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Biomedical subjects

T Morimoto

Publications and source records attributed to T Morimoto.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Human papillomavirus type 33 DNA in breast cancer in Chinese.

BACKGROUND: The association between human papillomavirus (HPV) and anogenital tumors, especially cervical cancer, is well documented. However, it remains unclear whether there is also a correlation between HPV infection and human breast cancer. METHODS: We used PCR and Southern blot hybridization to analyze HPV-related DNA specimens from 32 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma operated upon in the Shanghai region of China. RESULTS: DNA derived from HPV33 was detected in 14 cases (43.8%). No HPV16 or HPV18 DNA was detected in any of the cases in this study. This is the first report demonstrating a correlation between HPV33 infection and breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that HPV33 infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer in Chinese.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Primary gastric B cell lymphoma: audit of 82 cases treated with surgery and classified according to the concept of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

There has been a trend toward stomach conservation during treatment for primary gastric lymphoma, but surgery ensures accurate pathologic diagnosis through the examination of resected specimens. A histopathologic classification for primary gastric lymphoma had been established with the knowledge that the low grade and high grade components occasionally coexist in a single lesion. Efficacy of this classification as an indicator of biologic behavior and prognosis was evaluated. The classification was performed by reexamining surgically resected specimens from 82 patients with stage IE and IIE gastric lymphoma. Clinical characteristics of the low grade and high grade lymphomas were then evaluated and the survival data analyzed. Despite the larger tumor diameter, the depth of invasion for the low grade type was mostly submucosal, and none had serosal invasion. In contrast, 50% of the high grade type had serosal involvement and were also found to have a higher incidence of node metastasis. Prognosis of the low grade type, a 10-year survival rate exceeding 90%, was significantly better than that of the high grade type. Multivariate analysis revealed that curability of the operation followed by the histopathologic grade were significant independent prognostic factors. Some characteristics of the low grade lymphoma were not consistent with what has been reported in the studies involving stomach-conserving strategies. Investigators are advised to note that the histopathologic grade determined with biopsy specimens alone could be misleading.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Dorsal column-thalamic pathway is involved in thalamic hyperexcitability following peripheral nerve injury: a lesion study in rats with experimental mononeuropathy.

A total of 68 neurons were recorded from the ventro-postero-lateral nucleus of thalamus (VPL) in rats with a unilateral chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve (n=20), sham operation (n=24) and naive rats (n=24), and effects of the lesion of dorsal column (DC) pathway [DC lesion or DC+gracile nucleus lesions] on VPL nucleus neuronal activities were studied. In the VPL nucleus contralateral to the CCI (receiving input from the injured nerve), response latencies of low threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM) and wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons to electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve were significantly longer than that in the contralateral VPL nucleus receiving input from the sham-operated side (P<0.05). In contrast, response latencies of LTM and WDR neurons to DC stimulation were not different between the sham operated and CCI sides (0.05). Background activity of WDR neurons was significantly higher in the VPL nucleus contralateral to the CCI side when compared to neurons in the VPL nucleus contralateral to the sham operated side and in naive animals. Responses of LTM and WDR neurons to innocuous mechanical stimulation of the receptive fields were significantly decreased after DC and DC+gracile nucleus lesions in all animals. However, the responses of WDR neurons to noxious stimuli were selectively reduced only in rats with CCI by DC and DC+gracile nucleus lesions (P<0.05). The decrease in noxious stimulus-evoked responses of WDR neurons in the VPL nucleus contralateral to the CCI side after DC and DC+gracile nucleus lesions was greater than that in the VPL nucleus contralateral to the sham operated side and naive animals. These results indicated that DC and DC+gracile nucleus lesions produced selective and stronger effect on noxious responses of VPL nucleus WDR neurons receiving input from the site of nerve injury. The findings suggest that the gracile nucleus-thalamic pathway conveys, or modulates, nociceptive information to the VPL nucleus following peripheral nerve injury, resulting in an increase in VPL nucleus response to noxious stimuli that contributes to the development of mechanical hyperalgesia.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Long-term medical, educational, and social prognoses of childhood-onset epilepsy: a population-based study in a rural district of Japan.

