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Biomedical subjects

T Gemba

Publications and source records attributed to T Gemba.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Changes in extracellular concentration of amino acids in the hippocampus during cerebral ischemia in stroke-prone SHR, stroke-resistant SHR and normotensive rats.

To investigate the role of glutamate release in cerebral ischemia, the amounts of amino acids (glutamate, taurine, alanine, glycine and glutamine) released in the hippocampal CA1 region of stroke-prone SHR (SHRSP), stroke-resistant SHR (SHRSR) and normotensive rats (WKY) were determined during and after cerebral ischemia by the microdialysis method under halothane anesthesia. Cerebral ischemia was produced by the occlusion of both common carotid arteries for 20 min. The basal amino acids release did not differ among the three strains of rats, but ischemic glutamate and taurine releases were more marked in SHRSP than in other strains. These results suggest that the massive glutamate release during cerebral ischemia of SHRSP might be related with severe neuronal cell injury.

Amino Acids

Decrease of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange activity by ascorbate in rat brain membrane vesicles.

Na(+)-dependent Ca2+ uptake in rat brain microsomal membrane vesicles was inhibited by preincubating the vesicles with ascorbic acid at 0.1-10 mM. The inhibitory effect of ascorbate was blocked by simultaneous addition of ascorbate oxidase. The decrease in activity was not reversed upon removing the ascorbate. The kinetic study showed that the treatment with ascorbate decreased Bmax without a change in Km for Ca2+. The inhibitory effect by ascorbate was also observed in membrane vesicles derived from osmotically shocked synaptosomes and in reconstituted membrane vesicles. The effect by ascorbate was specific: it did not affect either ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake in the presence of o-phenanthroline, an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, or Na(+)-dependent glutamate uptake in the membrane vesicles. The activity of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange was also decreased by isoascorbic acid, but not by ascorbate 2-sulfate at 1 mM. The treatment with glutathione or 2-mercaptoethanol did not affect the Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange activity, while 1 mM dithiothreitol caused the inhibition which was completely blocked by o-phenanthroline. The effect of ascorbate on Na(+)-dependent Ca2+ uptake was observed even under the conditions which suppress peroxidation of membrane phospholipids.

Animals

Determination of 2,5-hexanedione and N-methylformamide in urine by gas chromatography.

Methods for the clinical testing of 2,5-hexanedione and N-methylformamide, urinary metabolites of n-hexane and N,N-dimethylformamide, respectively, were established by capillary column GLC. Recovery rates of 2,5-hexanedione and N-methylformamide from urine were 80.2-108.9% and 99.6-104.2%, respectively. Coefficients of variation (C.V.) for the amount of each product added were 3.1%, 1.8% (intra-assay) and 5.7%, 3.3% (inter-assay), respectively. The concentration ranges of metabolites from urine of healthy subjects without exposure to these organic solvents were less than or equal to 0.5 mg/l (2,5-hexanedione), less than or equal to 1.5 mg/l (N-methylformamide), respectively.

Air Pollutants, Occupational

Inhibition by taurine of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange in sarcolemmal membrane vesicles from bovine and guinea pig hearts.

1. Taurine, but not GABA, beta-alanine and glycine, inhibited Na(+)-dependent Ca2+ uptake in bovine cardiac sarcolemmal membrane vesicles in a dose-dependent manner. 2. The inhibition of Na(+)-dependent Ca2+ uptake was noncompetitive with respect to Ca2+ concentration. 3. The inhibitory effect of taurine on the exchange was also observed in cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles prepared from guinea pig, but not from rat. 4. Taurine did not affect Na(+)-dependent Ca2+ efflux nor ATP-dependent Ca2+ uptake in the bovine cardiac membranes.

Adenosine Triphosphate

A new micromethod for colorimetric determination of zinc in serum.

A simple micromethod with a colorimetric reagent of high sensitivity was developed for the determination of zinc in serum. For the color reagent 2-(2-pyridylazo)-5-dimethylaminophenol (PADAP) was used. Coefficients of variation of the within-day precision were 6.65 and 2.24% for zinc standard at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 microgram/ml, respectively. The mean recovery by this method was 101.2% (S.D.: 3.56%). Zinc concentrations measured by the above method showed good agreement with those by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, with a correlation coefficient of 0.934. Serum zinc values of 50 healthy adults (38 females, 12 males) ranged from 63 to 116 microgram/100 ml (mean: 89.68 microgram/100 ml, Sd.: 13.28 microgram/100 ml).

Adolescent