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Biomedical subjects

S Watabiki

Publications and source records attributed to S Watabiki.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Adult-onset spinocerebellar syndrome with idiopathic vitamin E deficiency.

A 62-year-old man and his maternal uncle had a selective vitamin E deficiency without generalized fat malabsorption. A progressive neurological disorder comprising ataxia, areflexia, and loss of proprioception developed in their sixth and seventh decades. The vitamin E deficiency is thought to be due to abnormally accelerated utilization, excretion, or degradation of the vitamin. This adult-onset spinocerebellar syndrome is due to vitamin E deficiency not caused by malabsorption.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1984

Distal myopathy of Gowers: a reappraisal.

This article argues against the general idea that the patient described by Gowers as distal myopathy in 1902 may have suffered from myotonic dystrophy. A case of distal myopathy with markedly atrophic sternocleidomastoids is presented. Patients of distal myopathy with absence of sternocleidomastoids, sometimes accompanied by facial weakness, are recorded in the literature. All these cases are sporadic and may be called distal myopathy of Gowers, which is different from Welander's cases.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Cold face test in the assessment of trigeminal-brainstem-vagal function in humans.

Study of the reflex heart rate response in humans to apneic facial immersion (simulated diving) and its modifications showed that bradycardia caused by simple application of cold compresses to the face (cold face test) correlated well with that produced by the simulated diving reflex. Bilateral application of cold stimulus to the individual divisions of the trigeminal nerve revealed the ophthalmic division to be the most sensitive pathway for this reflex. The cold face test was standardized in 50 normal individuals and further validated in 10 patients by comparison with the simulated diving reflex, the Valsalva maneuver, and administration of atropine. Patients with diabetes mellitus, brainstem stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Shy-Drager syndrome developed less than normal bradycardia or minimal tachycardia in response to the cold facial stimulus. The cold face test is a novel, simple, safe, and economical test of the integrity of trigeminal-brainstem-vagal reflex pathways, can be utilized practically to assess vagal and brainstem dysfunctions, and has the special advantage of being applicable even in an uncooperative or comatose patient.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Microassay of cyclic nucleotides in vessel wall. IV. Cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity.

Following our microassay for cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (1978, Microvascular Res. 15:229), a new microassay for cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase (c-GMPPDE) activity was devised, combining the quantitative histochemical method of O.H. Lowry and J.V. Passonneau (1971, A Flexible System of Enzymatic Analysis, Academic Press, New York) with the thin-layer chromatography method of W.A. Scott and B. Solomon (1973, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 53, 1024). Using this method, c-GMPPDE activity can be accurately measured in a 250 microgram dry weight sample of tissue from the aortic wall. The optimal amount of sample and incubation time were studied, and two Km values were obtained. Low Km is 4.00 x 10(-6) and high Km is 1.25 x 10(-5). The activity of this enzyme was measured in the intima and media of the aorta of three rabbits, three cows and three pigs. The cyclic GMPPDE activities in tissue from cows, pigs and rabbits were 26.61 +/- 2.19, 20.40 +/- 1.35, 43.08 +/- 4.11 pmole/mg dry weight/min in the intima; 52.56 +/- 2.73, 16.07 +/- 3.30 and 66.51 +/- 4.60 pmole/mg dry weight/min in the media. With regard to the relationship between levels of cAMP and cGMP, the activities of cGMPPDE were 10-20 times higher than those of cAMPPDE. These assay systems should provide accurate tools for researching biological, physiological and pathological states of arterial tissues, particularly in the case of atherosclerosis.

3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases↗