The long-term prognosis of childhood-onset epilepsy has rarely been studied in a general population. We examined the long-term medical, educational, and social outcomes in individuals with a history of childhood-onset epilepsy aged 20 years or older in a defined area of Japan. Furthermore, the patients' recognition of epilepsy as well as the parents' concerns about the prognosis of epilepsy were also surveyed. After a mean follow-up period of 18.9 years, we had sufficient data on 148 surviving patients aged 20-38 years (mean, 26. 0 years) and seven dead patients. The follow-up rate was 92.8%. In the overall group, the percentages of those who had had each of the following were as follows: (a) 5-year remission, 62.8%; (b) a relapse of seizures, 17.4%; (c) psychiatric complications, 2.7%; (d) mortality, 4.5%; (e) attendance at regular classes of an ordinary school during compulsory education, 71.6%; (f) entrance to high school, 65.5%; (g) employment, 67.4%; (h) marriage, 23.0%; and (i) acquisition of a driver's license, 54.7%. The educational and social variables of the control population were as follows: (e) 99.1, (f) 97.0, (g) 96.6, (h) 51.9, and (i) 94.8%. In the 99 patients of normal intelligence, the results of the same analysis were as follows: (a) 75.8, (b) 10.7, (c) 0, (d) 0.6, (e) 100, (f) 96.0, (g) 95.2, (h) 33.3, and (i) 77.8%, in contrast to the corresponding variables of the 49 patients with mental retardation, that is, (a) 36.7, (b) 44.4, (c) 8.2, (d) 12.2, (e) 14.3, (f) 6.1, (g) 20.4, (h) 2.0, and (i) 4.1%, respectively. The best predictors of seizure remission included an early response to therapy, a low frequency of seizures or an absence of status epilepticus prior to therapy, and normal mental development. As for the current awareness of epilepsy and its prognosis, nearly 40% of the patients did not know the true name of their illness, and the same proportion of parents were still anxious about the prognosis even if their children had been taken off medication. Our data show that the majority of patients with childhood-onset epilepsy have a favorable long-term medical prognosis in terms of seizure remission and psychiatric complications, whereas they have a higher mortality rate and lower levels of educational background as well as employment and marital status compared with the general population. However, except for the low marriage rate for the younger age group and the low rate of holding a driver's license, patients of normal intelligence appear to have more favorable long-term prognoses in terms of educational and social aspects as well. In Japan, individuals with epilepsy may not seek a driver's license because of the law.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2000

Endothelin-1 as a protective factor against beta-adrenergic agonist-induced apoptosis in cardiac myocytes.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulation of beta-adrenergic agonist-induced apoptosis by endothelin-1 (ET-1) in cardiac myocytes. BACKGROUND: Numerous hormonal factors including norepinephrine and ET-1 are activated in patients with heart failure. These factors may be involved in the positive and negative regulation of myocardial cell apoptosis observed in failing hearts. Recently, it has been shown that norepinephrine can induce myocardial cell apoptosis via a beta-adrenergic receptor-dependent pathway. METHODS: Primary cardiac myocytes were prepared from neonatal rats. These cells were stimulated with the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (ISO) in the presence or absence of ET-1. RESULTS: The administration of 10(-7) mol/liter of ET-1 completely blocked Iso-induced apoptosis. An endothelin type A receptor antagonist, FR139317, negated the inhibitory effect of ET-1 on apoptosis, while the endothelin type B receptor antagonist BQ788 did not show such a negation. Endothelin-1 also inhibited apoptosis induced by a membrane-permeable cAMP analogue (8-Br-cAMP), which bypassed Gi. The effect of ET-1 was neutralized by an MEK-1-specific inhibitor (PD098059), a phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase inhibitor (wortmannin) and its downstream pp70 S6-kinase inhibitor, rapamycin. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that ET-1 represents a protective factor against myocardial cell apoptosis in heart failure and that this effect is mediated mainly through endothelin type A receptor-dependent pathways involving multiple downstream signalings in cardiac myocytes.

Adrenergic beta-Agonists↗
PubMed2000

Congenital neuropathy with the absence of large myelinated fibers.

Twelve patients with hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy with the absence of large myelinated fibers have been reported. All of these patients had central nervous system involvement. In this report, we describe the first patient with pure motor and sensory neuropathy with the absence of large myelinated fibers without central nervous system involvement. Morphometric analysis of the biopsied sural nerve specimen revealed extremely small myelinated fibers compared with previously reported patients. It is supposed that the cause of this disease might be the abnormal development of axons of the peripheral nerves.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed2000

Gizzard myoglobin contents and feeding habits in avian species.

