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Biomedical subjects

Y Doi

Publications and source records attributed to Y Doi.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

Electron microscopy of histamine-induced contraction of the in vitro swine coronary artery.

Dose-dependent contractions of the in vitro swine coronary artery were induced by application of histamine and acetylcholine, but not of angiotensin II, ergonovine, noradrenaline, prostaglandin F2 alpha and serotonin. Ultrastructural changes especially of the tunica intima during the contractions were observed at 2, 5 and 30 min after application of histamine and acetylcholine. The intimal gutter spirally running along the longitudinal axis of the vessel was obscured, and the intimal surface became extensively indented. Exclusively in the histamine-treated samples, the increase in number and size of the intracellular vacuoles and the dilation of the intercellular clefts to the extent of the intercellular vacuoles were observed in the endothelium. Moreover, the enhancement of the endothelial permeability was indicated by the marker experiments using horseradish peroxidase. Such endothelial cell damages and the enhancement of the endothelial permeability may amplify the coronary artery contraction.

Acetylcholine↗

Effects of dietary zinc deficiency on protein secretory functions of the mouse testis.

The effects of dietary zinc deficiency on testicular protein secretion, mainly that by Sertoli cells, were examined by electron microscopy and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of [35S] methionine-labeled secretory proteins from mouse testes. Zinc deficiency caused a significant decrease in the gonadosomatic index and a distinct increase in deoxyribonucleic acid concentration. Sertoli cells maintained normal fine-structural features; junctional complexes among Sertoli cells continued to divide seminiferous tubules into basal and adluminal compartments in the zinc-deficient mouse testes. Severe atrophic changes were observed in spermatogenic cells after meiotic division in the adluminal compartment, but not in spermatogonia located in the basal compartment. Zinc replacement treatment caused spermatogenesis to recover normally. Although total protein secretion was not affected by zinc deficiency, one polypeptide spot appeared due mainly to the loss of its target spermatogenic cells. The present study indicates that zinc is indispensable for spermatogenic cells after meiosis and that testicular protein secretory functions can be preserved in the absence of zinc.

Animals↗

Effect of the adrenal inhibitor trilostane on the morphology of the adrenocortical cells of Dahl salt-sensitive and Dahl salt-resistant rats.

The effects of trilostane on the adrenal cortex of Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) and Dahl salt-resistant (DR) rats were investigated morphometrically, histochemically, ultrastructurally and biochemically. The statistical analysis indicated that trilostane induced a significant increase in the adrenal weight and the surface area of cells and nuclei in the zona fasciculata (ZF) of the adrenal cortex of DS and DR rats (P less than O.OI). DS rats treated with trilostane revealed marked accumulation of large amounts of lipid droplets and a decrease in the activity of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD) in the ZF. Ultrastructurally, the mitochondria of the ZF in DS rats treated with trilostane revealed swelling of matrix with a loss of cristae and occasional interruption of the membranes of mitochondria. Some of them had a continuity with lipid vacuoles or SER, presenting a characteristic 'feather'-like appearance. Other characteristic findings in DS rats treated with trilostane were a marked villous proliferation of plasma membranes with numerous dense bodies, occasional coated pits, and pinocytic vesicles in the outer portion of the ZF. In DS and DR rats the plasma level of ACTH increased, and corticosterone decreased significantly (P less than O.OI) after treatment with trilostane. These morphological alterations were considered to be an expression of the inhibitory effects of trilostane on the adrenal steroidogenesis in DS and DR rats, more especially in DS rats. Simultaneously there were confirmed morphological alterations in the cells of the ZF, reflecting the feedback stimulation of endogenous ACTH. The cells of the ZF of DS rats were more responsive to suppression by trilostane than those of DR rats.

3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases↗

Relationship between blood pressure and left ventricular mass in male patients with essential hypertension.

We performed retrospective study of the relationship between the severity and duration of hypertension and echocardiographically-detected left ventricular hypertrophy (echo-LVH) in patients with untreated essential hypertension. The subjects consisted of 92 untreated essential hypertensives who were observed for more than 5 years from the onset of diastolic hypertension (greater than or equal to 95 mmHg), and whose left ventricular (LV) mass index was measured at the end of the observation period. On the basis of the frequency of diastolic hypertension during the observation period, the population was categorized in 3 groups. In Group I (32 cases), diastolic hypertension was observed in more than 80% of blood pressures obtained throughout the entire observation period. In Group II (38 cases), diastolic hypertension was observed in 33 to 80% of the observation period. In Group III (22 cases), diastolic hypertension was observed in less than 33% of the observation period. The average diastolic blood pressure during the entire observation period in each group were 101.0, 96.0, and 90.7 mmHg in groups I, II, and III, respectively. The LV mass index was significantly higher in groups I (114.6 g/m2) and II (105.3 g/m2) than in group III (90.7 g/m2) (p less than 0.01). The prevalence of echo-LVH (more than 121 g/m2) was 34.4%, 18.4%, and 4.8% in groups I, II, and III, respectively. The average diastolic blood pressure in patients with echo-LVH (99.3 +/- 5.1 mmHg) was significantly higher than in patients without echo-LVH (95.7 +/- 4.7 mmHg). We concluded that the degree and duration of diastolic pressure elevation are closely correlated to the LV mass index.

