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Biomedical subjects

M Okamoto

Publications and source records attributed to M Okamoto.

At least 1,027 records · Page 57Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Cholesterol accumulation in adrenocortical mitochondria after ACTH-stimulation.

Rat adrenocortical cell suspensions (10(6) cells) were incubated with ACTH (40 nM) in 2 ml of Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer for 90 min. About 42 nmol of corticosterone and 14 nmol of 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone were generated and released into the medium. Aminoglutethimide at 50 microM inhibited the steroidogenesis to 16%. Mitochondrial pellets were prepared from the cells incubated in the absence, or in the presence, of ACTH and aminoglutethimide, and cholesterol content was determined. The mitochondria of the cells incubated without the drugs contained 25.2 micrograms cholesterol/mg protein. Cholesterol content increased by 10% in the mitochondria of the ACTH-stimulated cells. The mitochondria of the cells incubated in the presence of both ACTH and aminoglutethimide contained 143% of cholesterol compared to those of the nontreated cells. When rats were subjected to ether stress after aminoglutethimide pretreatment, cholesterol content of the mitochondrial fraction increased to about 200% compared to that of the control rats. These results suggest that a cholesterol pool exists in the adrenocortical mitochondria and that the amount increases during the steroidogenic stimulation of the cells. The mitochondria were fixed with filipin-containing fixative and examined by freeze-fracture electron microscopy. Accumulations of filipin-cholesterol complexes were observed in the inner membrane of the mitochondria as protuberances or pits 25 nm in diameter.

Adrenal Cortex↗
PubMed1984

Increased affinity of insulin receptor on hepatocytes from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

When we use Scatchard analysis for insulin receptor on intact cells, internalization of insulin may affect the Scatchard analysis. In this study, results from Scatchard analysis for insulin receptor on hepatocytes of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats were compared with those from association and dissociation studies and those from Scatchard analysis using hepatocyte membrane which does not internalize insulin. Insulin binding was increased in both hepatocytes and the membranes from STZ-treated rats. Scatchard analysis revealed that both the receptor number and affinity constant were increased. In the dissociation study, the increase in the affinity constant was revealed to be due to a decrease in the dissociation rate constant. The association rate constant was comparable in STZ and control rats. The Scatchard plot was more concave in STZ rats than in controls, suggesting that the magnitude of the negative cooperative effect was greater in STZ rats. This was confirmed by measuring the dissociation rate constant in the presence or absence of unlabeled insulin. Increases in the receptor number, affinity constant, and negative cooperative effect in STZ rats were observed both in hepatocytes and in hepatocyte membranes.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

A new approach to the detection of autoantibodies against insulin receptors that inhibit the internalization of insulin into human cells.

It has been shown that the conjugate of the fragment A of diphtheria toxin to insulin is cytotoxic to cultured cells bearing insulin receptors, apparently through the endocytosis of fragment A. We examined the effect of autoantibodies against insulin receptors on the cytotoxicity of the conjugate. The conjugate was cytotoxic to a rat fibroblast cell line that was resistant to the intact toxin, and the cytotoxicity was inhibited by exogenous insulin, indicating that the fragment A underwent endocytosis through insulin receptors. Immunoglobulins from three patients with type B syndrome of insulin-resistant diabetes blocked the cytotoxicity of the conjugate to Chang's liver cells in a dose-dependent manner. When the cells were pretreated with the immunoglobulins, cytotoxicity of the conjugate was also blocked. These results suggest that autoantibodies against insulin receptors interfere with the binding of the conjugate to insulin receptors or with the endocytosis of fragment A after binding. This assay system seems useful for detecting autoantibodies against the determinants that are involved in the internalization of the ligand-receptor complex.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Studies on new antiplatelet agents, WS-30581 A and B.

WS-30581 A and B are antiplatelet agents produced by a strain of Streptoverticillium waksmanii. The compounds were purified by solvent extraction and column chromatography, and identified as new pimprinine analogs on the basis of their physico-chemical properties. The producing organism produced pimprinine along with these compounds. Pimprinine and the two new analogs have potent inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Amauromine, a new vasodilator. Taxonomy, isolation and characterization.

Amauromine is a new alkaloid with vasodilating activity obtained from the culture broth of Amauroascus sp. No. 6237. Its molecular formula was determined to be C32H36N4O2 on the basis of elementary analysis and high resolution mass spectroscopic measurement. It has low toxicity in mice.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1984

Studies on WF-5239, a new potent platelet aggregation inhibitor.

WF-5239 was produced by a fungal strain identified as Aspergillus fumigatus Fresenius. The substance was purified by solvent extraction followed by chromatography on silica gel and then crystallized (C9H9NO2, mp 142 approximately 145 degrees C). The chemical structure was determined from its physico-chemical properties as N-[2-cis(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethenyl]formamide. WF-5239 has inhibitory activity against rabbit platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid and collagen, with IC50 values of 1.25 and 5.0 micrograms/ml, respectively. Arachidonic acid induced mortality in mice was reduced by a single intraperitoneal dose of WF-5239 (30 mg/kg). These biological properties have been compared with those of aspirin.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Serologic and biochemical studies of a previously unclassified blood type B variant.

