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Biomedical subjects

Minoru Koga

Publications and source records attributed to Minoru Koga.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

The clinical studies of sildenafil for the ageing male.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) represents an important quality-of-life issue for many ageing men. Low serum testosterone level and other factors may be involved. Sildenafil is effective and well tolerated in patients with ED of various aetiologies, showing an efficacy of about 75%. However, few efficacy and adverse effect studies have focused specially on ageing men. In 150 patients below 65 years and 44 patients over 65 years, sildenafil was used to treat ED. Efficacy in the younger group (89.1%) was greater than in the older group (65.7%; p < 0.01). Mean serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations (11.0 and 18.9 mIU/mL, respectively) in the older group were higher than in younger group (5.2 and 8.7 mIU/mL, respectively; p < 0.01). Serum testosterone and prolactin (PRL) were similar between groups. Older patients showed higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Only diabetes appeared to decrease efficacy of sildenafil in older patients (p=0.019). A high prevalence of diabetes might be one of the many causes of lower efficacy rate of sildenafil in older men, although efficacy in patients even without diabetes in older men was relatively low. Sildenafil can be used safely and it is still effective for ageing male, because nearly two-thirds of our older subjects had a good response to the drug and no adverse effect was specific to older patients.

3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases↗

Molecular cloning and characterization of oppo 1: a haploid germ cell-specific complementary DNA encoding sperm tail protein.

We isolated a cDNA clone specifically expressed during spermatogenesis from a subtracted cDNA library of mouse testis. The cDNA consisted of 1085 nucleotides and had an open reading frame of 870 nucleotides encoding a putative protein of 290 amino acid residues. Northern blot analysis revealed a 1.2-kilobase mRNA exclusively expressed in the testis in adult mice; the mRNA was first detected late pachytene stage, and expression increased as the animals matured. The protein encoded by the mRNA had a molecular weight of approximately 33 kDa by Western blot analysis, and was localized to occupy the flagella from the connecting piece through the principal piece. We named this newly isolated gene oppo 1, and we suggest that it plays an important role in sperm tail structure and/or sperm movement.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Clinical features and treatment prognosis of infertile males with robertsonian translocation.

BACKGROUND: The principle of treating male infertility in those with chromosomal aberrations should change according to progress in treatment modalities. METHODS: In this study, ten patients with Robertsonian translocation were assessed for their cytogenetic and clinical characteristics to establish guidelines for treating these patients. RESULTS: In 8 of 10 cases, chromosomes 13 and 14 were involved. In 4 of 10 cases (40%), their wives became pregnant, including two spontaneously. All newborns were without any deformities including one boy who was shown to have a normal karyotype. CONCLUSION: Infertility treatment of patients with Robertsonian translocation should be optimistically performed on the basis of proper informed consent.

Adult↗

LC/MS studies on characterization and determination of N,N'-ethylenebisdithiocarbamate fungicides in environmental water samples.

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has been applied to analyze N,N'-ethylenebisdithiocarbamate fungicides (EBDCs: manzeb, maneb and zineb) in environmental water samples. The EBDCs that are zinc and/or manganese salts are transformed into readily water-soluble sodium salts by adding an alkaline EDTA solution. The N,N'-ethylenebisdithiocarbamate anion is extracted into chloroform-hexane (3:1) as an ion pair with tetrabutylammonium, and then S-alkylated with methyl iodide. The extraction and derivatization are carried out at room temperature. The derivatized ethylenebisdithiocarbamic acid dimethyl ester is introduced into an LC/MS equipped with a negative ion electrospray ionization interface. Identification of the compound is performed with the specific quasi-molecular ion, and the quantitative analyses are carried out using the peak areas. The average recoveries and coefficients of variation of EBDCs at sub-ppb level are 79.1% and 29.3% (n = 6), respectively. The limit of detection based on standard deviation of 0.043 microg/L for manzeb is achieved.

Calibration↗

Quantitative analysis of triphenylboron in environmental water samples by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has been applied to the analysis of triphenylboron, which has been produced as a substitute for organotin compounds, in water. Although commercial triphenylboron compounds are produced as pyridinyl complexes, the chemical form in water is supposed to be mainly triphenylboron after liberating pyridine. The triphenylborons were extracted from water with an Empore C18 extraction disk under acidic condition, and the extracts were introduced directly into a liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer equipped with a negative ion electrospray ionization interface. Identification of the compounds was performed with specific ions produced from the triphenylboron, and a quantitative analysis was carried out using the peak areas. The average recoveries from distilled water, seawater and river water at 0.30 ng/ml were 92.3, 100 and 85.3%, respectively. A detection limit of 0.023 ng/ml for triphenylboron was achieved.

Boron Compounds↗

Application of a pentafluorobenzyl bromide derivatization method in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of trace levels of halogenated phenols in air, water and sediment samples.

An analytical method using pentafluorobenzyl bromide (PFBB) derivatization and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been applied to identify and quantify chloro-, bromo- and dichlorophenols in air, water and sediment samples. Phenols in air sample were collected with a PS-2 Sep-PAK cartridge, and eluted with 2-propanol. For water and sediment samples, liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane was carried out, and the solvent was exchanged to 2-propanol. The phenols in the solution reacted with PFBB to form the corresponding pentafluorobenzyl esters. After extracting the derivatives into hexane, the determination was carried out by GC/MS with selected-ion monitoring. The detection limits of phenols in air, water and sediment were 0.0033 - 0.0073 microg/m3, 0.0066 - 0.0147 microg/L and 0.33 - 0.73 microg/kg, respectively. More than 90% recoveries of the halogenated phenols were obtained from real environmental samples spiked by the halogenated phenols. The three isomers of mono-chlorophenols were detected in sediment samples in the range of 5.2 - 9.2 microg/kg in wet weight basis.

Air↗