[Simple method of "mini-prep": small scale preparation of plasmids from E. coli].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Usami.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We analyzed 237 patients who underwent total cystectomy with ileal conduit urinary diversion or cutaneous ureterostomy at the Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka. One-hundred and eighty-eight patients underwent ileal conduit diversion and 49 patients underwent cutaneous ureterostomy. No patient died within 30 days after the operation, but two patients who underwent ileal conduit diversion died of postoperative complications within 2 months. Early complications occurred in 94 patients (50%) in the ileal conduit group and in 18 patients (37%) in the ureterostomy group. Late complications occurred in 85 patients (45%) in the ileal conduit group and in 23 patients (47%) in the ureterostomy group. Frequent early complications in the ileal conduit group were wound infection (29%), and intestinal complications (13%) which included ileus and upper urinary tract complications (12%). The most frequent late complications were stomal complications (26%) which included peristomal dermatitis stomal stenosis, parastomal hernia, and stomal prolapse, and upper urinary tract complications which were noted in 27 patients (14%).
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
To evaluate the usefulness of serum level of cardiac myosin light chain I (LC I) for the estimation of the extent of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), peak LC I level was compared with myocardial infarction weight (AMI weight) which was obtained by myocardial emission tomography with Tc-99m pyrophosphate (PYP). In 11 patients with AMI, serum LC I levels were measured once a day in most cases, and plasma CPK levels were measured serially (every 4 hours at least 48 hours after admission). Tc-99m PYP imagings were performed at second or third day of AMI, and AMI weight was calculated from the voxel numbers of myocardial hot spot in which Tc-99m PYP had accumulated. Peak LC I level correlated well with AMI weight (r = 0.72, p less than 0.02). As well as peak LC I level, peak CPK level correlated well with AMI weight (r = 0.68, p less than 0.05). But the estimation of the infarct size from peak LC I level had the following advantages over the estimation from peak CPK level. 1) We could compare peak LC I level with AMI weight in all 11 patients, but peak CPK level was able to compared with AMI weight in only 9 of them. This was because CPK level changed rapidly and reached maximum within 24 hours after the onset of AMI, while LC I level peaked after 3 to 5 days. 2) A good correlation between LC I and AMI weight was obtained by the determination of serum LC I level once a day.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Clinical implications of diffuse slow washout of thallium-201 (DSWO) in exercise-redistribution myocardial SPECT were studied. Thallium-201 washout rate was calculated by Bull's-eye method. DSWO was defined as having abnormal thallium-201 washout rate (less than 30% per 3 hours) in more than two thirds of each coronary artery (CA) area. OF 974 patients whose exercise heart rate exceeded 120/min, 51 (5.2%) showed DSWO and coronary angiography was performed in 43. Twenty-three patients (53%) showed triple vessel disease (3VD), 8 (19%) showed single or double vessel disease (1VD/2VD) and 12 (28%) showed normal CA. Patients with normal CA consisted of 6 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), 5 with hypertension (HT) and one with electrocardiographic abnormality only. The causes of DSWO were assessed from the history of effort angina (EA) and congestive heart failure (CHF), delayed fill-in of the perfusion defect and the ratio of lung to heart thallium-201 activity (L/M) at exercise as an indicator of the left ventricular (LV) function. High prevalence of EA (74%), high incidence of scintigraphic delayed fill-in (83%) and normal L/M suggested diffuse LV ischemia as the cause of DSWO in 3VD. On the other hand in patients with 1VD/2VD, LV dysfunction at exercise was considered as the cause of DSWO because of low prevalence of EA (13%) and scintigraphic delayed fill-in (13%) (p less than 0.01, p less than 0.005 each vs 3VD), and high L/M (p less than 0.001 vs 3VD) and high prevalence of CHF (38%, NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Radical surgery was administered to 63 patients with prostatic carcinoma, of whom 48 were put under total prostatectomy, 13 under cystoprostatectomy and 2 under pelvic exenteration. Adjuvant therapy was given in three forms: pretreatment to 31 patients, castration to 44 patients and pelvic lymphadenectomy to 39 patients. The 7 patients in stage A survived without carcinoma. Of the 25 patients in stage B, recurrence was seen in 7 patients but there were no deaths and the 5- and 10-year cumulative survival rates were both 86%. Of the 24 stage C patients, 8 developed recurrence, 4 died with the disease, and the 5 and 10 year cumulative survival rates were 82% and 55% respectively. There were 7 stage D patients, of whom 3 developed recurrence and 2 died, and these patients had a 5 year cumulative survival rate of 86%. The results demonstrated that total prostatectomy with suitable adjuvant therapy is useful for advanced carcinoma as well as clinically early stage carcinoma.
