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Biomedical subjects

S Nakata

Publications and source records attributed to S Nakata.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

Antigenic relationships between human caliciviruses and Norwalk virus.

We investigated antigenic relationships between human calicivirus (HCV) strains and Norwalk virus by using immune electron microscopy (IEM) and radioimmunoassay (RIA). Three serologically distinct HCV strains, UK1, UK2, and Japan, were demonstrated by IEM, as was evidence for two additional strains, UK3 and UK4. Although HCV strains and Norwalk virus were distinct by IEM, 12 of 20 patients with gastroenteritis due to HCV UK4 and two of eight with gastroenteritis due to UK2 showed seroconversions to Norwalk virus by RIA. These naturally occurring antibody responses in humans, as detected by RIA, support the concept that Norwalk virus belongs to the family Caliciviridae. An RIA for HCV Japan antigen also detected HCV UK1, UK2, and UK4 and thus appears to identify a group-specific antigen for these viruses. An RIA for antibody to HCV Japan failed to identify seroconversions in 45 of 47 patients with gastroenteritis due to HCV UK. These results may reflect different reactivities of various immunologic tests for the identification of infections due to small gastroenteritis viruses.

Animals↗

Electron microscopy procedure influences detection of rotaviruses.

Technical parameters of electron microscope staining procedures (type of stain, pH of stain, and time of staining) influence particle integrity for three groups of rotaviruses. Simian rotavirus SA11 (group A), Chinese adult diarrhea rotavirus and porcine rotavirus-like agent (group B), and porcine pararotavirus (group C) were tested. All rotavirus strains were quite stable in uranyl acetate and phosphotungstic acid at pH 4.5 and relatively stable in ammonium molybdate. However, staining with phosphotungstic acid at higher pH values with increased staining time yielded a reduction in the number of particles and particles that were broken or degraded to single-shelled particles or core particles. The different staining procedures were also tested in immunoelectron microscopy experiments. Antibody molecules bound to rotavirus particles were observed clearly only with phosphotungstic acid staining and not with uranyl acetate. We therefore recommend that uranyl acetate and phosphotungstic acid at pH 4.5 be used for negative staining of rotaviruses; phosphotungstic acid at pH 4.5 is optimal for immunoelectron microscopy. These technical points may be critical for rotavirus detection and are important for studies pertaining to the epidemiology and clinical importance of the non-group A rotaviruses.

Animals↗

Detection of antibody to group B adult diarrhea rotaviruses in humans.

Group B rotaviruses have been responsible for annual epidemics of severe diarrhea affecting both adults and children in China. We developed a specific and sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent blocking assay to detect antibody to group B rotaviruses that will be useful to assess the role of group B rotavirus infections as a cause of human gastroenteritis. We tested 219 human sera and 18 immunoglobulin pools collected from eight countries for antibodies to both group A and group B rotaviruses. Overall, a low proportion (10 of 237 or 4.2%) of sera contained antibody to group B rotaviruses. Antibody to group B rotavirus was detected in only 1 of 155 serum samples from healthy or hospitalized individuals in the United States, including patients with the chronic inflammatory bowel diseases Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. No antibody was detected in 15 serum samples from Australia and from an outbreak of gastroenteritis on a cruise ship or in nine immunoglobulin pools from Japan and the United Kingdom. Antibody to group B rotaviruses was detected in 8 convalescent-(but not acute-)phase serum samples from Chinese patients with group B gastroenteritis, in five immunoglobulin pools from China, in 1 of 6 serum samples from Chinese students in the United States, and in 1 each of 10 serum samples from Kenya, 20 from Thailand, and 15 from Canada. In contrast, most of these samples (226 of 237 or 95.4%) had antibody to group A rotaviruses. These results indicate that human infection with group B rotavirus has not been widespread in areas outside China. Seroconversion observed between the acute-and convalescent-phase serum samples from China also suggests that infections with this virus are primary infections. Continued surveillance for this new group of rotaviruses should determine whether the many susceptible people become infected of whether other factors influence the severe pathogenicity of human infections with these viruses in China.

Adolescent↗

Protective effect of naturally acquired homotypic and heterotypic rotavirus antibodies.

To assess serotype specificity of immune resistance to rotavirus gastroenteritis, the relation between pre-existing neutralising antibodies to homotypic and heterotypic rotaviruses and protection against infection or clinical illness was investigated. The subjects were 44 orphans exposed once or twice to consecutive outbreaks of gastroenteritis due to type 3 rotavirus in an orphanage in Sapporo. Sera were collected throughout these outbreaks and the serum levels of neutralising antibodies against four different serotypes of group A human rotavirus were measured before and after the outbreaks. Protection against rotavirus gastroenteritis seemed to be serotype specific and to be related to levels of antibody against homotypic virus. A neutralising antibody level of 1/128 or greater seemed to be protective. The protective effect was of short duration, which was probably the explanation for recurrent attacks of gastroenteritis due to a rotavirus of the same serotype. Seroconversions or concomitant antibody responses to type 1 or 4 rotavirus in most children with type 3 rotavirus infection suggested that immunity to heterotypic virus can be induced by a rotavirus vaccine.

