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Biomedical subjects

N Oka

Publications and source records attributed to N Oka.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

[Three cases of involuntary movements following pontine hemorrhage].

We reported three cases with involuntary movements following pontine hemorrhage. All cases had various symptoms indicating brain-stem lesions, but the consciousness and motor functions were not severely disturbed. CT scans showed a small hematoma localized in unilateral pontine tegmentum in all cases. Intention tremor developed six to ten months after the hemorrhage when the initial neurological symptoms were almost relieved. Electromyogram (EMG) showed a rhythmic 3-4 Hz alternating or synchronized tremor pattern which was induced by finger-nose test and arm stretching. In one case which had showed bilateral horizontal gaze palsy indicating bilateral PPRF involvement in the acute stage, spontaneous vertical nystagmus was observed when the tremor developed. Electronystagmogram (ENG) and its differential calculus showed a pendular nature of the eye movement. This abnormal eye movement did not disappear while the patient was asleep. This case also developed a palatal myoclonus in the chronic stage. Magnetic resonance images (MRI's) obtained one to three years after the hemorrhage revealed a lesion localized in hemipontine tegmentum. The responsible lesion of these involuntary movements was thought to be located in pontine tegmentum from the MRI findings. The functional Prognosis of small hemorrhage in unilateral pontine tegmentum is generally good, but care should be taken for the possibility of late development of various types of involuntary movement.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗
PubMed1988

[Problems in evaluating male fertility: valuable factors in evaluating male fertility and normal values of seminal parameters].

To determine the valuable factor for evaluating male fertility, a comparative study was done as to various seminal parameters between fertile and infertile groups. The fertile group consists of 57 proven fertile males and the infertile group consists of randomly chosen 67 infertile patients. Seminal parameters assessed were sperm concentration, motility, mean velocity, total sperm output, total motile sperm output, sperm morphology, acrosin activity and sperm penetration rate on zona-free hamster egg penetration assay (SPA). The infertile group was significantly different from the fertile group in every parameter except acrosin activity. However, the range of each parameter in the two groups overlapped each other. The diagnostic rate of each parameter, which is the percentage of an infertile male correctly diagnosed as infertile, was calculated by using 95% specificity threshold value of fertile males. The 95% specificity threshold values of sperm concentration, motility and % normal shaped sperm were 24.9 x 10(6)/ml, 34.9% and 55%, respectively, and they could be acceptable for the normal limit of seminal parameters. The diagnostic rate was highest in penetration rate (72.4%). In other words, penetration rate is the most valuable factor in various parameters for making a distinction between fertile and infertile males. Sperm motility and mean velocity showed the next highest diagnostic rate. On the other hand, sperm concentration showed a poor diagnostic rate (36.8%). In addition, there was no significant correlation between penetration rate and any other seminal parameters. These results suggest that the SPA will be an essential test for evaluating male fertility and penetration rate may be a marker of male fertility in the treatment of male infertility.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Experimental studies of male infertility and zinc].

The physiological role of zinc in sperm motility was studied. There was a positive correlation between the sperm motility and the low molecular weight binding zinc (ultrafiltrable zinc) concentration. The low molecular weight binding zinc was purified by gel filtration and identified as zinc citrate by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The addition of zinc citrate to the fresh semen of the patients with asthenozoospermia stimulated sperm motility. These results suggest that zinc has a significant role in human sperm motility.

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry↗
PubMed1988

[Clinical significance of sGOT elevation and thrombocytopenia in preeclampsia patients].

To assess the clinical significance of an elevated liver enzyme (sGOT) on the outcome of preeclamptic pregnancy, the charts of 145 preeclamptic/eclamptic patients who had sGOT determination during 7 days before and 2 days after delivery were reviewed. Of these, 60 patients exhibited a sGOT value above 30U/L (elevated sGOT group). This group was compared with the remaining 85 patients who showed a normal sGOT value related to clinical backgrounds and clinical outcome. The elevated sGOT group had a significantly low platelet count (16.4 +/- 8.4 vs. 21.4 +/- 6.7 X 10(4)/cumm, p less than 0.001) as well as a significantly high perinatal mortality rate (23.8 vs. 6.3%, p less than 0.01). There was a trend to a higher boy-to-girl ratio in the elevated sGOT group than in the normal sGOT group (1.10 vs. 0.83). In a group of 31 patients who were complicated with both elevated sGOT and thrombocytopenia, the perinatal mortality rate increased further to 42.4% and the boy-to-girl ratio was significantly higher than in the group of 66 patients who showed both a normal sGOt and normal platelet count (2.00 vs. 0.85, p less than 0.05). These results may indicate that 1) preeclamptic pregnancies complicated with liver dysfunction may tend to have a low platelet count; 2) liver dysfunction and thrombocytopenia are more likely to become complicated in preeclamptic pregnancies with a male fetus; 3) closer observations would be needed for preeclamptic pregnancy with liver dysfunction and thrombocytopenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The clinical usefulness of preoperative CEA determination in gastric cancer.

