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Biomedical subjects

M Ueda

Publications and source records attributed to M Ueda.

At least 1,135 records · Page 63Linked to original sources

[Allergenic and antigenic activities of the osmophilic fungus Wallemia sebi asthmatic patients].

Recently large amounts of Wallemia sebi, a species of osmophilic fungi, have been detected in house dust by low water activity media. The allergenic activity of W. sebi was examined by skin prick tests and radioallergosorbent tests (RAST) in 74 asthmatic patients (mean age 11.7, range 6-32). Aspergillus fumigatus and house dust were used for comparison. In the skin prick tests, W. sebi extract, A. fumigatus extract and house dust extract elicited positive reactions in 4 (5.4%), 4 (5.4%) and 51 (68.9%) patients, respectively. RAST showed positive results in 14 subjects (18.9%) for W. sebi extract, in 8 (10.8%) for A. fumigatus extract and in 59 (79.7%) for house dust extract. These results indicated that some asthmatic individuals showed immediate type hypersensitivity to W. sebi, which means this fungal species may be important as a causative agent in atopic diseases. Additionally, the authors measured W. sebi-specific IgG by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in asthmatic (n = 28) and non-atopic patients (n = 28). W. sebi-specific IgG was found in sera from all subjects in each group. W. sebi-specific IgG in asthmatics (mean +/- SD = 0.686 +/- 0.160) was significantly higher than that in non-atopics (mean +/- SD = 0.572 +/- 0.188) (p less than 0.01).

Adolescent↗

[Cerebral blood flow in patients with thalamic hemorrhage (Part 2): Etiological analysis of decreased cerebral blood flow in acute stage].

In twenty-nine patients with thalamic hemorrhage, single photon emission CT (SPECT) and CT were performed in the acute stage. Measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF) was performed by the 133-Xe inhalation method using SPECT (Tomomatic 64). CT findings such as hematoma volume, involvement of internal capsule, ventricular hematoma and topographical localization of hematoma were investigated. We studied etiological analysis of decreased CBF in the acute stage. CBF values in the group of large-volume hematoma (greater than or equal to 10 ml) decreased moderately on the hematoma side and mildly on the nonhematoma side. CBF values in the group of small-volume hematoma (less than 10 ml) decreased mildly on the hematoma side but didn't decrease on the nonhematoma side. CBF values of the former on the hematoma side decreased significantly compared with the latter. Linear correlation between hematoma volume and CBF was significant. As to topographical localization, CBF values of the group which involved medial thalamus decreased significantly compared with the other group. Factors of involvement of internal capsule and ventricular hematoma didn't affect CBF values. In conclusion, major factors which affected decreased CBF in the acute stage were hematoma volume and tomographical localization.

Acute Disease↗

[Aorto-coronary bypass grafting in a patient with neutrocytopenia].

A 71-year-old woman with neutrocytopenia (690/mm3) was treated with prednisolone before coronary surgery. After the normalized hemogram with increased leukocyte counts, aorto-coronary bypass grafting with saphenous vein was performed for left main trunk disease. Her convalescence was quite stable without any infectious or adrenal problems. It was meaningful to treat neutrocytopenia with steroids in order to predict the hematological reaction to stress before the operation.

Aged↗

[Successful right pneumonectomy in pulmonary aspergilloma].

Right extrapleural pneumonectomy was performed on a 50-year-old male with aspergilloma suffering from severe hemoptysis. The post operative course was uneventful and he was discharged on the 30th day following operation. Aspergilloma is a potentially life threatening disease with large hemoptysis. So surgery is the only choice for treatment. We discussed the preoperative and postoperative problems including selection of the operative techniques for pulmonary aspergilloma.

Aspergillosis↗

Comparative structural study of N-linked oligosaccharides of urinary and recombinant erythropoietins.

