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Biomedical subjects

S Murakami

Publications and source records attributed to S Murakami.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Effects of preventive health services on survival of the elderly living in a community in Osaka, Japan.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationships between the use of preventive health services--such as health checks, basic health examination/cancer screening, and daily preventive health practices--and survival of elderly people living in the community. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cohort of elderly people aged 65 years and over living in Settsu City, Osaka was followed for 38 months. Data on the history of health management, disability scores, and psychosocial conditions were collected in October 1992 by interview during home visits. SUBJECTS: Of the 1491 people randomly selected from the computerised sex-age register at enrollment, 1473 were contacted and responses were obtained from 1405 (95.4%). They constituted the study cohort. Follow up was completed for 1325 (94.3%) (154 decreased and 1171 alive). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: From the analysis using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test, female sex, younger age group (65-74 years), use of health checks, use of basic health examination and/or cancer screening, use of daily preventive health practices, less disability, taking part in social activity, and finding life worth living were univariately statistically significantly related to survival. The estimated survival rates were highest in those with regular health checks or daily preventive health practices before 59 years of age or both basic health examination and cancer screening. From the Cox proportional hazards model, use of health checks and use of daily preventive health practices remained as statistically significant factors associated with survival, controlling for other factors such as sex, age group, medical treatment, disability scores, and psycho-social conditions, and these hazard ratios (not used v starting at 59 years) were 0.41 (95% CI, 0.25, 0.66) and 0.52 (95% CI, 0.30, 0.88), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Health management efforts such as health checks and daily preventive health practices may increase survival in the elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Effects of various timings and concentrations of inhaled nitric oxide in lung ischemia-reperfusion. The Paris-Sud University Lung Transplantation Group.

Experimental studies reveal that inhaled nitric oxide (NO) can prevent, worsen, or have no effect on lung injury in the setting of ischemia-reperfusion (I-R). We tested the hypothesis that these disparate effects could be related to differences in the timing of administration and/or concentration of inhaled NO during I-R. Isolated rat lungs were subjected to 1-h periods of ischemia followed by 1-h periods of blood reperfusion. We investigated the effects of NO (30 ppm) given during ischemia, NO (30 or 80 ppm) begun immediately at reperfusion, or NO (30 ppm) given 15 min after the beginning of reperfusion, on total pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), the coefficient of filtration (Kfc), the lung wet/dry weight ratio (W/D) of lung tissue, and lung myeloperoxidase activity (MPO). A control group did not receive NO. NO given during ischemia had no effect on Kfc or MPO, but decreased PVR. NO (30 ppm) during reperfusion (early or delayed) decreased PVR, W/D, Kfc and MPO. NO at 80 ppm decreased PVR and MPO but not W/D or Kfc. In conclusion, NO at 30 ppm, given immediately or in a delayed fashion during reperfusion, attenuates I-R-induced lung injury. NO at 30 ppm given during ischemia or at 80 ppm during reperfusion is not protective.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1997

Lymphocyte-fibroblast interactions.

Chronic inflammatory reactions are usually characterized by inflammatory cell accumulation in the extravascular connective tissue. In such sites, inappropriate activation of circulating or resident lymphocytes becomes self-perpetuating and can lead to chronic tissue destruction. In addition to that, the locally infiltrated lymphocytes should have an opportunity to interact directly with fibroblasts composing the connective tissue. The direct interactions of those different cell types seem to play important roles in lymphocyte lodging and retention in such sites. Thus, for clarification of the immunopathogenesis of the chronic inflammatory diseases, including periodontitis, it is important that the molecular mechanisms involved in the heterotypic cell-cell interactions be revealed. In fact, it has been demonstrated that lymphocytes interact with various non-hematopoietic cells, such as epithelial cells and endothelial cells. Regarding interactions with fibroblasts, it has been shown that IFN gamma-stimulated fibroblasts can regulate the proliferative responses of T-lymphocytes both positively and negatively. Furthermore, activated lymphocytes have demonstrated strong binding ability to various fibroblast cell lines. Blocking experiments utilizing monoclonal antibodies specific to various cell adhesion molecules revealed that very late antigen (VLA) integrins, lymphocyte-function-associated antigen (LFA-1)/intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-I), CD44/hyarulonate are, at least in part, involved in lymphocyte-fibroblast interactions. In addition, recent findings raised the possibility that the adhesive interactions between lymphocytes and fibroblasts influenced the various cellular functions of each cell type. In fact, it was recently demonstrated that the adhesive interactions stimulated fibroblasts to increase expression of inflammatory cytokine mRNA. These results strongly suggest that fibroblasts are not merely innocent bystanders but actively participate in local inflammatory reactions by directly interacting with locally infiltrated lymphocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Expression of Indian hedgehog in osteoblasts and its posttranscriptional regulation by transforming growth factor-beta.