Antibodies, Heterophile↗

Genetic and environmental factors in the development of so-called pseudo- and true mesiocclusions.

Separation of genetic and environmental factors related to the development of so-called pseudo- and true mesioclusions was attempted and the classification, which is in common use in clinical orthodontics, reconsidered. A differential diagnosis of these two types of mesioclusions was made depending on whether or not the mandible slid forward into displacement by incisal guidance. By means of lateral roentgenographic cephalograms obtained from 66 pseudo- and 48 true mesioclusion patients and 52 control subjects, and their respective parents, the craniofacial morphogenetic characteristics of each mesioclusion were determined. A familial tendency to prognathic skeletal profile was noted in cases of both pseudo- and true mesioclusions. Nearly all of the significant morphogenetic differences between the two groups of patients with mesioclusion were related to environmental factors. The terms "pseudo" and "true" are probably misleading expressions for these mesioclusions.

Adolescent↗

Antigenic characterization and ELISA detection of adult diarrhea rotaviruses.

Recently, severe epidemics of diarrhea among both adults and children in China have been associated with an agent called adult diarrhea rotavirus (ADRV). We have studied ADRV from two areas of China (Jinzhou and Guangxi) and compared them with prototype group A, B, and C rotaviruses. The viral genomes were compared by electrophoresis of the RNA genome segments in polyacrylamide gels, and the antigenic relatedness of these viruses was examined by immune electron microscopic studies using virus preparations of either double- or single-capsid particles. Hyperimmune antisera (guinea pig and rabbit) to one strain of ADRV reacted with high titers with other strains of ADRV and with single-shelled capsids of a porcine group B rotavirus. The antisera to ADRV did not react with either group A or group C rotaviruses. Antisera to either bovine or porcine group B rotaviruses reacted with ADRV but not with the group A or group C viruses. Antisera to group A or group C virus reacted only with their respective homologous virus. These results and those of immunofluorescence studies place the human ADRV rotaviruses from China among the group B rotaviruses. We also report the development of an ELISA to detect ADRV; this ELISA should be useful for defining the epidemiology of these recently described rotaviruses.

Adult↗

Production of nitrite ions from trinitrophenyl myosin and from trinitrophenyl subfragment-1.

When trinitrophenyl (TNP) myosin of either chicken breast muscle or porcine cardiac muscle was left to stand in an alkaline medium at 20 degrees C for several hours, nitrite ions were found to be gradually produced. The nitrite production from myosin trinitrophenylated in the presence of PPi occurred at the same rate and to the same extent as that from myosin trinitrophenylated in the absence of PPi. The nitrite production was significantly reduced when thiols of myosin were modified with 2-nitro-5-thiocyanobenzoate. Four different preparations of TNP subfragment-1, S1(Aa), S1(Ab), S1(Ba), and S1(Bb), were obtained from chymotryptic digest of chicken breast myosin trinitrophenylated in the absence of PPi. When these preparations of TNP-S1 were left to stand at alkaline pH, a significant amount of nitrite was produced from S1(Ab) and S1(Bb), but very little from S1(Aa) and S1(Ba). In our previous report (J. Biochem. 97, 965-968, 1985), S1(Aa) and S1(Ba) were suggested to correspond to "non-burst" heads of myosin, and S1(Ab) and S1(Bb) to "burst" heads of the myosin molecule (Inoue et al. (1980) Adv. Biophys. 13, 1-194). Therefore, the present findings described above strongly suggest that the nitrite production involves some interaction of TNP groups with thiols, and that it occurs at the "burst" heads.

Animals↗

Two non-identical heads of myosin molecules.

Four different preparations of skeletal subfragment-1, denoted in this report as S1(Aa), S1(Ab), S1(Ba), and S1(Bb), and two different preparations of cardiac subfragment-1, denoted as S1(A) and S1(B), were obtained as described in our recent report (J. Biochem. 97, 965, 1985). (i) The four preparations were obtained from chicken breast myosin trinitrophenylated with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonate in the absence of inorganic pyrophosphate (-PPi), and they were all shown to be trinitrophenylated. Addition of PPi caused change in the absorption spectra of trinitrophenyl(TNP)-S1(Aa) and TNP-S1(Ba), but not in those of TNP-S1(Ab) and TNP-S1(Bb). (ii) The two preparations of S1 were obtained from cardiac myosin trinitrophenylated either in the absence (-) or presence (+) of PPi. S1(B) was trinitrophenylated, whereas S1(A) was not. Specifically emphasized is the observation that the yield of cardiac S1(A) was practically equal to that of cardiac S1(B). On the basis of these results, we propose the hypothesis of "two iso-myosins with non-identical heads," which is essentially a combination of the hypothesis of isoenzymes and that of non-identical heads.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Effect of ingested winged bean lectin on gastrointestinal function in the rat.