The structures of the N-linked oligosaccharides of the urinary erythropoietin (u-EPO) purified from urine of aplastic anemic patients were analyzed and compared with those for recombinant erythropoietin (r-EPO) prepared with baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. Asparagine-linked neutral oligosaccharides were released from each EPO protein by N-oligosaccharide glycopeptidase (almond) digestion. The reducing ends of the oligosaccharide chains thus obtained were aminated with a fluorescent reagent, 2-aminopyridine, and the mixture of pyridylamino derivatives of the oligosaccharides was separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on an ODS silica column. More than 8 and 13 kinds of oligosaccharide fractions for u-EPO and r-EPO (BHK), respectively, were completely separated by the one-step HPLC procedure. The structure of each oligosaccharide thus isolated was analyzed by a combination of sequential exoglycosidase digestion and another kind of HPLC with an amide-silica column. Furthermore, high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy and methylation analyses were carried out in the case of r-EPO (BHK).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carbohydrate Sequence↗

Characterization of [3H]U46619 binding in pig aorta smooth muscle membranes.

The binding characteristics of [3H]U46619, a tritiated thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 mimetic, were studied in pig aorta smooth muscle membranes. Binding was fast, saturable, selective and reversible. The KD values determined by kinetics, equilibrium binding and drug competition methods were 68, 42 and 53 nM, respectively. The Bmax was 87.8 fmol/mg protein. Specific binding was competitively displaced by thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 antagonists. Binding was also displaced by prostaglandins D2, E2 and F2 alpha with IC50 values of 8, 21 and 12 microM, respectively. U46619 contracted the rat and pig aorta smooth muscle, but the response of the latter was slower than that of the former. The antagonists prevented the U46619-induced contraction of rat aorta with the same rank order as that for the inhibition of ligand binding in pig aorta smooth muscle membranes. These results provide evidence that the putative thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 receptor in vascular smooth muscle membranes can be detected by a ligand binding technique.

15-Hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5↗

Occurrence and possible roles of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase in peroxisomes of an n-alkane-grown yeast, Candida tropicalis.

Two kinds of 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolases were found in the peroxisomes of Candida tropicalis cells grown on n-alkanes (C10-C13). One was a typical acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase specific only to acetoacetyl-CoA, while another was 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase showing high activities on the longer chain substrates. A high level of the latter thiolase activity in alkane-grown cells was similar to that of other enzymes constituting the fatty acid beta-oxidation system in yeast peroxisomes. These facts suggest that the complete degradation of fatty acids to acetyl-CoA is carried out in yeast peroxisomes by the cooperative contribution of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase.

Acetyl Coenzyme A↗

Profiles of carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes in human hepatocellular carcinomas and preneoplastic livers.

Activities of key carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes in biopsied human tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma and related conditions were determined by established methods. Among the enzymes analyzed, fetal-type liver enzymes (low-Km hexokinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and pyruvate kinase-M2) showed increased activities, and adult-type liver enzymes [glucose 6-phosphatase, fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase, high-Km hexokinase (or glucokinase), and pyruvate kinase-L] showed decreased activities, resulting in undifferentiated enzyme patterns not only in fetal livers and hepatocellular carcinomas but also in livers of acute and chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis with or without tumors. Hepatocellular carcinomas showed a general tendency of having greater enzyme deviations than hepatitic and cirrhotic livers. The extent of the enzyme deviation in hepatocellular carcinomas varied considerably from one enzyme to another for each tumor tissue as compared with that in the benign liver diseases. Thus, the phenotypic heterogeneity was important for discriminating between the neoplastic and inflammatory changes in differentiation markers. The enzyme patterns of tumors and their corresponding host cirrhotic livers were unrelated, suggesting that the cirrhotic liver has a significance as preneoplastic state only in terms of having a high incidence of evolving hepatocellular carcinoma.

Carbohydrate Metabolism↗

Multiple functioning paraganglioma associated with polycythemia.

Multiple retroperitoneal functioning paraganglioma complicated by polycythemia is reported in the case of a girl who, at the age of 13 years complained of headache, palpitation, and faintness preoperatively. In the retroperitoneal cavity, there were 21 paragangliomas larger than 1 cm in diameter. All were removed surgically in two sections, the first in 1979 and the second in 1983. Bilateral adrenals were macroscopically normal, and her symptoms disappeared. Now the recurrence of retroperitoneal paraganglioma is likely, although there have been no symptoms for 8 years, since the first operation. It is difficult to conclude that the tumors were benign or malignant in this case. Though complication of polycythemia had been diagnosed before the operation, the symptom continued even with the serum erythropoietin level kept in the normal range. Association of polycythemia with paraganglioma is extremely rare, and it is also rare to find more than 10 paragangliomas. Only a limited number of reports have been made on each case in the literature.