Indian hedgehog (Ihh) was recently reported to be expressed in chondrocytes and to regulate chondrocyte differentiation. This report examined the expression of Ihh in osteoblastic cells and its regulation by calcitropic cytokines. We found that Ihh messenger RNA (mRNA) was expressed as a single 2.5-kilobase band at a modest level in rat osteoblastic osteosarcoma ROS17/2.8 cells. In sharp contrast to the previous observation of dpp regulation of hedgehog expression in Drosophila embryos, bone morphogenetic protein-2 did not affect Ihh expression in these cells. On the other hand, treatment with 2 ng/ml transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFbeta1) increased the steady state level of Ihh mRNA 2- to 4-fold. Western blot analysis of the cell lysates using antisera also showed enhancement of the Ihh protein level by TGFbeta1 treatment. The effect of TGFbeta1 on Ihh mRNA abundance started within 3 h, peaked at 24 h and lasted at least 48 h after the initiation of the treatment. The effect of TGFbeta1 on the increase in Ihh mRNA was dose dependent, starting at 0.2 ng/ml and saturating at 2 ng/ml. Neither actinomycin D nor cycloheximide blocked this effect. Experiments using 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole showed an enhancement of Ihh mRNA stability by TGFbeta1, indicating the presence of posttranscriptional regulation. We then examined the effects of TGFbeta1 on Ihh mRNA in osteoblast-enriched cells isolated from neonatal rat calvariae. TGFbeta1 also enhanced Ihh mRNA expression in these cells. Our data indicate for the first time that Ihh is one of the members of the cytokines produced by osteoblastic cells and that the expression of Ihh is regulated posttranscriptionally by TGFbeta.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Purification and characterization of a thermostable pyruvate kinase from the actinomycete Microbispora thermodiastatica.

The pyruvate kinase of Microbispora thermodiastatica was purified to homogeneity and some properties of the enzyme were characterized. The molecular weight of the enzyme by gel filtration is 277,000. The subunit molecular weight is 55,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and only one N-terminal amino acid sequence was obtained. It had a pH optimum around pH 4.5 to 7.0 and was stable over the range of pH 4.0-8.0. The enzyme is thermostable and no activity was lost after heat treatment at 55 degrees C for 60 min. AMP activated this enzyme and the saturation curve of the enzyme for PEP changed from sigmoidal type to hyperbolic type in the presence of AMP.

Actinomycetales↗
PubMed1997

Lymph node abscess due to Actinomyces viscosus in a cat.

In a four-year-old male cat, a subcutaneous phyma about 3.5 cm in diameter was surgically removed from the left inframandibular region. Histopathologically, the phyma was found to be the swollen medial retropharyngeal lymph node containing an actinomycotic abscess. The filamentous organisms in the abscess stained positively by the Gram's, Grocott's and periodic acid-Schiff methods, and were negative by the Ziehl-Neelsen method. By the immunoperoxidase method, the organisms were specifically identified as Actinomyces viscosus serotype 2 by its antiserum absorbed with A. viscosus serotype 1 antigen.

Abscess↗
PubMed1997

Effect of middle ear pressure change on middle ear mechanics.

The effect of graded variations in middle ear pressure on ossicular vibration was measured in 15 normal human temporal bone specimens. The displacement amplitude of the umbo and stapes head was measured at 16 frequencies between 0.2 kHz and 3.5 kHz at a constant sound pressure of 134 dB SPL at the tympanic membrane (TM) using a non-contacting video measuring system. Both negative and positive pressures decreased umbo and stapes vibration at low frequencies and slightly increased the vibration at higher frequencies. The effects were greater for negative pressure than for positive pressure. The change in stapes vibration was less than that of the umbo at low frequencies, but increased at higher frequencies. In some temporal bones, a small positive pressure produced improvement in stapes vibration at all frequencies. These effects were thought to be primarily due to an increased stiffness of the TM and a damping of ossicular vibration, due to stretching of the ossicular suspensory ligaments and the annular ligament of the footplate.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Lack of colocalization of HBxAg and insulin like growth factor II in the livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

