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Biomedical subjects

N Yamaguchi

Publications and source records attributed to N Yamaguchi.

1,008 records · Page 56Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Striatonigral degeneration combined with olivopontocerebellar atrophy with subcortical dementia and hallucinatory state.

We present an autopsied case of striatonigral degeneration (SND) combined with olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) with subcortical dementia and hallucinatory state. A Japanese woman without a remarkable family history showed hand tremor at the age of 35 years, followed by bradykinesia, muscle rigidity, orthostatic hypotension, neurogenic bladder and pyramidal signs. No obvious cerebellar symptoms were found. Various antiparkinsonian drugs were administered, but were not markedly effective for the parkinsonism. She developed a mild dementia characterized by mild memory disturbance with preservation of orientation, slowing of thought processes, emotional lability toward sadness, impaired ability to manipulate acquired knowledge and poor calculating, and by the absence of aphasia, apraxia and agnosia. The features in this patient were consistent with those seen in subcortical dementia. She also had auditory hallucinations. MRI revealed hypointense T2 signals in the putamina and substantia nigra. T1-weighted MRI demonstrated atrophy of both the pons and cerebellum in addition to atrophy of the putamina and substantia nigra. EEG showed slowing of background activity. She died of cardiac failure at the age of 47. Autopsy disclosed brain stem tegmental atrophy, SND, OPCA and many glial cytoplasmic inclusions in the central nervous system, but well-preserved cerebrum. We discuss the relationship between the psychiatric symptoms and pathologic findings of brain stem tegmentum.

Autopsy↗
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Delirium in the elderly: relationship of clinical symptoms to outcome.

Twenty-eight elderly patients meeting the DSM-III-R criteria for delirium were evaluated using the Delirium Rating Scale (DRS) in order to examine the relation between the clinical symptoms of delirium and its outcome. Patients whose delirious episode improved within 1 week had a significantly lower DRS score at the time of psychiatric consultation than patients whose delirium lasted more than 1 week. Neither the difference between the mean ages nor the sex distribution in the two groups was statistically significant. The present study suggests that the DRS is a valuable instrument for predicting the clinical outcome of delirium.

Aged↗
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Acutely administered haloperidol-induced widespread reduction of regional cerebral blood flow observed from subtraction of brain imaging with single photon emission computed tomography using technetium-99m hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime.

Changes in brain images with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using technetium-99m hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime (99mTc HMPAO) before and after intramuscular injection of haloperidol (0.08 mg/kg) were studied in 2 unmedicated schizophrenic patients and 2 normal controls by a new technique, i.e. subtraction of brain images. The haloperidol injection reduced regional cerebral blood flow extensively in the bilateral cerebral hemispheres in one of the schizophrenics and one of the normal controls, with little or no haloperidol-induced effects in the remaining 2 subjects. The widespread cortical reduction is considered to be due to a nonspecific or indirect effect of haloperidol in view of the broad action sites inconsistent with the known anatomy of the mesocortical dopaminergic system.

Acute Disease↗
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Effects of mianserin on human sleep.

Sleep EEG and nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) were investigated in 6 healthy men during placebo and mianserin administration and after mianserin withdrawal. The results were assessed in a historical comparison with those previously obtained with clomipramine. With mianserin, REM sleep was suppressed slightly. However, the suppressive effect of mianserin on REM sleep--based on the historical comparison--was significantly weaker than that of clomipramine throughout all the drug nights. Accordingly, a rebound increase in REM sleep was not observed after withdrawal. Less suppressive effects on NPT and disturbance of sexual function with mianserin than with clomipramine were observed. We suggest that a correlation between the prolonging effect on REM latency and the clinical antidepressant effect is limited to some antidepressants.

Adolescent↗
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The effect of the herbal medicine dai-kenchu-to on post-operative ileus.

Post-operative ileus (PI) is an inevitable adverse consequence of abdominal surgical procedures. We performed a randomized study of the effects of the herbal medicine dai-kenchu-to (DKT) on 24 patients with PI. Patients received either 15 g of oral DKT or placebo daily for 14 days. The effects on upper gastrointestinal motility, frequency of secondary operation and recurrence of PI were investigated. The frequency of surgical operation was significantly lower in patients receiving DKT compared with placebo. Oral administration of DKT was clinically effective for PI in reducing both the need for further surgery and the recurrence of PI.