Between 1980 and 1984, preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was determined in 468 patients with gastric cancer to evaluate its clinical usefulness. The positive rate of preoperative CEA was 20.9 per cent in these 468 patients. A significantly higher CEA positive rate was obtained in those patients with liver metastasis (69.2 per cent), n3-4 (40.0 per cent), stage IV gastric cancer (37.0 per cent) and Pap, Tub1 histological type (26.3 per cent) (p less than 0.01). It is interesting that the positive rate of the 49 unresectable patients was 51.0 per cent, which was significantly higher than 17.4 per cent of the 419 resectable cases (p less than 0.01). CEA levels in 16 of the 39 patients with liver metastasis were more than 100 ng/ml. In contrast, serosal invasion and peritoneal metastasis were less correlated to the CEA positive rate. In the 419 resected cases, the 5 year survival rate in the higher CEA group of more than 50 ng/ml (35 cases) was 4.4 per cent, which was significantly lower than 64.0 per cent in the negative group (346 cases) (p less than 0.01). These results show that CEA determination in patients with gastric cancer is useful for the prediction of prognosis, as well as for a diagnostic tool to discover the presence of liver or lymph node metastasis.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The usefulness of CEA as an indicator for early detection and a guide to the treatment of recurrent gastric cancer.

The usefulness of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) as an indicator for recurrence and a guide to the treatment was evaluated from a retrospective analysis of 88 patients with recurrent gastric cancer. Sixty-two of these patients (70.5 per cent), 25 of whom had a preoperative positive assay, and 37 a negative assay, had elevated levels of CEA after disease progression. Averaged CEA level in patients with liver metastasis was significantly higher (872 ng/ml) than in those with peritoneal metastasis (68 ng/ml), with lymph node metastasis (103 ng/ml) or with local metastasis (93 ng/ml) (p less than 0.01). An elevation of CEA was found prior to the clinical manifestation of recurrence, and the average lead time was 4 months. In 25 patients with a lead time of more than 4 months, survival time after CEA elevation was 13.3 months, which was longer than the 6.5 months of 28 patients with less than 4 months. Thirty-seven of the 88 patients were treated after recurrence. The average survival period after the detection of recurrence was 9.4 months in patients with surgical treatments followed by chemotherapy, 5.9 months in those with chemotherapy alone and 3.8 months in those with surgery alone. The average survival period of 26 patients with positive CEA assays in recurrence was 5.1 months longer than of patients with negative assays. This fact suggested that early detection of recurrence followed by various treatments, in the elevated CEA group, contributes to favorable results.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Male infertility with chromosomal abnormalities. II. XX-male syndrome].

We report two cases of the XX-male syndrome, and review the literature. The first case was a 31-year-old married man, a welder, complaining of infertility. His height was 158 cm, weight 82 kg and distance of extended hand 155 cm. The external genitalia showed a normal male type, but bilateral small testes and gynecomastia were noticed. The second case was a 32-year-old married man, a shopkeeper, complaining of infertility. His height was 165 cm, weight 60 kg and distance of extended hand 167 cm. No gynecomastia was noted. The external genitalia showed a normal male type, but bilateral small testes were noticed. In each case, azoospermia was identified in semen analysis. Urethrography revealed the prostatic utricle in the second case. The testicular biopsy specimens revealed hyalinization of seminiferous tubules and proliferation of Leydig cells. X chromatin was positive in buccal smears, and Y chromatin negative in cultured lymphocytes. Chromosomal analysis showed 46, XX karyotype in the first case and 46, XXp+ in the second case. H-Y antigen was positive in each case. Basal serum levels of LH and FSH were moderately elevated and the serum testosterone level was low. Serum levels of PRL, TSH, estradiol, GH, T3 and T4 were normal. An impaired response by testicular Leydig cells to hCG was observed. The LH and FSH responses to LH-RH were almost normal. Clomiphene citrate administration resulted in a decrease in the serum testosterone and gonadotropins levels. These results indicate hypergonadotropic hypogonadism secondary to testicular failure in both XX-males. Twenty-six cases of the XX-male syndrome have been cited in the Japanese literature. The clinical features and etiology of this syndrome are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Mutational replacements of conserved amino acid residues in the beta subunit resulted in defective assembly of H+-translocating ATPase (F0F1) in Escherichia coli.

Mutant genes for the beta subunit of H+-translocating ATPase (F0F1) were cloned from Escherichia coli strains isolated in this laboratory. Determination of their nucleotide sequence revealed four missense mutations (strain KF39, Glu-41----Lys; strain KF16 and KF42, Glu-185----Lys; strain KF48, Gly-223----Asp; KF26 and 4 other strains, Ser-292----Phe). Two nonsense mutants (strain KF40, Gln-361----end; strain KF20, Gln-397----end) were also identified. Glu-41, Glu-185, and Ser-292 are conserved in the amino acid sequences of the beta subunits so far studied, and Gly-223, Gln-361, and Gln-397 are conserved in beta subunits from bacteria and mitochondria, but not in those from chloroplasts. The amounts of F1 subunits in the membranes of these strains were studied by immunochemical assay and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In the mutants studied, the amounts of alpha and beta subunits in the membranes were 69-21 and 46-2%, respectively, of the amounts in wild-type membranes, the amount depending on the strain. No delta and epsilon subunits were detected in membranes of a missense mutant KF16, although reduced amounts of alpha and beta subunits could be detected, suggesting that the F1 portion may not be connected to F0 through the delta and epsilon subunits. The altered residues in missense mutants or missing domains in nonsense mutants may be important for the subunit-subunit interactions or assembly of the entire complex. Genetic experiments on introduction of suppressor tRNA into strains KF40 and KF20 suggested that F1 could be active even when residue 361 or 397 was replaced by a Ser, Leu, or Tyr residue.

Base Sequence↗