Biomedical subjects

M Otsuki

Publications and source records attributed to M Otsuki.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

[A case of ABO blood group incompatibility treated by exchange transfusion].

A patient with ABO blood group incompatibility who was treated by exchange transfusion is reported. A 63-year-old woman with blood group B type Rh (+) was accidentally transfused approximately 120 ml of A type Rh (+) packed red cells. She developed shock state, complaining chilliness, trepidation, nausea and vomiting just after the atypical blood transfusion. Fortunately, we could save her life without any complication by doing exchange transfusion in addition to anti-shock therapy and anticoagulant therapy preventing disseminated intravascular coagulation. The exchange transfusion was performed while monitoring central venous pressure. The total withdrawn blood reached 4300 ml, and 18 units of B type Rh (+) packed red cells, 10 units of AB type Rh (+) fresh frozen plasmas, 1250 ml of plasma protein fractions and 1750 ml of plasma expanders were infused with crystalloid fluid therapy. Although the amount of atypical blood transfusion to her was relatively small, it is considered that the exchange blood transfusion which seems to be only the fundamental therapy against atypical blood transfusion, took effect in saving her life without any complication.

ABO Blood-Group System↗

PubMed1998

[Functional difference between the left supplementary motor area and the left premotor area in a task of confrontation naming and word fluency].

We assessed the faculty of confrontation naming and word fluency of the 11 patients afflicted with frontal lobe infarction or hemorrhage. All the patients were right-handed and manifested transcortical motor aphasia due to cerebrovascular diseases. We carried out the Western Aphasia Battery, and we adopted V-A; the naming task involved confrontation naming of 20 objects, and V-B; the word fluency task involved the naming as many animals as possible in a one minute period. Six patients who have lesions in the left medial frontal lobe performed excellency in the confrontation naming task but exhibited poor word fluency, and 5 patients who have lesions in the left dorso-lateral frontal lobe performed poorly in both tasks. This results suggests that the left dorso-lateral frontal lobe is important in confrontation naming, while the left medial frontal lobe is important in word fluency. Mushiake et al. (1991) showed that the premotor area was involved in visually guided sequential movements, and the supplementary motor area was involved internally determined sequential movements in primates. Regarding language function as analogous to movement, confrontation naming is analogous to visually guided movements and word fluency is analogous to internally determined movements. Thus, our results suggest that the functional difference between the left medial frontal lobe, which includes the supplementary motor area, and the left dorso-lateral frontal lobe, which includes the premotor area, which was demonstrated in primates for movement is also true of language function in humans.

Aphasia, Broca↗

PubMed1998

Biocompatibility of Clearfil Liner Bond 2 and Clearfil AP-X system on nonexposed and exposed primate teeth.

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have demonstrated that acid etching of vital dentin and pulpal tissue does not retard pulpal healing, odontoblastoid cell differentiation, or dentinal bridge formation when the pulp is capped with adhesive resins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pulpal response in nonexposed and exposed monkey pulps to treatment with the Clearfil Liner Bond 2 and Clearfil AP-X system. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Class V and Class I cavities in nonexposed and exposed pulps were observed at 7 or 8, 27, and 97 days. RESULTS: There were no differences in pulpal inflammation between the Clearfil Liner Bond 2/Clearfil AP-X specimens and calcium hydroxide controls in either Class V or Class I cavities at the various time periods. CONCLUSION: Clearfil Liner Bond 2 and Clearfil AP-X system is not toxic to either nonexposed or exposed pulpal tissues when placed according to manufacturer's directions.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Biocompatibility of primer, adhesive and resin composite systems on non-exposed and exposed pulps of non-human primate teeth.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the histologic response of 332 non-exposed and 127 exposed monkey pulps applying nine adhesive systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Class V and Class I cavities were used in non-exposed and exposed monkey pulps at the three ISO usage time intervals. RESULTS: There were no histologic differences in pulp responses among the nine adhesive systems used in either Class V and/or Class I cavities when compared to pulp responses of Ca(OH)2 controls at the ISO time intervals. The nine adhesive systems and resin composites are non-toxic to either non-exposed or exposed pulps, being biologically compatible to pulp tissues when placed on mechanical pulp exposures following hemorrhage control with a 2.5% NaOCl and per manufacturers' directions. It is imperative that clinicians understand the biological importance of hemorrhage control as well as the technique sensitivity of hydrophilic primers in order to optimize the efficacy of adhesives for clinical success against microleakage of bacterial factors.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

[The effect of cervical sympathectomy on the pituitary and pineal endocrine system].