In an attempt to consider physiological function of myoglobin (Mb), we determined Mb contents of gizzard smooth muscles with special reference to feeding habits in 85 avian species of 19 orders. The Mb content in 44 species of herbivorous birds was 7.52+/-3.81 mg/g wet muscle, which was significantly higher than the value of 2.34+/-1.74 mg/g in 41 species of carnivorous ones (P<0.001). Buffering capacity, as determined by in vitro titration method, was 37.3+/-5.5 slykes/g in gizzard smooth muscles of 75 species and 60.7+/-10.5 slykes in breast skeletal muscles of 77 species (P<0.001), which suggests a significantly higher dependence, almost comparable to cardiac muscles, of the gizzard muscular function on aerobic metabolism. Together with the fact that blood circulation in the gizzard is very low at resting, and might be further limited during activity, we conclude that the higher Mb content in gizzards of herbivorous birds is an adaptation, to allow storage and/or facilitated diffusion of oxygen, during process of high mechanical work required to grind down hard and fibrous vegetable food under the conditions of limited circulatory supply.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2000

Production of poly-beta-hydroxybutyric acid by microorganisms accumulated from river water using a two-stage perfusion culture system.

The perfusion culture system using a shaken ceramic membrane flask (SCMF) was employed to accumulate microorganisms separated from river water and to produce poly-beta-hydroxybutyric acid (PHB). Using a two-step culture method with a single SCMF, river microorganisms were cultured by separately feeding four representative carbon sources, n-propanol, lactic acid, methanol, and formic acid. After 140 h culture, the cell concentration and PHB content respectively reached 43 g/l and 35% when a propanol medium was fed. Using a two-stage perfusion culture with twin SCMFs, the seed cell mass was increased in the first SCMF and then supplied to the second flask for PHB production. As a consequence, the cellular PHB content rose to 51% in the second SCMF, while the cell concentration gradually increased to 25 g/l after 175 h perfusion culture. These results demonstrated the utility of the two-stage perfusion culture system for developing a cheap means of producing PHB coincident with wastewater treatment.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Extensive cervical laminoplasty for patients with long segment OPLL in the cervical spine: an alternative to the anterior approach.

We investigated treatment of long segment cervical OPLL by posterior decompression using a laminoplasty technique. Our aim was to both decompress the spinal cord and also to preserve neck motion. There were 38 patients treated by this posterior approach. Twenty-eight patients underwent C1-C7 expanding laminoplasty, 4 patients underwent C1-T1 expanding laminoplasty, and 6 patients C2-C7 expanding laminoplasty. The transverse width of the open-door laminoplasty was sufficient to achieve decompression of not only the spinal cord but also the nerve root outlets at each laminoplasty level. There were no complications related to this surgical technique, nor late deterioration in the mean follow up period of 4. 5 years. We propose expanding laminoplasty as an important option for the treatment of long segment cervical OPLL.

Decompression, Surgical↗
PubMed2000

Colour Doppler flow imaging of the superior ophthalmic vein in dural arteriovenous fistulas before and after surgery.

The aim of this study was to examine the clinical significance of the colour Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) findings of the superior ophthalmic vein (SOV) in intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF). The SOV was examined by CDFI in 12 cases of DAVF before and after surgery. Before surgery, the average SOV diameter was 3.57+/-1.18 mm (mean +/- standard deviation, which was significantly wide (P<0.05) compared with the control value. One case showed reversed flow. Four cases showed an abnormal waveform. The cases with the more severe clinical symptoms showed wider SOV diameters and more abnormal waveforms than those with mild clinical symptoms. Postoperatively, the mean SOV diameter and mean resistance index improved significantly (P< 0.05); the flow direction and waveform became normal in each. The SOV CDFI findings were found to be useful as screening and follow-up techniques for the intracranial DAVFs.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Surgery for dural arteriovenous fistula in superior sagittal sinus and transverse sigmoid sinus.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of surgically treated dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF). The authors performed surgical removal of DAVF in 12 patients. The locations of DAVF were the transverse sigmoid sinus in seven patients and superior sagittal sinus in five patients. These 12 patients had undergone endovascular embolisation prior to removal. Among them, six patients were completely cured, according to angiography immediately after embolisation, but these six patients showed the recurrence of DAVF within 1 year. The other six patients showed a decrease of feeding vessels. Therefore, all 12 patients underwent surgical removal of DAVF. The surgical strategies were as follows. The feeding vessels and the cortical veins with retrograde filling were occluded and cut. The affected sinus was skeletonised, and if it was occluded or almost occluded, the sinus was removed. Postoperatively, transient aphasia was seen in one patient. There was no surgical morbidity or mortality. During the follow-up period (mean 2.9 years), no recurrence of DAVF was seen. Surgical treatment is a safe and effective treatment manoeuvre for DAVF around the transverse sigmoid sinus and superior sagittal sinus.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Generation of aniline from a subsidiary colour of food yellow no. 5 (sunset yellow FCF).

