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Biomedical subjects

T Ohkawa

Publications and source records attributed to T Ohkawa.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

The effects of intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with epirubicin and bacillus Calmette-Guérin for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer: a preliminary report.

The effects of intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with epirubicin and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer (pTa, pT1) were investigated in 29 patients aged a median of 70 years between January of 1991 and May of 1993. The patients received intravesical instillation of 40 mg epirubicin immediately after transurethral resection (TUR) of the bladder cancer. At 1 week after TUR, 80 mg Tokyo-strain BCG was instilled into the bladder once a week for 6 weeks. Thereafter, the patients were followed by cystoscopy and urinary cytology at 3-month intervals until recurrence was detected. Of the 29 patients, 28 had no evidence of disease over a mean follow-up period of 20 months. The 1 case of recurrence occurred at 3 months after TUR and that patient died of cancer progression. The simple recurrence rate was 3.5% after therapy. According to the person-years method, the number of recurrent tumors per 100 patient-months was 0.17. The cumulative nonrecurrence rate determined for all cases was 96.5% at 30 months. Adverse reactions, including urinary frequency, urgency, and miction pain, among others, were observed in 27 patients (93%). Only 1 patient was withdrawn from the treatment because of severe bladder-irritation symptoms due to the BCG instillation. The intravesical chemoimmunotherapy with epirubicin and BCG seemed to be effective for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer.

Administration, Intravesical↗
PubMed1994

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1)- and beta 2-like activities in malignant pleural effusions caused by malignant mesothelioma or primary lung cancer.

We investigated the levels of TGF-beta in malignant pleural effusions (MPE) caused by malignant mesothelioma (MESO) or primary lung cancer. TGF-beta levels in MPE caused by MESO were 283.9 +/- 219.2 pm (mean +/- s.d.) and were three to six times higher than those due to primary lung cancers (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). We also evaluated TGF-beta 1- and beta 2-like activities in MPE using specific polyclonal antibodies. Although TGF-beta 1-like activity could be detected in all cases, TGF-beta 2-like activities were detected in five of seven in MESO and in a few cases with primary lung cancer. These results demonstrate that the levels of total TGF-beta and TGF-beta 2-like activity may be clinically useful to differentiate MESO from primary lung cancer. Our data also suggest that TGF-beta may help further characterize the clinical features of MESO.

Carcinoma, Small Cell↗
PubMed1994

Analysis of lymphocyte subsets in a renal allograft recipient infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

OBJECTIVE: To study the change in lymphocyte subsets of a renal allograft recipient who acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. PATIENT AND METHODS: A 53-year-old Japanese man who acquired HIV infection at the time of renal transplantation and died from opportunistic infection 3 years later was studied. Lymphocyte subsets were examined serially throughout his clinical course. RESULTS: The numbers of CD4 positive cells were severely decreased but those of CD8 positive cells were stable; the CD 4/8 ratio was extremely low. The numbers of B cells were also decreased but production of immunoglobulin was increased. In spite of this immunosuppressive state, graft rejection was noted when the patient's immunosuppressive medication was reduced. CONCLUSION: The lymphocyte subsets of renal transplant patients with HIV infection should be closely observed, as should the nature and timing of opportunistic infection in relation to transplantation, and the administration of immunosuppressive medication.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

A cysteine protease encoded by the baculovirus Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus.

Sequence analysis of the BamHI F fragment of the genome of Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) revealed an open reading frame whose deduced amino acid sequence had homology to those of cysteine proteases of the papain superfamily. The putative cysteine protease sequence (BmNPV-CP) was 323 amino acids long and showed 35% identity to a cysteine proteinase precursor from Trypanosoma brucei. Of 36 residues conserved among cathepsins B, H, L, and S and papain, 31 were identical in BmNPV-CP. In order to determine the activity and function of the putative cysteine protease, a BmNPV mutant (BmCysPD) was constructed by homologous recombination of the protease gene with a beta-galactosidase gene cassette. BmCysPD-infected BmN cell extracts were significantly reduced in acid protease activity compared with wild-type virus-infected cell extracts. The cysteine protease inhibitor E-64 [trans-epoxysuccinylleucylamido-(4-guanidino)butane] inhibited wild-type virus-expressed protease activity. Deletion of the cysteine protease gene had no significant effect on viral growth or polyhedron production in BmN cells, indicating that the cysteine protease was not essential for viral replication in vitro. However, B. mori larvae infected with BmCysPD showed symptoms different from those of wild-type BmNPV-infected larvae, e.g., less degradation of the body, including fat body cells, white body surface color due presumably to undegraded epidermal cells, and an increase in the number of polyhedra released into the hemolymph. This is the first report of (i) a virus-encoded protease with activity on general substrates and (ii) evidence that a virus-encoded protease may play a role in degradation of infected larvae to facilitate horizontal transmission of the virus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist on steroidogenesis in the rat ovary.