It was reported previously that continuous exposure to light in male rats increased serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and bilateral cervical sympathectomy inhibited such a change. In the present report, to examine the effect of cervical sympathectomy on the pineal endocrine function, 30 male rats were assigned to five groups. The control (C) group and the light (L) group underwent sham sympathectomy as well as sham pinealectomy. The sympathectomy (S) group underwent sympathectomy and sham pinealectomy. The pinealectomy (P) group and pinealectomy-melatonine (PM) group underwent sympathectomy and pinealectomy. The C group was kept under a normal circadian rhythm for 10 days, and the other groups were kept under continuous exposure to light for the same period. The PM group received subcutaneously 10 mg.kg-1 of melatonine every day. Serum LH levels were measured 10 days following these experiments. With regard to serum LH levels, the differences among C group, L group, and S group were similar to those previously reported. It was higher in P group (2.53 +/- 0.40 ng.ml-1) than in S group (1.58 +/- 0.61 ng.ml-1), and lower in PM group (2.08 +/- 0.31 ng.ml-1) than in P group. In conclusion, it is suggested that the endocrine activity of melatonine from the pineal gland plays an important role in the appearance of the effect of cervical sympathectomy.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

[Difference between transcortical sensory aphasia following the left frontal lesion and transcortical sensory aphasia following the left posterior lesion].

We assessed the difference between transcortical sensory aphasia (TCSA) following the left frontal lesions (F-TCSA) and TCSA following the left posterior lesions (P-TCSA). All the patients were right-handed and the 7 patients had the lesions in the only frontal lobe and the 10 patients had the lesions only in the left temporo-parieto-occipital regions. We administered pointing tasks, using 90 line drawings representing single nouns. We presented 6 line drawings a pointing board, and we used two kinds of pointing boards: one showed the line drawings each belonging to different categories (random categorized pointing task), the other showed the line drawings each belonging to only either two different categories (two categorized pointing task) and we presented 15 pointing boards each alternatively. The result was that regarding the patients of P-TCSA showed different number of correct answers between the random categorized pointing task and the two categorized pointing task with statistical significance. Regarding the patients of F-TCSA showed no difference between them. The results indicated that disturbance of P-TCSA on the pointing task was the disturbance of semantic process per se. And the disturbance of F-TCSA on the pointing task was that of not only semantic process but also the whole process including comprehending the presented words, searching the line drawings, comparing the line drawings with the presented word and final selection, which demanded persistent multiple memory process consistent with working memory.

Aphasia, Wernicke↗

PubMed1997

Immediate early gene expression and delayed cell death in limbic areas of the rat brain after kainic acid treatment and recovery in the cold.

Systemic injection of kainic acid (KA) results in characteristic behaviors and programmed cell death in some regions of the rat brain. We used KA followed by recovery at 4 degrees C to restrict damage to limbic structures and compared patterns of immediate early gene (IEG) expression and associated DNA binding activity in these damaged areas with that in spared brain regions. Male Wistar rats were injected with KA (12 mg/kg, i.p.) and kept at 4 degrees C for 5 h. This treatment reduced the severity of behaviors and restricted damage (observed by Nissl staining) to the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus and an area including the entorhinal cortex. DNA laddering, characteristic of apoptosis, was first evident in the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex 18 and 22 h after KA, respectively. The pattern of IEG mRNA induction fell into three classes: IEGs that were induced in both damaged and spared areas (c-fos, fos B, jun B, and egr-1), IEGs that were induced specifically in the damaged areas (fra-2 and c-jun), and an IEG that was significantly induced by saline injection and/or the cold treatment (jun D). The pattern of immunoreactivity closely followed that of mRNA expression. Binding to the AP-1 and EGR DNA consensus sequences increased in all three regions studied. This study describes a unique modification of the animal model of KA-induced neurotoxicity which may prove a useful tool for dissecting the molecular cascade that ultimately results in programmed cell death.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Effect of chronic oral administration of the CCK receptor antagonist loxiglumide on exocrine and endocrine pancreas in normal rats.

