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Biomedical subjects

S Nagamitsu

Publications and source records attributed to S Nagamitsu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Age-related changes in the cerebrospinal fluid level of beta-endorphin and substance P. Short communication.

To evaluate the early age-related changes in neuropeptides, we have measured the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of beta-endorphin and substance P in young patients over a range of ages. Specimens of CSF were obtained from 39 neurologically normal children, aged 1 month to 10 years of age, and in 9 adult controls. CSF levels of both neuropeptides were observed to peak during the first year of life, and showed a negative correlation with increasing age. A significant positive correlation was observed between the CSF level of beta-endorphin and that of substance P.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Baló's concentric sclerosis in a 4-year-old Japanese infant.

We report the youngest known case with Baló's concentric sclerosis (Baló's disease), a variant of multiple sclerosis. This 4-year-old Japanese boy was diagnosed by clinical manifestations and by characteristic findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dexamethasone was given intravenously, 3 mg twice daily for 10 days. The clinical manifestations were resolved within 2 weeks, and the MRI findings were markedly improved after 3 weeks. Following the initiation of steroid therapy, he showed remarkable clinical and physical improvement. It cannot be excluded that the clinical improvement resulted from the steroid therapy.

Brain↗
PubMed1997

Decreased cerebrospinal fluid levels of substance P in patients with Rett syndrome.

To clarify the mechanism of brain and spinal cord impairment in Rett syndrome (RS), we measured the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of substance P in 20 patients with RS including 16 childhood patients and 4 adult patients. Findings were compared with those obtained in age-matched controls and diseased controls. The CSF level of substance P was significantly lower in patients with RS compared with controls. The alteration in the CSF level of substance P may be related to the neurological impairment, especially autonomic dysfunction, and neuropathological involvement of dorsal root ganglia and peripheral nerve observed in RS.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

CSF beta-endorphin levels in patients with infantile autism.

We measured CSF levels of beta-endorphin, an opioid hormone, in 19 patients with infantile autism and in 3 patients with Rett syndrome, and compared them with control values. In infantile autism, CSF levels of beta-endorphin did not differ significantly from those of age-matched controls. There was no significant correlation between CSF levels and clinical symptoms, including self-injurious behavior, pain insensitivity, and stereotyped movement. However, CSF levels of beta-endorphin were significantly higher in the patients with Rett syndrome than in the control (p < .05). Data suggest that neurons containing beta-endorphin may not be involved in patients with infantile autism. Thus, there is no relationship between dysfunction of brain opioid and autism.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1997

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy: clinical diversity and genetic abnormalities in Japanese patients.

We studied 71 Japanese individuals, 42 patients (30 familial and 12 sporadic) suspected to have facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and 29 family members, clinically and genetically using the chromosome 4qter DNA marker p13E-11. Early onset FSHD was detected in 7 patients, tortuosity of retinal arterioles and hearing impairment in 3 patients, progressive respiratory failure in 3 patients and limb-girdle type muscular weakness in 6 patients. Thirty-six (85.7%) FSHD patients, 3 asymptomatic family members and 1 of 35 healthy volunteers showed EcoRI digestion fragments shorter than 28kb. New mutations were detected in 25% of the patients with shorter EcoRI fragment. The age of disease onset appeared younger with successive generations in 6 parent-child pairs in FSHD families. We confirmed the existence of phenotypic and genetic diversities in Japanese patients with FSHD. It is still difficult to explain the phenotypic diversity merely by the size of the abnormal EcoRI fragment detected with the p13E-11 probe.

Arterioles↗
PubMed1996

Serial magnetic resonance images in a patient with congenital sensory neuropathy with anhidrosis and complications resembling heat stroke.

We report the results of serial computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a 9-month-old Japanese girl with the rare disorder, congenital sensory neuropathy with anhidrosis (CSNA). She developed a prolonged high fever, anorexia, and weight loss with laboratory findings of hemoconcentration and elevated levels of GOT, LDH and creatine phosphokinase (CK) in May 1995, and was hospitalized. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was normal on admission. Elevation of CSF myelin basic protein on the 16th hospital day suggested a destruction of the myelin sheath. The first MRI performed on the 16th hospital day revealed no marked abnormalities when the patient exhibited a high fever, generalized tonic-clonic convulsions, and impaired consciousness. The patient had a persistent high fever, and developed a second generalized tonic clonic convulsion and became comatose. A second MRI on the 20th hospital day showed a bilateral symmetrical paracentral hypo-intensity of the white matter with occipital hypo-intensity on T2-weighted images. MRI findings were considered to represent the complications of the high fever with a loss of water from the cerebral cortices and deep white matter. MRI and CSF findings indicated the presence of brain damage due to the high fever.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1996

Decreased cerebrospinal fluid levels of substance P in Machado-Joseph disease.

To clarify the mechanism of brain impairment in Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), we measured the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of substance P in 7 patients (mean age 45.7 +/- 12.09 years) with this disease. Four patients had type I and three had type II disease. Findings were compared with those obtained in 14 age-matched controls, 8 patients with Parkinson's disease, 7 patients with multiple system atrophy, and 6 patients with myopathy. The CSF level of substance P was significantly (p = 0.0000) lower in the patients with MJD, being 44.5% of the control value. However, the mean CSF levels of substance P in the patients with Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, or myopathy did not differ significantly from that in the control subjects. The alteration in the CSF level of substance P may be related to the neurological impairment observed in MJD.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid lactate/pyruvate ratio in Machado-Joseph disease.

