[Therapeutic trial for circadian rhythm disturbance in two severely handicapped patients].
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Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
M Nishimura
Publications and source records attributed to M Nishimura.
Pulmonary metastasis of renal cell carcinoma resected sixteen years after nephrectomy.
A 50-year-old man underwent a left nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma of the clear cell type in February, 1978. He was examined using computed tomography in September, 1993, and was found to have a small coin lesion in his right lung. A fine needle aspiration biopsy failed to disclose any tumor cells. He underwent a video-assisted thoracoscopic biopsy of the right lung in February, 1994, 16 years after his nephrectomy. The resected specimen contained a coin lesion measuring approximately 1 cm in diameter, and the lesion was microscopically diagnosed as a renal cell carcinoma of the clear cell type metastatic to the lung. The patient is doing well with no signs of re-recurrence six months after the resection of the metastatic lesion. To our knowledge, the time interval between his nephrectomy and resection of the metastatic lesion is the longest ever reported in Japan.
Biopsy↗
[Urinary erythrocyte morphology under optical microscopy: value in the urological outpatient clinic].
Urinary erythrocyte morphology was examined by optical microscopy 1,256 urological patients with hematuria, between 1990 and 1993. The patients were grouped according to whether their urinary red cells were glomerular origin or non-glomerular in origin or mixed form, or others. Of the 740 patients in the glomerular group 537 were examined urologically, and some urological disease was found in 78 (15%) patients. Urological disease was found in only 7 (2%) of the 316 patients in the glomerular group whose complaint was only asymptomatic microscopic hematuria. Examination of urinary erythrocyte morphology under optical microscopy is inexpensive and valuable in the urological outpatient clinic.
Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
[Effects of inhaled oxitropium bromide, an anticholinergic drug, on pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases].
We studied the effects of the inhaled anticholinergic agent oxitropium bromide (Ox) on pulmonary hemodynamics in eleven patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. All the patients underwent right heart catheterization and seven of them underwent an incremental ergometer exercise test while in the supine position. Pulmonary hemodynamics and arterial blood gases were measured at rest and during maximal exercise, before and 30 minutes after inhalation of 2 puffs (200 micrograms) of Ox. Inhalation of Ox did not significantly change pulmonary hemodynamics at rest. The mean pulmonary arterial pressure and the mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure during exercise decreased significantly (from 40.3 +/- 4.6 to 37.7 +/- 3.9 mmHg, and from 20.4 +/- 3.5 to 17.1 +/- 2.7 mmHg, respectively, mean +/- SE). However, neither cardiac output nor pulmonary vascular resistance changed with inhalation of the drug, at rest or during exercise. We therefore conclude that this commonly used dose of Ox does not directly affect the pulmonary vascular system. The small but significant decreases in pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure with Ox may have been indirect effects, caused by bronchodilation.
Administration, Inhalation↗
[Role of renin angiotensin system in the vasopressor mechanisms of hypertension--gene analyses and tissue renin angiotensin system].
The renin angiotensin system is one of the most important humoral factors underlying the mechanism of hypertension. The genes constituting the renin angiotensin system have been expected to be candidates for essential hypertension. DNA polymorphisms of angiotensinogen and angiotensin II type 1 receptor genes are reported to be significantly related with the incidence of human hypertension, but further investigation is needed to clarify the relationship between the genes of the renin angiotensin system and hypertension. The renin angiotensin system exists not only in circulating blood, but also in extrarenal organs and tissues. Tissue renin angiotensin systems in the brain, blood vessels, and adrenal glands are considered to play important roles in the pressor mechanisms in low renin as well as high renin hypertension. Gene expressions of the constituents of the tissue renin angiotensin system are affected in part by circulating angiotensin II, but they are regulated mostly by their own specific control mechanisms in each organ and tissue. In future, laboratory tests in clinical medicine may be necessary to determine the DNA polymorphisms and tissue gene expression of renin angiotensin system, in deciding the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of hypertension.
Angiotensin II↗
The sequence and expression of the gamma-VPE gene, one member of a family of three genes for vacuolar processing enzymes in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Vacuolar processing enzymes (VPEs) are responsible for the maturation of seed proteins. Southern blot analysis showed that a family of genes for VPEs in Arabidopsis thaliana was composed of three genes, for alpha-VPE, beta-VPE and gamma-VPE, respectively. The gene for gamma-VPE was isolated from a genomic library. It was composed of nine exons and eight introns. The positions of the introns were fully conserved among the three genes, with the exception that the alpha-VPE gene was missing the fifth intron found in the beta-VPE and gamma-VPE genes. The predicted gamma-VPE protein was 80% and 57% identical in terms of amino acid sequence to the alpha-VPE protein and beta-VPE protein, respectively. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the gamma-VPE gene was expressed predominantly in the stems, with a lower level of expression in rosette and cauline leaves. However, the expression was not detected in roots, flowers plus buds, or green siliques, in contrast to the high-level expression of the beta-VPE gene in the flowers plus buds. Thus, gamma-VPE seems to be an isoform that is specific to vegetative organs. Members of the VPE family can be separated into two subfamilies, one that is specific to seeds and another that is specific to vegetative organs, such as leaves and stems. The members of the seed subfamily might function in the protein-storage vacuoles of seeds, while those of the vegetable subfamily might function in the lytic vacuoles of non-storage organs.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
[Current problems in the Diagnosis and stage classification of sleep apnea syndrome].