CONCLUSION: In normal adult rats, administration of a low dose of loxiglumide for 7 d had no significant effect on exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function, whereas a high dose of loxiglumide decreased pancreatic enzyme output without inducing insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. BACKGROUND: There is a possibility that chronic administration of cholecystokinin receptor antagonists not only inhibits the growth of the pancreas but also alters exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function. METHODS: Loxiglumide at a dose of 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg body weight, or the same volume of saline, was given by an orogastric tube twice daily for 7 d (13 successive times). Biochemical and functional changes were determined on d 8 at 24 h after the last administration of loxiglumide and 18 h fasting. Pancreatic exocrine and endocrine function was simultaneously determined following an intravenous injection of a mixed solution of 0.5 g/kg body weight glucose plus 100 ng/kg body weight cerulein. RESULTS: Pancreatic weight and protein content were dose-dependently decreased by loxiglumide, whereas DNA content was decreased only by the highest dose of loxiglumide. Loxiglumide caused dose-dependent decreases in pancreatic fluid and protein output. Total pancreatic insulin content in rats treated with loxiglumide was not significantly different from that in the control rats. However, insulin concentration relative to DNA content was significantly increased in rats treated with 200 mg/kg body weight loxiglumide compared with that in other groups of rats. Glucose-stimulated insulin release was significantly low in rats treated with the highest dose of loxiglumide compared with that in other groups of rats, although there was no difference of serum glucose concentrations among these four groups of rats.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1997

Safe and effective treatment of diabetes mellitus associated with chronic liver diseases with an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, acarbose.

Glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus are both prevalent in patients with chronic liver diseases. We examined the efficacy and systemic safety of therapy with an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, acarbose, in diabetes mellitus associated with chronic liver diseases. Twenty patients with chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis and overt diabetes mellitus received acarbose (taken orally) for 8 weeks. The initial dosage of acarbose was 50 mg three times daily, taken before meals; this was increased to 100 mg three times daily after 2 weeks. The mean fasting plasma glucose level was 173.7 +/- 18.6 mg/dl (mean +/- SE) at entry, and was significantly decreased to 132.9 +/- 7.5 mg/dl (P < 0.05) after 8 weeks of acarbose treatment. The improved glycemic control was reflected by a significant decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from 7.2 +/- 0.3% at entry to 6.3 +/- 0.2% (P < 0.05) after 8 weeks. Serum levels of both aspartate and alanine aminotransferases fluctuated during acarbose treatment, probably due to the natural course of chronic liver diseases, but the mean values had decreased after 8 weeks of treatment. Plasma ammonia levels increased, from 61.3 +/- 10.7 micrograms/dl to 71.1 +/- 9.6 micrograms/dl after 8 weeks of acarbose treatment but the increase was not significant. Clinically significant elevation of plasma ammonia concentration was seen in 2 cirrhotic patients (121 and 124 micrograms/dl); this was asymptomatic and gradually returned to the normal range despite continuous acarbose treatment in one patient, and was reversed after the withdrawal of acarbose with the concomitant administration of lactulose in the other patient. No other blood tests results, including albumin, cholinesterase, and prothrombin time, or lipid profile and nutritional status, in terms of rapid turnover proteins, prealbumin, retinol binding protein, and transferin, were altered throughout the study period. These results indicate that diabetes mellitus associated with chronic liver diseases may be safely and effectively treated with acarbose. However, clinicians must be aware of the possibility of hyperammonemia when they prescribe acarbose for patients with diabetes mellitus and advanced liver cirrhosis.

Acarbose↗

PubMed1997

Pancreatic fluid hypersecretion in rats after acute pancreatitis.