To evaluate the possibility that HBxAg is related to an enhanced expression of IGF-II, immunohistochemical staining was performed for distribution and colocalization of HBxAg and IGF-II in liver tissues from 40 chronic active hepatitis (CAH-B), 51 cirrhosis and 46 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients using polyclonal rabbit anti HBxAg raised against full length-recombinant HBxAg and monoclonal mouse anti IGF-II. HBxAg in CAH-B, cirrhosis and HCC tissues was detected in 95%, 39% and 17%, whereas IGF-II in the same tissues was seen in 0%, 92% and 100%, respectively. There was a gradual decrease in the prevalence of HBxAg expression in cirrhosis and HCC, as compared to CAH-B tissues. All of the cirrhosis and HCC samples with positive staining for HBxAg expressed IGF-II. However, 55% of cirrhosis and 100% of HCC samples without HBxAg staining also expressed IGF-II. Moreover, colocalization at neighboring sections, even in both HBxAg and IGF-II positive samples, was not regularly observed. It is concluded that HBxAg expression in CAH-B may play a role in the pathogenesis of CAH-B. Although HBxAg may be related to the expression of IGF-II in some cirrhotic and HCC tissues, IGF-II expression in a large majority of these cases may be related to other factor(s) than HBxAg.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Temporal bone fractures inducing facial nerve paralysis: a new classification and its clinical significance.

Based on the analysis of the operative findings in 97 temporal bone fractures with respect to location, site of injury to the facial nerve and associated damage, we propose a new classification of the temporal bone fracture, using types 1, 2, 3 and 4, as previously described. Three-dimensional helical CT is valuable for assessment of fracture type. The incidence of each fracture type and the site of the injury to the facial nerve are described and the surgical significance of the classification is discussed.

Facial Paralysis↗
PubMed1997

[Effect of estramustine phosphate on hormone refractory prostate cancer].

Clinical effects of estramustine phosphate (EMT) on hormone refractory prostate cancer were studied. Prostate cancer relapsed in 70 of the 259 patients with stage C and D diseases who had initially responded to endocrine therapy. After cancer relapse, endocrine therapy was changed to oral administration of EMT in 21 patients, while initial endocrine therapy was continued in 14 and additional radiation therapy was given in 35. A partial response or no change was observed in 11 of the 21 patients (52%) given EMT therapy, the mean duration of the response being 14.2 months. The 21 patients given EMT therapy survived significantly longer than the 14 patients with continued on endocrine therapy, and those responding to EMT therapy tended to have a better survival than those unresponsive. Side effects of EMT included loss of appetite in 2 patients and edema of the lower limb in 1, but they were not severe enough to require discontinuation of the drug. EMT may be a useful drug for patients with advanced prostate cancer with relapse after endocrine therapy.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1997

[Mortality in relation to disabilities, health, management and psycho-social conditions among the community-residing elderly people].

To examine the predictive factors for the survival among community-residing elderly people, a cohort of 1405 randomly selected elderly people, aged 65 years and over, living in S City, Osaka, was investigated in October 1992 and followed for 38 months. Follow-up was completed for 1,325 (94.3%) (154 deceased and 1,171 alive). The main results were as follows: 1. From the Cox proportional hazards model analysis of survival, controlling for age and sex, hazard ratios for disabilities of communication, intellectual functioning, behaviour, locomotion, locomotion, personal care, and urinary and fecal incontinence were significantly higher than 1 (1.50-3.14). On the other hand, hazard ratios for participation in health examinations, daily preventive health practices, participation in social activity, and having a sense of life worth living were significantly lower than 1 (0.43, 0.37, 0.44 and 0.52, respectively). 2. From the Cox proportional hazards model using the likelihood-ratio forward method, disability scores of communication and locomotion showed significant hazard ratios (1.08 and 1.14, respectively), and for these hazard ratios were 1.47 (95% confidence interval (CI); 1.13-1.91) and 1.92 (95% CI; 1.52-2.44), respectively when comparing a score of 5 to a score of 0. Hazard ratios for participating in health examinations and daily preventive health practices were 0.44 (95% CI; 0.31-0.63) and 0.58 (95% CI; 0.38-0.88), respectively, and remained as statistically significant factors associated with survival. 3. Health management efforts such as health examinations and daily preventive health practices can be assumed to be able to enhance the prognosis of the elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Masking the protrusion of the receiver-stimulator of electronic implants in otology.

Protrusion of the receiver-stimulator of a cochlear implant or a piezoelectric implantable hearing aid (IHA) was masked using bone dust applied in the gap between the receiver and the surrounding bone, making a smooth transitional border. The bone dust was then fixed with fibrin glue. Bone pâté (a mixture of bone dust and fibrin glue) was also used to fix the lead wire of a cochlear implant at the region of the posterior tympanotomy and to fasten an IHA vibrator holder to the temporal bone. Over the past two years, the use of these techniques in six patients with cochlear implants and two patients with IHAs has resulted in gratifying results; the edge of the receiver remained flush in all cases. They have been free from problems such as infection of the wound, necrosis of the overlying skin, and protrusion or migration of the receiver.