Asarum↗
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Improvement in gastric histology following Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy in Japanese peptic ulcer patients.

We aimed to determine if successful or failed eradication of Helicobacter pylori with triple therapy causes any difference in gastric mucosal histology. Japanese H. pylori-positive patients with a healed peptic ulcer received high (n = 112) or low (n = 113) doses of triple therapy (omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin) for 1 week. Biopsies from the greater curvature of the central antrum and upper corpus were taken 6 weeks and 30 weeks after treatment completion, and gastric mucosal histology compared between successful (n = 171) and failed (n = 34) eradication groups. Morphological variables of gastritis were graded according to the updated Sydney System. Successful eradication therapy was defined as improvement in inflammation, neutrophil activity and atrophy; failed eradication therapy as improvement in inflammation and neutrophil activity only. Gastric mucosal atrophy gradually improved (in addition to improvements in inflammation and neutrophil activity) with successful eradication of H. pylori infection.

Aged↗
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Traditional Chinese medicine and Kampo: a review from the distant past for the future.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complete system of healing that developed in China about 3000 years ago, and includes herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion and massage, etc. In recent decades the use of TCM has become more popular in China and throughout the world. Traditional Japanese medicine has been used for 1500 years and includes Kampo-yaku (herbal medicine), acupuncture and acupressure. Kampo is now widely practised in Japan and is fully integrated into the modern health-care system. Kampo is based on TCM but has been adapted to Japanese culture. In this paper we review the history and characteristics of TCM and traditional Japanese medicine, i.e. the selection of traditional Chinese herbal medicine treatments based on differential diagnosis, and treatment formulations specific for the 'Sho' (the patient's symptoms at a given moment) of Japanese Kampo--and look at the prospects for these forms of medicine.

China↗
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Metabolic activation of trp-P-2, a mutagenic amine from tryptophan-pyrolysate, by liver microsomes from 3-methylcholanthrene-responsive and non-responsive mice.

1. The metabolic activation of a tryptophan pyrolysate, Trp-P-2 (3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-]indole), was studied using liver microsomes from mice of 3-methylcholanthrene-responsive, C57BL/6N (B6) strain and non-responsive, DBA/2N (D2) strain. 2. The formation of N-hydroxy-Trp-P-2 (3-hydroxylamino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido-[4,3-b]indole) by hepatic microsomes was markedly increased by the pretreatment with 3-methylcholanthrene in B6 mice, but not in D2 mice. 3. The same treatment increased the activity to convert Trp-P-2 to a mutagen(s) in the Salmonella/microsome test system in B6 mice, but not in D2 mice. 4. The formation of N-hydroxy-Trp-P-2 corresponded with the increase in the number of the revertants, and with the activities of aromatic hydrocarbon hydroxylase and biphenyl 2-hydroxylase. 5. Addition of alpha-naphthoflavone to microsomes from control and 3-methyl-cholanthrene-treated B6 mice effectively decreased the activities to convert Trp-P-2 to a mutagen(s) and to N-hydroxylate Trp-P-2. 6. These results indicate that N-hydroxy-Trp-P-2 is a proximate or ultimate mutagenic principle of Trp-P-2.

Animals↗
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Quantitatively expressed ideas in lymphoma: text versus numerical displays.

Quantitatively expressed ideas are linkages of two or more characteristics presented by the author in tables or graphs. Such ideas also may be expressed as sentences in the text of the Results section. This study investigated the relative importance of quantitative ideas expressed in the two formats in the same article. A random sample of fifty articles from the lymphoma literature containing numerical relationship displays was selected and each article was carefully read in order to identify and extract the quantitative ideas expressed in the text. Only those ideas not presented in numerical displays were extracted. The final database consisted of records describing numerical relationships displayed in tables and/or graphs and records describing numerical relationships expressed only in the text of the Results section. In this way, the study could determine the added advantages of reading the Results sections, over and above the information provided by the displays of numerical relationships. The text ideas were more difficult to find and extract and were found to be less important when compared with ideas from numerical displays. This study further substantiated the method of extracting quantitatively expressed ideas from numerical displays for rapid technical processing of scientific documents.

Data Display↗
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Modifying effect of tuna orbital oil rich in docosahexaenoic acid and vitamin D3 on azoxymethane-induced colonic aberrant crypt foci in rats.