Pancreatic exocrine function was examined in rats during the early stage of acute pancreatitis induced by four subcutaneous injections of 20 micrograms/kg body weight of cerulein at hourly intervals. Basal pancreatic fluid secretion at 6 hr after the first of four cerulein injections was significantly elevated (27.6 +/- 3.7 vs 17.4 +/- 2.1 microliters/30 min in control, P < 0.01) and further increased with time, reaching the peak level at 24 hr (105.1 +/- 4.6 microliters/30 min). Intravenous infusion of loxiglumide (50 mg/kg body wt/hr), atropine (100 micrograms/kg body wt/hr), or anti-secretin serum did not modify the fluid hypersecretion observed at 24 hr after induction of acute pancreatitis. Loxiglumide, when given 30 min before the first cerulein injection, markedly reduced fluid secretion, but could not inhibit the fluid hypersecretion when applied after the last cerulein injection. Leakage of Evans blue dye into pancreatic juice was slightly but significantly increased in postpancreatitic rats compared with that in the control rats (1.30 +/- 0.17 vs 0.75 +/- 0.08 micrograms/ml, P < 0.01), whereas that in the pancreas was not different from the control rats. In vivo labeling with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine showed active proliferation of acinar and ductular cells at 6 hr. In addition, the fluid was rich in chloride (137.1 +/- 2.5 at 24 hr vs 92.4 +/- 3.3 meq/liter in control, P < 0.01) but poor in bicarbonate concentration (39.0 +/- 2.0 at 24 hr vs 46.5 +/- 1.9 mmol/liter in control, P < 0.01), indicating acinar cell secretion. These results indicate that pancreatic fluid secretion during the early stage of acute pancreatitis induced by supramaximal doses of cerulein was markedly increased not by CCK-, secretin-, or cholinergic-dependent mechanisms but probably by acinar cell proliferation.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1997

Antibacterial properties of BO-2727, a new carbapenem antibiotic.

BO-2727 is a new injectable carbapenem antibiotic with broad-spectrum, potent antibacterial activity. The in-vitro and in-vivo antibacterial activities of BO-2727 were compared with those of meropenem, imipenem and biapenem. BO-2727 was four- to eight-fold more active in vitro than meropenem, imipenem and biapenem against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, inhibiting more than 90% of clinical isolates at a concentration of 12.5 mg/L. BO-2727 also showed superior activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and was two- to four-fold more active than imipenem against imipenem-resistant strains. The antimicrobial activity of BO-2727 was influenced by the pH of the medium and inoculum size, in the same way as meropenem and imipenem. In time-killing kinetic studies, BO-2727 showed dose-dependent bactericidal activity against S. aureus, Escherichia coli and P. aeruginosa. In a morphological study, BO-2727 induced spherical forms in E. coli and bulging forms in P. aeruginosa. The affinity of BO-2727 for E. coli (PBP 2) was about twice that of imipenem. BO-2727 also had high affinities for P. aeruginosa penicillin-binding protein (PBPs) 2 and 3. The prophylactic efficacy of BO-2727 against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial systemic infections was similar to that of imipenem and biapenem.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Role of endogenous cholecystokinin and cholecystokinin-A receptors in the development of acute pancreatitis in rats.

Recent studies provide significant evidence that cholecystokinin (CCK) is involved in the induction and development of acute pancreatitis in experimental animals. However, the results obtained with specific CCK-A (peripheral) receptor antagonists are still controversial. The present studies were undertaken to evaluate the involvement of endogenous CCK and the CCK-A receptors in the development of severe acute pancreatitis induced in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats that have a selective defect in the CCK-A receptor. Three models of severe acute pancreatitis were induced by retrograde intraductal infusion of 4% sodium taurocholate, by the closed duodenal loop, or by a single intraperitoneal injection of 500 mg/100 g body weight of L-arginine in OLETF rats and control Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats. Plasma CCK levels rose up to 4- to 14-fold over the preloading values after the onset of acute pancreatitis in all three models in both groups of rats. However, histologic alterations as well as the magnitudes of increase in serum amylase and lipase activity and the pancreatic wet weight were significantly less in the OLETF rats than those in the LETO rats. In addition, 72 h after the onset of arginine pancreatitis, massive destruction of pancreatic parenchyma with a significant reduction in serum amylase and lipase activities and pancreatic wet weight was observed in the LETO rats, whereas these changes were not seen in OLETF rats. These results suggest that endogenous CCK and CCK-A receptors play a role in the development of severe acute pancreatitis in rats.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1997

Plasma cholecystokinin levels in acute pancreatitis.