Adolescent↗

Purification and characterization of L-amino acid oxidase from the venom of Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus (Taiwan habu snake).

L-Amino acid oxidase (EC.1.4.3.2) was purified to homogeneity via four steps consisting of Sephadex G-100, CM-Toyopearl 650M, and first and second granulated hydroxyapatite column chromatographies. The mol. wt of the enzyme was 140,000 when estimated by analytical gel filtration and was 70,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, suggesting that the enzyme is composed of two identical subunits. The enzyme has an absorption spectrum characteristic of flavoprotein, contains 2 moles of FMN per mole of enzyme and has an isoelectric point of 5.4. The enzyme oxidatively deaminated hydrophobic amino acids such as Leu, Met, Phe, and Tyr while basic amino acids except for Lys were also oxidized though at slower rates. This specificity was generally similar, with some exceptions, to that of the enzyme from Trimeresurus flavoviridis venom. For oxidative deamination of Leu, Km and maximum velocity of the enzyme were 1.17 mM and 9.9 units/mg, respectively, at pH 7.6. The activity was inhibited almost completely by heavy metal ions, some aromatic benzoates and sulfhydryl reagents but not by metal-chelating agents.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗

Letterer-Siwe disease: immunopathologic study with a new monoclonal antibody.

Three cases of Letterer-Siwe disease were studied with the monoclonal antibody Lag, which reacts to the antigen on the membranes of Birbeck granules and related structures of human Langerhans cells. Both lymph nodes and lesional skin contained abundant Lag-positive cells. By two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, antigenic substances in the lymph nodes of patients with Letterer-Siwe disease were found to have the same molecular weight of 40,000 dalton and isoelectric points extending from 4.7 to 6.5 as those in normal human skin and lymph nodes. Our results support the contention that Letterer-Siwe disease is a proliferative disorder of Langerhans cells. A double-staining method with Lag and anti-T6 antibody revealed that Lag reacted to 70% of T6-positive cells in the lymph nodes but to almost all such cells in skin lesions of patients with Letterer-Siwe disease, suggesting that the proliferating cells consist of at least Lag+, T6+, and Lag-, T6+ subpopulations.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Identification of both calpains I and II in nucleated chicken erythrocytes.

Chicken erythrocytes were found to contain two species of calpains which differ in elution profile from DEAE-cellulose and in Ca2+ requirement. After partial purification, one of them was half-maximally activated by 10 microM Ca2+ and the other by 180 microM Ca2+. The low- and high-Ca2+-requiring proteases cross-reacted only with the respective monospecific antibodies for mammalian calpain I and calpain II, respectively. Approximately 5 times more calpain I than calpain II is present in chicken erythrocytes. By immunoelectrophoretic blot analysis, both calpains I and II from chicken erythrocytes were proved to be heterodimers composed of 76 and 28 kDa, and 80 and 28 kDa subunits, respectively. Our present finding that the heavy subunit of calpain I is smaller than that of calpain II is noteworthy, since the opposite is known to be true of various mammalian calpains. An immunological study has revealed that the calpain I newly found in chicken erythrocytes is not derived from calpain II. Thus, the co-existence of calpains I and II in one animal species also holds in chickens, contrary to the previously advocated notion that chickens have only one type of calpain.

Animals↗

Characterization of mouse monoclonal antibodies to human interferon-gamma.

Mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to human interferon-gamma (HuIFN-gamma) were characterized. The mAbs studied--E4-18, G4-15, and SAT-1--which are all IgGl-type, reacted to all HuIFN-gamma molecular species, both glycosylated and non-glycosylated. Affinity constants calculated of E4-18 and G4-15 didn't have considerable differences for both kinds of HuIFN-gamma (1-3 x 10(8) liter/mol), but SAT-1 had a difference--a higher value (10(10) liter/mol) for the former than for the latter (8 x 10(8) liter/mol). In epitope specificity, the results suggested that E4-18 and G4-15 recognized an overlapped region remote from the region of SAT-1. Competition experiment using synthetic peptides suggested that epitope of G4-15 is around N9-26 of the HuIFN-gamma sequence. Those mAbs could be used for sandwich radioimmunoassay of HuIFN-gamma using double mAbs in two combinations, one (G4-15/E4-18) based on dimer forms of HuIFN-gamma and the other (SAT-1/E4-18) based on epitope difference. The mAbs are all neutralizing antibodies in which SAT-1 neutralized at a lower concentration than did G4-15, and at a much lower one than did E4-18. The receptor binding of HuIFN-gamma was inhibited by mAbs G4-15 and SAT-1. Efficacy of G4-15 and SAT-1 for the inhibition correspond with that for neutralization.

