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Biomedical subjects

T Namba

Publications and source records attributed to T Namba.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin in the management of myasthenia gravis.

Intravenous immunoglobulin, 400 mg/kg, was administered daily for five days to 12 patients with exacerbation of generalized myasthenia gravis. Degree of weakness, duration of illness, use of prednisone, and history of thymectomy or thymoma did not affect the response to intravenous immunoglobulin. Eleven patients improved, beginning 3.6 +/- 2.7 (mean +/- SD) days after the start of treatment and becoming maximal in 8.6 +/- 4.6 days, with sustained improvement lasting 52 +/- 37 days. Vital capacity increased from 1748 +/- 510 to 2700 +/- 614 mL at peak effect. Decreases in strength occurred in four patients beginning on day 3.2 +/- 2.5, lasted 1.5 +/- 0.6 days, and were mild in three patients. Other effects were minimal. There was no significant change in acetylcholine receptor antibody titers, which were elevated in all patients. Immunoglobulin seemed to produce a more rapid improvement than corticosteroids and is recommended as an adjunct in the management of myasthenia gravis exacerbations.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

High-dose intravenous methylprednisolone in myasthenia gravis.

Corticosteroids have been useful in the management of myasthenia gravis (MG), but their efficacy has been limited by the slow onset of improvement, initial worsening of MG, refractoriness of some patients, and side effects of large daily doses. High-dose intravenous methylprednisolone pulses have been reported to produce rapid improvement in several immunologic disorders. In this study we administered 2 g of methylprednisolone intravenously every five days to 15 consecutive patients who had exacerbation of generalized MG. Satisfactory improvement occurred in ten of 15 patients after two courses and in two of five patients after a third course. Onset of improvement began a mean (+/- SD) of 3 +/- 1.1 days after the first infusion, 2.1 +/- 1 days after the second, and 2.4 +/- 1 days after the third, and reached its maximum level 8.9 +/- 6.1 days after the last infusion. A decrease in strength occurred in three patients 1.43 +/- 1.30 days after each infusion, was not marked, and lasted three days, following which improvement generally occurred. Side effects were minimal. After improvement, a daily dose of prednisone (30 mg) was used to maintain improvement. Use of pulse therapy at five-day intervals for the management of severe MG seems to have an advantage in that it produces less initial worsening and more rapid improvement in MG, enabling smaller daily maintenance doses to be employed, with fewer side effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Enzymatic reduction of sennidin and sennoside in Peptostreptococcus intermedius.

Peptostreptococcus intermedius, one of the dominant bacteria of human intestine, reduced sennidin and sennoside to rheinanthrone and 8-glucosyl-rheinanthrone, respectively, and these reduction rates were stimulated by the addition of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced form) (NADH), flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and glucose. The reduction was accelerated by removing oxygen from the incubation tubes, which indicates the inhibition of the reduction by O2. Thus, for the maximal activity, the reaction system required an anaerobic condition and cofactors, NADH and FAD. This bacterium also reduced methyl orange, whose mode of reduction resembled that of sennidin reduction. More than 80% of these activities were recovered in the supernatant fraction after sonication of the bacterial suspension, and these activities were purified together by means of Sephadex G-200 gel-filtration and diethylaminoethyl-cellulose column chromatography. The purified enzyme reduced FAD and benzyl viologen in the presence of NADH under an anaerobic condition.

Anthracenes↗