Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Shinji Tamaki

Publications and source records attributed to Shinji Tamaki.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Epidemiologic study of the association of low-Km mitochondrial acetaldehyde dehydrogenase genotypes with blood pressure level and the prevalence of hypertension in a general population.

In Japanese and other Asians, the prevalence of genetically decreased mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) activity is higher than in Caucasians. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relation between ALDH2 genotypes and blood pressure levels or hypertension in Japanese. After obtaining informed consent for genetic analysis from 917 men and 1,478 women who lived in a mountainous farming region near Kyoto and who were free from cardiovascular disease and liver dysfunction, the authors identified the ALDH2 genotype in all subjects. Differences in blood pressure level among genotypes were then compared by analysis of covariance, and the relation between genotypes and hypertension was also analyzed by logistic regression analysis. The frequencies of genotypes *1/*1, *1/*2, and *2/*2 were 44.7%, 46.9% and 8.4% in men, and 50.1%, 43.2% and 6.8% in women, respectively. In men, systolic and diastolic blood pressures tended to decrease in the order of *1/*1>*1/*2>*2/*2. However, adjustment for confounding factors including alcohol consumption resulted in the disappearance of significance. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for the same confounding factors for men showed that the odds ratios (OR) of being hypertensive in the *2 allele to not having *2 allele were 0.67 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47-0.96). However, in the subgroup analyses, this relation was not observed in the group having a below-median level of alcohol consumption (OR = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.53-1.62) or in the group not taking antihypertensive agents (OR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.52-1.15). Furthermore, we did not observe any relation between the ALDH2/*2 allele and hypertension in women (OR = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.80-1.42). The results suggest that there may be no causal relation between hypertension and the ALDH2 genotype per se, after excluding for some confounding factors, especially for alcohol drinking.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Pharmacokinetic analysis of theophylline to assess noncompliance in therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To report a case showing patient noncompliance, supported by outcomes of pharmacokinetic analysis of theophylline as a surrogate drug. CASE SUMMARY: A 45-year-old woman with severe hypertension was treated with a variety of oral antihypertensive drugs, but there was no improvement in her elevated blood pressure. Since we suspected that her intestinal drug absorption capacity was impaired, a theophylline absorption test was performed. When oral theophylline was given to the patient in tablet form, the apparent bioavailability was only 20%, which agreed with our hypothesis. However, the bioavailability of theophylline given in liquid form was almost 100%, and theophylline in tablet form was confirmed to be fully bioavailable when the test was performed under supervision by medical staff. DISCUSSION: The almost complete bioavailability of oral theophylline indicated that there was no impairment in intestinal absorption capacity. The low bioavailability of theophylline observed after tablet administration in the first trial was apparently a result of noncompliance, because the staff did not supervise administration to ensure that tablets were swallowed. Thus, the low response to antihypertensive therapy was attributed to patient noncompliance in taking the drugs, despite her insistence to the contrary. CONCLUSIONS: The use of theophylline was a novel approach to evaluating the absorbability of orally administered drugs in a patient suspected of poor compliance with therapy. A great difference in theophylline bioavailability between the supervised and unsupervised trials was strongly indicative of patient noncompliance. The possibility of impaired absorption was virtually ruled out.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Longitudinal assessment of IFN-gamma production in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with diabetes mellitus].

Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are more susceptible to bacterial infection including pulmonary tuberculosis. To define the immunopathologic mechanisms underlying pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with DM, the production of IFN-gamma by CD4+ T cells or PBMC were followed up longitudinally during antituberculous chemotherapy. At the time of diagnosis, IFN-gamma production by CD4+ T cells in either tuberculosis patients without DM (TB) or with DM was significantly lower than that in the healthy control. CD4+ T cells in tuberculosis patients with DM under poor control (DM(p)TB) produced significantly less IFN-gamma than did patients with DM under good control (DM(g)TB). In longitudinal studies, IFN-gamma production in both TB and DM(g)TB patients returned to the control level by 6 months, whereas the production in DM(p)TB patients remained depressed. There was no significant relation between regimens of antituberculous chemotherapy and the production of IFN-gamma by PBMC in all subject groups. IFN-gamma production was depressed in DM(p)TB patients treated with HREZ for 6 months. These results indicate that depressed production of IFN-gamma in DM(p)TB patients is prolonged not due to tuberculous infection but intrinsic defect presumably induced by poorly controlled DM.

Adult↗