Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Furukawa

Publications and source records attributed to S Furukawa.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Increase of cord blood cytokine-producing T cells in intrauterine infection.

BACKGROUND: Although infection is a frequent and important cause of morbidity and mortality in the neonatal period, evaluation of the immune system in cases of intrauterine infection is not easy. The subsets of T helper (Th) 1, which produce mainly interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), and Th2, which produce interleukin (IL) -4, have been implicated in the regulation of many immune responses. In this study, we investigated Th1 and Th2 subsets in the cord blood (CB) to evaluate the role of CB T cells in the intrauterine infections. METHODS: We used an intracellular cytokine-staining technique with determination by flow cytometry to study IFN-gamma-producing T cells and IL-4-producing T cells in the CB of six neonates with perinatal intrauterine infection and 17 uninfected neonates. RESULTS: The CB from neonates with intrauterine infections had more IFN-gamma-producing CD3+T cells than that from uninfected neonates. The percentage of CB IFN-gamma-producing CD3+T cells in the infected neonates correlated with the duration of membrane rupture before the onset of labor, but not with the level of C-reactive protein. The infected neonate born after the longest duration of membrane rupture showed an increased percentage of IL-4-producing CD3+T cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the increase of CB IFN-gamma and IL-4- producing T cells is part of the immune system directed against perinatal intrauterine infections.

Female↗
PubMed2001

Human parvovirus B19 in cord blood of premature infants.

We investigated whether intrauterine parvovirus B19 infection is associated with premature birth by evaluating parvovirus B19 antibodies and DNA in umbilical cord blood from 76 premature infants. We performed enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect B19-specific IgM antibodies and parvovirus DNA. No parvovirus DNA was detected in cord blood sera, and no sample was positive for anti-parvovirus B19 IgM antibodies. Parvovirus appears unlikely to lead to premature birth.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed2001

Cytokine-modulated inhibition of neutrophil apoptosis at local site augments exudative neutrophil functions and reflects inflammatory response after surgery.

BACKGROUND: The fate of exudative polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) at the local site after surgery is not well understood. We evaluated the fate and functions of exudative PMNs at the local site in patients who were undergoing major surgery. We also investigated the relation between PMN apoptosis and cytokine levels at the local site during the postoperative period. METHODS: Exudative PMNs were isolated from 11 patients during the postoperative period. Apoptosis, reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) production, CD16, and tumor necrosis factor receptor expression of the PMNs were determined by flow cytometry. Cytokine levels in the drainage fluid were measured. RESULTS: Exudative PMN apoptosis was markedly inhibited on postoperative day 1 and then increased in a time-dependent manner. IL-6 and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor were significant factors to inhibit exudative PMN apoptosis; tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-10 were the factors to increase apoptosis. ROI production and CD16 expression of exudative PMNs were augmented when PMN apoptosis was inhibited in the early postoperative period. CONCLUSIONS: Exudative PMN apoptosis was inhibited after surgery; PMN function was augmented after surgery. Cytokines at the local site may modulate exudative PMN apoptosis. Exudative PMN apoptosis reflected the inflammatory response after surgery. Understanding the mechanisms of PMN apoptosis and its pathophysiologic significance at local inflammatory sites in vivo may help in the design of more rational treatments.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Ex vivo fluorescence microscopy provides simple and accurate assessment of neutrophil-endothelial adhesion in the rat lung.

Neutrophil adhesion to the pulmonary endothelium is prerequisite to neutrophil transmigration and activation, both of which may lead to lung injury. A simple method to evaluate neutrophil adherence in the lung would be useful for developing new strategies for neutrophil-mediated lung injury. The purpose was to establish a simple method to evaluate neutrophil adhesion in the lung using ex vivo fluorescence microscopy. Rats were anesthetized, and the right jugular veins were catheterized. Neutrophils were isolated from another set of rats and labeled with 5,(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate. Animals were killed 120 s after a 1 x 10(6) labeled neutrophil injection. The pulmonary labeled neutrophil number was counted under a fluorescence microscope. In the first experiment, rats were given 0, 20, 200, or 2000 microg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) i.p. At 4 h after challenge, the pulmonary labeled neutrophil number was determined. Kinetic studies were also performed at 0, 1, 4, and 8 h after 200 microg/kg LPS. Finally, anti-ICAM-1 Ab was injected i.v. before LPS 200 microg/kg, and the labeled neutrophil number in the lung was determined at 4 h. The number of pulmonary labeled neutrophils was higher after LPS 200 or 2000 microg/kg than after the other doses. The pulmonary labeled neutrophil number was increased at 4 h compared with the other time points. ICAM-1 blocking normalized the pulmonary labeled neutrophil number in the LPS group. In conclusion, our method seems to reflect ICAM-1-mediated neutrophil adherence to the endothelium in the present setting. This simple technique may be useful for evaluating neutrophil adhesion.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Clarithromycin inhibits NF-kappaB activation in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and pulmonary epithelial cells.

