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Biomedical subjects

S Akimoto

Publications and source records attributed to S Akimoto.

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

Relationship of prostate-specific antigen levels to prostate volume and age in mass screening subjects.

To evaluate the relationship between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and prostate volume and age in a mass screening for prostatic disease, a total of 1,162 examinees from one Japanese prefecture who were over 45 years of age underwent a mass screening for prostatic disease that used the Hybritech (Tandem(R)RIA) kit, and the prostate volume was estimated by transabdominal ultrasonography. Differences among several groups of men according to prostate volume and age were examined by multiple comparisons using ranks. When some subjects visited several times, the data of the first visit were adopted only. The total number of individual subjects in this study was 589 men. The multiple comparisons using ranks and 10-year age brackets revealed that the levels of PSA showed significant differences between only two pairs of groups stratified by age. In contrast, the levels of PSA showed significant differences among seven pairs of groups stratified by the prostate volume according to 10-ml brackets. When a logarithmic transformation of the serum levels of PSA was used, the results showed the same tendencies. From the results of the present study, it can be said that the PSA reference range calculated with stratified prostate volume might be more useful in the detection of prostate cancer than that calculated with stratified age.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Prognosis of patients with prostate carcinoma presenting as nonregional lymph node metastases.

OBJECTIVE: The mode of progression in patients with prostate cancer with metastasis to nonregional lymph nodes was examined in order to know whether the site of metastasis effects the prognosis of prostate cancer. METHODS: From 1986 to 1995 at the Chiba University Hospital, 205 cases of prostatic cancer with distant metastases were experienced. In 17 of them, nonregional lymph node metastases were observed at the diagnosis, of whom 10 also had bone metastases. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference in prognosis between 17 patients with nonregional lymph node metastases and remaining 188 patients with metastatic prostate cancer. In all patients metastasized to nonregional lymph nodes, serum prostate-specific antigen and/or prostatic acid phosphatase levels were elevated. Anti-androgen therapy was effective in 15 cases and 5-year survival rate was 45.8%. Patients without bone metastases at the initial diagnosis could survive longer than those with metastases to bone (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: From these observations, endocrine therapy was effective even in patients with distant lymph node metastases.

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PubMed1998

Phylogenetic relationships of the mitochondrial genomes in the genus Glycine subgenus Soja.

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of wild and cultivated soybeans were analyzed to study their phylogenetic relationships. The observed number of differences in hybridization profiles greatly varied (1-17 patterns) with both the mtDNA probes and the restriction enzymes that were used. A cladistic analysis was conducted based on the RFLP data. In the parsimonious tree, four distinct groups appeared among 20 accessions of the subgenus Soja representing 20 mitochondrial genome types. Common features with regard to geographic distributions in natural populations in East Asia were observed among the mitochondrial genome types of wild soybean that belonged to the same group: one clade consisted of genome types IIg and VIIg that are detected with very low frequencies; another clade consisted of genome types Ic, Id, Ie, and Ik whose distributions are highly biased mainly in Japan. The genome types that are widely distributed in East Asia such as IVa, IVb, and Va were not grouped into the same clade. The mitochondrial genome types IIIb, IVb, and IVc, in which two different chloroplast genome types exist, belonged to the same clade. Possible changes in mitochondrial genomes during the expansion of the distribution of wild soybeans in East Asia were discussed.

DNA, Mitochondrial↗
PubMed1998

Relationship between serum levels of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and bone turnover markers in prostate cancer patients.

To determine the relationship between the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and those of bone formation and resorption markers in prostate cancer patients, we measured the serum levels of the cytokines and examined their relationship to biochemical markers of bone turnover in 46 untreated patients with prostate cancer. The carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP) levels were used as a parameter of bone formation, and the carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) levels were used as a marker of bone resorption. The relationship of these markers to the degree of bone metastasis was also examined. The serum levels of IL-6, PICP, ICTP, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were significantly higher in the patients with prostate cancer with bone metastasis (n = 23) than in the patients without bone metastasis (n = 23). The serum levels of TNF-alpha in approximately 85% of the patients were under the detectable limit (5 pg/ml). The serum levels of IL-6 were not correlated with those of PICP or ICTP, but were related to the extent of bone metastasis. These results indicate that among patients with prostate cancer, IL-6 and TNF-alpha may not play major roles in the increased bone resorption in the patients with metastatic spread to bone. Our study thus demonstrated that the serum levels of IL-6 are closely related to the metastatic burden to osseous tissue in prostate cancer patients.