We examined the relationship between daytime symptoms and respiratory disturbance indices during sleep in 60 patients with sleep apnea syndrome who had an apnea index of more than 5/hr for at least one night. Daytime hypersomnolence, morning headache, and a history of traffic accidents did not correlated strongly with apnea index or with nocturnal desaturation. The same was true of daytime blood pressure and nocturnal micturition. Both hemoglobin concentration and the mean pulmonary arterial pressure in the daytime correlated significantly with indices of nocturnal desaturation and not with apnea index, but this might reflect the positive correlation between those variables and the base-line level of daytime PaO2, in which case it would not be a direct consequence of nocturnal desaturation. These data suggest that diagnostic criteria should not be based on apnea index or desaturation alone. Long-term follow-up data on Japanese patients is needed to establish more rational diagnostic criteria and stage classification for sleep apnea syndrome.
Adult↗
[Non-invasive evaluation of pulmonary hemodynamics by pulsed Doppler echocardiography in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
Pulsed doppler echocardiography is reported to be a reliable method for evaluating pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with cardiovascular diseases, but not with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) because of the difficulty in obtaining an appropriate echo-window in such patients. We examined 23 patients with COPD by doppler echocardiography (Hewlett-Packard, HP77020CV) with a 2.5 MHz transducer via the subcostal approach in a supine position. The right side of the heart catheterization was performed simultaneously in sixteen of these patients. The remaining 7 patients received the same procedure within one week of the doppler echocardiography. Adequate ejection flow pattern from the right ventricle was obtained in all the patients. Significant negative linear relationships were found between pulmonary arterial pressure and acceleration time (r = -0.67) and ejection time (r = -0.52). These findings show that doppler echocardiography can be useful when evaluating pulmonary hemodynamics even in patients with COPD.
Aged↗
[Creatinine and its clinical significance].
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Adult↗
Glucose-stimulated synthesis of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in rat liver. Dephosphorylation of fructose 6-phosphate, 2-kinase:fructose 2,6-bisphosphatase and activation by a sugar phosphate.
The effect of glucose on hepatic fructose (Fru) 2,6-P2 in starved rats was investigated. When livers were perfused with high glucose (40 mM), hexose-P in the liver increased immediately reaching the maximum within in 2 min, but Fru 2,6-P2 after a lag period of 4 min increased linearly. The activation of Fru 6-P,2-kinase and inactivation of Fru 2,6-Pase also showed a similar lag period. Determination of the phosphate contents of the bifunctional enzyme after 10 min of glucose perfusion revealed that 90% of the enzyme was in the dephospho form while only 10% of the control liver enzyme was dephosphorylated. Comparison of crude extracts of liver perfused with either high glucose or normal glucose (5.6 mM) showed that high glucose livers contained 50% higher protein phosphatase activity, which dephosphorylated the bifunctional enzyme. Subcellular fractionation of the extract showed that activation of the protein phosphatase occurred in the cytosol. Desalting of the cytosolic fraction resulted in a 50% loss of the protein phosphatase activity. The low molecular weight activator in the cytosol was isolated, and by various chemical and enzymatic methods it was identified as xylulose 5-P. The activation of protein phosphatase by xylulose 5-P showed a highly sigmoidal saturation curve. The rate of formation of xylulose 5-P in the perfused liver showed a lag period of approximately 2 min, and after 4 min its concentration reached 10 microM, the minimum concentration necessary for the activation of the protein phosphatase. We conclude that the mechanism of glucose-induced Fru 2,6-P2 synthesis was not due to increased Fru 6-P as generally thought but occurred as a result of dephosphorylation of Fru 6-P,2-kinase:Fru 2,6-Pase. Moreover, the dephosphorylation was enhanced by increased xylulose 5-P, which activated a specific protein phosphatase. The results suggest a mechanism for coordinated regulation of glycolysis and the pentose shunt pathway that is mediated by xylulose 5-P.
Animals↗
[Fatal case of pheochromocytoma crisis evoked by mycoplasma pneumonia].
