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Biomedical subjects

N Fujii

Publications and source records attributed to N Fujii.

At least 541 records · Page 30Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Spontaneous production of gamma-interferon in cultures of T lymphocytes obtained from patients with Behçet's disease.

The spontaneous production of interferon (IFN) in the cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes (PBML) obtained from 30 patients with Behçet's disease was investigated. PBML obtained from each of 26 patients in the convalescent stage and four patients in the exacerbation stage were cultured at least twice without stimulation, and IFN activity in the culture fluid 2 to 7 days after the cultivation was assayed. Twenty PBML of normal healthy donors were also cultured simultaneously. PBML of all patients in the convalescent stage spontaneously produced high-titered IFN (60.0 +/- 9.5 IU/ml), but IFN activity produced in PBML cultures of four patients in the exacerbation stage was very low or was undetectable. Similarly, IFN was always detectable in the circulation of the patients whose PBML spontaneously produced IFN. All IFN activity detected both in the circulation and in the fluid of PBML culture from these patients was gamma-IFN, defined by virtue of its acid lability and antigenicity neutralized with antiserum for gamma-IFN and not with antisera for alpha- and beta-IFN. The cellular source of this gamma-IFN in the patients' PMBL was T lymphocytes and not non-T cells or macrophages. T lymphocytes did not require the help of macrophages. It is suggested that T lymphocytes of these patients may be stimulated by unknown causative agents in vivo and may produce gamma-IFN in vivo as well as in in vitro culture of T lymphocytes.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

[Heart valve replacement with the Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial xenograft. Hemodynamic evaluation and early clinical follow-up of 170 patients].

The Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial xenograft (ISPX) has been widely accepted clinically because of its superior hemodynamic characteristics and low incidence of thrombogenicity. After confirmation by our own experiment of its superior valve performance, we have adopted in clinical application of this valve since August of 1979, and implanted 189 of this valve in 170 patients up to November of 1981. The overall mortality rate including of hospital and follow up death was 14.1%. The pressure gradient and calculated orifice area of ISPX were compared to those of Hancock xenograft (HX), and the valve characteristics of ISPXs was found to be better than those of HX. The cardiac function following implantation of this valve apparently showed improvement. No incidence of thromboembolic episode or malfunction was observed, however, prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) was encountered in four patients and two died. This incidence of PVE in ISPXs was not significantly higher in comparison to that in other type of prosthetic valve. However the low incidence of thromboembolic episode as well as acceptable valve performance were confirmed by our study, the durability and susceptibility to PVE has to be carefully observed in the longer follow up.

Aortic Valve↗
PubMed1982

"Myopathic" changes in chorea-acanthocytosis. Clinical and histopathological studies.

Four cases of chorea-acanthocytosis were studied with special reference to muscular changes. All the cases showed the clinical stigmata of oro-linguo-facial dyskinesia with tongue biting, mild neurogenic muscular involvement and acanthocytosis. Serum creatine kinase (CK) was persistently elevated, showing MM type isozyme predominance. Histopathological studies of the peroneus brevis muscle showed prominent small group atrophy, increase of small fibers on diameter analysis, frequent angulated fibers, and angulated fibers with increased acid phosphatase activity. These findings are compatible with chronic denervation. However, central nucleation (approximately 10%) and fiber splitting (2-8%) were also found in all cases. These are compatible with myopathic changes. No correlation of these "myopathic" changes and serum CK levels was found. The "myopathic" findings are probably secondary to chronic denervation.

Acanthocytes↗
PubMed1982

Detection of gamma interferon in the sera of patients with Behçet's disease.

The serum levels of interferon (IFN) in 58 patients with Behçet's disease were significantly higher than those in 79 normal controls (P less than 0.0001). The average IFN titer was 51.4 +/- 9.3 IU/ml in the patients and 5.9 +/- 1.1 IU/ml in the controls. The patients were then divided into two groups according to the stage of ocular disease. Forty-six patients in the ocular convalescent stage had higher IFN levels (61.3 +/- 11.2 IU/ml) than did 12 patients in the exacerbation stage (13.2 +/- 3.0 IU/ml). Moreover, the kinetics of the IFN level in the circulation of seven patients showed a significant decrease of IFN in the exacerbation stage. IFN activity in sera from patients was destroyed by acid treatment and heating at 56 degrees C for 30 min and was not neutralized with anti-human IFN-alpha and -beta sera. In addition, it was demonstrated that vesicular stomatitis virus inhibitors detected in sera from both the patients and the controls had no effect on our IFN assay. Therefore, antiviral activity detected in sera of patients seems to be due to gamma interferon (IFN-gamma). IFN-gamma may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of Behçet's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Studies on spontaneous production of gamma-interferon in Behçet's disease.

Gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) is detected at a higher level in the sera of patients with Behçet's disease than in control subjects. To investigate the cellular source of IFN-gamma, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from patients were cultured and found to produce IFN-gamma spontaneously in their fresh culture fluids. The average IFN titers in cultures of the patients' PBL were significantly higher than those of the control cultures (p less than 0.0001). The IFN activity was significantly higher in cultures of the patients in the ocular convalescent stage than in the exacerbation stage (p less than 0.0001), as was the case with serum interferon activity. Fractionation of PBL showed that only T gamma lymphocytes of the patients produced IFN-gamma spontaneously in the cultures. No IFN was produced in the culture fluids of T non-gamma cells, non-T cells or macrophages. T gamma cells and IFN-gamma may therefore play a significant role in the immunopathophysiology of Behçet's disease.

Behcet Syndrome↗