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Biomedical subjects

S Ohno

Publications and source records attributed to S Ohno.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

The prevalence of Toxoplasma antibody in patients with various ocular diseases in central Japan.

BACKGROUND: Ocular toxoplasmosis has been considered to be a largely asymptomatic infection because of the high seroprevalence of Toxoplasma antibodies and the low rate of clinical diagnosis. On the other hand, Toxoplasma infection has been reported to be associated with the other ocular disease. To investigate the association of Toxoplasma infection with the development of various ocular diseases, we studied Toxoplasma seroprevalence in patients with various ocular diseases. METHODS: We investigated Toxoplasma seroprevalence in 982 patients with various ocular diseases in central Japan. Then we compared the seroprevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies. RESULTS: Of 982 patients with various ocular diseases, 122 (12.4%) had serological evidence of previous exposure to Toxoplasma gondii. There were no statistically significant differences among the patients with various ocular diseases. However, the seroprevalence in patients aged 40 to 99 years with macular degenerative lesions was significantly higher than that in patients without these lesions (P < 0.05, Yates' correction). CONCLUSION: This result suggests that Toxoplasma infection could play some role in the development of a type of macular degenerative lesion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Detection of antibodies to Borrelia species among patients with confirmed sarcoidosis in a region where Lyme disease is nonendemic.

BACKGROUND: Lyme disease is a multisystemic disorder caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, while sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Lyme disease and sarcoidosis. METHODS: We examined the seroprevalence of antibody to Borellia species in patients with sarcoidosis. We performed the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using three Japanese Borrelia species in addition to B. burgdorferi, and dotblot analysis using purified Borrelia-specific proteins in 38 patients with histopathologically confirmed sarcoidosis and 80 healthy controls. RESULTS: Two patients (5.3%) were positive for antibodies to Borrelia species according to one or both assays, and one (1.2%) healthy control was positive. In both patients it was suspected that Borrelia infection had developed prior to the development of sarcoidosis. CONCLUSION: Borrelia species were thought not to be responsible for the development of sarcoidosis in a nonendemic region in Japan. Since clinical manifestations of Lyme disease share certain similarities with those seen in sarcoidosis, ophthalmologists should be aware of the need to differentiate between the two diseases and the need for prompt treatment in each case.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Dynamic structure of glomerular capillary loop as revealed by an in vivo cryotechnique.

Morphological studies using immersion or perfusion fixation methods do not reveal the ultrastructure of functioning kidneys with normal circulation. A simple apparatus was developed for freezing the kidneys in vivo without stopping the blood supply, and the ultrastructure of the glomerular capillary loops was examined under different haemodynamic conditions. Mouse kidneys were frozen under normal blood flow conditions; others were frozen in the same way after ligation of the abdominal aorta at a point caudal to the renal arteries. They were then processed for the freeze-substitution or deep-etching method. Good ultrastructural preservation was obtained within about 5 microM depth from the frozen tissue surface. Functioning glomeruli with normal blood flow possessed open capillary lumens, different shapes of foot processes and atypical basement membranes with low density. Moreover, heterogeneity in width between foot processes was identified on the replica membranes. Under the acute conditions used to increase blood supply into the kidneys, the spaces between the flat foot processes became more widely dilated and the basement membrane was seen to be three-layered. The ultrastructure of glomeruli in functioning kidneys has been demonstrated for the first time by this "in vivo cryotechnique."

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Effects of early insulin treatment on ultrastructural changes of glomeruli in diabetic rats revealed by the quick-freezing and deep-etching method.