The formation of aniline from sodium salt of 6-hydroxy-5-(phenylazo)-2-naphthalenesulphonic acid (SS-AN, C.I. 15970, Orange RN), a subsidiary colour in the Japanese colour additive Food Yellow No. 5 (Y-5, C.I. 15985, Sunset Yellow FCF), was investigated in the artificial gastric fluid (AGF) and in the artificial intestinal fluid (AIF) as prescribed in the degradation test in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia (1996). Aniline concentrations of 0.3-6.8 micrograms/ml were found in 0.1% SS-AN solutions with 0.1-5.0% ascorbic acid or erythorbic acid after 24 h at 37 degrees C. This simulates a mixture of dye and ascorbic acid that might be ingested. The amount of aniline generated depended upon the temperature in these systems. In systems to which sucrose had been added, an increase in the amount of aniline generated was observed. However, no aniline generation was observed in the 0.1% SS-AN solutions in the AGF or AIF at 37 degrees C for 24 h. Furthermore, the generation of aniline was not seen in AGF and AIF at higher temperatures in the range of 37-80 degrees C. It was not generated by the degradation of SS-AN in the presence of digestive enzymes.

Aniline Compounds↗
PubMed2000

Effects of dexamethasone on rhinovirus infection in cultured human tracheal epithelial cells.

To examine the effects of glucocorticoid on rhinovirus (RV) infection, primary cultures of human tracheal epithelial cells were infected with either RV2 or RV14. Viral infection was confirmed by demonstrating that viral RNA in infected cells and viral titers of supernatants and lysates from infected cells increased with time. RV14 infection upregulated the expression of mRNA and protein of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the major RV receptor, on epithelial cells, and it increased the production of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in supernatants. Dexamethasone reduced the viral titers of supernatants and cell lysates, viral RNA of infected cells, and susceptibility of RV14 infection in association with inhibition of cytokine production and ICAM-1 induction. In contrast to RV14 infection, dexamethasone did not alter RV2 infection, a minor group of RVs. These results suggest that dexamethasone may inhibit RV14 infection by reducing the surface expression of ICAM-1 in cultured human tracheal epithelial cells. Glucocorticoid may modulate airway inflammation via reducing the production of proinflammatory cytokines and ICAM-1 induced by rhinovirus infection.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Effect of acute hypoxia on vasopressin release and intravascular fluid during dynamic exercise in humans.

To test the hypothesis that acute hypoxia does not modify the relationship between plasma vasopressin concentration ([AVP](p)) and plasma osmolality (P(osmol)) during exercise and that the increase in [AVP](p) during exercise is due mainly to the exercise intensity-dependent increase in P(osmol), we examined [AVP](p) during a graded exercise in a hypoxic condition (13% O(2), N(2) balance) in seven healthy male subjects. A graded exercise in a normoxic condition on a separate day served as the control. Hypoxia reduced peak aerobic power (VO(2 peak)) by 32.4 +/- 2.7%. Blood samples obtained during rest and at around 25, 45, 65, 80, and 100% of VO(2 peak) of each of the respective conditions were used for analyses of intravascular water and electrolyte balance. The pattern of the changes in fluid and electrolyte balance in response to percent VO(2 peak) was similar between the two conditions. Plasma volume decreased linearly as percent VO(2 peak) increased while P(osmol) increased in a curvilinear fashion with a steep increase occurring at above approximately 66% VO(2 peak). Above this relative exercise intensity, plasma sodium, potassium, and lactate concentrations also increased, whereas plasma bicarbonate concentration decreased. Thus transvascular fluid movement at above approximately 66% VO(2 peak) was due to the net efflux of hypotonic fluid out of the vascular space in both conditions. The relationship between [AVP](p) and P(osmol) during exercise in response to relative exercise intensity was similar between the two conditions. The results indicate that acute mild hypoxia itself has no direct effect on vasopressin release, and it does not modify the relationship between [AVP](p) and P(osmol) during exercise. The results also support the hypothesis that exercise-induced vasopressin release is primarily stimulated by increased P(osmol) produced by hypotonic fluid movement out of the vascular space in a relative exercise intensity-dependent manner.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