Recent studies have shown that cholecystokinin (CCK) is involved in the induction and development of acute pancreatitis in experimental animals. In the present study we determined basal plasma CCK concentrations by a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay using antiserum OAL656 in 17 patients with acute pancreatitis due to gallstone in the common bile duct (n = 7), alcoholic (n = 4), post endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (n = 1), and unknown causes (n = 4), and 37 patients with cholelithiasis (n = 18) and choledocholithiasis (n = 19). Plasma CCK concentrations in patients with gallstone pancreatitis on hospital day 1 (mean +/- SEM, 6.78 +/- 1.39 pM) were significantly higher than those in patients with other causes (1.33 +/- 0.16 pM) or in 20 healthy control subjects (1.55 +/- 0.11 pM). There was no relationship between plasma CCK and serum pancreatic enzyme levels, the severity of acute pancreatitis, or serum bilirubin concentrations. Plasma CCK levels in patients with acute symptomatic cholelithiasis (n = 7; 4.35 +/- 0.90 pM) and choledocholithiasis (n = 8; 4.52 +/- 1.17 pM) were significantly higher than those in patients without symptoms (cholelithiasis, n = 11, 1.40 +/- 0.17 pM; choledocholithiasis, n = 11, 1.88 +/- 0.49 pM) but tended to be lower than those in patients with gallstone pancreatitis. These present observations suggest that the increase in plasma CCK levels in gallstone pancreatitis appears not to be the cause but to be the result of gallstone pancreatitis probably due to a transient disturbance of bile flow into the duodenum by stones or edema of the bile duct. Our present results provide some evidence for the usefulness of CCK receptor antagonists for the treatment of biliary colics and acute pancreatitis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1997

Exocrine pancreatic function in rats after acute pancreatitis.

The present studies were performed to evaluate pancreatic exocrine function in rats during the early stage of acute pancreatitis in two models: one is edematous pancreatitis induced by four subcutaneous injections of 20 micrograms/kg body weight of cerulein at hourly intervals and the other is hemorrhagic pancreatitis induced by retrograde infusion of 0.4 ml/kg body weight of 3% sodium taurocholate (NaTc) into the pancreatic duct. Secretory studies were performed in vivo under urethane anesthesia at various times after induction of acute pancreatitis. Basal pancreatic fluid secretion was significantly elevated after induction of acute pancreatitis in both the cerulein and the NaTc models, reaching the peak level on postpancreatitic days 1 and 3, respectively. In both models of rats, a stepwise increasing dose of cerulein was unable to cause a further increase in fluid secretion above the basal level, whereas it caused a dose-dependent increase in protein output in both models, although the responsiveness and the sensitivity were markedly reduced compared with the controls. In contrast to cerulein, secretin caused a dose-dependent increase in fluid secretion in both models of pancreatitis. In cerulein-induced postpancreatitic rats, secretin also caused a dose-dependent increase in protein output and bicarbonate concentration, but it had only a small effect at certain doses in NaTc-induced postpancreatitic rats. These results indicate that basal pancreatic fluid secretion was greatly increased but the secretory response to cerulein stimulation was reduced in acute pancreatitis early after the onset but was not reduced to secretin stimulation and that protein output and bicarbonate concentration were reduced depending on the severity of pancreatitis (NaTc-pancreatitis > cerulein-pancreatitis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1997

In vitro activity of HSR-903, a new quinolone.

The in vitro activity of the new fluoroquinolone HSR-903 was compared with those of ciprofloxacin, lomefloxacin, sparfloxacin, and levofloxacin. HSR-903 inhibited 90% of methicillin-susceptible and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical isolates at 0.78 and 1.56 microg/ml, respectively, and its activity against MRSA was 16-fold higher than those of sparfloxacin and levofloxacin and 64-fold higher than that of ciprofloxacin. The MICs at which 90% of the isolates are inhibited (MIC90s) of HSR-903 for Streptococcus pyogenes and penicillin G-susceptible and -resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) were 0.10, 0.05, and 0.05 microg/ml, respectively. Against PRSP, the activity of HSR-903 was 4-fold higher than that of sparfloxacin and 32- to 256-fold higher than those of the other quinolones. The MIC90 of HSR-903 for Enterococcus faecalis was 0.20 microg/ml, and HSR-903 was more active than the other quinolones against enterococci. The activity of HSR-903 against members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was roughly similar to that of ciprofloxacin and greater than those of the other quinolones. Against Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Helicobacter pylori, HSR-903 was the most potent of the quinolones tested. The activity of HSR-903 was not affected by the medium, the inoculum size, or the addition of serum, but decreased under acidic conditions, as did those of the other quinolones tested. HSR-903 exhibited rapid bactericidal action and had a good postantibiotic effect on S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. HSR-903 inhibited supercoiling by DNA gyrase from Escherichia coli, but it was much less active against human topoisomerase II.

