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Biomedical subjects

M Okawa

Publications and source records attributed to M Okawa.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Obstructive sleep dyspnea. Diagnosis and treatment.

Polysomnography was performed on obstructive sleep dyspnea patients before and after treatment. Based on the value of intraesophageal pressure, the grade of respiratory disturbance was classified in 4 groups; normal, slightly obstructed, moderately obstructed and highly obstructed. In general, as the grade advanced, more parameters showed abnormality, Transnasal continuous positive pressure (CPAP) was a useful diagnostic method to evaluate the severity of obstruction. During the past 7 years, polysomnography has been performed on 50 children and 62 adults who complained of sleep dyspnea. Only highly obstructed cases underwent surgery; intranasal corrective surgeries, adenotonsillectomy, sinusectomy, UPPP and any combination of these. Most of them had more than one cause. After surgery, all of them were satisfied, except for a few whose snores were not so loud even when we tested before surgery. Postoperative survey by inquiry sheets demonstrated that recovery of sound sleep and enough rest resulted in refreshing and active lives during daytime.

Adult↗

Four congenitally blind children with circadian sleep-wake rhythm disorder.

Four congenitally blind children aged 4-12 years, with severe or moderate mental retardation, were chronobiologically studied. Three of them showed a free-running rhythm of sleep-wake, and the fourth showed an irregular sleep-wake rhythm. To entrain their sleep-wake rhythm to a 24-h rhythm, several trials based on chronotherapy were performed. The free-running rhythms in the three children were considered their own endogenous rhythms, revealed through some disorder in the mechanism synchronizing the endogenous rhythm to the normal 24-h environmental rhythm. The irregular sleep-wake rhythm in the fourth child may have been the result of immaturity or failure of the pacemaker of the circadian rhythm. Because of their severe mental retardation, all the children were lacking in social time cues, which are the most potent "Zeitgebers" for human biological clocks.

Blindness↗

C1q solid-phase radioimmunoassay: evidence for detection of antibody directed against the collagen-like region of C1q in sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

In earlier studies we showed that the C1q-binding IgG in the sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) tested by C1q solid-phase radioimmunoassay is cofractionated with monomeric IgG on gel filtration and mostly binds to C1q via the F(ab')2 region. In this study, we found that C1q, even when stripped of its immune complex-binding globular regions by pepsin digestion, retained a substantial part of its ability to bind IgG from SLE sera, suggesting that the collagen-like region of C1q is involved in binding to the SLE IgG. Heat-inactivation of C1q also failed to abolish its ability to bind IgG from SLE sera. In contrast, the binding of C1q to heat-aggregated IgG was completely abrogated by these treatments. In addition, the reaction of heat-aggregated IgG with the solid-phase C1q was markedly dependent on ionic strength whereas the binding of IgG from SLE sera with the solid-phase C1q persisted at high concentrations of salt. These findings suggest that the Clq-binding IgG in SLE sera is, at least in part, antibody directed against the collagen-like region of C1q.

Autoantibodies↗

Disturbance of circadian rhythms in severely brain-damaged patients correlated with CT findings.

Twelve patients aged 3-14 years with severe brain damage of prenatal, perinatal or postnatal origin were studied for 2-4 days regarding the circadian rhythms of sleep and wakefulness, body temperature and blood cortisol levels. Six patients had developed a disorder in the circadian rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. The circadian rhythm of body temperature was maintained in 11 of the patients and was little disturbed compared to those of sleep and wakefulness and cortisol levels. The three overt rhythms of circadian activity were not necessarily disturbed simultaneously, which does not contradict the multiple oscillatory theory of the human time-keeping system. CT findings suggested that the brain-stem plays a more important role than the cerebral hemispheres in the regulation of human circadian rhythms.

Adolescent↗

C1q solid-phase radioimmunoassay: binding properties of solid-phase C1q and evidence that C1q-binding IgG complexes in systemic lupus erythematosus are not bound to endogenous C1q.