Cochlear Implants↗
PubMed1997

[The disturbance of reversible operation in space in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease].

Constructional apraxia is one of the neuropsychological findings frequently observed in the early stage of the Alzheimer's disease, which may result from the visuo-spatial disturbances. The visual space consists of a variety of visual information processing, viewer-centered coordinate system, objects-centered coordinate system, integration of both coordinate systems, and verifying visual representation with the knowledge in the memory. The reversible operation in space, or mental rotation appears to play an important role in visuo-spatial functions, which refers to the operation of the visual representation at one orientation in viewer-centered coordinate system to construct the representation in object-centered coordinate system so that one can look like if it were presented at another orientation. To the present, little is known about reversible operation or mental rotation in patients with Alzheimer's disease. In this present paper, we attempted to investigate the ability of reversible operations in space so as to understand the mechanisms underlying constructional apraxia, or visuo-spatial disturbances in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease. The subjects were 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease in early stage (AD group), 12 patients with multi-infarcts dementia as disease control (MID group), 12 age matched persons as healthy control (HC group). In perspective taking tasks, that requires the subjects to imagine the spatial arrangement of the objects at the different view points from the subjects' one, AD group showed more severe deficits than MID group and HC group. Moreover, in a task that the subjects were asked to assume the photo-angle of the photograph taken of the model which was in front of them, AD group was imparied compared to the control groups. These disturbances were closely associated with deficits in Block Design test of WAIS. These results clearly demonstrate that the patients with Alzheimer's disease have disturbance in reversible operation in space and that the disturbance may be responsible for visuo-spatial dysfunctions, not only the constructional apraxia, but also a variety of performance deficits in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

[A case of malignant lymphoma after renal transplantation].

A case of a primary brain malignant lymphoma after renal transplantation and immunosuppressive therapy is reported. A 41-year-old male patient had been treated with 125 mg/day of azathioprine and 10 mg/day of prednisolone after renal transplantation. He had also been suffering from various infectious diseases. Multiple brain tumors were found and diagnosed as having B-cell, diffuse large cell type malignant lymphoma. In spite of moderate response to irradiation, he died of pneumonia. The anti-Epstein Barr virus antibodies changed from a negative to a positive level after renal transplantation and they increased markedly after brain malignant lymphoma had been found. The number of T- and B-lymphocytes also decreased markedly at that time. So the Epstein-Barr virus was suspected to be the cause of the malignant lymphoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Preventive effect of 1-(2-tetrahydrofuryl)-5-fluorouracil in combination with uracil on colonic carcinogenesis induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine in rats.

Thymidylate synthetase (TS) and thymidine kinase (TK) are key enzymes in de novo and salvage pathways for pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis, respectively. A high incidence of colorectal adenocarcinomas with varied grades of cell differentiation can be induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) in rats. The marked increases of TS and TK activities were found in the poorly and well-differentiated adenocarcinomas of the colon, respectively. Oral administration of 1-(2-tetrahydrofuryl)-5-fluorouracil in combination with uracil (UFT) markedly reduced the number and accumulated area of colonic carcinomas, and TS activity in the poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. A potential balance between the de novo and the salvage pathways for pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis was suggested to be related with the histopathological grades of cell differentiation. Suppression of colonic TS activity by UFT administration reduced the colonic carcinogenesis and the potency of the poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas of the colon.

1,2-Dimethylhydrazine↗
PubMed1997

[A case of intradural xanthogranuloma in the upper cervical spine].

An 18-year-old female patient suffered from posterior neck pain and gait disturbance. The neurological examination revealed left hemiparesis, general hyperreflexia and hypoalgesia on the right neck and upper limb, and left trunk and lower limb. MRI showed a large mass lesion in the right side of the spinal canal at the level of the C1 cervical spine, which was obviously compressing the spinal cord. An operation was performed through a right suboccipital craniectomy and right hemilaminectomy of the first vertebra. Though the mass lesion in the subarachnoid space compressed the spinal cord, it adhered neither to the spinal cord nor to the nerve roots. However, as it clearly adhered to the dura mater, the attachment site was also completely removed. In the pathological examination, lymphocyte, foamed macrophage and the giant cell of Touton type were shown. The immunohistochemical study with CD68 (Kp1) was positive, but it was negative for the lysozyme, neuron specific enolase and S-100 protein. The diagnosis was xanthogranuloma. The patient recovered completely after the operation. This is a rare case of juvenile type xanthogranuloma. This lesion in the spinal canal has usually its onset in the adult age.

Adolescent↗