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Biomedical subjects

N Noda

Publications and source records attributed to N Noda.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Elevated serum level of thioredoxin in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Thioredoxin (TRX) is known to contain an active site with a redox-active disulfide and has various biological activities. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether circulating TRX levels are elevated in patients with chronic hepatitis (CH) or liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). An anti-TRX monoclonal antibody and polyclonal antibodies that specifically recognize TRX, were generated and used for the development of an ELISA system to measure TRX levels in human serum. The geometric mean and its 95% confidence interval of serum level of TRX in healthy volunteers was 81.75 ng/ml (74.60-89.59 ng/ml). The serum level of TRX in LC/CH patients without HCC was 80.87 ng/ml (69.66-93.88 ng/ml). The value was not statistically different from that in serum from normal volunteers (p=0.69). In contrast, the serum level of TRX in patients with HCC was 147.35 ng/ml (125.53-172.96 ng/ml), which was significantly higher when compared with the level in serum of normal volunteers (p<0.001) and in serum of LC/CH patients without HCC (p<0.001). In four patients with HCC, the initially high level of serum TRX (>150 ng/ml) decreased below 150 ng/ml after surgical removal of the tumor. The data reported herein revealed that patients with HCC had a significantly elevated serum level of TRX, suggesting that measurement of serum of TRX might be a useful clinical parameter when HCC is suspected.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Busulfan, cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation as conditioning for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for acute and chronic myeloid leukemia.

Fifty patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation between October 1988 and January 1997. Patients received 8 mg/kg of busulfan (BU) with 120 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide (CY) followed by 10 Gy of total body irradiation (TBI). Twenty consecutive patients with AML in first remission (n = 9) or CML, in chronic phase (n = 11) entered the study (group I). Thirty consecutive patients with advanced myeloid malignancies including AML (n = 19) and CML (n = 11) also entered the study (group II). The probability of leukemia-free survival at 5 years was 85% for group I patients and 50% for group II patients. Severe regimen-related toxicities occurred in 16% of patients (two in group I, six in group II). The most common sites affected by severe toxicities were lung (n = 6), liver (n = 2) and heart (n = 2). The relapse rate was higher for patients allografted in advanced stages of disease (O% at 5 years for group I and 28% for group II). These results suggest that BU + CY + TBI is a very effective conditioning regimen in patients with myeloid malignancies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Ignoring small lymph nodes can be a major cause of staging error in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Stage migration in gastric cancer confounds establishment of standard treatment according to stage. METHODS: To determine how closely lymph nodes should be examined to report correct staging, 402 node-positive patients were evaluated retrospectively. A total of 23,233 lymph nodes were reviewed histologically and their maximum dimension was measured. Another 254 nodes from 12 patients were used to evaluate shrinkage after fixation and preparation of the histological slide. RESULTS: Metastasis was detected in 3142 nodes, 1163 with well differentiated tumours (WDTs) and 1979 with poorly differentiated tumours (PDTs). Mean(s.d.) size of metastatic nodes was 7.80(5.08) mm in all, 8.44(5.74) mm in WDTs and 7.42(4.62) mm in PDTs. Both positive and negative nodes shrank between 10 and 20 per cent during histological processing. If all nodes 5 mm or less in size when fixed are ignored 37.8 per cent of all metastatic nodes will be missed. Downstaging will occur in 14.9 per cent and 4.2 per cent of the cases if all nodes less than 6 and 4 mm respectively are ignored. CONCLUSION: To keep the rate of stage migration caused by this factor below 5 per cent, all lymph nodes 4 mm or more in size (5 mm when fresh) should be retrieved and examined.

Diagnostic Errors↗
PubMed1997

Fruiting-inducing activity and antifungal properties of lipid components in members of Annelida.

Fruiting-inducing activity and antifungal properties of lipid components in the phylum Annelida were examined. Some amphoteric cerebrosides carrying a phosphocholine group showed fruiting-inducing activity on Schizophyllum commune, and one of them possessed activity comparable to that of Sch II, the most potent substance known. Furthermore, alkyl lysophosphatidylcholines were found to have an inhibitory effect on the growth of phytopathogenic fungi, Alternaria kikuchiana and Phomopsis mali. The relationship between structure and biological activities is discussed.