To investigate the role of myocardial ischemia in the development of chest pain in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), exercise stress (Ex) redistribution myocardial single photon emission CT's (SPECT's) with thallium-201 (Tl) were obtained in 27 patients with HCM. In all patients, coronary arteries were normal arteriographically. Patients were classified into NYHA Class I, II and III according to the frequency and severity of the chest pain during daily life. In these 3 groups, age, sex and intraventricular septal thickness measured by echocardiography were not different. Types of myocardial perfusion obtained by myocardial SPECT's were divided into 5: 1) normal perfusion, 2) no perfusion defect with abnormal myocardial Tl washout rate (WOR) during 3 hours (less than 30%) [Def(-)/WORabn], 3) reversible perfusion defect (RD), 4) fixed defect with abnormal WOR (FD/WORabn), 5) fixed defect with normal WOR (FD/WORnl). In 14 patients with Class I, 9 patients (64%) showed normal perfusion but the rest showed perfusion abnormality (def(-)/WORabn in 3 and RD in 2). In Class II and III, all patients showed perfusion abnormalities of RD, FD/WORabn or FD/WORnl. As the functional class progressed from Class II to III, the ratio of fixed defect (both WORnl and WORabn) to RD increased, but it was not statistically significant. In 2 patients in whom Ex SPECT's were repeated because of the progression of the chest pain, the severity of the perfusion abnormality also progressed. Perfusion abnormalities were observed most frequently in anterior (35%), then inferior/posterior (20%) and septal wall (18%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
To elucidate the usefulness of gated cardiac blood-pool single photon emission CT (SPECT) with Tc-99m for the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) global and regional functions, 18 patients with coronary artery disease were studied. Thirty-two gated projection images were obtained over 360-degree at 16 frames per cardiac cycle. As LV volume was calculated by integrating the numbers of voxels which constituted LV and multiplying by the volume of a single voxel (0.1143 ml), we performed phantom studies to determine the appropriate cut-off level to detect LV outline. These cut-off levels were affected by the background activity and organ volume itself. So we constructed Volume-Cut-Level-Curve at each background activity. In clinical studies, short axis images which constituted LV were selected and provisional LV volumes were calculated at the cut-off levels of 45, 50 and 55%. These volumes were plotted on the Volume-Cut-Level-Curve and the true cut-off levels were obtained to calculate LV end-diastolic or end-systolic volume (EDV, ESV). The cut-off levels were different at every patient and ED or ES. EDV, ESV and LV ejection fraction obtained by SPECT were correlated well with those obtained by contrast ventriculography (LVG) (r = 0.89, 0.94, 0.94 each, p less than 0.01). For the LV wall motion analysis, LVGs obtained at two projections were compared with SPECT or gated cardiac blood-pool planar imaging (Planar) in 5 segments. In addition to visual comparison, wall motion scores (WMS) based on the degree of wall motion abnormality were calculated in each segment. Correlation of WMS between LVG and SPECT (r = 0.84) was significantly (p less than 0.01) superior to that between LVG and Planar (r = 0.62). Especially in SPECT, wall motion analyses at septal and infero-posterior segments were superior to those in Planar. Although gated SPECT requires relatively long time to perform, it is a useful method to detect LV global and regional functions.
At the Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, between 1961 and 1987, 28 cases (1.8%) of incidental prostatic adenocarcinoma were detected by transurethral or subcapsular prostatectomy for clinically benign prostatic hypertrophy (1388 cases) and cysto-prostatectomy for urinary bladder carcinoma (156). Nine (32%) and 19 (68%) cases were in stages A1 and A2, respectively. Of the 19 A2 cases, 9 were well, 9 were moderately and 1 was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Five of the A2 and 1 of the A1 progressed into clinical carcinoma, but none of these patients died of the cancer. Four of these 5 A2 patients had received no treatment postoperatively and one received castration. The intervals from diagnosis to progression ranged from 11 to 78 months. The survival rates at 5 and 10 years with A1 were 75% and 75%, and those with A2 were 80% and 37%. We conclude that the patients in stage A2 should be treated because stage A2 tumors, especially those with no treatment, progress at a higher frequency than stage A1 tumors.
Human lymphoblastoid interferon-alpha was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 5 x 10(6) units/day to 20 metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients. For potentiating the antitumor effect of interferon, cimetidine was also given to them orally at a dose of 800 mg/day. The combination therapy obtained a complete response in three patients (15%) and a partial response in three (15%). Nine patients (45%) had stable disease and five (25%), progressive disease. All six patients who responded to the combination therapy had been nephrectomized and had pulmonary metastases. Two of them also had metastases to other sites (mediastinal lymph nodes and bone). The pulmonary metastases were significantly more receptive to interferon therapy than those at the other sites. The average times before a response was obtained were 2.2 months for a minor response, 2.7 months for a partial response and 3.0 months for a complete response, and the average duration of response was 26 months. The six patients who responded survived for a significantly longer period than the 14 non-responding patients treated with interferon in combination with cimetidine. The major toxicities encountered were fever, fatigue and anorexia due to interferon, and the combination therapy was well tolerated except in three patients. The results suggest that interferon-alpha and cimetidine combination therapy may be of use in the management of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
A 61-year-old man diagnosed with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the prostate (T4 NxM0, stage C) underwent endocrine therapy. The reduction of the tumor was recognized but soon annular rectal stricture appeared. In spite of the subsequent chemotherapy, symptoms aggravated. Then total pelvic exenteration and colostomy were performed. Prostate was easily separated from the rectal wall and the tumor continuity was not proved. Immunohistochemical inspection indicated that the origin of the tumor cells of the rectum was the prostate. Histopathological examination of the rectum using the step section method showed no trace of cancer invasion but many cancer cells in the intramural lymphatic duct. We concluded that adenocarcinoma of the prostate metastasized to the rectum by way of lymphatic flow and caused the annular stricture of the rectum.
A pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease is the deposition of amyloid fibrils in the brain. The principal component of the amyloid fibril is beta/A4 protein, which is derived from a large membrane-bound glycoprotein, Alzheimer amyloid protein precursor (APP). Although the deposition of amyloid is thought to result from the aberrant processing of APP, the detailed molecular mechanisms of amyloidogenesis remain unclear. A C-terminal fragment of APP which spans the beta/A4 and cytoplasmic domains has a tendency to self-aggregate. In an attempt to establish a cultured-cell model for amyloid fibril formation, we have transfected COS-1 cells with complementary DNA encoding the C-terminal 100 residues of APP. In the perinuclear regions of a small population of DNA-transfected cells, we observed inclusion-like deposits which showed a strong immunohistochemical reaction towards an anti-C-terminal APP antibody or an anti-beta/A4 amyloid core-specific antibody. Electron microscope observations of the inclusion-carrying cells revealed an accumulation of amyloid-like fibrils of 8-22 nm diameter near and on the nuclear membrane. The fibrils showed a beaded or helical structure, and reacted positively with the anti-C-terminus antibody by immunoelectron microscopy. These results suggest that the formation of amyloid fibrils is an inherent characteristic of the C-terminal peptide of APP. The present system provides a suitable model for the molecular dissection of the process of brain amyloidogenesis.
From February 1979 through May 1988, a total of 26 patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate were treated with radiation therapy for the primary site. The actuarial 5-year survival rate was 59% for 14 patients with Stage C or less disease (A; 1 case, B; 2 cases, and C; 11 cases), and 10% for 12 patients with Stage D. The logrank test showed significant difference between these two groups (p less than 0.007). Rectal radiation injuries occurred in 2 cases (8%) at 7 months (grade I) and 6 months (grade II), respectively. From the analysis of local control and complication, optimum radiation dose ranged from 64.8 Gy to 68.4 Gy (TDF 100-106). In addition, optimum boost radiation field size with rotation technique (after whole pelvic irradiation of 40-45 Gy with anteroposterior opposing fields) ranged from 30 to 48 cm2.
We report a case of solitary neurofibroma of the scrotum. These tumors, which arise from perineural and Schwann cells, commonly occur throughout the body but they rarely have been reported to originate in the scrotum. No stigmata of von Recklinghausen's disease were identified.
We have shown previously that 3-phosphoglycerate, which is a glycolytic metabolite of glucose, induces protein phosphorylation in bovine and rat brain and in rat heart, kidney, liver, lung, and whole pancreas. Since glycolytic metabolism of glucose is of paramount importance in insulin release, we considered the possibility that 3-phosphoglycerate may act as a coupling factor, and we searched for evidence for the existence of 3-phosphoglycerate-dependent protein phosphorylation systems in freshly isolated normal rat pancreatic islets. Membrane and cytosol fractions were incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP and appropriate test substances and were subjected to NaDodSO4/PAGE and autoradiography. As little as 0.005 mM 3-phosphoglycerate or 2-phosphoglycerate stimulated the phosphorylation of a 65-kDa cytosol protein by as early as 0.25 min. The phosphate bond of the 65-kDa phosphoprotein was sufficiently stable to withstand dialysis; the radioactivity could not be chased out by subsequent exposure to ATP, ADP, 3-phosphoglycerate, or 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate. Moreover, cAMP, cGMP, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, or calcium failed to stimulate the phosphorylation of the 65-kDa protein. Phosphoglycerate-dependent protein phosphorylation in islets may have relevance to stimulation of insulin secretion.
The clinical efficacy and safety of 3.75 or 7.5 mg leuprorelin acetate depot given subcutaneously once every 4 weeks was evaluated in a collaborative study of 81 patients with untreated prostatic cancer. Efficacy of treatment was assessed using criteria based on a meeting of the Prostatic Cancer Study Group funded by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare and using National Prostatic Cancer Project criteria. Japanese criteria enabled evaluation of individual parameters, unlike the National Prostatic Cancer Project system which classified a patient as unevaluable if one evaluation parameter was unavailable. Leuprorelin acetate depot suppressed serum luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone concentrations. Objective response rates of the prostate, bone metastases, serum prostatic acid phosphatase and soft tissue metastases, and subjective dysuria and pain responses were comparable to those found with conventional hormone therapy. Leuprorelin acetate depot was well tolerated, with no significant differences in response to the two doses.