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Biomedical subjects

R Okazaki

Publications and source records attributed to R Okazaki.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Relationship between density of muscarinic receptors and nasal hypersecretion in a nasal allergic model.

In guinea pigs actively sensitized with ovalbumin, we have observed that nasal hyperreactivity and hypersensitivity to methacholine causes nasal secretion accompanied by an increase in the density of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (m-ACh.R) following the appearance of nasal symptoms induced by the ovalbumin challenge. Therefore in the present investigation, we studied the relationship between the density of m-ACh.R and nasal hypersecretion in actively sensitized guinea pigs. There was no relationship between the quantity of nasal secretion and serum Ig G1 or Ig E levels. On the other hand, the sensitivity to methacholine and nasal secretion induced by methacholine were significantly related to the density of m-ACh.R located on the nasal mucosa. The quantity of nasal secretion induced by allergen was also correlated significantly to the density of m-ACh.R. These results suggest that the nasal hypersecretion observed in the nasal allergic model may be closely associated with an increase in the density of m-ACh.R located on the nasal mucosa.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Serum intact parathyroid hormone concentration measured by a two-site immunoradiometric assay in normal subjects and patients with various parathyroid disorders.

Serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration was measured by a two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) in normal subjects and patients with various parathyroid disorders. Serum intact PTH levels were all within the detection limit of the IRMA in normal subjects, and there was a significant negative correlation between serum calcium (Ca) and intact PTH levels. Although 3 out of 26 patients (11.5%) with primary hyperparathyroidism had a normal serum intact PTH concentration, these patients could be readily discriminated from normal subjects by plotting serum intact PTH against the serum Ca concentration. In contrast, serum intact PTH was undetectable in 16 out of 17 patients (94.1%) with idiopathic hypoparathyroidism. Patients with pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) type I, mostly under treatment with active vitamin D, exhibited wide distribution of serum intact PTH concentration, and appeared to belong to two distinct subgroups. One group of patients demonstrated a similar relationship between serum intact PTH and Ca levels to normal subjects. The other exhibited much higher serum intact PTH levels despite a normal serum Ca concentration, and no obvious relationship could be observed between the two parameters. These results demonstrate that an inverse relationship between serum Ca and intact PTH can be demonstrated in normal subjects with normocalcemia, that most of the parathyroid disorders can be diagnosed by measuring serum Ca and the intact PTH concentrations simultaneously, and that patients with PHP can be divided into two subgroups: one with a normal relationship between serum Ca and intact PTH, and the other with a high serum PTH level in the face of normocalcemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Hypomagnesemia with increased metabolism of parathyroid hormone and reduced responsiveness to calcitropic hormones.

A patient with severe hypomagnesemia due to chronic alcoholism is presented who repeatedly exhibited marked hypocalcemia with a dissociation between radioimmunoassay findings for mid region of parathyroid hormone (PTH-M) and immunoradiometric assay findings of serum intact PTH (PTH-intact). Serum PTH-M was moderately elevated whereas serum PTH-intact was in a low normal range every time when her serum magnesium (Mg) concentration was markedly reduced. There was also a marked reduction in serum osteocalcin concentration. Supplementation of Mg resulted in a sharp increase in serum PTH level with a rapid disappearance of the dissociation between the two immunoassays of PTH. Shortly after serum PTH and 1,25(OH)2D levels reached their peak, serum osteocalcin started to increase, and was elevated into a supranormal level with normalization of serum Ca concentration. Mg is thought to act as a mimic/antagonist of calcium (Ca), and high extracellular Ca is shown to cause an inhibition of secretion with a stimulation of degradation of PTH. Thus, these observations are consistent with the hypothesis that Mg deficiency causes an increase in the metabolism of PTH and a reduction in the secretion of bioactive intact PTH by increasing the sensitivity of parathyroid cells to Ca. In addition, the fact that hypocalcemia disappeared concomitant with a marked increase of serum osteocalcin from undetectable levels suggest that refractoriness of bone to calcitropic hormones is present which plays a significant role in the development of hypocalcemia under hypomagnesemia, and that serum osteocalcin can be a good marker for the assessment of the responsiveness of bone to calcitropic hormones in these patients.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1992

Effect of 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in osteoclasts.

Previous results demonstrated that the administration of pharmacological doses of 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (24,25(OH)2D3) to animals reduces bone resorption and increases bone volume with a decrease in osteoclast number. In order to clarify whether 24,25(OH)2D3 has an effect to inhibit osteoclastic bone resorption, the effect of 24,25(OH)2D3 on the formation and function of osteoclastic cells was examined in vitro. Treatment of hemopoietic blast cells, which are progenitors of osteoclasts, with parathyroid hormone (PTH) or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) stimulated the formation of osteoclast-like multinucleated cells in a dose-dependent manner. Although 24,25(OH)2D3 in itself had little effect on osteoclast-like multinucleated cells formation, it inhibited the stimulatory effect of PTH on the formation of osteoclastic cells. In addition, 24,25(OH)2D3 also inhibited the stimulation of resorption pit formation by osteoclasts under stimulation with PTH. In contrast, 1,25(OH)2D3 stimulated the formation and function of osteoclastic cells even at low concentrations, and the effect was additive to PTH. These results could not be explained by either an agonistic or antagonistic effect of 24,25(OH)2D3 on 1,25(OH)2D3, and are consistent with the assumption that 24,25(OH)2D3 has a unique inhibitory effect on the formation and function of osteoclasts. Because 24,25(OH)2D3 is shown to stimulate the degradation of 1,25(OH)2D3 and because the formation of 24,25(OH)2D3 is stimulated by 1,25(OH)2D3 not only in the kidney but also in many of its target tissues, including bone, the inhibitory effect of 24,25(OH)2D3 on osteoclastic bone resorption may play a role in the local modulation of the actions of osteotropic hormones in bone.