Anti-Infective Agents↗

PubMed1997

Slowly progressive limb-kinetic apraxia.

The case of a 69-year-old female with slowly progressive limb-kinetic apraxia (LKA) of the right hand over 3.5 years is reported. She did not show any other neurological or neuropsychological symptoms except for a defect in two-point discrimination, and 3.5 years after onset she developed a slight cogwheel-like muscle tone in the right wrist. Brain MRI revealed atrophic changes in the left central region including the precentral and postcentral gyri and the superior parietal region, and among them, most strikingly at the postcentral gyrus. 123I-IMP SPECT revealed decreased 123I uptake in the atrophic lesion as revealed by MRI. We should suspect corticobasal degeneration as the etiology for this patient taking her symptoms and findings on MRI and SPECT into consideration. However, her symptoms and course were quite unique among the case reports of patients with slowly progressive LKA as she had only LKA and a defect in two-point discrimination for more than 3.5 years without any other symptoms. This characteristic also indicated that the simultaneous appearance of LKA and a defect in two-point discrimination may suggest a mechanism of LKA in the present patient.

Aged↗

PubMed1997

A patient with acromegaly who showed remarkable improvement of hyperglycemia after treatment with octreotide.

A case with diabetes mellitus associated with growth hormone (GH)-producing pituitary adenoma is described. A 56-year-old woman who had been treated for diabetes mellitus for 3 years, was admitted for the treatment of hyperglycemia. She showed a few acromegalic features and her plasma GH level was 146 +/- 16 ng/ml. After improvement of plasma glucose level by insulin injection, octreotide therapy (100 micrograms/8 hours) was started. Seven days after the initiation of octreotide therapy, the fasting plasma glucose level was almost normalized without insulin injection. After the octreotide treatment, urinary C-peptide excretion was significantly decreased and the plasma GH level became within normal range. In this case, octreotide appears to have improved the insulin sensitivity by reducing the plasma GH level.

Acromegaly↗

PubMed1997

Circulating vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in atherosclerotic NIDDM patients.

Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) has been shown to be highly expressed in atherosclerotic lesions. Although the soluble form of VCAM-1 (sVCAM-1) is detected in human sera, the relation between the degree of atherosclerosis and serum sVCAM-1 level has not been defined. In the present study, sVCAM-1 concentrations were measured in sera from 101 Japanese NIDDM patients. The mean +/- SD serum sVCAM-1 concentration in 26 patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic vascular diseases (789 +/- 187 ng/ml) was higher than that in 75 patients without the disease (664 +/- 175 ng/ml). Among the 101 NIDDM patients, 56 had atherosclerotic change of the carotid arteries, based on the evaluation by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. Their sVCAM-1 level was 759 +/- 201 ng/ml, higher than that in 45 patients without any detectable atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries (619 +/- 130 ng/ml). In addition, there was a positive correlation between sVCAM-1 concentration and thickness of the intimal plus medial complex (IMT) of the carotid arteries in the NIDDM patients (r = 0.41, P < 0.0001). Multivariate regression analysis revealed significant predictors of mean IMT value to be sVCAM-1 concentration (F = 62.88, P = 0.0001) and age (F = 9.59, P = 0.0026). By contrast, sVCAM-1 concentration was not increased in nondiabetic patients with atherosclerotic change of the carotid arteries (668 +/- 191 ng/ml; n = 36) compared with those without the atherosclerotic change (632 +/- 177 ng/ml; n = 28), and there was no correlation between sVCAM-1 level and IMT of the carotid arteries in the nondiabetic subjects. These results indicate that circulating sVCAM-1 may be a marker of atherosclerotic lesions in NIDDM patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic atherosclerosis.

Aged↗