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PubMed1998

Comparison of markers of bone formation and resorption in prostate cancer patients to predict bone metastasis.

We investigated the usefulness of two biochemical markers of bone formation (PICP, the carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen, and bone ALP, bone-derived alkaline phosphatase) and a marker of bone resorption (ICTP, the carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen), to determine whether the presence of bone metastasis in prostate cancer could be evaluated and the extent of bone metastasis could be stratified by the serum levels of these markers, compared to total alkaline phosphatase (T-ALP) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The serum levels of PICP, bone ALP, ICTP, T-ALP and PSA were significantly higher in patients with both prostate cancer and bone metastasis (n=49) than in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (n=35) and patients with prostate cancer without bone metastasis (n=70). The superiority of a marker in the rate of detection of bone metastasis was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic curves. The serum marker levels were compared as a function of metastatic burden in bone (i.e., the extent of disease, EOD grade). We found that bone ALP is the most suitable marker for evaluating bone metastasis, especially for stratifying the degree of bone metastasis. Both PICP and ICTP were useful in this respect, but rather inferior to bone ALP. T-ALP had the lowest ability for detecting bone metastasis, but its correlation with the EOD grade was excellent, second to that of bone ALP. PSA showed limited reliability for stratifying the extent of bone metastasis.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

[Carcinoma of the prostate presenting as non-regional superficial lymph node metastasis].

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to evaluate the prognosis of carcinoma of the prostate presenting as non-regional superficial lymphnode metastasis. METHODS: From 1986 to 1996 at the Chiba University Hospital, 205 cases of prostatic cancer with distant metastasis were experienced. RESULTS: In nine of them, non-regional lymphnode metastasis was observed at the diagnosis. In all of them, serum prostate specific antigen and/or prostate acid phosphatase levels were elevated. In eight of nine cases, cancer nodule was detected by digital rectal examination. Anti-androgen therapy was effective in eight cases and five year survival rate was 56%. CONCLUSION: From these observations, prostate cancer should be considered when superficial lymphnode was enlarged.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1998

[Indocyanine green video angiographic findings of frosted branch angitis in a child].

A 10-year-old boy presented with typical fundus findings of frosted branch angitis in both eyes. Fluorescein angiography showed late-phase hyperfluorescence in some active areas of vascular lesions. Indo-cyanine green (ICG) angiography showed similar but less extensive hyperfluorescence along the frosted vessels and in the disc. ICG angiography also showed filling delay in the choriocapillaris. These findings suggest that frosted branch angitis is a manifestation of inflammation in the retina and the choroid. Laboratory studies showed increase in the toxoplasma titer at 1:10,240 and in the serum levels of alpha 1 and alpha 2 globulin. Frosted branch angitis in this case seemed to be the consequence of local allergic reaction, or immune complex deposition, presumably due to toxoplasma infections.

Child↗
PubMed1998

[Antiandrogen withdrawal syndrome].

The antiandrogen withdrawal syndrome was first reported in patients with prostate cancer who manifested disease progression after total androgen blockage therapy with medical or surgical castration and pure antiandrogen, flutamide; discontinuation of flutamide resulted in a decline in prostate specific antigen and, in some cases, with clinical response. Same phenomena have been reported after the withdrawal of casodex, chlormadinone acetate, megestrol acetate, diethylstilbestrol, and estramustine phosphate. Mutations in the androgen receptor(AR) gene were discovered in clinical specimens of human prostate cancer patients who showed this syndrome and some of these being identical to the mutation found in LNCaP prostate cancer cell line. Another mechanism otherwise the point mutation of AR would be also speculated.

Androgen Antagonists↗
PubMed1997

Genome analysis of Bacteroides by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis: chromosome sizes and restriction patterns.

The chromosomal DNAs of nine strains of seven Bacteroides species including B. fragilis, the type species of the genus Bacteroides, were digested with rare-cutting restriction enzymes I-Ceu I, Not I, and Asc I and analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The genome sizes of B. fragilis, B. distasonis, B. eggerthii, B. ovatus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. uniformis, and B. vulgatus were determined to be 5.3, 4.8, 4.4, 6.9, 4.8, 4.6, and 5.1 Mbp, respectively. B. distasonis and B. vulgatus, and also B. uniformis and B. eggerthii, showed similar I-Ceu I restriction profiles. I-Ceu I cut B. uniformis and B. eggerthii genomes into four, B. ovatus into five, B. fragilis and B. thetaiotaomicron into six, and B. distasonis and B. vulgatus into seven fragments. On the basis of genome size, restriction profile, and I-Ceu I fragment number, a phylogenetic tree of the Bacteroides species was proposed. This was in overall agreement with the previous phylogenetic tree obtained by 16S rRNA data, with the exceptions of B. distasonis and B. ovatus.

