Biomedical subjects

Y Inoue

Publications and source records attributed to Y Inoue.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

PubMed2001

[Order-made therapy for early lung cancer patients].

To give optimal treatment to the patients with early lung cancer, we are trying to establish two new techniques to select the patients of poor prognosis and sensitive to the chemotherapy. To pick up the patients of poor prognosis nevertheless the early stage of their lung cancer, we are developing a new method to detect cancer cells floating in the peripheral blood flow with RT-PCR using cancer specific mRNA. To choose optimal chemotherapy regimens, we have established a new chemosensitivity testing (collagen gel droplet embedded culture drug sensitivity test: CDDST) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Median survival time (MST) of the patients (n = 11) with unresectable NSCLC, who were given optimal chemotherapy according to CDDST, was 15.8 months and MST of those (n = 16) who did not have any sensitive agents according to CDDST was 5.6 months. There was significant difference between these two groups (p = 0.0048; logrank).

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMed2001

[An investigation of therapeutic effectiveness and the mechanism of oral appliance therapy on obstructive sleep apnea syndrome].

In order to investigate the effectiveness and the mechanism of action of oral appliances (OA) on obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), a series of studies including overnight polysomnography, both ultrafast MRI and measurement of intraesophageal pressure during daytime naps and cephalometric analysis while awakening were performed on 19 OSAS patients before and during the treatment. In all cases, a significantly decreased apnea hypopnea index (AHI), shortened apnea duration, and a significant elevation in the lowest value of nocturnal arterial oxygen saturation, in comparison with the pretreatment values, were recognized during treatment with OA. The number of patients who responded to OA treatment, i.e., those whose AHI decreased by more than 50% of the pretreatment value, was 13 (68.4%). In cases with an AHI of 30 per hour of sleep or more before treatment, the number of arousals decreased and the percentage in stage 3 + 4 increased significantly during the use of OA. Cephalometric analysis revealed the anteroinferior advancement of the mandible, the anterosuperior movement of the hyoid bone and increase of upper airway area with OA in the cases studied. An MRI of the upper airway during sleep showed that glossopharyngeal obstruction disappeared with the use of OA in all cases, and velopharyngeal obstruction disappeared in nearly half of the cases. Moreover, the fluctuation of the intraesophageal pressure during sleep decreased significantly with OA. There were no differences in clinical background (e.g., age, body mass index, pretreatment value of AHI, and upper airway characteristics) in patients who AHI had decreased to less than 50% and those in whom it remained over 50%. These results confirmed the effectiveness of the treatment with OA. OA can be recommended for OSAS patients with not only glossopharyngeal obstruction, but also velopharyngeal obstruction, which is the most common cause of OSAS.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

[A case of pyoderma gangrenosum after mitral valve replacement].

A 48-year-old male with treated hypothyroidism underwent mechanical valve replacement for mitral valve regurgitation. After the operation, the patient developed progressive median chest wound ulceration. The wound did not heal with conventional therapies for mediastinitis such as administration of antibiotics, debridement of necrotic tissue or continuous irrigation. The entire surgical wound opened spontaneously. Bacterial cultures yielded negative and the wound biopsy specimen revealed non-specific inflammatory change. The anti-TSH receptor antigen level was high. Pyoderma gangrenosum based on auto-immune deficiency was diagnosed and high dose corticosteroid therapy was started. The wound healed completely in 5 months.

Autoantibodies↗

PubMed2001

[A case of short-bowel syndrome treated with parenteral nutrition at home--its effectiveness on improving nutritional status and quality of life].

Although the effectiveness of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) for short-bowel syndrome has already been demonstrated, there are some patients who suffer from severe malnutrition because they cannot be treated with this therapy. We here report the case of a patient with short-bowel syndrome due to massive bowel resection after superior mesenteric artery thrombosis. As she had not received adequate nutritional support, she became severely undernourished and her activities of daily life were very limited during two years after the operation. She was introduced to our department and HPN was initiated. Her nutritional status and quality of life rapidly improved. Thus, we further confirmed the effectiveness of HPN for ambulatory patients with short-bowel syndrome. It is important to take measures not to make patients with short-bowel syndrome, suffering from severe malnutrition without adequate nutritional support, HPN.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

[Case report of systemic lupus erythematosus patient with hemophagocytic syndrome, treated with plasma exchange, with specific reference to clinical profile and serum cytokine levels].

