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Biomedical subjects

T Kikuchi

Publications and source records attributed to T Kikuchi.

At least 595 records · Page 33Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Production of interleukin 2 by human lymph nodes.

Perigastric lymph node cells (LNC) from patients with gastric carcinoma or benign lesions were tested for interleukin 2 (IL 2) production upon stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA), in comparison with that of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) or spleen cells (SPC). IL 2 activity in the supernatants of LNC cultures from patients with either carcinoma or benign lesions was significantly higher than that of PBM cultures from the same person. There was no significant difference in IL 2 activity between PBM cultures or LNC cultures from patients with carcinoma and patients with benign lesions. Supernatants from LNC cultures were also more active than those obtained from SPC cultures. The production of interleukin 1 (IL 1) in LNC was lower than that in PBM. In LNC, the proportion of OKT3+ cells was similar to that found in PBM, with a prevalence of OKT4+ cells over OKT8+ cells. No differences were found between lymphatic cells from patients with carcinoma and from patients having benign lesions.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Temporal characteristics of visual memory.

In order to infer the temporal relations among iconic, short-term, and long-term components of visual memory, random dot patterns were used as memory stimuli in six recognition memory experiments. Experiment 1 demonstrated that recognition was still above chance for intervals up to 12 s. In Experiments 2 and 3, an intervening masking stimulus was found to be effective only if presented within the first 500 ms of the interval. The remaining three experiments employed a two-target task, with the second target replacing the masking stimulus. Recognition performance with the second target was the same as that in a single-target task, whereas performance with the first target was almost at chance level. Increasing the interval between the targets resulted in a gradual improvement in the recognition of the first target.

Form Perception↗
PubMed1987

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of transglutaminase and its application to the purification of human erythrocyte transglutaminase and platelet factor XIII.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the assay of transglutaminase [EC 2.3.2.13] activity. Casein and dansylcadaverine were used as substrates and the reaction was stopped by adding an excess amount of EGTA. Casein-bound dansylcadaverine was separated from free dansylcadaverine by high-performance liquid chromatography on a TSK SW gel column on the basis of the differences in the molecular weight and hydrophobicity. The sensitivity was approximately 0.04 nmol of casein-bound dansylcadaverine in the assay mixture. With this assay method, human erythrocyte transglutaminase and platelet factor XIII were purified by successive chromatographies on DEAE-cellulose and Sephacryl S-300, which were common for both enzymes, followed by Blue Sepharose CL-6B and DEAE Bio-Gel A for erythrocyte transglutaminase or Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B for platelet factor XIII. The purification factors and activity yields were 15,300-fold and 22% for erythrocyte transglutaminase and 43.8-fold and 33% for platelet factor XIII.

Blood Platelets↗
PubMed1987

A case of lowered eosinophilic leucocyte peroxidase activity found unexpectedly using an automated haematology analyser (the Technicon H6000 system)

The Technicon H6000 system simultaneously determines blood cell and leucocyte differential counts automatically using cytochemistry and cell size measurements. Part of the information provided by this instrument is a plot of peroxidase staining intensity against leucocyte cell size called 'the leucocyte peroxidase distribution display'. Recently, an abnormal leucocyte peroxidase distribution display was observed, on a sample from a post-operative lung cancer patient, in which eosinophilic leucocytes did not react with peroxidase. Neutrophils reacted in a normal way with this sample. The eosinophils were further examined by electron microscopy and manual peroxidase staining. Some peroxidase positive granules were observed in the eosinophilic leucocytes. The abnormal leucocyte peroxidase distribution display was found to be due to a separate group of eosinophilic leucocytes with lowered peroxidase activity.

Blood Cell Count↗
PubMed1987

Effect of enrichment of infusion solutions with branched chain amino acids in parenteral nutrition of rats.

The effect of enrichment of the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine and valine on total parenteral nutrition was studied in rats. Experimental infusion solutions with a sufficient, marginal or deficient level of glucose contained either the conventional amino acid composition (22.6% BCAAs) or a BCAA-enriched amino acid composition (36% BCAAs). Rats were infused with experimental solutions for 4 days and several parameters of protein metabolism were evaluated in various tissues. Under conditions of sufficient energy supply, BCAA-enriched and conventional groups showed similar body weight gains and muscle protein degradations as measured by urinary 3-methylhistidine excretion. Polysome profiles in the liver and gastrocnemius muscle of the BCAA-enriched group were more heavily aggregated than those of the conventional group. Under the conditions of marginal or deficient energy supply, beneficial effects of BCAA enrichment over the conventional amino acid composition became more evident in terms of better body weight retention, higher RNA/DNA ratio and heavier polysome profile in both liver and muscle, and reduced protein catabolism in muscle. The present study suggests that enrichment of BCAAs, particularly valine and isoleucine, may be useful for nutritional support under hypercatabolic or stressed conditions.

Amino Acids, Branched-Chain↗
PubMed1987

[Microcomputer control of a LED stimulus display device].

A visual stimulus display system controlled by a microcomputer was constructed at low cost. The system consists of a LED stimulus display device, a microcomputer, two interface boards, a pointing device (a "mouse") and two kinds of software. The first software package is written in BASIC. Its functions are: to construct stimulus patterns using the mouse, to construct letter patterns (alphabet, digit, symbols and Japanese letters--kanji, hiragana, katakana), to modify the patterns, to store the patterns on a floppy disc, to translate the patterns into integer data which are used to display the patterns in the second software. The second software package, written in BASIC and machine language, controls display of a sequence of stimulus patterns in predetermined time schedules in visual experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

[Clinical evaluation of tumor markers in patients with colorectal cancer].

In 117 patients with colorectal cancer, the serum levels of CEA, TPA, CA 19-9, IAP, and, AFP have been compared with the clinical findings. The combined assay of 5 tumor markers were found to be useful for the screening of colorectal cancer. Excluding the AFP, positive rate of the markers for colorectal cancer was higher than that for breast cancer (p less than 0.01) and similar to that for gastric cancer. The serum levels of TPA, CEA and CA 19-9 correlated with the histological progression. Thus, they may be an indicator of the degree of lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, the histological depth, and also may be useful in evaluating the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1987

[Interrelation between menopausal age and frequency of ovulatory cycles in life].

Menopause develops when excretory (ova-producing) and secretory (hormone-producing) potentialities in the ovary have become exhausted. The present study is an attempt to pursue decisive factors for the life-span of ovarian function with the application of statistical data collected from 30,232 postmenopausal women who were born from 1901 through 1930 in the Hokkaido Prefecture. 1) Although it is often stated that the earlier the menarche the later the menopause, and vice versa, statistical study was made to detect an interrelation between the age of menarche and that of menopause in the cases of which both ages were distinctive. However, the result showed no fixed interrelation there. 2) During a pregnancy and puerperium with natural nutrition, physiological dormancy of ovulation continues for almost one to two years. Studies on the possible existence of interrelation between the frequency of deliveries, which range from zero to ten, and the age of menopause also manifested a negative result. 3) When one of the ovaries is extracted, the remainder functions for the two. Whether or not this exerts influence on the age of menopause was also studied in the cases of unilaterally ovariectomized women to whom the extraction was applied in their twenties and early thirties. The age of menopause in such women proved to be no difference from that in normal cases. In conclusion, it is assumed that the frequency of ovulation does not control the functional life-span of ovary.

Adult↗