Bacteroides↗
PubMed1997

Heterogeneity of mast cells in mastocytosis and inhibitory effect of ketotifen and ranitidine on indolent systemic mastocytosis.

BACKGROUND: Mastocytosis is a disorder of mast cell proliferation that occurs in both cutaneous and systemic forms. The most frequent site is the skin. OBJECTIVE: The mast cell subtype of two patients with mastocytosis was investigated. METHODS: Immunohistochemical studies were performed on the skin or gastric mucosa or both of the two patients. Blood and urine levels of various mediators were measured for one patient. RESULTS: Mast cells containing tryptase and chymase were the only type seen in the skin lesions of an 11-month-old boy with urticaria pigmentosa. Mast cells containing tryptase were predominant in lesions of the skin and gastric mucosa of a 41-year-old man with indolent systemic mastocytosis. However, mast cells containing tryptase and chymase were predominant in the nonlesional and the normal skin of this patient. Tryptase-positive cells were more numerous in lesional skin than nonlesional skin and normal skin. Elevated blood and urine levels of various mediators were decreased by means of combination therapy with ketotifen and ranitidine. CONCLUSION: In indolent systemic mastocytosis, mast cell dynamics involve only cells containing tryptase. Release of mediators from mast cells may be inhibited by means of combination therapy with histamine H1 and H2 receptor antagonists.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Prognostic factors in patients with prostate cancer refractory to endocrine therapy: univariate and multivariate analyses including doubling times of prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase.

Although several prognostic factors have been discussed, multivariate analysis that includes tumor marker doubling time has not yet been examined in patients with prostate cancer refractory to endocrine therapy. A number of conventional prognostic factors including doubling times of prostate-specific antigen and/or prostatic acid phosphatase were examined in 56 prostate cancer patients who were refractory to endocrine therapy, using univariate and multivariate analyses. On univariate analysis, 6 parameters (doubling times of prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase at the time of refractory status, performance status, duration from beginning of endocrine therapy to prostate-specific antigen/prostatic acid phosphatase failure, mode of recurrence, the presence or absence of prostate-specific antigen/prostatic acid phosphatase normalization, and alkaline phosphatase) were shown to be significant prognostic factors. On multivariate analysis, only performance status and doubling times of prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase were significant. These observations showed that the doubling times of prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase, calculated at the time of prostate-specific antigen/prostatic acid phosphatase failure by estimating serial prostate-specific antigen or prostatic acid phosphatase, were a valuable prognostic factor in patients with prostate cancer refractory to endocrine therapy.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1997

Intestinal anaerobic bacteria hydrolyse sorivudine, producing the high blood concentration of 5-(E)-(2-bromovinyl)uracil that increases the level and toxicity of 5-fluorouracil.

Sorivudine, 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-(E)-(2-bromovinyl)uracil, is a potent antiviral agent against varicella-zoster virus and herpes simplex virus type 1. However, sorivudine should not be used in combination with anticancer drugs such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) because (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)uracil (BVU), a metabolite of sorivudine, inhibits the degradation of 5-FU, resulting in its accumulation in the blood and marked enhancement of the toxicity of 5-FU. Since phosphorolytic enzymes generate BVU from sorivudine, we investigated the distribution of the enzyme activity in rats. High activity was found in the cecal and large intestinal contents, while very low or no detectable activity in the liver, kidney, stomach, cecum, large intestine, and the stomach and small intestinal contents. These results suggest that intestinal microflora play an important role in BVU production. Therefore, we measured the phosphorylase activity in cell-free extracts from 23 aerobes, 16 anaerobes and a fungus. Bacteroides species B. vulgatus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. fragilis, B. uniformis and B. eggerthii, dominant members of intestinal microflora, had high activity to convert sorivudine to BVU. To elucidate the contribution of intestinal microflora to BVU production in vivo, we administered sorivudine to rats treated with several antibiotics and measured the BVU concentration in the serum of rats. When sorivudine was given to rats treated with ampicillin or a mixture of bacitracin, neomycin and streptomycin, which decreased the numbers of viable aerobes and anaerobes, only a small amount of BVU was found in the serum. BVU concentration in the serum of rats treated with metronidazole to decrease the number of intestinal anaerobes was also very low. In contrast, BVU concentration in the serum of rats treated with kanamycin, which was used to decrease the number of aerobes selectively, was higher than that of non-treated rats. These results also suggest that BVU is produced by intestinal anaerobic bacteria especially Bacteroides species in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Plantar thrombotic nodules with marked neovascularization in diabetes: a symptom which has been overlooked?