To assess the regulatory roles of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in ovarian function, the kinetics of the ovarian GnRH receptor and the effects of the GnRH superagonist buserelin on steroidogenesis in ovarian cell culture were examined. Scatchard analysis of buserelin-binding to crude ovarian cell membrane revealed a specific high-affinity GnRH receptor. Buserelin together with follicle-stimulating hormone stimulated estradiol (E2) production in immature follicles in hypophysectomized and DES-treated rats. On the other hand, applied to developing follicles of rats treated with pregnant-mare-serum gonadotropin buserelin suppressed E2 production to terminate follicle maturation and simultaneously stimulated progesterone (P4) production to induce luteinization. With ovarian cells luteinized by human chorionic gonadotropin in vitro, buserelin suppressed production of both P4 and E2, leading to luteolysis. Buserelin affected steroid production by modulating activities of key enzymes in steroid synthesis. These findings indicate that buserelin action depended on the gonadotropin priming of ovarian cells, and suggest the possible involvement of GnRH in the regulation of steroidogenesis throughout the ovulatory cycle.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

The involvement of dopamine in the regulation of steroidogenesis in rat ovarian cells.

To investigate a role for dopamine (DA) in steroidogenesis in the rat ovary, ovarian cells of pregnant-mare-serum gonadotropin (PMSG)-treated rats were incubated with DA agonists, antagonists, adrenergic drugs and beta-blocker for 1 h. DA, norepinephrine (NE) and isoproterenol (Iso) increased the level of progesterone (P4) and cAMP in the conditioned medium. D1 agonists (SKF38393, SKF82526J, CY208-243) increased P4 secretion, while the D2 agonist, bromocriptine, showed no significant effect on P4 secretion. The effect of NE or Iso was inhibited by the beta-blocker propranolol (Pro), but was not suppressed by the D2 antagonist, domperidone. The effects of D1 agonists were suppressed by bulbocapnine (Bul), while neither Pro nor the D2 antagonist, domperidone, affected the levels of P4. The D1 receptor was demonstrated in the PMSG-treated rat ovary, and its Bmax was 1.33 fmol/mg tissue and the Kd was 0.357 nM. These results suggest that DA has a direct stimulatory effect on P4 secretion in PMSG-treated rat ovarian cells through they D1 receptor. The observed action may indicate a physiological role for DA in the regulation of ovarian functions in rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Thimerosal induces toxic reaction in non-sensitized animals.

The effects of injection of thimerosal solution on nonsensitized animals was investigated. Intrafootpad injection of thimerosal solution in nonsensitized mice resulted in a swelling response which peaked 1 h after injection and lasted for more than 24 h. Histopathological examination showed that there were severe edema and infiltration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils at the site of injection. An increased vascular permeability was observed after cutaneous injection of thimerosal solution on the back of nonsensitized rats. Since mercuric chloride and methyl mercury induced severer reactions, and thiosalicylic acid had no effect, mercury contained in thimerosal would have caused the reactions observed in this study. These results suggest that part of these hypersensitivity reactions against thimerosal observed among patients were possibly induced by the toxic effect of thimerosal. Therefore, thimerosal contained as a preservative in vaccine may augment the side-effects of the vaccination.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[Prostate specific antigen in patients with prostatic cancer--clinical usefulness of its measurement with sensitive enzyme immunoassay, TOSOH II PA assay].

The TOSOH II PA (AIA-PACK PA in the U.S.A.) monoclonal immunoenzyme assay was used and the clinical usefulness of prostate specific antigen (PSA) was evaluated in 39 men with prostatic cancer and 32 men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) confirmed pathologically. We evaluated the lower limit of detection in this assay by the mean PSA level plue 3 standard deviations in 5 separate experiments with a zero control sera as well as the mean PSA level minus 3 standard deviations in 5 separate experiments with serial dilutions of a known concentration of PSA. PSA concentrations of 0 to 0.25 ng/ml could not be distinguished from the zero control. Therefore, we set the lower limit of detection for the assay as 0.25 ng/ml. At our laboratory, the normal standard value was determined by the mean PSA level plus 3 standard deviations in 79 healthy men as 2.3 ng/ml. Of patients that underwent radical cystoprostatectomy for bladder cancer, all had PSA levels less than 0.25 ng/ml, while only 6% had PAP levels less than 0.11 ng/ml, the lower limit of detection in the TOSOH II PAP assay. We compared TOSOH II PA with Markit PA, a commonly used assay in Japan. Although there was a close linear correlation (r = 0.90) between the TOSOH II PA and Markit PA, the difference of slope in the linear regression lines was great, it was thought due to anti-PSA antibodies in each assay recognizing different epitopes of PSA in the blood.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Clinical efficacy of sairei-to in various urinary tract diseases centering on fibrosis].