Macrolide antibiotics modulate the production of proinflammatory cytokines in vivo and in vitro. Transcription of the genes for these proinflammatory cytokines is regulated by nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB). We examined whether or not clarithromycin inhibits the activation of NF-kappaB induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) or staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) in human monocytic U-937 cells, a T-cell line (Jurkat), a pulmonary epithelial cell line (A549), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Flow cytometry revealed that clarithromycin suppresses NF-kappaB activation induced by TNF-alpha in U-937 and Jurkat cells in a concentration-related manner. Western blot analysis also demonstrated that clarithromycin inhibits NF-kappaB activation induced by TNF-alpha in U-937, Jurkat, and A549 cells and PBMC and by SEA in PBMC. Western blot analysis of cytoplasmic extracts of A549 cells revealed that this inhibition is not linked to preservation of expression of the IkappaBalpha protein. The chloramphenicol acetyltransferase assay indicated that NF-kappaB-dependent reporter gene expression is suppressed in U-937 cells pretreated with clarithromycin. These findings are consistent with the idea that clarithromycin suppresses the production of proinflammatory cytokines via inhibition of NF-kappaB activation.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2001

Sensitivity of auditory cortical neurons to locations of signals and competing noise sources.

The present study examined cortical parallels to psychophysical signal detection and sound localization in the presence of background noise. The activity of single units or of small clusters of units was recorded in cortical area A2 of chloralose-anesthetized cats. Signals were 80-ms click trains that varied in location in the horizontal plane around the animal. Maskers were continuous broadband noises. In the focal masker condition, a single masker source was tested at various azimuths. In the diffuse masker condition, uncorrelated noise was presented from two speakers at +/-90 degrees lateral to the animal. For about 2/3 of units ("type A"), the presence of the masker generally reduced neural sensitivity to signals, and the effects of the masker depended on the relative locations of signal and masker sources. For the remaining 1/3 of units ("type B"), the masker reduced spike rates at low signal levels but often augmented spike rates at higher signal levels. Increases in spike rates of type B units were most common for signal sources in front of the ear contralateral to the recording site but tended to be independent of masker source location. For type A units, masker effects could be modeled as a shift toward higher levels of spike-rate- and spike-latency-versus-level functions. For a focal masker, the shift size decreased with increasing separation of signal and masker. That result resembled psychophysical spatial unmasking, i.e., improved signal detection by spatial separation of the signal from the noise source. For the diffuse masker condition, the shift size generally was constant across signal locations. For type A units, we examined the effects of maskers on cortical signaling of sound-source location, using an artificial-neural-network (ANN) algorithm. First, an ANN was trained to estimate the signal location in the quiet condition by recognizing the spike patterns of single units. Then we tested ANN responses for spike patterns recorded under various masker conditions. Addition of a masker generally altered spike patterns and disrupted ANN identification of signal location. That disruption was smaller, however, for signal and masker configurations in which the masker did not severely reduce units' spike rates. That result compared well with the psychophysical observation that listeners maintain good localization performance as long as signals are clearly audible.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2001

A comparison of FcepsilonRI-mediated RANTES release from human platelets between allergic patients and healthy individuals.

BACKGROUND: Recently some studies have suggested that human platelets may play an important role in allergic inflammation through the high affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRI), the low affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRII/CD23) and the low affinity IgG receptor (FcgammaRIIA/CD32) expressed on the cell surface. We reported that human platelets via the FcepsilonRI induced the release of the chemical mediator serotonin and the chemokine RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T expressed and presumably secreted), but the biological implication of human platelets in type I allergy has not yet been understood clearly. METHODS: We compared the levels of RANTES release from platelets obtained from allergic patients and healthy individuals, stimulated with monoclonal antibody (Ab) to human FcepsilonRI alpha-chain, or human myeloma IgE and anti-human IgE Ab. RESULTS: We confirmed that the level of RANTES release from platelets of allergic patients stimulated with human IgE and anti-human IgE was significantly higher than that of healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that the surface expression levels of FcepsilonRI on the platelets from allergic patients and healthy individuals were not significantly different, but that the platelets of allergic patients were more activated by the IgE-FcepsilonRI pathway than those of healthy individuals. Taken together, these results suggest a novel and important role for human platelets in perpetuating allergic inflammation through the IgE and FcepsilonRI.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Purification and characterization of two lectins from a toxic moray, Gymnothrax javanicus.