The modifying effect of dietary tuna (Thunnus thynnus orientalis) orbital oil rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and vitamin D3 (VD3) on the development of azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) was investigated in male F344 rats. Animals were given three weekly subcutaneous injections of AOM (15 mg/kg body weight) to induce ACF. The rats were fed the experimental diet containing 5% tuna orbital oil (low fish oil), 23.5% tuna orbital oil (high fish oil), 5% corn oil (low corn oil) or 23.5% corn oil (high corn oil) for 5 weeks, starting 1 week before the first dose of AOM. Animals were sacrificed 2 weeks after the last AOM injection to count colonic ACF and assay the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and -2. High corn oil diet significantly increased the development of ACF, when compared with low corn oil diet (P<0.005). High fish oil diet also increased ACF formation compared with low fish oil diet (P<0.01), but the increase was smaller than high corn oil diet. The frequency of ACF was significantly lower in the rats fed high fish oil diet than high corn oil diet (P<0.02). Moreover, frequency of ACF consisted of 4 or more crypts in rats fed the high fish oil diet was significantly lower than that of rats given high corn oil diet. COX-1 and COX-2 expression did not significantly differ among the groups. These results suggest that fish oil derived from tuna, which contains high amounts of DHA and VD3, suppresses the formation and growth of ACF without affecting COX-1 and COX-2 expression, and may have a preventive effect on colon carcinogenesis.

Animals↗
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[The effect of lipid emulsions on the mechanisms of organic defense in infectious injury].

For treatment of metabolic derangements in infective states intravenous lipidic emulsions have been used. Their use is however not harmless existing reports on fat inhibiting the function of blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes and macrophages. The purpose of the research reported herewith was to study in rats the effect of new intravenous lipidic emulsions containing medium chain triglycerides and long chain triglycerides and compare it with the effect of long chain triglycerides emulsion on function of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (chemotaxis, phagocytosis and bactericidal activity). The intraperitoneal implant of an E. coli capsule was used for the study. The transfusions of both lipidic emulsions in septic rats have not altered functions of polymorphonuclear leukocytes when compared with saline infusion. However there was found hepatic steatosis, hypertrophy and presence of fat globules in the Kupffer cells in rats infused with medium chain and long chain triglyceride emulsions. Sequential blood cultures obtained from rats infused with the emulsions showed increased bacterial growth with medium chain triglyceride emulsion. There was no significant difference between the rats that received both lipid infusions and those that received saline infusions as to the mortality. Our experimental study suggests that the use of fat emulsions in infective states be done with care and monitoring of seric triglycerides and steroids.

Analysis of Variance↗
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Progressive dysphasic dementia with localized cerebral atrophy: report of an autopsy.

A 64-year-old Japanese woman showed an initially aphasic disturbance followed by complete mutism, progressive dementia, parkinsonism and muscular atrophy. Autopsy revealed localized cortical atrophy confined to the pars triangularis, pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus, supramarginal and angular gyri of the inferior parietal lobe, precuneus and posterior half of the middle and inferior temporal gyrus predominantly on the left hemisphere. The right cerebellar hemisphere showed crossed cerebellar atrophy with shrinkage of the right middle cerebellar peduncle. In the atrophied cerebral areas there were diffuse outfall of neuronal cells in all cortical layers and remaining neurons generally showed simple atrophy, and there were a few swollen neurons. Gliosis of the subcortical white matter was confined to the affected gyri and GFAP positive astrocytes were observed in the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th layers of the cortex. In addition, the degenerative changes of the substantia nigra, gliosis of the amygdaloid complex and inferior olivary nucleus were bilaterally observed. The distribution and characteristics of the cortical and white matter degeneration are different from those of Pick's disease, and it is likely that this case belongs to a group of so-called degenerative dysphasic dementias.

Aphasia↗
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Polyarthritis, mononeuritis multiplex and eczematous ulcerative skin rash in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome and peripheral large granular lymphocytosis.

A patient with polyarthritis, peripheral mononeuritis multiplex with spatial and temporal fluctuation, and eczematous, ulcerative skin rash in the lower extremities was found to have myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in the bone marrow and concomitant large granular lymphocytosis in the peripheral blood. Histochemical study showed that cells with large granular lymphocyte markers (CD2+, 11b+, 16+, 57+, HLA-DR+) had infiltrated into the skin and around the nerve fibers. Both the bone marrow dyscrasia and rheumatic manifestations of this patient improved significantly after prednisolone therapy. The unusual rheumatologic manifestations of this patient appear to derive from a delicate balance between MDS and large granular lymphocytosis.