Alternaria↗
PubMed1997

Ether extract of fetal calf serum protects cultured rat cortical neurons against glutamate cytotoxicity.

The effects of an ether extract of fetal calf serum (EE-FCS) on glutamate-induced cytotoxicity were examined using primary cultures of rat cortical neurons. The simultaneous addition of EE-FCS and glutamate reduced glutamate cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. EE-FCS also reduced the cytotoxicity induced by S-nitrosocysteine, a nitric oxide (NO) donor. The findings indicate that EE-FCS contains lipid-soluble, non-peptide substances with neuroprotective actions against NO-mediated glutamate neurotoxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

[EBV-related malignancies and thioredoxin].

Thioredoxin (TRX) is a ubiquitous protein with two redox-active half-cystine residues. 3B6-IL-1, which was first reported as an interleukin 1-like protein produced by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed human B cell line (3B6), proved to be a human homologue of TRX. TRX is multifunctional in that it regulates DNA replication and transcription intracellularly and has various cytokine activities extracellularly associated with cell proliferation, immunological response, etc. It also functions to protect the cells from oxidative stress. In various tumors including EBV-related malignancies, an elevated expression of TRX is reported, but the role of TRX in such tumors has not yet been clarified. This review presents recent progress concerning the relation between TRX and neoplasms.

Herpesvirus 4, Human↗
PubMed1997

Crystal structures of nucleic acid complexes of ribonuclease U2.

Crystal structures of adenine-specific Ustilago sphaerogena ribonuclease U2 complexed with the substrate analogues, d(ApG), d(ApGpG), and d(ApGpC), with the intermediate analogue, 2',3'-O-isopropylidene-adenosine, and with the product, 3'-AMP, have been determined. In each structure, the adenine base is recognized by the enzyme with four hydrogen-bonds. In the substrate analogue structures, the second base of guanine is sandwiched between His 101 and Tyr 107 side-chains, and forms two hydrogen-bonds with Tyr 107 O and Asp 108 O delta 1 atoms. The third base of the trinucleotides is in van der Waals interaction with the Tyr 78 side-chain. The phosphate group between the second and third nucleosides forms two hydrogen-bonds with the side chains of Asp 37 and Tyr 78. Oxygen atoms of the scissile phosphate group are involved in interactions with catalytic residues of Tyr 39, His 41, Glu 62, Arg 85, and His 101. These interactions indicate that either His 41 or Glu 62 acts as a general base and His 101 acts as a general acid in the first step of RNA hydrolysis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

A case of bone marrow recurrence from gastric carcinoma after a nine-year disease-free interval.

We present a case of very late and unusual recurrence of gastric cancer. Nine years following total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma, a 57-year-old man presented with disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with bone marrow recurrence. The primary tumor was a signet ring cell carcinoma invading the subserosal layer with lymph node metastasis. The patient was treated with sequential administration of methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil and went into remission. After treatment, he survived 10 months. Autopsy revealed diffuse bone marrow infiltration and distant lymph node metastasis with signet ring carcinoma cells.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1996

Virulence in mice of Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from patients in a new endemic area in Japan.

Four strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi (KN-1, KN-2, KN-3 and GJ-1) isolated from patients in an area of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, in which tsutsugamushi disease is newly endemic, were examined for their virulence in mice. Among these, KN-1 (identified as Kawasaki type), GJ-1 (identified as Kuroki type) and KN-2 strains were found to be non-lethal for BALB/c mice as well as CH3/HeJ mice, even with high doses (10(6) x being the 50% mouse infectious dose). On the other hand, the KN-3 strain was found to be sufficiently virulent to kill BALB/c mice. Among the prototype strains (Gilliam, Karp and Kato), the Karp and Kato strains exhibited high virulence to mice, while the Gilliam strain killed only a susceptible strain of mouse. BALB/c mice infected with KN-1 and KN-2 strains showed significant splenomegaly and moderate ascites accumulation in the first week of infection, while these symptoms became prominent during the second week of infection using KN-3, Karp and Kato strains. After infection with the GJ-1 strain, these symptoms were not observed. Antibody responses induced by infections with highly virulent strains were lower than that with low or intermediate virulent strains.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Effects of Mg2+ on Ca2+ waves and Ca2+ transients of rat ventricular myocytes.