A 42-year-old woman was diagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), because of the findings of polyarthritis, leukopenia, positive antinuclear antibody, and positive anti DNA antibody. She was treated with predonisolone (PSL) at 10 mg per day. She was admitted to our hospital on October 2000 because of spiking high fever, skin eruption, and lymph node swelling. Since her illness of SLE was considered to be worsening, high dose of corticosteroids were given. However, high fever persisted and liver dysfunction was developed with increased serum ferritin. Her bone marrow smear showed hemophagocytosis. We made a diagnosis of hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) complicated by disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). HPS was thought to be induced by viral infection, even though causative viral infection was not detected. Her general condition worsened with persistent high fever and liver dysfunction. Plasma exchange was carried for two consecutive days, followed by cyclosporine A and lipo-dexamethasone, which improved her fever rapidly. Her general condition gradually improved. Serum levels of ferritin, soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL 2-R), interferon-gamma and interleukin 6 decreased associated with improvements of her clinical condition. We thought plasma exchange could be effective to decrease serum levels of cytokine, which was suggested to be the pathogenic to HPS. However serum levels of IFN-gamma and IL 6 after plasma exchange did not change in this case. Further studies are required to confirm the effects of plasma exchange for HPS.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Psychiatric disorders before and after surgery for epilepsy.

PURPOSE: To examine the frequency of psychiatric disorders before and after surgery for epilepsy and the postoperative changes. METHODS: We examined the psychiatric status of 226 patients aged 18 years or older and with IQ >50 who underwent focal resection surgery after age 15 years at our center and were followed up for >2 years after surgery. RESULTS: Seventy-eight (34.5%) patients had psychiatric disorders before and/or after surgery, comprising 36 patients with psychosis, 15 with affective disorders, and 27 with neurotic/behavioral disorders. All but four of these patients had temporal lobe epilepsy. Of the 61 patients who had psychiatric disorders before surgery, 22 patients were free of psychiatric symptoms after surgery (eight with psychosis, 13 with neurotic/behavior disorders, one with affective disorders), and 39 patients continued having psychiatric symptoms after surgery (22 with psychosis, 12 with neurotic/behavior disorders, five with affective disorders). Nine patients had a transient affective disorder that appeared 1-2 months after surgery and disappeared within 1-2 months. In eight patients, chronic psychiatric symptoms manifested after surgery (psychosis in six cases, neurotic/behavior disorders in two), one of whom exhibited postictal psychosis after drug noncompliance. Psychosis that disappeared after surgery was often seizure related. The patients with aggravated psychiatric conditions after surgery had a lower age at epilepsy onset and at surgery, and exhibited deviated personality traits even before surgery. CONCLUSIONS: One third of the surgical patients had psychiatric disorders before and/or after surgery. Preexisting psychiatric problems disappeared after surgery in one third of the patients, but persisted after surgery in the remaining patients, with aggravation in a few. Transient affective disorders appeared in some patients immediately after surgery, and chronic psychiatric disorders appeared after surgery in a minority of patients. The patients having aggravated psychiatric conditions after surgery tended to be young and to have deviated personality traits. The social situation of the patients having psychiatric disorders after surgery was not good.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Fast MR imaging and ultrafast MR imaging of fetal central nervous system abnormalities.

The aims of this study were two: (1) to compare the efficacy of fast MRI (breath-hold fast spin-echo T2-weighted and fast gradient-echo T1-weighted sequence) and ultrafast MRI (half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo sequence) in evaluation of fetal central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities at late gestational age, and (2) to compare the capability of fast MRI and ultrafast MRI to assess fetal CNS abnormalities with that of prenatal ultrasonography (US). Forty-nine women with fetuses at gestational ages of 26-39 weeks underwent fast MRI (29 patients) or ultrafast MRI (20 patients). In detection of motion artifact, visualization of the lateral and 4th ventricles, and differentiation between gray and white matter in cerebral hemispheres, ultrafast MRI was significantly superior to fast MRI (p< 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test). In 25 of 43 cases, US and MR diagnoses were the same and consistent with postnatal diagnosis. In 10 of 43 cases, MRI demonstrated findings additional to or different from those of US, and MR findings were confirmed postnatally. MRI, particularly ultrafast MRI, is useful for demonstrating CNS abnormalities in situations in which US is suggestive but not definitive.