Aged↗
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[Effects of parenteral nutrition on tumor growth: experimental aspects].

There still exist controversies about the effect of parenteral nutrition on cancer growth. For elucidation of this question the development of Walker 256 carcinosarcoma in rats submitted to parenteral nutrition (PN) was studied. Thirty-five Wistar rats were randomly distributed in three groups: OT group (11), tumor-bearing animals always under oral feeding for 14 days; PC group (14), tumor free animals under PN for 7 days; PT group (10), tumor-bearing rats under PT for 7 days. PT solution contained 15% glucose, 3% aminoacids and essential micronutrients. Body and tumor weight (in OT and PT groups) were evaluated daily. Carcass weight was obtained by the difference between the body and tumor weight. The rats of the PC group had an initial body weight loss that became stabilized afterwards at a lower plateau level. The rats of the PT group also presented an initial body weight loss recovered progressively afterwards. This difference is probably due to tumor mass expansion in PT animals, since PT rats carcass weight remained similar to that of body weight in PC group. The tumor growth has shown no difference between the oral and parenteral feeding groups, particularly when tumor weight/carcass weight ratio was considered. It is concluded that parenteral nutrition does not favor tumor growth in detriment to carcass weight development.

Animals↗
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Radionuclide equilibrium ventriculography in infants and children using converging collimator.

In infants and young children, the radionuclide cardiac blood-pool images obtained with a general-purpose (GP) parallel-hole collimator are often too small to provide accurate delineation of the left ventricle (LV), especially the interventricular border. In order to obtain magnified cardiac images, a radionuclide gated equilibrium study was performed with a converging (CV) collimator. We compared these two methods in terms of image quality and estimation of LV ejection fraction (EF). Twenty-five children (age, 10 months to 6 years, mean 2.5 years; weight, 5.5 to 20 kg, mean 12 kg) with various heart diseases were studied with administration of 3-7 mCi 99mTc human serum albumin. The GP collimator was used in 15 subjects and the CV collimator in 16. The CV collimator provided optimal magnification and better resolution than the GP type. Cardiac images obtained with the CV collimator facilitated precise delineation of the entire interventricular border in all 16 cases. Those obtained with the GP collimator showed poor delineation of the interventricular border in four subjects. Both GP and CV collimations enabled LVEFs to be calculated, and the values correlated well with those obtained by cine-angiography. The correlation coefficient, however, was higher with the CV collimator (r = 0.787 vs. 0.861, p less than 0.001). Radionuclide cardiac blood-pool study with CV collimator has clinical significance because it provides sufficiently magnified cardiac images with high resolution, enabling accurate estimation of LVEF in infants and young children.

Child↗
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Ramsay Hunt syndrome: progressive mental deterioration in association with unusual cerebral white matter change.

An autopsied case of Ramsay Hunt syndrome with progressive dementia was reported. The clinical symptoms included progressive intellectual decline, myoclonus, generalized convulsive seizure, cerebellar ataxia and positive pyramidal signs. Neuropathological examination disclosed cerebral white matter demyelination marked in the frontal lobe and fibrillary gliosis predominantly in the subcortical U-fibers, grumose degeneration in the dentate nucleus and inferior olivary nucleus lesion. The skeletal muscle showed no ragged-red fiber. The present case can be included in Ramsay Hunt syndrome because of the absence of pathological hallmark of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy and of the presence of the degenerative lesions in the olivary and dentate nucleus without cerebellar Purkinje cell loss. The intellectual decline is a result of extensive frontal white matter change, and myoclonus and ataxia are closely associated with dentate grumose degeneration. The cerebral white matter change is an unusual finding and the present case might be a variant in Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

Adult↗
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Diarrhea and malabsorption in primary humoral immunodeficiency.

Patients with Humoral immunodeficiency syndromes frequently present recurrent infections, mainly of the digestive and respiratory tracts. This study carried out a clinical and laboratorial evaluation in 15 humoral immunodeficiency patients presenting chronic gastrointestinal symptoms. Out results emphasize the relevance of immunodeficiency syndromes in the differential diagnosis of chronic diarrhea.

Adult↗