It has been shown that the occurrence of the transient inward current, which is responsible for triggered activity, was often associated with propagating regions of increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), i.e., the "Ca2+ wave." To investigate the mechanism of antiarrhythmic action of Mg2+, we have studied effects of high concentrations of Mg2+ on Ca2+ waves in isolated rat ventricular myocytes. [Ca2+]i was estimated using the Ca(2+)-indicating probe indo 1. Ca2+ waves in myocytes, stimulated at 0.2 Hz, were induced by perfusion of isoproterenol (10(-7) M). High Mg2+ concentration suppressed Ca2+ waves in a concentration-dependent manner (36% at 4 mM, 70% at 8 mM, and 82% at 12 mM). The Ca2+ channel blocker verapamil also suppressed Ca2+ waves in a similar way. In contrast with marked depression of Ca2+ transients by verapamil, Ca2+ transients were not affected by high Mg2+ concentration (8 mM). High Mg2+ concentration also reduced frequencies of Ca2+ waves in the absence of electrical stimulation, whereas verapamil failed to reduce frequencies of Ca2+ waves. Reduction in frequency of Ca2+ waves by high Mg2+ concentration was associated with slowing of propagation velocity of Ca2+ waves. To examine whether suppressive effects of high Mg2+ concentration on Ca2+ waves were related to an increase in intracellular Mg2+ concentration ([Mg2+]i), the effect of high-Mg2+ solution on [Mg2+]i was examined in myocytes loaded with mag-fura 2. An increase in extracellular Mg2+ concentration from 1 to 12 mM increased [Mg2+]i from 1.06 +/- 0.16 to 1.87 +/- 0.22 mM (P < 0.01) in 30 min. To examine the effect of high Mg2+ concentration on amount of releasable Ca2+ in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the effect of high Mg2+ concentration on the Ca2+ transient induced by a rapid application of caffeine was examined. High-Mg2+ solution increased the peak of the caffeine-induced Ca2+ transient. These results suggest that the inhibitory effect of Mg2+ on Ca2+ waves was not due to inhibition of the sarcolemmal Ca2+ channel but could be due to a decreased propensity for the sarcoplasmic reticulum to divest itself of excess Ca2+.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Zwitterionic digalactosylceramides from the earthworm, Pheretima asiatica.

Nine homogeneous glycosphingolipids were isolated from the earthworm, Pheretima asiatica (Annelida). All of them are digalactosylceramides carrying a choline phosphate group in the outer galactose moiety. Their full structures including the position of a phosphocholine unit were determined based on chemical and spectral evidence.

Acetylation↗
PubMed1996

Six trigalactosylceramides from the leech (Hirudo nipponica).

Six neutral glycosphingolipids were isolated in the pure state from the leech, Hirudo nipponica (Annelida). In contrast to the zwitterionic monogalactosylceramides carrying a choline phosphate group so far obtained, all compounds are non-zwitterionic glycosphingolipids, trigalactosylceramides. Five compounds possess a Ga1 alpha 1-6Ga1 alpha 1-6Ga1 beta 1-Cer core, and one is unique in having a Ga1 alpha 1-6Ga1 beta 1-Cer structure. Their full structures have been determined on the bases of chemical and spectral evidence.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Recurrent hemangiopericytoma of the liver: report of a case.

We present herein the case of a 63-year-old man with a locally recurrent hemangiopericytoma in the hepatic hilum. The patient presented to our hospital for the investigation of elevated transaminases 6 years after undergoing resection of a hemangiopericytoma followed by chemotherapy at another hospital. Various imaging techniques demonstrated a well-circumscribed, hypervascular tumor with central necrosis in the hepatic hilum. Establishing a preoperative diagnosis would have been difficult without the information that he had previously had a hemangiopericytoma of the abdominal cavity. An extended right hepatic lobectomy was performed and histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of recurrent hemangiopericytoma. Although hemangiopericytoma is a rare tumor, the clinical presentation and radiologic features of this case were fairly typical.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