The three-dimensional ultrastructure of glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and mesangial matrix (MM) at an early stage of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus in rats was examined by the quick-freezing and deep-etching method. In diabetic rats, the GBM inner layer was diffusely enlarged and the meshwork structure not only in the GBM middle layer but also in the MM became markedly irregular due to the rupture of fine fibrils. This irregularity and enlargement of the mesh pores in diabetic rats developed during the experimental period and was significantly different from results in control rats. Insulin treatment from 1 week after STZ injection had significant effects in preventing the ultrastructural changes in the GBM and MM. It is suggested that early insulin treatment has significant effects in preventing size barrier disturbance of GBM and MM in STZ-induced diabetes.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Genetic polymorphisms of the major histocompatibility complex-encoded antigen-processing genes TAP and LMP in sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease showing a significant increase in the HLA-DR5, -DR6, and -DR8 associated alleles in Japanese. To investigate whether the class I antigen-processing genes, encoded within the MHC class II region between the HLA-DP and -DQ loci, are involved in determining the susceptibility to sarcoidosis, TAP1, TAP2, and LMP2 alleles were analyzed by the PCR-RFLP method in 85 Japanese patients with sarcoidosis and 91 healthy controls. There were no significant differences in the distribution of TAP1 and LMP2 alleles between the subgroups of the patients and controls positive or negative for DR5, DR6, and DR8. A significant decrease in the frequency of TAP2*0201 was found among the patients negative for DR5, DR6, and DR8 as compared to the DR-matched controls (p < 0.05), but this could be explained by its linkage disequilibrium to the negatively associated allele DR1. These findings suggest that the TAP or LMP2 gene is not primarily involved in the susceptibility to sarcoidosis. In the course of this study, a linkage disequilibrium was observed in the Japanese population between TAP1 and TAP2 alleles, TAP1*0201 and TAP2*0102.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗
PubMed1996

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with Behçet's disease.

We have examined the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in plasma and supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with Behçet's disease and healthy controls using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Plasma IL-6 level was not detected in any subjects. The IL-6 concentrations in culture supernatants of patients with active Behçet's disease were significantly high compared with patients with inactive disease and healthy controls. Moreover, we investigated IL-6 gene expression in cultured PBMC from patients with Behçet's disease. IL-6 gene expression was enhanced in active patients compared with inactive patients. These results show that IL-6 may play a role in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Detection of enterovirus 70 by polymerase chain reaction in acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis.

PURPOSE: We have developed and applied reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the detection of enterovirus 70 from conjunctival swabs of patients among the population of an acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis epidemic on Okinawa, Japan, in 1994. METHODS: The primers used were selected from the VP1, VP2, and VP3 regions of the enterovirus 70 nucleotide sequence. RESULTS: Twelve of 27 culture-negative specimens were positive by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. CONCLUSIONS: The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test provides a reliable diagnostic method that readily allows specific detection of enterovirus 70 in patients with acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in whom low enterovirus 70 recovery rates have been obtained recently by cell culture.

Conjunctiva↗
PubMed1996

Regression of duodenal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma after eradication of Helicobacter pylori.

It is rare for low-grade lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) to affect the duodenum, and no reports have mentioned any relationship between this disease and Helicobacter pylori infection. This case report describes a patient with multiple small erosions and diffuse erythema in the duodenal bulb diagnosed histopathologically as MALT lymphoma. Immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy-chain gene rearrangement was detected, and monotypic plasma cell proliferation (IgG kappa) was shown by immunohistochemistry. The lesion was localized to the duodenal bulb. Antibiotic therapy for H. pylori resulted in resolution of the morphological features of the lymphoma, as confirmed by endoscopic and pathological examination. Moreover, the gene rearrangement could not be detected after eradication of the bacterium. Although additional follow-up is needed, it is suggested that H. pylori eradication therapy may be effective for patients with MALT lymphoma in the duodenum as well as the stomach.

2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles↗
PubMed1996

Cell biology of kidney glomerulus.