A joint multi-institution study was conducted on the efficacy of Sairei-to, centering on urinary tract fibrosis. The subjects consisted of 18 patients with retroperitoneal fibrosis (including 3 women), 77 patients with plastic induration of penis, 5 patients with sclerotic lipogranuloma (all men), and 67 patients with hemorrhagic cystitis (including 6 men). As a rule, Sairei-to was administered in monotherapy for periods of 4 weeks or longer. Efficacy was most pronounced in the patients with sclerotic lipogranuloma and plastic induration of penis, with overall improvement rates (percentage of patients with ratings of effective or better) of 80% in the former and 77.9% in the latter group. The overall improvement rate in the patients with retroperitoneal fibrosis was 61.1%. In the above diseases, there were numerous patients concurrently administered drugs such as antiinflammatory enzyme preparations and corticoid preparations, and the improvement rates were somewhat higher in these patients treated concurrently with other drugs. Outstanding efficacy was also seen in hemorrhagic cystitis. Dividing the patients into irradiation and non-irradiation groups, respective overall improvement rates of 77.8% and 82.8% were obtained, with the non-irradiation group showing a slightly higher rate. The non-irradiation group showed slightly higher improvement rates in the subjects treated concurrently with drugs such as antibacterial drug. Conversely, the irradiation group showed significantly superior rates for monotherapy. Side effects such as mild gastrointestinal disturbances were seen in only 13 of 167 patients (7.8%), and the utility of this drug in treatment of the above diseases should be held in high regard.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[An early phase II study of CPT-11 (irinotecan hydrochloride) in patients with advanced breast cancer].

An early phase II study of irinotecan (CPT-11) in patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer was undertaken by a cooperative study group of 15 institutes in Japan. CPT-11 was administered by intravenous drip-infusion. The administration schedules were 100 mg/m2 weekly (regimen A), 150 mg/m2 biweekly (regimen B), and 200 mg/m2 every 3-4 weeks (regimen C). There were 4 partial responses (PRs), 12 cases with no changes (1 minor response) and 9 cases of progressive diseases with a response rate of 16% (4/25). One out of 7 patients on regimen A and 3 patients out of 15 patients on regimen C achieved PR with a response rate of 14% and 20%, respectively. In three out of 4 PRs, prior chemotherapy, endocrinotherapy or radiotherapy had failed. Major adverse reactions were leukopenia 28/33 (85%), neutropenia 19/25 (76%), anemia 15/33 (46%), nausea/vomiting 28/33 (85%), anorexia 25/33 (76%), diarrhea 22/33 (67%) and alopecia 20/33 (61%). The incidence of leukopenia and thrombocytopenia seemed to be higher in regimen C than regimen A, and diarrhea was also more severe in regimen C than regimen A. The recovery of leukopenia was delayed in some patients on regimen C. The results suggested that CPT-11 was effective against advanced or recurrent breast cancer. The recommended administration schedule for a late phase II study was thought to be 100 mg/m2 weekly, considering efficacy and safety.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Chain terminator sequencing of double-stranded DNA with built-in error correction.

Chain terminator sequencing is usually performed on single-stranded DNA. We propose a technique to determine a DNA sequence by sequencing both strands of a double strand in two four-lane gels. The first set of four lanes will contain a superposition of sequence information from the two complementary strands. The second set of four lanes will contain a different superposition in which one of the two single strands is "shifted" relative to the other. This technique provides redundant information sufficient for error correction--not just the error detection achieved by the standard approach of separately sequencing a single strand and its complement. The information content per four-lane gel is more than 50% higher in this double-stranded approach. Using this technique, the number of chain sequencings--including chain syntheses and gel separations--required to achieve a desired level of accuracy can be reduced by up to a factor of two. Unlike the ordinary single-stranded sequencing, some analysis is required to obtain the single-stranded sequence information from the double-stranded data, particularly in the presence of sequencing errors. This analysis and a computer simulation of double-stranded sequencing in the presence of errors are presented.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Effect of urinary macromolecules on aggregation of calcium oxalate in recurrent calcium stone formers and healthy.

The inhibitory activity of urinary macromolecules on the aggregation of calcium oxalate crystals was studied using an aggregometer originally devised to measure thrombocyte aggregation capacity by means of the optical turbidity at 660 nm. The macromolecular fraction of the urine (molecular weight above 5000) of recurrent calcium stone formers showed much less inhibitory activity than that of healthy controls (P < 0.05). It was speculated on the basis of the results of gel filtration that there were some proteins (molecular weight about 10,000-30,000) which had inhibitory activities for the aggregation of calcium oxalate. This gives support to the assumption that macromolecules are important during the phase of aggregation of calcium oxalate crystals.