Anencephaly↗

PubMed2001

Three-dimensional gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography of the intracranial venous system.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of three-dimensional (3D) gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography for evaluation of the intracranial venous system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three patients underwent 3D dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography as well as two-dimensional (2D) time-of-flight (TOF) MR venography in transverse and coronal planes and conventional catheter cerebral angiography with digital subtraction. MR venography was displayed using a maximum-intensity-projection (MIP) algorithm. The acquisition time of 3D gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography was 102 seconds, and that of 2D TOF MR venography was about 7 minutes in the transverse plane and about 9 minutes in the coronal plane. Degree of visualization of the intracranial venous system on each MR sequence was compared with that on conventional catheter cerebral angiography as a standard. RESULTS: Superficial cortical veins and the dural sinus were better visualized on 3D gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography than on 2D TOF MR venography. CONCLUSION: Three-dimensional gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography is noninvasive and very useful for imaging of the intracranial venous system. It can replace 2D TOF MR venography not only because of its short examination time but because it better demonstrates intracranial venous structures. For evaluation of the SSS, lateral sinus, sigmoid sinus and straight sinus in particular, conventional catheter angiography seems to be unnecessary.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Interleukin 18 levels reflect the severity of acute pancreatitis.

The serum interleukin 18 (IL-18) levels were significantly increased in cases of acute pancreatitis, corresponding to the severity of the disease. The IL-18 levels were also significantly correlated with the serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and bilirubin levels. The possible involvement of IL-18 in the development of liver dysfunction in acute pancreatitis is suggested.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2000

Ultra-hydrophobic fluorine polymer by Ar-ion bombardment.

A study has been made of the improvement of the hydrophobicity of a fluorine-polymer (polytetra-fluorinethylene, PTFE) by Ar-ion bombardment. Ar-ion bombardment to PTFE) by Ar-ion bombardment. Ar-ion bombardment to PTFE sheets was carried out at the fluences ranging from 3.1x10(20) to 18.3x10(20) ions/m(2). The beam current densities were ranged from 1.25 to 7.5 A/m(2). The hydrophobicity of modified materials has been investigated by means of a sessile drop method of water. The roughness, morphology and structure of bombarded specimens have been estimated as a function of beam current density and acceleration energy. It was found that Ar-bombardment causes the contact angle of water to increase from the original value 103 to 170 degrees. The results indicate that Ar-bombardment at an optional condition results in the formation of ultrahydrdophobic surfaces. The effects of Ar-bombardment to hydrophobicity of PTFE are discussed with the relationship among roughness, morphology and chemical bonding states of the surfaces.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Hepatocyte growth factor induces differentiation of adult rat bone marrow cells into a hepatocyte lineage in vitro.

Bone marrow (BM) cells originally include alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)- and c-Met [a receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)]-expressing cells. In vitro treatment of BM cells with HGF induced albumin-expressing hepatocyte-like cells. Furthermore, those hepatocyte-like cells expressed cytokeratins 8 and 18, which are typically expressed in normal adult hepatocytes. These findings demonstrate that BM cells include AFP-expressing hepatic progenitor cells that can be differentiated into hepatocytes by HGF in culture, indicating that such cultures are useful resources for cell transplantation therapy for liver diseases.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor isoforms and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor in bladder cancer.

We analyzed the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) isoforms and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PDECGF) mRNA in bladder cancer. We also attempted to determine if correlation exists between their expression level and conventional clinical variables in patients with bladder cancer. Tissues obtained from 60 patients with bladder carcinoma were used for analysis. Expression levels of VEGF isoforms and PDECGF were examined using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Correlations between the expression levels of each VEGF isoform and PDECGF and histopathologic findings were evaluated. Four VEGF isoforms corresponding to VEGF121, 165, 189, and 206 were detected in bladder cancer tissue by RT-PCR. Gene expression of all VEGF isoforms as a ratio of the target to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) showed no correlation with pathologic stage of bladder cancer. However, with regard to relative expression levels of VEGF isoform, which is the ratio to the sum of total VEGF isoforms, the levels of VEGF206 and VEGF189 in tumor samples of grade pT2 or higher were significantly lower than those in tumors of grade pT1 or lower (P<.05). In contrast, the levels of VEGF121 in >/=pT2 tumors tended to be higher than those in </=pT1 tumors (P=.056). The expression level of PDECGF as a ratio to GAPDH in pT2</= tumors was significantly higher than that in either pTa or pT1 tumors (P<.05). Moreover, a higher expression level of PDECGF was observed in G3 tumors than in G1 tumors (P<.05). The results indicated that gene expression of VEGF isoforms do not play a significant role in tumor progression or invasion; however, the distribution of VEGF isoforms may play a role in tumor progression of bladder cancer. A high expression level of PDECGF correlated significantly with the tumor progression of bladder cancer.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Expression and prognostic significance in lung cancer of human tumor-associated antigen RCAS1.