Two lectins, Gymnothrax javanicus lectin-I (GJL-I) and Gymnothrax javanicus lectin-II (GJL-II) were isolated from the stomach and intestine, and the liver, respectively, of a toxic moray eel, Gymnothrax javanicus. GJL-I is a polymer of two heterogeneous subunits of 67 and 51 kDa. In a hemagglutination inhibition assay, it had sugar-binding specificity toward lactose and lactulose among the mono- or oligo-saccharides and bovine submaxillary mucin (BSM) among the glycoproteins tested. The lectin stimulated nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis by astroglial cells. GJL-II was a polymer of subunit of 41 kDa. This lectin had N-acetyllactosamine binding specificity.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2001

Plasma digoxin concentration in dogs with mitral regurgitation.

Fifteen and eight mature beagles, without (normal group) and with experimental mitral regurgitation (MR group), respectively, were given 0.02 mg/kg/day digoxin powder for 10 days orally. The optimum time for sample collection after administration of digoxin was observed to be 8-18 hr and 10-22 hr in the normal and MR groups, respectively. In both groups, a stable concentration was reached after 3-5 days of treatment. No differences in plasma level were observed between sexes. The optimum concentration of digoxin was attained at an earlier stage than has been previously reported for both dogs and humans.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Inverse correlation between the changes of lumbar bone mineral density and serum undercarboxylated osteocalcin after vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) treatment in children treated with glucocorticoid and alfacalcidol.

We have reported that alfacalcidol plus menatetrenone, a vitamin K2 with four isoprene units (menaquinone-4), treatment is useful for improving bone problems in children with skeletal unloading. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of menatetrenone on bone metabolism in long-term glucocorticoid-treated children with alfacalcidol treatment. Twenty children who had been treated with fixed dosages of prednisolone and alfacalcidol (0.03 microg/kg/day) for 24 weeks were enrolled in a prospective pilot study, and assigned to receive alfacalcidol (0.03 microg/kg/day) or alfacalcidol (0.03 microg/kg/day) plus menatetrenone (approximately 2 mg/kg/day). Bone biochemical markers and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured at baseline and after the 12-week treatment. In the group receiving alfacalcidol plus menatetrenone, serum carboxylated osteocalcin (OC) (p =0.0022) and lumbar BMD (p=0.0029) increased and serum undercarboxylated OC (p=0.0004) decreased significantly in comparison to the group receiving alfacalcidol; further, the change of lumbar BMD showed an inverse correlation to the change of serum undercarboxylated OC (r=-0.744, p=0.0134) and positive correlations to the baseline values of bone turnover markers such as serum levels of intact OC, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase and type I procollagen carboxyl extension peptide and urinary levels of deoxypyridinoline and N-telopeptide of type I collagen. No adverse effect was observed. This is a small short-term study, but its results suggest that menatetrenone effectively and safely increases lumbar BMD probably through carboxylation of OC in long-term prednisolone-treated children with alfacalcidol treatment who have a high bone turnover. Randomized double-blind controlled trials are needed to confirm our findings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Evaluation of simultaneous excision of pancreatic cancer and the surrounding blood vessels.

Of the 139 patients who underwent excision for invasive cancer in the pancreatic duct at Kurume University Hospital between January 1965 and December 1998, the subjects were 38 patients in whom blood vessels around the cancer were simultaneously excised. The surgical methods were pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) in 31 patients, distal pancreatectomy (DP) in 5, and total pancreatectomy (TP) in 2. The excised blood vessels were the portal vein alone in 32 patients, the artery alone in 1, and both portal vein and artery in 5. Excision of the portal vein was performed by circumcision in 25 patients and by segmentectomy in 12. The range of circumcision was 1.0-7.0 cm (mean, 3.5 +/- 1.4 cm), and the blocking time of the portal vein was 8-36 min (mean, 19.5 +/- 8.8 min). Of the 25 patients who underwent circumcision, reconstruction was performed by end-to-end anastomosis in 23 and by transplantation of the autologous vein between the ends in 2. Of the 12 patients who underwent segmentectomy, direct suture was performed in 10, and transplantation of an autologous vein patch was performed in 2. Postoperative complications occurred in 14 of the 32 patients. In 5 of the 6 patients who underwent excision of the artery, reconstruction was performed by end-to-end anastomosis in 3 and by transplantation of the autologous vein between the ends in 2. Postoperative complications did not occur in the patient who had undergone excision of the artery alone, but 4 of the 5 patients who had undergone simultaneous excision of the portal vein and artery had postoperative complications, of whom 2 died during the period of hospitalization. Three patients with pv0, pv1 or pv2 survived for more than 3 years. Because some of the patients who had undergone excision of the portal vein alone survived for a long time and this method is relatively safe, this surgery can be generally applied, but simultaneous excision of the portal vein and artery should be carefully applied because the incidences of postoperative complications and death during the period of hospitalization are high. With the development of surgical techniques and postoperative control, simultaneous excision of pancreatic cancer and the surrounding blood vessels has become safe, but this method should only be applied to patients who have the potential to recover completely.

