1982

Sclerosing leucoencephalopathy with membranocystic lesions of adipose tissue: a contribution to the pathology of Nasu disease.

A case of sclerosing leucoencephalopathy with membranocystic lesions of adipose tissue was reported. A 38-year-old Japanese housewife, whose parents were consanguineous, developed gradually neuropsychiatric symptoms characterized by euphoria, gait disturbance and urinary incontinence, followed by spastic tetraplegia with epileptic convulsions and died eight years later. Neuropathologically a form of sudanophilic leucodystrophy with a prominent fibrillary gliosis (dissociation glio-myelinique) associated with axonal spheroids and calcospherite depositions was revealed. A peculiar membranocystic lesion of adipose tissue was recognized not only in the bone marrow but also in other areas. However, no apparent bone pathology was observed except for a ring-like pleated lamellar structure. This case was thought to be classified as heterogeneous phenotype of membranous lipodystrophy (Nasu).

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1982

Caroli's disease in congenital hepatic fibrosis and infantile polycystic disease.

Two of three patients with infantile polycystic disease and all three patients with congenital hepatic fibrosis revealed multiple gross cystic dilatation of the intrahepatic biliary tree, referred to as Caroli's disease. All three patients with congenital hepatic fibrosis showed recurrent cholangitis related to coexisting Caroli's disease, and two of them died of sepsis following cholangitis. There were several common morphologic findings in the intrahepatic biliary tree of macroscopic and microscopic levels in infantile polycystic disease and congenital hepatic fibrosis with Caroli's disease: 1. irregular, non-obstructive dilatation of the duct lumen; 2. bulbar protrusion of the duct wall into the lumen; and 3. bridge formation of the duct wall across the lumen. These ductal changes might be caused by a combination of uneven and disproportionate overgrowth of biliary epithelia and their supporting connective tissue. This pathogenetic mechanism might be operative along the entire intrahepatic biliary system in this disease group, and involvement of the smaller levels in early life might result in infantile polycystic disease and congenital hepatic fibrosis and simultaneous or possibly later involvement of the larger levels in Caroli's disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

[Studies on antigenicity, phototoxicity and other specific toxicities of hydrocortisone 17-butyrate 21-propionate (HBP) (author's transl)].

The present experiments were undertaken to determine the antigenicity and other toxicities of HBP; such as phototoxicity, photosensitivity, ulcerogenicity, adrogenic-myotropic, estrogenic and progestational activities, and mutagenicity. No antibody formation and delayed type skin reaction of HBP were seen in rabbits. Active systemic anaphylaxis was not observed in guinea pigs challenged by HBP. In the phototoxicity and photosensitivity test, 0.1% HBP ointment, 0.1% HBP cream and 10% HBP acetone solution did not show any skin reaction with or without irradiation of ultraviolet light. Repeated subcutaneous administration of HBP irritated the gastric and intestinal mucosa dose dependently in rats as hydrocortisone 17-butyrate and betamethasone 17-valerate (BV). HBP had neither androgenic-myotropic nor estrogenic activity, but antiestrogenic activity was observed. The progestational activity of HBP in immature rabbit pretreated with estrone was less potent than BV. In the mutagenicity test os HBP investigated by the reverse mutation according to the method by Ames, no significant increase in the number of revertants was observed in the presence or absence of S9 mixture.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1980

Purification and characterization of polyethylene glycol dehydrogenase involved in the bacterial metabolism of polyethylene glycol.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) dehydrogenase in crude extracts of a PEG 20,000-utilizing mixed culture was purified 24 times by precipitation with ammonium sulfate, solubilization with laurylbetaine, and chromatography with diethylamino-ethyl-cellulose, hydroxylapatite, and Sephadex G-200. The purified enzyme was confirmed to be homogeneous by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the enzyme, which appeared to consist of four identical subunits, was 2.4 X 10(5). The enzyme was stable below 35 degrees C and in the pH range of 7.5 to 9.0. The optimum pH and temperature of the activity were around 8.0 and 60 degrees C, respectively. The enzyme did not require any metal ions for activity and oxidized various kinds of PEGs, among which PEG 6,000 was the most active substrate. The apparent Km values for tetraethylene glycol and PEG 6,000 were about 10.0 and 3.0 mM, respectively.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