The role of parathyroid hormone-related protein in intra-tracheal fluid.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), a multi-functional protein, is produced by many tissues in fetus. PTHrP concentration in amniotic fluid is reported to be significantly higher than in either fetal or maternal plasma. Other investigators have reported that PTHrP in amniotic fluid is derived mainly from amnion. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of fetus to PTHrP in amniotic fluid and the role of PTHrP in human fetal lung tissue. Samples of amniotic fluid, neonatal intra-tracheal fluid, gastric fluid, and the first urine of neonates were obtained at the time of elective cesarean section (n=11), and the concentrations of PTHrP were measured. The PTHrP level in intra-tracheal fluid (41.0+/-19.6 pmol/l, mean+/-SD) was significantly higher than the levels in amniotic fluid (22.1+/-0.8), neonatal gastric fluid (13.5+/-2.5), first urine (0.95+/-0.6), umbilical cord venous and arterial plasma (1.35+/-0.2, 1.63+/-0.3) and maternal plasma (1.05+/-0.1). PTHrP and PTH/PTHrP receptor mRNA were detected in human lung tissue obtained from a fetus stillborn at 36 weeks of gestation. The effects of PTHrP on fetal lung maturation were studied in H441 cells from a human lung epithelial cell line. PTHrP (10(-7)M) significantly suppressed cell proliferation (p<0.05) to approximately 80% of the control level, while administration of PTHrP significantly increased surfactant protein A production (p<0.01). We first demonstrated the high concentration of PTHrP in intra-tracheal fluid that may suggest the positive production of this protein from the fetal lung. The results obtained by in vitro study using a human lung epithelial cell line suggest that PTHrP derived from the fetal lung might modulate its own maturation.

Adenocarcinoma, Papillary↗
PubMed2000

Characteristics of proton NMR T(2) relaxation of water in the normal and regenerating tendon.

The molecular behavior of water in normal and regenerating tendons was analyzed using the transverse relaxation time (T(2)) measured by spin-echo proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy at 2.34 T (25 degrees C). A section of the Achilles tendon was dissected from an anesthetized Japanese white rabbit, and its longitudinal axis was oriented at 0, 35, 54.7, 75, and 90 degrees to the static magnetic field. In the normal tendon, the T(2) relaxation of water presented biexponential relaxation and anisotropy in both the long T(2) (5.41 to 6.21 ms) and short T(2) (0.41 to 1.43 ms) components, in which the greatest values were obtained at 54.7 degrees. However, the range of the anisotropy was much narrower than we expected from the (1)H dipolar interaction of water bound to the collagen fibers in the tendon. The apparent fractions of water proton density also varied with orientation: the fraction of the longer T(2) components was at its maximum at 54.7 degrees. These results suggest that a simple two-compartment model could not be applicable to orientational dependency of the T(2) value of the tendon, and the well ordered water in the short T(2) relaxation component may show an elongated T(2) relaxation time that falls in the range of the long T(2) relaxation component at 54.7 degrees. This hypothesis can explain both the narrower range of the T(2) relaxation time and the orientational dependency on the apparent fraction of (1)H density. Regenerating processes of the Achilles tendon were followed for 18 weeks by analyzing the T(2) relaxation time. There is only a long T(2) relaxation time component (21.8 to 28.0 ms) up to 3 weeks after transection. Biexponential relaxation is revealed at 6 weeks and thereafter, whereby (i) the T(2) relaxation times become shorter, (ii) there is anisotropy in the short and long T(2) values, and (iii) the orientational dependency of the apparent fraction of water proton density becomes evident with maturation of the regenerating tendon. From these results, the (1)H T(2) relaxation time of water might be used to monitor the healing process of collagen structures of the tendon non-invasively.

Animals↗