24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3↗
PubMed1989

Existence of parathyroid hormone binding sites on murine hemopoietic blast cells.

We demonstrated that 125I-labeled human parathyroid hormone (1-34;8,18-Nle,34-Tyr)[[125I]hPTH(1-34)] bound specifically to hemopoietic blast cells supported by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Half-maximal inhibition of binding was achieved at concentrations of unlabeled hPTH(1-34) of about 5 x 10(-9)M. Insulin and hPTH(39-68) did not compete for PTH binding sites. Specific binding of hPTH(1-34) was detected in neither macrophages nor multinucleated cells (MNC's). Furthermore, treatment of hemopoietic blast cells with hPTH(1-34) stimulated MNC formation, and the range of concentrations (10(-10)-10(-8)M) over which hPTH(1-34) caused these effects was similar to that which inhibited the binding of [125I]hPTH(1-34). These findings suggest the presence of a PTH receptor on osteoclast precursors and the direct effect of PTH on them, resulting in osteoclast-mediated bone resorption.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Assays of serum laminin and type III procollagen peptide for monitoring the clinical course of diabetic microangiopathy.

Thickening of the capillary basement membrane is a characteristic feature of diabetes and is considered to cause diabetic microangiopathy. Serum levels of both laminin, a glycoprotein in the basement membrane, and type III procollagen peptide (P-III-P) were measured by specific radioimmunoassays according to the methods of Brocks et al. and Rohde et al. respectively and analyzed with regard to diabetic microangiopathy, glycemic control, diabetic duration and treatment. As a result, serum levels of both laminin and P-III-P showed higher values with development of diabetic microangiopathy, suggesting that progressive changes in diabetic microangiopathy occur with synthesis of laminin and P-III-P. Serum laminin and P-III-P appear to be good non-invasive markers for measuring basement membrane metabolism and type III collagen accumulation. High values of serum laminin and P-III-P levels were suspected to be due to improper treatment, using hypoglycemic agents without adherence to the diet regimen.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1977

Discontinuous replication of replicative form DNA from bacteriophage phiX174.

Bacteriophage phiX174 DNA has been labeled with short pulses of [3H]thymidine during synthesis of replicative form molecules in infected Escherichia coli HF4704 cells. The replicating phiX174 DNA was isolated and analyzed by sedimentation in an alkaline sucrose gradient. During a brief pulse (5 sec at 30 degrees), the radioactivity incorporated into the complementary strand was found in chains much shorter than one genome length. Of the radioactivity incorporated into the viral strand, two-thirds was in the short pieces and the rest was in chains of one genome length or longer. RNA attachment to the 5' end of both strand components of the nascent short pieces was shown by the appearance of spleen exonuclease-digestable nascent molecules after alkali treatment. These observations suggest that the viral as well as the complementary strand is synthesized by the discontinuous mechanism with RNA primers during replication of duplex phiX174 DNA.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗
PubMed1976

Replication of bacteriophage T4 DNA in vitro. I. Basic properties of the system.

A new in vitro system for T4 DNA replication was developed by concentrating cell lysates on cellophane disks. The time course of [3H]dTTP incorporation into DNA by the system was separated into two phases: one was a very rapid incorporation which was terminated within 2 min (phase I reaction), and the other was a slow but continuous incorporation thereafter (phase II reaction). More than half of the phase I reaction product was Escherichia coli DNA, but the phase II reaction was mostly T4 DNA. Phase II reaction required four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, ATP, Mg2+, and KCl. 5-Hydroxymethyldeoxycytidine triphosphate was essential for the reaction and not substitutable by dCTP. The presence of KCN or NaN3 in the reaction mixture did not interfere with [3H]dTTP incorporation, but the addition of deoxyribonuclease completely degraded the system. Alkaline sucrose sedimentation analysis of phage II reaction product revealed that phase II reaction proceeded by the discontinuous mode of DNA replication as in vivo. After T4 infection, the activity for phase II reaction appeared in parallel with the activity of T4 phage DNA replication in vivo.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1976

Replication of T4 DNA in vitro. II. Assay system for and some properties of gene products required for T4 DNA replication.

[3H]dTTP was not incorporated into T4 DNA in the in vitro system for T4 DNA replication when the system was prepared from cells infected with T4 amber mutants defective in DNA replication. [3H]dTTP incorporation was resumed by adding the missing gene product to the defective system. DNA replication by the reconstituted system proceeded by the discontinuous mode of replication, as observed in the wild-type system. By using this in vitro complementation system, molecular weights of gene 41, 43, 44, 45, and 62 products in the active form were roughly estimated as 60,000, 130,000, 130,000, 60,000, and 130,000, respectively. Complex formation between the products of genes 44 and 62 was detected. Other strong interactions between the gene products tested were not detected by glycerol density gradient sedimentation. Interaction of gene products with denatured DNA was analyzed by using a DNA-agarose column, and the results showed that products of genes 32 and 43 had a strong affinity for DNA.

Coliphages↗