The designation B4 is proposed for a weak variant of type B blood found in a Salvadorian woman and her two daughters. The red cells were weakly agglutinated by anti-B and anti-A,B; the serum contained anti-B; and the saliva contained H but not B substance. Biochemical studies of the serum showed that the enzyme specified by the variant B gene had low activity and low affinity for both sugar donor and acceptor.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1984

[Noninvasive determination of the ratio of pulmonary to systemic blood flow with two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography: efficacy and limitation].

Noninvasive determination of the ratio of the pulmonary to systemic blood flow (Qp/Qs) was attempted in 31 cases with intracardiac shunt using two-dimensional pulsed Doppler echocardiography. The Qp/Qs of these cases was ranged from 0.99 to 4.55 with an average of 2.63 by cardiac catheterization. Technical problems in the measurement were also studied. Seventeen cases with no shunt were served as controls. Systemic and pulmonary flow volumes, Qp and Qs (ml/min), were calculated by the following equation: Q (ml/min) = mean flow velocity (cm/sec) X cross sectional area of the semilunar valve ring (cm2) X 60 Here, the sample volume was set in the center of the valve ring at the phase when the flow velocity attained its peak in a pulse period. The mean velocity was obtained by dividing the integration of instantaneous mean frequency in the sample volume for a pulse period by RR interval. The ultrasonic incident angle was measured on the echocardiogram. The velocity profile at the valve ring was assumed to be a plane wave. The diameter (D) of the valve ring was measured on the echocardiograms of the long-axis view of the outflow tract. To make a correction referring to the value obtained by angiocardiography, 0.22 cm was added to the value obtained on the echocardiogram (D). The cross sectional area of the valve ring was calculated according to the following formula: Cross sectional area (cm2) = pi X [(D + 0.22/2)]2 The Qp/Qs ratio by the Doppler method in the cases with no intracardiac shunt was 1.11 (S.D. = 0.21) on an average and the Qp/Qs in the cases with an intracardiac shunt was well correlated with that by catheterization (r = 0.82). These results suggested the feasibility of the clinical application of the Doppler method for noninvasive determination of Qp/Qs. In 17 cases, pulmonary and systemic flow volumes measured by the direct Fick method were compared with those by the Doppler method, respectively. Considerable differences were observed between them. There was a tendency that both pulmonary and systemic flow volumes were under-estimated by the Doppler method in cases with a large shunt.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Blood Circulation↗
PubMed1984

Effect of phospholipid on aldosterone biosynthesis by a cytochrome P-450(11) beta-reconstituted system.

Effect of phospholipid on aldosterone synthesis catalyzed by a cytochrome P-450(11)beta-reconstituted system was examined. Corticosterone was incubated with P-450(11)beta in the presence of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, cardiolipin, phosphatidylinositol, or phosphatidylserine. These phospholipids stimulated the rate of aldosterone- and 18-hydroxycorticosterone-synthesis, although the mode of stimulation by neutral phospholipids was different from that by acidic phospholipids. In the presence of a phospholipid mixture containing the lipids in the same molar ratios as found in adrenocortical mitochondria, the rate of production of aldosterone increased 10-fold over the rate without the lipids, and that of 18-hydroxycorticosterone increased 3-fold. The maximal synthetic rates of aldosterone and 18-hydroxycorticosterone were 2 and 5 nmol/nmol P-450/min, respectively.

18-Hydroxycorticosterone↗
PubMed1984

[Phonocardiographic findings of atypical patent ductus arteriosus with pulmonary hypertension].

Among 71 patients with proved patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) as a sole anomaly, 13 were diagnosed as having "atypical PDA" because of a lack of a continuous murmur. Of these, 10 had find-pulmonary hypertension and were the materials of the present study, in which the phonocardiographic findings were correlated with the findings by other techniques including pulsed Doppler echocardiography. Six cases with equal pulmonary arterial and aortic pressures showed a diastolic murmur alone. The murmur started with the pulmonic component of the second heart sound and continued throughout diastole. All cases showed inspiratory augmentation or presystolic accentuation of the diastolic murmur. Pulsed Doppler echocardiograms disclosed that the murmur was produced by pulmonary regurgitation in five of six cases and by a left-to-right shunt via the ductus plus pulmonary regurgitation in one case. A to-and-fro murmur was observed in three cases. Pulmonary artery pressure was significantly lower than that of the systemic artery in two of three cases. These hemodynamic findings and pulsed Doppler echocardiograms indicated that the murmur of the two cases was produced by both a left-to-right shunt through the ductus and pulmonary regurgitation. A systolic murmur only was seen in one case and the cause of this murmur was not clear. In four of five cases with grade IV and V murmur, division or plugging of the ductus was performed with uneventful clinical course in three and sudden death in one. On the other hand, four of five cases with grade II and III murmur showed Eisenmenger reaction and the surgery was not attempted. The second heart sound showed normal splitting in eight cases, abnormally wide splitting in one case and was single in one case.

Adolescent↗