The binding properties of C1q solid-phase radioimmunoassay (C1q SPRIA) were examined, using heat-aggregated IgG (HAG) as the model of immune complexes (IC). The free, liquid-phase C1q, which was added to the C1q-coated tubes prior to the addition of HAG, had little inhibitory effect on binding of HAG to the solid-phase C1q, suggesting that the solid-phase C1q has a higher affinity for HAG than the liquid-phase C1q. On the other hand, more than 60% inhibition was seen when HAG was preincubated with the liquid-phase C1q. These binding properties of HAG to the solid-phase C1q in the presence of the liquid-phase C1q were not essentially altered by the heat inactivation or the addition of EDTA, suggesting that these pretreatments are not essential in C1q SPRIA. Next, in similar kinds of experiments, the binding properties of C1q-binding IgG complexes in SLE sera were investigated. In contrast to HAG, the binding capacity of IgG complexes in SLE sera to the solid-phase C1q was not inhibited by the preincubation with excess liquid-phase C1q. These findings suggest that C1q-binding IgG complexes in SLE sera detected by C1q SPRIA may not be bound to endogenous C1q in the circulation.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗

Radiologic spectrum of rectal carcinoid tumors.

Radiographs of 12 carcinoid tumors of the rectum were reviewed and compared with pathologic findings. There was a good correlation between the radiologic and pathologic findings with respect to tumor invasion and extent. Nine tumors that radiologically presented a smooth round defect less than 2.0 cm in diameter did not invade the muscular layer and did not metastasize. Three tumors that presented a deep crater with an irregular edge greater than 2.0 cm were found to have invaded the muscular layer and metastasized to the lymph nodes or the liver. The double-contrast enema showed an excellent detection rate; no lesion was missed by it.

Adult↗

Characterization of C1q-binding IgG complexes in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The molecular size of C1q-binding immunoglobulin (Ig) G complexes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) sera was studied by gel filtration using C1q solid-phase radioimmunoassay (C1q SPRIA). All 15 SLE sera tested contained predominantly small-sized IgG complexes, cofractionating with monomeric IgG. In contrast to heat-aggregated IgG, these small-sized IgG complexes retained C1q-binding activity even after pepsin digestion, exposure to low pH, or reduction and alkylation, suggesting that the F(ab')2 region is involved in C1q-binding activity of these complexes. To see whether anti-C1q antibodies or small antigen-IgG complexes, which bind to C1q via their antigens, are responsible for C1q-binding activity via the F(ab')2 region, the pepsin-digested Ig fractions of SLE sera were fractionated at high salt. C1q-binding activity in the fractions corresponding to the F(ab')2 region increased 2.5- to 3.9-fold at high salt. These results suggest that the C1q-binding, small-sized IgG complexes may be comprised mostly of anti-C1q antibodies and that some of the antibodies, which are dissociated with their antigens at high salt, might be cross-reactive with C1q.

Adult↗

Olfactory neuroblastoma: presentation of a case and review of the Japanese literature.

Olfactory neuroblastoma is an uncommon malignant tumor arising from the nasal cavity. During the past 18 years from 1964 to 1982, only 24 cases have been in Japanese literature, including this case. The average age of these patients is 42.3 years, ranging from 4 to 75 years old. The sex ratio of male to female is 10:14, female being prevalent moderately. The peak distribution is from 30 to 40 years old. The majority of the patients died of distant metastasis within 2 years of diagnosis. Therefore, the overall prognosis in Japan is very poor, as compared with about a 50% 5 year survival rate in the western countries. This is probably because this tumor is difficult to diagnose correctly, and the chance to start treatment early is apt to be missed here, though some tumors behaved very aggressively from the beginning, metastasizing early.

Adolescent↗

Disorders of circadian body temperature rhythm in severely brain-damaged patients.

Twenty-four hour patterns of body temperature (BT) were recorded during consecutive 3-10 day spans from 14 severely brain-damaged patients. Seven patients exhibited a normal circadian BT rhythm with an amplitude of more than 1 degree C and a normal phase position of the minimum BT being observed during the latter half of the nocturnal sleep. One patient with a dispersed type of sleep exhibited an extremely low amplitude of the BT rhythm with mean average 0.69 degrees C. In this patient, an 24-hr observation span was insufficient to detect the existence of a BT rhythm. Two patients manifested disturbance of period. As acrophase of the BT rhythm varied from day to day, the standard deviation (S.D.) of mean acrophase was extremely large. For these patients the light-dark cycle did not act as an entrainer because both had visual disturbance. A phase advance of the minimum BT was observed in four patients. The minimum BT appeared in the first half of nocturnal sleep. These three disturbances (amplitude, period and phase), were revealed only by longitudinal observation of the BT rhythm, indicating the importance of long-term observations over a sufficient period to make the nature of the rhythm disturbances clear. These disturbances were not related to that of the sleep-wake cycle, as two patients showed normal circadian BT rhythm in spite of their dispersed-type sleep.

Activity Cycles↗