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Acute Disease↗
Cloning of a cDNA encoding tobacco omega-3 fatty acid desaturase.
A cDNA was isolated from a tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. SR1) leaf cDNA library using, as a hybridization probe, a cDNA fragment from the gene (fad7) encoding Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast omega-3 fatty acid (FA) desaturase. The deduced 379-amino-acid (aa) sequence has 67-71% identity to those deduced from the previously described genes encoding the omega-3 FA desaturases of A. thaliana. The absence of an N-terminal extension transit peptide in the deduced aa sequence of the cDNA clone and the accumulation pattern of the mRNA corresponding to this cDNA in leaf and root tissues indicate that the isolated cDNA encodes a tobacco microsomal omega-3 FA desaturase.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
[Physiopathology of sleep apnea].
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Blood Pressure↗
Block of Na+ channel by moricizine hydrochloride in isolated feline ventricular myocytes.
The effect of moricizine hydrochloride, a potent class I antiarrhythmic agent, on Na+ current (INa) of single feline ventricular myocytes were studied using whole cell patch clamp techniques. Moricizine inhibited INa in a concentration-dependent manner without altering the current-voltage relationship for INa. INa inhibition was expressed by the Hill equation with a Hill coefficient of 1.3 and dissociation constant of 105 microM in the resting state (holding potential = -140 mV). Moricizine 30 microM shifted the steady state inactivation curve for INa toward more negative potentials by 7.3 +/- 2.4 mV without causing significant changes in the slope factor. Recovery of INa from inactivation was retarded (time constant = 8 s) at a holding potential of -140 mV in the presence of 30 microM moricizine. When the start of INa block was studied in experiments using a double pulse protocol, moricizine reduced INa by only 4% after a 4-ms prepulse, but strongly inhibited it after prepulses longer than 200 ms. Intracellular application of 100 microM moricizine did not produce significant resting or use-dependent INa block. These results suggest that (1) moricizine blocks INa by binding to the Na+ channel with a 1:1 stoichiometry, (2) the drug has a higher affinity to the inactivated state than to the activated and resting states of the Na+ channel, (3) recovery kinetics of moricizine from Na+ channel inactivation, or drug dissociation observed during the transition from inactivated to resting state was relatively slow, (4) the drug binding site appeared to be located on the external side of the membrane.
Animals↗
Effects of humidity and temperature on nitrogen dioxide formation from nitric oxide.
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Humans↗
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor increases angiotensin type 1A receptor gene expression in aortic smooth muscle cells of spontaneously hypertensive rats.
To examine the regulation of angiotensin receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells, we studied the effects of antihypertensive drugs on angiotensin type 1A (AT1A) receptor gene expression in aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) using both ribonuclease protection assay and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. An increase in AT1A receptor gene expression in ASMCs of SHRs was induced by treatment with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril) for 2 weeks and 4 weeks, but not by other types of antihypertensive drugs such as alpha-blocker (doxazosin), alpha, beta-blocker (arotinolol), Ca antagonist (nicardipine) or vascular smooth muscle relaxant (hydralazine). Since all antihypertensive drugs lowered the blood pressure of the rats almost equally, our results suggest that AT1A receptor gene expression in ASMCs of SHRs may be regulated by the vascular renin-angiotensin system.
Animals↗
Structure elucidation of glykenin glycosidic antibiotics from Basidiomycetes sp. V. High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of components of glykenin.
The glycosidic antibiotics of the glykenin (GK) family produced by Basidiomycetes sp. were separated into nine components (GK-I-VII and DG) by normal-phase chromatography. It was found that these components differ in the number and location of the acetyl groups in the sugar moiety. Each component (GK-I-VII and DG) was further separated into three isomers (A, B and C), which possess different aglycones, by reversed-phase chromatography on an ODS column with methanol-acetonitrile as eluent. The best composition of the eluent was found to be methanol-acetonitrile-1% trifluoroacetic acid (4:3.5:2.5). The profile analysis of GK-III-VII and DG was also carried out using a modified mobile phase. The combination of normal- and reversed-phase chromatography separated all components of the GK mixture except GK-I and II. The relationship between structure and separation behaviour of GK is discussed.
Aminoglycosides↗
Focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, a type of intractable chronic glomerulonephritis, is a stem cell disorder.
The etiopathogenesis of focal and segmental glomerular sclerosis (FGS) remains unknown. Using a new animal model for FGS (FGS mouse), we demonstrate here that bone marrow transplantation from normal mice to FGS mice with a high grade of proteinuria (+ + +) ameliorates FGS, and that the transplantation of bone marrow cells or purified hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from FGS mice induces FGS in normal mice. These findings strongly suggest that FGS is a stem cell disorder; the abnormalities may be genetically programmed at the level of HSCs.
Animals↗