Blood Pressure↗

[Prognostic significance of perfusion defect and its extension in dilated cardiomyopathy: assessment with thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy].

To determine whether a change in the size of a scintigraphic perfusion defect is of prognostic significance in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), we performed thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy twice for each of 13 patients with mean intervals of 45 +/- 18 months. Seven patients showed clinical deterioration (Group D) during the follow-up period of 58 +/- 22 months; whereas, 6 patients improved clinically as well as echocardiographically (LVDd < or = 5.5 cm and %FS > or = 20%) (Group I). 1. The initial scintigraphy showed that 3 patients had large defects (LD), 2 had multiple small defects (MSD) and 2 had no defects (NL) in Group D. Among 6 patients in Group I, one had LD, 3 had MSD and 2 had NL. 2. The second scintigraphy showed that in 5 patients in Group D, the defects were progressively enlarged and in the remaining 2 who had no defects at the initial scintigraphy, new defects developed (MSD). Among 6 patients in Group I, no patient had enlargement of defects. In 4 patients with defects (1LD, 3MSD), the sizes in their defects reduced. 3. At the initial study, all 7 patients in Group D fitted NYHA functional class III-IV; while, in Group I, 4 of the 6 patients fitted class III-IV and 2 patients class II. In the second study, all 7 patients in Group D remained in class III-IV; whereas, all 6 patients in Group I fitted class I-II. Five of the 7 patients in Group D died of heart failure after the second study.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

[Significance of diffuse slow washout in dipyridamole loading thallium-201 myocardial perfusion scintigraphy].

To assess the significance of diffuse slow washout (DSW) in dipyridamole loading thallium-201 myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, 382 patients were studied. DSW were observed in 69 (24%) of 285 patients with perfusion defects, 5 (5%) of 97 patients without perfusion defects. There was significant relation between DSW and perfusion defects (p less than 0.01). Coronary angiography showed multivessel disease in 84% single vessel disease in 12% of patients with DSW and multivessel disease in 28%, single vessel disease in 50% of patients without DSW. During a mean follow up period of 29 months, initial CABG or PTCA were done in 41%, cardiac death occurred in 12%, nonfatal cardiac events occurred in 7% of patients with DSW and perfusion defects. In patients without DSW, initial CABG or PTCA were done in 11%, cardiac death occurred in 7%, nonfatal cardiac events occurred in 5%. Patients without perfusion defects had good prognosis regardless of the presence or absence of DSW. In conclusion, DSW indicates serious cardiac ischemia in patients with perfusion defects. DSW does not indicate cardiac ischemia in patients without perfusion defects.

Aged↗

[Radiographic visualization of pleural space under negative pleural pressure].

Although many imaging modalities have developed in the area of pulmonary medicine, information about the condition of pleural surface is limited. In this study, we carried out contrast pleurography under negative pleural pressure in dogs and humans to evaluate the condition of the pleural space including adhesion between the two pleural layers, incomplete fissure and features of the pleural surface. After insertion of a flower-type catheter into the pleural space under ultrasonic guidance, contrast material (60% Meglumine iotalamate, Conray 60, 0.5-1.0 ml/kg) was injected into the pleural space through the catheter. In dogs with intact pleura, contrast material distributed to the pulmonary surface, including interlobar spaces, rapidly. In dogs with pleural adhesion which was induced artificially with talc, affected areas were visualized as defects of contrast material. In humans, this contrast pleurography provided information about pleural adhesion, pulmonary lobulation, extent of cancer to neighbouring lobes, irregular pleural surface due to bullae formation and pleural indentation by cancerous lesion. There was no serious complication in dogs and human studies. This contrast pleurography is unique because it is possible to evaluate the pleural space physiologically under negative pressure condition. It may be concluded that this method of pleurography is useful for the clinical evaluation of the condition of the pleura in various lung diseases.

Adult↗

[A case of diffuse panbronchiolitis, performed an open lung biopsy after improvement with 6 years medication].