The present study was undertaken to provide further evidence for mechanisms proposed for the toxicity of ingested winged bean lectin in animals: to determine its effect on activities of some hydrolases localized in the brush border membrane of the small intestine. An adaptive increase in sucrase activity of rats given a high-sucrose diet (HSD) was restrained by the addition to HSD of a lectin fraction (WBLF) isolated from raw winged beans but not by that of heated WBLF or soybean trypsin inhibitor. Restraining effects of WBLF added to HSD on time-course changes in activities of sucrase, alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase of rats after giving HSD were similar to those of concanavalin A, which had been observed in the previous study. These results substantiate that the mechanism of the toxicity of ingested winged bean lectin involves its binding to the luminal surface of the small intestine and in turn disturbing the functional formation of the brush border membrane.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Measurement of severity of aortic stenosis experimentally produced in dogs without inserting a catheter into the left ventricle.

When flow passes through an orifice, pressure loss does not occur in the laminar core of the jet distal to the stenosis, but occurs in the region more distal to the stenosis, where the laminar core disappears and turbulence develops. Therefore, if total pressure is measured in the laminar core of the jet some distance downstream of a stenotic aortic valve, it should be equal to total pressure on the left ventricular side of the aortic valve. An experimental study was performed in 5 dogs to test this hypothesis. The results revealed that left ventricular pressure during the ejection period can be determined by measuring the pressure in the laminar core. A preliminary evaluation of the clinical applicability of our method was performed during catheterization in a patient with severe aortic valve stenosis. In this case, the pressure obtained in the jet downstream of the aortic valve was slightly lower than that obtained in the left ventricle.

Animals↗

Minute carcinoid tumor of the stomach: report of two cases and review of the Japanese literature.

Two cases of minute carcinoid tumor of the stomach were reported and 167 cases of gastric carcinoid in Japan up to December 1984 were reviewed. In Case 1, two carcinoid tumors of the body were found as sessile polyps of 4.2 and 4.8 mm in diameter, respectively, the latter having been detected two years previously. Case 2 had 60 polypoid lesions on the body and the fundus, ranging from 1.0 to 4.5 mm in diameter. In both cases the tumor invasion was limited to the mucosa and submucosa, although many micronests were found around the polypoid lesions. Among 167 cases of gastric carcinoid in Japan, 12 were 5 mm or less in size and 12 were 6 to 10 mm in size. In the former cases, there was no metastasis while in the latter, metastasis to the lymph nodes was found in 25.0%. We propose that the minute gastric carcinoid should be defined as a tumor not exceeding 5 mm in size with the invasion limited to the mucosa or submucosa. In addition, we emphasized that radical gastrectomy should be performed even for the minute carcinoid tumor because of its multicentricity and invasiveness.

Adult↗

Humoral immunity in infants with gastroenteritis caused by human calicivirus.

To assess the serum immune response in infants with gastroenteritis caused by human calicivirus (HCV), we tested a total of 165 serum specimens for antibodies to HCV by a radioimmunoassay blocking (RIA-BL) test. The specificity of the RIA-BL test for antibody to HCV was established as follows: paired sera from patients with HCV gastroenteritis revealed significant rises in antibody to HCV, whereas there was no significant change in RIA-BL titer to HCV in paired sera collected from the same individuals when infected with other gastroenteritis viruses. We analyzed 41 paired sera from patients and from healthy contacts involved in an outbreak of HCV gastroenteritis. All 23 infants without preexisting antibody revealed a sharp rise in HCV titer, and 18 (73%) of 23 of them developed illness. Fifteen of 18 infants with preexisting antibody also revealed a significant rise in HCV antibody, but only 3 (16.7%) of 18 became ill (P less than .01). These data suggest that the presence of serum antibody may correlate with resistance to illness in HCV gastroenteritis.

Antibodies, Viral↗

Effect of ingested toxic bean lectins on the gastrointestinal tract in the rat.

The present study was undertaken to provide further evidence for the mechanisms proposed for the toxicity of ingested bean lectins in animals: to show the stability of concanavalin A (Con A) in the gastrointestinal tract so that it has enough time to interact with some enzymes localized in the intestinal membrane and to find its effect on the activities of those enzymes that have been adopted as criteria for adaptive changes in response to altered diets, namely intestinal sucrase, alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase. Significant amounts of ingested Con A were recovered unaltered (as seen from affinity chromatography and electrophoresis) from the cecal content of rats 4 h after its oral administration and from feces (90% recovery) 4 d later. This indicated that Con A is quite stable during its passage through the gastrointestinal tract. Con A, given at a level of 0.3 or 0.5% in the diet, completely prevented adaptive changes in the activities of those enzymes. These results substantiate the mechanisms proposed earlier by other investigators that the toxicity of ingested bean lectins involves their binding to the luminal surface of the small intestine, where they disturb the function of the brush border membrane.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