Hepatic Artery↗
PubMed2001

A case of hepatocellular carcinoma rupturing after angiography.

We report a case of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (referred to as hepatocellular carcinoma below) apparently rupturing after angiography. The patient was a 62-year-old male who was admitted for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) on admission showed a tumor occupying the entire left lobe of the liver and partly protruding outside the liver and a tumor embolus in the portal vein. We performed preoperative angiography, after which fever and abdominal discomfort appeared. Two days after the angiography, abdominal pain and a rapid increase in the size of the abdominal tumor were noted. US also revealed an unquestionable increase in the size of the tumor, leading to a diagnosis of intratumoral hemorrhage due to the rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma. Since child classification A, clinical stage I and ICG 11.7% indicated an adequate functional reserve of the liver, we performed an emergency operation. Laparotomy revealed that the tumor occupied almost the entire left lobe of the liver, partly protruded outside it, and was bleeding from part of its anterior surface. The volume of intra-abdominal hemorrhage was about 100 ml. A portal tumor embolus was present in the portal vein from the horizontal part to the trunk. We performed resection of the left and caudate lobes of the liver with removal of the portal tumor embolus. The resected specimens showed a hemorrhage in and around the tumor. We speculated that in a hepatocellular carcinoma that involves the surface of the liver and is complicated by tumor embolism of the portal vein, angiography could trigger the rupture of the carcinoma.

Angiography↗
PubMed2001

Clinicopathological evaluation of surgical treatment for early gallbladder cancer.

We evaluated the therapeutic principles for early gallbladder cancer based on clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes in 27 patients encountered at the Kurume University Hospital between January, 1975 and December, 1999. Concerning the depth of wall penetration, 15 patients had mucosal cancers (m-cancers), and 12 patients muscularis propria cancers(mp-cancers). The gross patterns were lp (pedunculated) in 16 patients, ls (sessile) in 3 patients, IIa (flat elevated) in 4 patients, and IIb (flat) in 4 patients. The operative procedure used was cholecystectomy (C) in 12 patients, 4 of whom underwent lymph node dissection. Full-thickness cholecystectomy (FTC) was carried out in 3 patients, one of whom had lymph node dissection. Combination of C and gallbladder bed resection (GbBR) was performed in 7 patients, 6 of whom had lymph node dissection. Combination of C and bile duct resection (BDR), and lymph node dissection was performed in 1 patient. Combination of C and GbBR and BDR, and lymph node dissection was performed in 6 patients. All the patients who underwent lymph node dissection were negative for metastasis. Of the 27 patients, 2 underwent laparoscopic operation: one with m-cancer was 79 years old, and the other with mp-cancer 86 years old. In the m-cancers, no lymphatic, venous or perineural infiltration was observed. In contrast, in the mp-cancers, lymphatic and venous infiltration each were observed in 4 patients (33.3%), although no perineural infiltration was observed. A diagnosis of gallbladder cancer was made postoperatively in 6 patients, of whom 4 had the IIb pattern and all were complicated by gallstone, indicating the difficulty of diagnosing the IIb pattern. The 5-year survival rates for the m- and mp-cancers were as high as 90.9% and 80.8%, respectively. As a curative surgical technique for m- and mp-cancers, lymph node dissection should be performed in addition to FTC, GbBR, and BDR, in combination. When a postoperative histopathologic diagnosis of gallbladder cancer has been made, no second-look operation should be performed for m-cancers, but lymph node dissection of up to the second group should be performed for mp-cancers in a second-look operation.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

FR198248, a new anti-influenza agent isolated from Apsergillus terreus No 13830. I. Taxomony, fermentation, isolation, physico-chemical properties and biological activities.

A novel anti-influenza agent, FR198248, was isolated from the cultured broth of a fungal strain No.13830. The strain was identified as Aspergillus terreus from morphological characteristics. FR198248, a new type of hydroxyl benzaldehyde compound, showed antiinfluenza virus activity in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells in vitro. The mode of action of FR198248 against influenza virus A could be ascribed to an inhibitory effect on the stage of virus adsorption. Furthermore, FR198248 possessed potent in vivo anti-influenza activity in a murine model of respiratory tract infection.

Animals↗