Calcium Oxalate↗
PubMed1993

Cytotype control of Drosophila melanogaster P element transposition: genomic position determines maternal repression.

P element transposition in Drosophila is controlled by the cytotype regulatory state: in P cytotype, transposition is repressed, whereas in M cytotype, transposition can occur. P cytotype is determined by a combination of maternally inherited factors and chromosomal P elements in the zygote. Transformant strains containing single elements that encoded the 66-kD P element protein zygotically repressed transposition, but did not display the maternal repression characteristic of P cytotype. Upon mobilization to new genomic positions, some of these repressor elements showed significant maternal repression of transposition in genetic assays, involving a true maternal effect. Thus, the genomic position of repressor elements can determine the maternal vs. zygotic inheritance of P cytotype. Immunoblotting experiments indicate that this genomic position effect does not operate solely by controlling the expression level of the 66-kD repressor protein during oogenesis. Likewise, P element derivatives containing the hsp26 maternal regulator sequence expressed high levels of the 66-kD protein during oogenesis, but showed no detectable maternal repression. These data suggest that the location of a repressor element in the genome may determine maternal inheritance of P cytotype by a mechanism involving more than the overall level of expression of the 66-kD protein in the ovary.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Erythroderma, hair loss, and sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy in a XYY-male.

This paper presents a case of sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML) presenting as erythroderma in an XYY-male aged 27. The patient had little or no scalp, axillary, or pubic hair. Histologically, lymph nodes indicated dilatation of the sinuses with proliferation of benign-appearing histiocytes possessing abundant clear cytoplasm, admixed with giant cells and pericapsular fibrosis. Infiltrating histiocytes in the lymph nodes were OKM-1 (CD11b) positive, which is characteristic of monocyte-granulocyte lineages. In the present case, the abnormal presence of erythroderma, hair loss, SHML, and a chromosomal abnormality, XYY, were thought to be incidental features.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Potentiation of metastatic capacity by transforming growth factor-beta 1 gene transfection.

This study was designed to assess whether the excessive secretion of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with TGF-beta 1 gene may be linked to the development of a metastatic phenotype. We observed large numbers of metastatic colonies in the lungs of nude mice inoculated with the transfected CHO cells. The tumors derived from these transfected cells demonstrated marked angiogenesis. We postulate that the overproduction of TGF-beta 1 by these tumors may participate in the metastatic progression following establishment of angiogenesis at the primary tumor site.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Local production and localization of transforming growth factor-beta in tuberculous pleurisy.

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is one of the cytokines which play an immunosuppressive role in an inflammatory process. To investigate the local production of TGF-beta, we evaluated the levels of TGF-beta in tuberculous pleural effusions (TBPE) and non-tuberculous benign pleural effusions (non-TBPE) by the growth inhibition assay with Mv1Lu mink lung epithelial cells. The mean level of TGF-beta in TBPE (46.1 +/- 31.5 pM; mean +/- s.d.) was higher than in non-TBPE (21.7 +/- 12.3 pM) (P < 0.05). Although the level of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in TBPE measured by ELISA was significantly higher than in non-TBPE, there was no significant difference in the levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) measured by ELISA between these two groups. Moreover, to elucidate localization of TGF-beta in tuberculous pleurisy, immunohistochemical studies of pleura, using the rabbit polyclonal antibody Ab39 against latent TGF-beta 1 binding protein (LTBP) were performed. Results revealed that LTBP was localized in immature fibrotic areas where infiltrations of T lymphocytes and macrophages were absent. Importantly, the major sources of LTBP in these areas were thought to be mesothelial cells and fibroblasts. LTBP was not found in granulomas and mature fibrotic areas. Our data suggest that TGF-beta in tuberculous pleurisy may play important roles for regression of granulomatous inflammation and pleural fibrosis for tissue repair.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Active uptake of oxalate in a renal tubular cell line (LLC-PK1)].

The oxalate uptake was studied in LLC-PK1 cells, an epithelial cell line originated in proximal tubular cells of porcine kidney. It was clear that the cells contain an oxalate exchanger highly sensitive to 4,4-diisothio-cyanostilbene-2-' disulfonic acid (DIDS). The uptake was inhibited by the addition of inorganic anions (chloride, sulphate and bicarbonate) to the reaction system, but was unaffected by sodium ion. The data suggest the possibility that it should be consistent with at least two transport systems for oxalate in LLC-PK1 cells, a SO4-/oxalate/HCO3- exchanger and a Cl-/oxalate exchanger.

4-Acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfo↗