A 51-year-old male was hospitalized in June 1983, complaining of productive cough and dyspnea. Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) was diagnosed on the basis of the physical examination, chest roentgenogram, chest CT and transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB). The patient underwent surgery for chronic sinusitis and deviated nasal septum, and received Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine, ampicillin and erythromycin. He revealed a posterior mediastinal tumor in March 1989. The clinical findings of DPB improved but open lung biopsy was performed on the occasion of surgery for the posterior mediastinal tumor. Pathologically, fibrosis and mild infiltration of mononuclear cells localized in the walls of respiratory bronchioli and in surrounding areas was recognized in addition to slight accumulation of foamy macrophages in interstitial spaces. These morphological findings, as well as the clinical findings, might suggest repair of DPB lesions.

Bronchiolitis↗

A vitamin-K2-binding factor secreted from Bacillus subtilis.

The synthesis of vitamin K2 by Bacillus subtilis was found to increase in parallel with the number of cells. In the exponential growth phase, most vitamin K2 was found in the bacterial cells. At the end of the growth phase, however, the soluble form of vitamin K2 appeared in the incubation media and amounted to 40% of the total vitamin K2 at the stationary phase. DEAE ion-exchange chromatography of the incubation medium showed a single elution peak corresponding to vitamin K2, suggesting the secretion of vitamin K2 in the form of a soluble complex with a specific acidic binding factor. This factor was partially purified by consecutive DEAE chromatography, and examined by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis. A band stainable with acridine orange, a cationic dye, was found to co-migrate with vitamin K2. This band was also visualized by periodic acid/Schiff staining. Gel-permeation chromatography showed that the binding factor in its active form has an apparent molecular mass of 100 kDa and is capable of binding exogenous menaquinone but not menadione. Chemical analysis indicated that this binding factor contained about 20% carbohydrate and 80% peptide which consisted mainly of Leu, Glu, Asp and Val. The new acidic glycoconjugate was designated as the vitamin-K2-binding factor.

Amino Acids↗

Weak binding of divalent cations to plasma gelsolin.

Calcium binding of swine plasma gelsolin was examined. When applied to ion-exchange chromatography, its elution volume was drastically altered depending on the free Ca2+ concentration of the medium. The presence of two classes of Ca2+ binding sites, high-affinity sites (Kd = 7 microM) and low-affinity sites (Kd = 1 mM), was suggested from the concentration dependence of the elution volume. The tight binding sites were specific for Ca2+. The weakly bound Ca2+ could be replaced by Mg2+ once the tight binding sites were occupied with Ca2+. The binding of metal ions was totally reversible. Circular dichroism measurement of plasma gelsolin indicated that most change in secondary structure was associated with Ca2+ binding to the high-affinity sites. Binding of Mg2+ to the low-affinity sites caused a secondary structural change different from that caused by Ca2+ bound to the high-affinity sites. Gel permeation chromatography exhibited a small change in Stokes radius with and without Ca2+. Microheterogeneity revealed by isoelectric focusing did not relate to the presence of two classes of Ca2+ binding sites. These results indicated that plasma gelsolin drastically altered its surface charge property due to binding of Ca2+ or Ca2+, Mg2+ with a concomitant conformational change.

Animals↗

Cyclic nature of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) metabolism in Alcaligenes eutrophus.

The cyclic process of biosynthesis and degradation of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) was studied in Alcaligenes eutrophus under conditions of nitrogen-limitation of growth. A. eutrophus cells, which had accumulated poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) of 55 wt% content within cells from butyric acid, were transferred into a nitrogen-free medium containing pentanoic acid as the sole carbon source and cultivated at 30 degrees C and pH 7.5. The content of PHB in A. eutrophus cells decreased with time, whereas a copolyester of 3-hydroxybutyrate (HB) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (HV) units, P(HB-co-HV), was accumulated in the presence of pentanoic acid. Conversely, when A. eutrophus cells with 50 wt% content of P(HB-co-56% HV) were incubated in a nitrogen-free medium containing butyric acid, the content of P(HB-co-56% HV) decreased with time, whereas PHB was accumulated. These results indicate the cyclic nature of PHA metabolism in A. eutrophus under these conditions.

Alcaligenes↗

Biosynthesis and characterization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) in Alcaligenes eutrophus.

Copolyesters of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) were produced by Alcaligenes eutrophus at 30 degrees C in nitrogen-free culture solutions containing gamma-butyrolactone alone or with fructose or butyric acid as the carbon sources. When gamma-butyrolactone was used as the sole carbon source, the 4HB fraction in copolyester increased from 9 to 21 mol% as the concentration of gamma-butyrolactone in the culture solution increased from 10 to 25 g/l. The addition of fructose to the culture solution of gamma-butyrolactone resulted in a decrease in the 4HB fraction in copolyester. The copolyesters produced from gamma-butyrolactone and fructose by A. eutrophus were shown to have random sequence distribution of 3HB and 4HB units by analysis of the 125 MHz 13C n.m.r. spectra. In contrast, a mixture of random copolyesters with two different 4HB fractions was produced by A. eutrophus when gamma-butyrolactone and butyric acid were used as the carbon sources. These results are discussed on the basis of a proposed biosynthetic pathway of P(3HB-co-4HB). The copolyester films became soft with an increase in the 4HB fraction, and the elongation to break at 23 degrees C increased from 5 to 444% as the 4HB fraction increased from 0 to 16 mol%. The P(3HB-co-10% 4HB) film was shown to be biodegradable in an activated sludge.