A 69-year-old woman with diabetes has had multiple subcutaneous nodules on the soles for 11 months. She suffered from uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, hypercholesteremia, and cardiovascular thrombosis and had a past history of photocoagulation therapy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Histological examination revealed vascular thrombosis surrounded by neovascularization in the subcutaneous tissue. The basement membranes of vessels were thickened and strongly stained with periodic acid-Schiff. An increased serum concentration of von Willebrand factor antigen was observed. With control of her diabetes, the nodules almost disappeared. Her curious skin manifestation is speculated to be a diabetes-mellitus-related change in which endothelial injury and the subsequent induction of angiogenetic factors may play important roles. It is possible that this kind of skin manifestation has been overlooked or not examined histopathologically.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Prostate-specific antigen levels from a mass screening program using highly sensitive RIA kits.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the distribution of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels of men in a mass screening program for prostatic disease. METHODS: A total of 763 men over 40 years of age underwent mass screening for prostatic disease in a Japanese prefecture using the highly sensitive Eiken kit and the Hybritech (Tandem-R) kit. The screening tests consisted of serum PSA determination, digital rectal examination, a questionnaire on symptoms, evaluation of prostate volume, and determination of the obesity rate. RESULTS: Serum PSA levels of all subjects were measured with both kits. The correlation between the values obtained by the Eiken kit and those of the Tandem-R kit was high (r = 0.990), but the values of the former were slightly higher than those of the latter. Serum PSA weakly correlated with age, however, when estimated within decade age brackets, the levels of PSA showed significant differences among only 1 pair of groups stratified by age. In contrast, the levels of PSA showed significant differences among 9 pairs of groups stratified by prostate volume. CONCLUSION: A highly sensitive assay kit is useful to evaluate both the distribution of PSA levels and the relationship of PSA values to age and prostate volume of men in mass screening programs for prostatic disease, since approximately 40% of the subjects who underwent the present mass screening showed PSA values under 1.0 ng/mL, which have been the the lower limit of detection of many PSA kits.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Relationship between prostate-specific antigen, clinical stage, and degree of bone metastasis in patients with prostate cancer: comparison with prostatic acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase.

BACKGROUND: The study was designed to examine the relation of the levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) to clinical stage and bone metastasis in prostate cancer patients. METHODS: Serum PSA, PAP, and ALP levels were evaluated in 272 patients with prostate cancer. The relation of the level of PSA, PAP, and ALP to clinical stage and to degree of bone metastasis were examined by a multiple comparison method using ranks. The superiority of a marker in the rate of detection of bone metastasis was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The correlation coefficients of the order of the extent of bone metastasis with PSA, PAP, and ALP were examined with Spearman's rank order correlation coefficient test. RESULTS: The levels of PSA showed significant differences among 8 pairs of clinical stages. In contrast, the levels of PAP showed significant differences among 6 pairs, and the levels of ALP showed significant differences among only 4 pairs. The area under the ROC curves of PSA, PAP, and ALP for revealing bone metastasis was 84.9%, 81.4%, and 77.3%, respectively. The correlation coefficients of the order of extent of disease (EOD) with log (PSA), log (PAP), and log (ALP) were 0.346, 0.394, and 0.618, respectively, and the levels of ALP showed the most significant differences regarding the extent of bone metastasis. CONCLUSION: PSA was the best marker for differentiating clinical stages, but showed limited reliability for stratifying the extent of bone metastasis.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1997

Influence of osteoarthritis on serum marker levels of bone formation and resorption in patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of osteoarthritis of lumbar vertebrae on serum bone formation and resorption marker levels of patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). METHODS: Serum levels of carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were examined in 40 patients with BPH, and the presence of osteoarthritis at the lumbar vertebrae of the patients was evaluated by plain x-ray-p. RESULTS: Findings of osteoarthritis were observed in 23 of the 40 patients (58%), and 10 of the patients had severe osteoarthritis (involving at least 2 lumbar vertebral bodies). The serum levels of PICP, ALP, ICTP, and PSA of the patients without osteoarthritis findings were not different from those of the patients with osteoarthritis or severe osteoarthritis. CONCLUSION: The influence of osteoarthritis on serum bone formation and resorption marker levels of patients with BPH appears to be rather slight, if there is any influence at all.

Aged↗