It has been accepted that some artifacts are inevitably produced by the conventional preparation steps for electron microscopy, including fixation, dehydration, embedding, ultrathin sectioning, and staining. Therefore, conventional ultrastructural findings on kidney glomeruli are hardly thought to be correlated with the physiological functions of kidneys in vivo. In this chapter, two preparation techniques, the quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method or the quick-freezing and freeze-substitution (QF-FS) method, are presented and shown to be useful for clarifying the ultrastructures of kidney glomeruli more closely to structures in vivo with fewer artifacts. Moreover, the ultrastructures of glomerular capillary loops have been demonstrated by a new "in vivo cryotechnique," that shows that hemodynamic factors should be considered in the morphological study of glomerular functions.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

LMP7 polymorphism in Japanese patients with sarcoidosis and Behçet's disease.

To evaluate the influence of the MHC-linked LMP7 gene on disease susceptibility in HLA class I and class II-associated diseases, the distribution of LMP7 alleles was determined using the PCR-RFLP method in 69 Japanese patients with Behçet's disease, 65 patients with sarcoidosis, and 100 unrelated healthy controls. No differences were found between either of the patient groups and the healthy control group, indicating that LMP7 allelic variation may not contribute to the pathogenesis of either Behçet's disease or sarcoidosis. We also analyzed linkage disequilibria between LMP7 and HLA class II alleles in Japanese populations.

Alleles↗
PubMed1996

Immunochemical distribution and immunohistochemical localization of 20beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in neonatal pig tissues.

Immunochemical distribution of 20beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) in neonatal pig tissues was investigated by Western blot analysis of the proteins reacting with anti-20beta-HSD antibody. 20beta-HSD was present in all organs investigated: brain, lung, thymus, submandibular gland, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, adrenal gland, testis, epididymis, prostate, vas deferens and seminal vesicle. In particular, high concentrations of 20beta-HSD were detected in the testis, followed by the kidney and liver, by the [125I]-protein A binding method. Immunohistochemical localization of the enzyme was achieved in paraffin sections of the testis, kidney, liver, epididymis, and vas deferens by the streptoavidin-biotin complex method. In the testis, very strong immunostaining was found only in interstitial Leydig cells, whereas the cells in seminiferous tubules, such as Sertoli cells and spermatogenic cells, were entirely negative. In the kidney, strong immunostaining was detected in epithelial cells of Henle's loop. The immunoreactive proteins were also localized in the hepatic lobules of the liver, tall columnar cells of the ductus epididymidis of the epididymis, and mucosal epithelium cells and muscularis of the vas deferens. These observations indicate that tissue distribution of 20beta-HSD is similar to that of carbonyl reductase in the human and rat. However, the specific and abundant expression of 20beta-HSD in testicular Leydig cells of the neonatal pig, which are concerned with the synthesis of androgens, suggests that 20beta-HSD has a very important physiological role in testicular function during the neonatal stage.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Cytokeratin-positive cells in bone marrow for identifying distant micrometastasis of gastric cancer.

Direct evidence of tumour seeding in distant organs at the time of surgery for gastric cancer is not available. An immunocytochemical assay for epithelial cytokeratin protein may fill this gap since it is a feature of epithelial cells that would not normally be present in bone marrow. The bone marrow of 46 patients with primary gastric cancer was examined for tumour cells, using immunocytochemical techniques and antibody reacting with cytokeratin, a component of the intracytoplasmic network of intermediate filaments. The monoclonal antibody CK2 recognises a single cytokeratin polypeptide (human cytokeratin no. 18) commonly present in epithelial cells. The expression of tumour-suppressor genes p53 and RB for the primary lesion was also determined using the monoclonal antibodies PAb 1801 and 3H9 respectively, and the proliferating activity was determined by the Ki-67 antigen labelling index for MIB-1 antibody staining. Of these 46 patients, 15 (32.6%) presented with cytokeratin-positive cells at the time of primary surgery. The positive findings were related to the undifferentiated tissue type and to the prominent depth of invasion, but not to other clinicopathological factors. In 2 of 15 (13.3%) patients, the depth of invasion was limited to the mucosa. The metastatic potential to bone marrow did not relate to expressions of p53 and RB genes, or to the proliferating activity of MIB-1 staining for the primary lesion of gastric cancer. As tumour cells in bone marrow are indicative of the general disseminative capability of an individual tumour, this technique may be useful for identifying patients at high risk of metastasis from a gastric tumour.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1996

Effects of a selective inhibitor of the Abl tyrosine kinase on the growth of Bcr-Abl positive cells.