Alcaligenes↗

Viscoelastic relaxations and thermal properties of bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate).

3-Hydroxybutyrate-3-hydroxyvalerate (3HB-3HV) as well as 3-hydroxybutyrate-4-hydroxybutyrate (3HB-4HB) copolyesters have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanical spectroscopy, over a wide range of compositions (0-95 mol% 3HV; 0-82 mol% 4HB). Both series of isolated copolyesters are partially crystalline at all compositions. Quenched samples show a glass transition that decreases linearly with increasing co-monomer molar fraction, more markedly when the co-monomer is 4HB. Above Tg, all copolyesters, rich in 3HB units, show a cold crystallization phenomenon followed by melting, while at the other end crystallization on heating is observed only in 3HB-3HV copolymers. The viscoelastic spectrum, strongly affected by thermal history, shows two relaxation regions: the glass transition, whose location depends on copolymer type and composition, and a secondary dispersion region at low temperatures (-130/-80 degrees C). The latter results from a water-related relaxation analogous to that of P(3HB) and, in 3HB-4HB copolymers, from another overlapping absorption peak centered at -130 degrees C, attributed to local motion of the methylene groups in the linear 4HB units.

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning↗

Right bundle branch block. Echocardiographic study with special reference to the site of block within the right bundle.

One hundred and fifty-seven patients with complete right bundle branch block (CRBBB) were studied with echocardiography (UCG). In 87 of them, both ECG and UCG of good quality were obtained and analyzed to differentiate the site of the block within the right bundle. Their mean age was 53.2 +/- 17.6 (SD) years, and they consisted of 62 males (50.2 +/- 16.8 years) and 25 females (60.8 +/- 17.3 years), suggesting that males were more susceptible to CRBBB than females, with a male to female ratio of 2.48 among our study group. In a normal control group, the time interval from the initial deflection of the QRS complex of the ECG to mitral valve closure (QMC) was 52.3 +/- 11.6 msec, to tricuspid valve closure (QTC) 87.7 +/- 11.5 msec, to the point of full opening of the pulmonary valve (QPO) 124.5 +/- 13.7 msec, from mitral to tricuspid valve closure (MCTC) 35.5 +/- 11.2 msec, and from tricuspid valve closure to the maximum opening of the pulmonary valve (TCPO) 38.0 +/- 13.8 msec, and in patients with CRBBB, QMC 58.7 +/- 13.2 msec, QTC 95.4 +/- 24.2 msec, QPO 169.1 +/- 24.6 msec, MCTC 36.7 +/- 18.2 msec, and TCPO 73.7 +/- 23.7 msec. Although prolonged QMC and QTC are characteristic features in CRBBB as a whole, CRBBB was divided into 4 groups in this study depending on the difference in MCTC and TCPO: Proximal block with prolonged MCTC, peripheral block with prolonged TCPO, diffuse block with both MCTC and TCPO prolonged, and non-specific block without prolongation of either of the two. The incidences were 11.5% (10 patients) for proximal block, 64.4% (56 patients) for peripheral block, 16.1% (14 patients) for diffuse block, and 8.0% (7 patients) for non-specific block. Thus, conduction disturbance in the peripheral portion of the right bundle branch was observed in 80.5% of our cases, suggesting that peripheral block is much more common than proximal block in adults.

Adult↗

[Apatite-collagen complex. Preparation of a new apatite-collagen complex].

A new apatite-collagen complex was prepared in calcium beta-glycerophosphate solutions at pH 8.50. For this preparation, reconstituted type I collagen was cross-linked with phosvitin in the presence of alkaline phosphatase by use of a cross-linking agent of dimethyl suberimidate. After two weeks of immersion in daily-renewed solution of calcium beta-glycerophosphate, the complex contained apatite approximately two times the modified collagen in weight. When viewed in a scanning electron microscope, needle-like crystals precipitated densely on the collagen fibrils. However, in some portion of the complex, dot-like precipitate was observed as well. X-ray diffraction and IR analyses of the complex suggested that the apatite precipitated on the collagen fibrils was very similar to bone mineral in two aspects, crystallinity and carbonate content.

Apatites↗