To identify the metabolic alterations related to mitochondrial functions in Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), we analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of lactate, pyruvate, and citric acid cycle intermediates by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 7 Japanese patients with that disease and then measured some mitochondrial enzymes. Their mean age was 46 years. Diseased controls were matched by age to the patients studied. The CSF level of lactate was significantly elevated, pyruvate was significantly decreased, and the lactate/pyruvate (L/P) ratio was significantly elevated in the patients with MJD. There were no significant differences of citric acid cycle intermediates of the CSF between the patients and the controls. We measured the native and dichloroacetate (DCA)-activated pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activities, and mitochondrial electron transport activities in 3 patients with MJD, and found these activities to be normal. Therefore, the increased CSF lactate, increased lactate/pyruvate ratio, and decreased pyruvate may reflect the decreased regional cerebral blood flow rather than metabolic derangement of the mitochondria.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Decreased cerebrospinal fluid levels of beta-endorphin in Japanese patients with Joseph disease.

We measured the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of beta-endorphin in 7 Japanese patients with Joseph disease and compared them with control values. The 7 patients included 4 with type I and 3 with type II disease; their mean age was 45.7 +/- 12.09 years. Diseased controls were matched in age to the patients studied. In these patients, CSF beta-endorphin level was significantly lower than in the controls (40% of normal values). An alteration in CSF beta-endorphin level may explain some of the neurological impairment found in Joseph disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Neuroimaging and neuropathologic findings in AIDS patient with cytomegalovirus infection.

This 21-year-old male with hemophilia A developed cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). He had a history of numerous blood transfusions. Serum antibody titers became positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), when the patient was 18 years of age. Three years later, he developed CMV retinitis due to his immunosuppression. Ganciclovir (DENOSINE, TANABE SEIYAKU CO., LTD., Osaka, Japan) therapy given for 4 weeks produced a marked improvement in the ocular fundal findings, but the neurologic signs and symptoms, including headache, hypoesthesia, disorientation, and dementia became worse. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a diffuse high intensity area in the periventricular white matter and small focal or patchy lesions in the hippocampus, basal ganglia, midbrain, medulla oblongata and the nucleus dentatus. The patient died of HIV encephalopathy and CMV infection. Characteristic CMV intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed histologically in most sites of the brain including the hippocampus, white matter, basal ganglia, midbrain, medulla oblongata, nucleus dentatus and the retina. Infiltration by monocyte-macrophage and multinucleated giant cells, which are characteristic of HIV encephalopathy, were observed in the periventricular white matter and the hippocampus. In this patient, the neuroimaging findings were compatible with the neuropathologic observations. MR imaging proved useful in detecting the central nervous system (CNS) lesions of AIDS and CMV infection.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed1993

CSF beta-endorphin levels in pediatric neurologic disorders.

To investigate pediatric brain impairment, beta-endorphin levels, one of the opioid peptides that modulate human high cortical functions, were measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The study included 19 patients with infantile autism, 3 patients with Rett syndrome, 6 patients with infantile spasms, 16 patients with aseptic meningitis, and 23 age-matched controls. In the control group, the CSF beta-endorphin concentrations were negatively correlated with increasing age. There was no correlation between body temperature and the levels, and no significant difference in the levels according to sex. In infantile autism, the CSF level was not significantly different from that in controls. In Rett syndrome, it was significantly higher, while in infantile spasms it was lower than in controls. In aseptic meningitis, the CSF beta-endorphin level was significantly higher than in controls. The alterations in CSF beta-endorphin levels may play a role in these neurologic disorders and/or in central nervous system (CNS) infections.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1978

Postirradiation fibrosarcoma following radical mastectomy.

A case of fibrosarcoma arising in the scar of the radical mastectomy with postoperative irradiation of breast carcinoma is reported. The tumors arose five times in spite of the extirpations including surrounding tissue since 11 years after radical mastectomy and postoperative irradiation. All of arisen tumors were diagnosed fibrosarcoma histologically and with every recurrence the aggravation of malignancy of tumors was shown. In this case, the primary tumor of the breast was infiltrating carcinoma and no sign of fibrosarcoma was noted histologically. The mastectomy scar was indicated the irradiation therapy postoperatively and fibrosarcoma developed 11 years after postoperative irradiation. Namely, this case agreed to the strict criteria of the postirradiation sarcoma proposed by Cahan et al. In this paper, a case of postirradiation fibrosarcoma arising in the scar of radical mastectomy for carcinoma is presented.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1976

Lithogenic bile.

So-called authors' lithogenic bile [Ch greater than 7.5 mg/ml, (TBS + PL)/Ch weight ratio less than 20] corresponds to the bile which falls well above the micellar zone boundary on triangular coordinates with high concentration of cholesterol. The authors supposed that, in man like hamsters and squirrel monkeys, in the process of alimentary formation of cholesterol gallstones gallbladder bile of which cholesterol concentration was high, and (TBS + PL)/Ch ratio was as low as that of gallbladder bile with cholestrol gallstones seemed to be lithogenic.

Animals↗