The bcr-abl oncogene, present in 95% of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), has been implicated as the cause of this disease. A compound, designed to inhibit the Abl protein tyrosine kinase, was evaluated for its effects on cells containing the Bcr-Abl fusion protein. Cellular proliferation and tumor formation by Bcr-Abl-expressing cells were specifically inhibited by this compound. In colony-forming assays of peripheral blood or bone marrow from patients with CML, there was a 92-98% decrease in the number of bcr-abl colonies formed but no inhibition of normal colony formation. This compound may be useful in the treatment of bcr-abl-positive leukemias.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Determination of ultratrace amounts of copper (II) by its catalytic effect on the oxidative coupling reaction of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone with N-ethyl-N-(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)-3,5-dimethoxyaniline.

A spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of ultratrace amounts of copper(II) based on its catalytic effect on the oxidative coupling reaction of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone with N-ethyl-N-(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)-3,5-dimethoxyaniline to produce an intensely coloured dye (lambda(max) = 525 nm) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. In this reaction, pyridine acted as an effective activator for the catalysis of copper(II). By measuring the absorbance of the dye, copper(II) can be determined at the 0.002-0.1 ng cm(-3) (3.1 x 10(-11)-1.6 x 10(-9) mol dm(-3) level. The relative standard deviation for ten determinations of 0.06 ng cm(0-3) of copper(II) was 2.6%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of copper(II) in tap water and biological material.

Aniline Compounds↗
PubMed1996

Dominant negative effect of the truncated p110 subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase.

Effects of p110, the catalytic subunit of PI-3 kinase, on induction of TPA response element-driven promoter by EGF was examined. The induction was enhanced by co-expression of the wild type of p110. The truncated p110 mutants containing the binding site for p85 but missing the catalytic activity repressed the induction. A mutant with no binding activity to p85 did not show this effect. These results suggest that PI-3 kinase is involved in signal transduction of EGF and that the truncated p110s capable of binding to p85 serves as a dominant negative reagent for PI-3 kinase.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Age of onset of posterior vitreous detachment.

Recently published literature on the onset of posterior vitreous detachment is reviewed here. Aging causes posterior vitreous detachment, and its prevalence increases proportionally with age. The onset of posterior vitreous detachment is associated with refractive error. Investigation of the prevalence and onset age of posterior vitreous detachment indicates that the higher the degree of myopia, the earlier the onset age. There are some reports on the onset age of posterior vitreous detachment in men compared with women. One indicates that posterior vitreous detachment occurs earlier in women, and another reports no difference. No difference has been found between blacks and whites or between whites and Japanese.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1996

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in an endemic environment: wild sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) with infected ticks and antibodies.

Ticks and blood samples were collected from wild sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) during a hunting season (August to October) of 1991 at a selected location in Hokkaido, Japan. Ixodes persulcatus (adult and nymph) and I. ovatus (adult) were the common ticks on sika deer. Spirochetes were detected in the midgut of the ticks by the indirect peroxidase-conjugated antibody staining method and by dark-field microscopy after cultivation. By the reactive pattern of monoclonal antibodies, isolates were considered to belong to Borrelia garinii or B. japonica. In an antibody test, the percentage of seropositive deer was 69.0%. Most of the adult sika deer were positive for antibodies to the spirochetes. There are significant age-dependency in antibody level and seropositive rate. The surveillance of deer should be valuable in monitoring the transmission risk of B. burgdorferi sensu lato in nature.

Age Factors↗