Animals↗

Epidermal growth factor receptors in cancer tissues of esophagus, lung, pancreas, colorectum, breast and stomach.

The levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors were investigated in surgically resected tumors of various origins including esophagus (n = 33), lung (n = 14), pancreas (n = 9), colorectum (n = 10), breast (n = 23) and stomach (n = 8). The 125I-EGF binding capacities of squamous cell carcinomas of esophagus and lung were exceptionally higher than those of the other cancer tissues. Immunohistochemical staining with an anti-EGF receptor monoclonal antibody detected EGF receptors in the basal cells and parabasal cells of normal esophageal epithelium and in all the cancer cells of squamous cell carcinoma tissues of esophagus and lung. DNA replicating cells were examined by the bromodeoxyuridine staining method and it was found that the basal cells and parabasal cells of normal epithelium and peripheral cells of cancer pearls are proliferating. Contrary to this, a tumor antigen TA-4, known as a specific marker for squamous carcinoma, was detected in the differentiated cancer cells and in middle-layer squamous cells. These results strongly suggest that the increase in EGF receptor levels may be associated with the development of human squamous cell cancers of esophagus and lung. Thus, measurement of EGF receptor expression in tumor tissues has diagnostic value and should prove useful for the development of new therapies.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Distribution of EGF receptor expressing and DNA replicating epidermal cells in psoriasis vulgaris and Bowen's disease.

We have examined the localization of DNA replicating cells and EGF receptor-expressing cells in the epidermis of psoriasis vulgaris, a benign hyperproliferative skin disease, and Bowen's disease, a pre-malignant hyperproliferative skin disease, and normal skin. DNA replicating cells were detected by anti-BrdU monoclonal antibody after incubating tissue sections with BrdU, and EGF receptors were detected by the anti-EGF receptor monoclonal antibody B4G7. In normal skin, DNA replicating cells were localized exclusively in the basal and suprabasal layers. EGF receptor expression was observed most strongly in the basal and parabasal layers, but diminished gradually towards the upper squamous layer. In psoriatic skin, DNA replicating cells were also localized in the basal and parabasal layers, but the number of these mitotic cells was about 10 times higher than in normal skin. In this case, more EGF receptors were detected in all viable layers of the epidermis. Apparently normal skin adjacent to psoriasis lesions showed persistent expression of EGF receptors in the upper squamous layer without an increased number of DNA replicating cells in the basal and parabasal layers. In Bowen's disease, DNA replicating cells and EGF receptor expressing cells were distributed in all layers of the epidermis. These findings indicate that the increased production of EGF receptors may be, in part, responsible for the hyperproliferative state of the epidermis and that cells in the upper squamous layer of psoriasis may have lost a mechanism by which EGF receptor expression is diminished thus allowing differentiation. This altered process of EGF receptor production may be involved in the onset of psoriasis vulgaris.

Adult↗

Transplantation of mucosal tissue model composed of rabbit oral mucosal cells.

Since skin grafted into the oral cavity does not differentiate into mucosa, its original characteristics remain unchanged. This may cause discomfort to patients treated with such grafted skin, due to the skin's hair follicles and keratinization. This phenomenon is controlled by subepithelial connective tissues, and is thus referred to as the Epithelio-Mesenchymal Interaction. The grafting of mucosa itself would be preferable, but this procedure is severely limited due to the scarcity of suitable tissue. Accordingly, we have recently prepared artificial mucosa in vitro, using fibroblasts and epithelial cells derived from rabbit oral mucosa and collagen gel, and transplanted it into a donor animal. This paper is the first report of a method using artificial mucosa for the reconstruction of mucosal defects.

Animals↗