A new monoclonal antibody (MAb), 22-1-1, acts against a novel tumor-associated antigen (Ag) strongly expressed in human uterine cervical adenocarcinomas. A cDNA encoding the Ag recognized by the 22-1-1 MAb has been isolated and called RCAS1 (receptor-binding cancer antigen expressed on SiSo cells). RCAS1 can induce growth arrest and apoptosis in RCAS1 receptor-positive cells including T cells and natural killer cells in vitro. These results suggest that RCAS1 is involved in tumor escape from the immune system. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed the relationship between RCAS1 expression and clinicopathological variables (age, sex, smoking, histology, differentiation grade, pathological T factor, N factor and stage) and the prognostic significance of RCAS1 in 66 lung-cancer patients who underwent curative operations: 33 adenocarcinomas, 24 squamous-cell carcinomas, 3 large-cell carcinomas, 4 adenosquamous carcinomas and 2 small-cell carcinomas. Median follow-up period of 64 non-small-cell carcinomas (NSCLCs) was 67.4 months. RCAS1 was expressed in 74.2% of lung cancers. RCAS1 in NSCLC cases with advanced T factor or pathological stage or in poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas was highly expressed. Furthermore, RCAS1 expression inducing apoptosis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was a significant prognostic factor in NSCLC (p<0.03).

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed2000

Supramolecular photochirogenesis. 2. Enantiodifferentiating photoisomerization of cyclooctene included and sensitized by 6-O-modified cyclodextrins

Supramolecular enantiodifferentiating photoisomerization of (Z)-cyclooctene (1Z) to the chiral (E)-isomer (1E) via inclusion and sensitization by modified alpha-, beta-, and/or gamma-cyclodextrin derivatives, possessing benzoate (2a, 3a, 4a), isomeric phthalates (3b-d), and tethered benzamide (3e) chromophores, has been investigated in aqueous methanol solutions at varying temperatures. The photostationary-state 1E/1Z ratios obtained upon sensitization with 2-4 in 1:1 water-methanol reached 0.4-0.8, which are higher than the value of ca. 0.25 reported for sensitizations by conventional alkyl benzoates in hydrocarbon solvents, although the ratio was reduced to 0.2-0.4 in water or methanol. The sensitizations of 1Z by alpha- and gamma-cyclodextrin benzoates (2a, 4a) with size-mismatched cavities gave 1E of poor enantiomeric excesses (ee's) smaller than 3 and 5%, respectively. In contrast, beta-cyclodextrin derivatives (3a-e) afforded much higher ee's of up to 24%, depending on the solvent composition. Thus, the modification of cyclodextrin with a sensitizing group successfully enhanced the product through the excited-state supramolecular interaction within the cavity. Interestingly, the product ee's obtained with benzoate 3a and methyl phthalate 3b are not a simple function of either temperature or solvent, but are nicely correlated with the host occupancy or the percentage of occupied host. This means that the entropy factor plays an insignificant role in this supramolecular photochirogenesis system, which is in sharp contrast to the decisive role of entropy in the conventional (nonsupramolecular) counterpart performed in homogeneous solutions, where an inversion of product chirality by temperature variation is reported to occur.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Role of glutathione in heat-shock-induced cell death of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Previously we reported that expression of GSH1 (gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase) and GSH2 (glutathione synthetase) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was increased by heat-shock stress in a Yap1p-dependent fashion and consequently intracellular glutathione content was increased [Sugiyama, Izawa and Inoue (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 15535-15540]. In the present study, we discuss the physiological role of glutathione in the heat-shock stress response in this yeast. Both gsh1 and gsh2 mutants could acquire thermotolerance by mild heat-shock stress and induction of Hsp104p in both mutants was normal; however, mutant cells died faster by heat shock than their parental wild-type strain. After pretreatment at a sublethal temperature, the number of respiration-deficient mutants increased in a gsh1 mutant strain in the early stages of exposure to a lethal temperature, although this increase was partially suppressed by the addition of glutathione. These results lead us to suspect that an increase of glutathione synthesis during heat-shock stress is to protect mitochondrial DNA from oxidative damage. To investigate the correlation between mitochondrial DNA damage and glutathione, mitochondrial Mn-superoxide dismutase (the SOD2 gene product) was disrupted. As a result, the rate of generation of respiration-deficient mutants of a sod2 delta strain was higher than that of the isogenic wild-type strain and treatment of the sod2 delta mutant with buthionine sulphoximine, an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis, inhibited cell growth. These results suggest that glutathione synthesis is induced by heat shock to protect the mitochondrial DNA from oxidative damage that may lead to cell death.

Blotting, Western↗

PubMed2000

EPR study of the oxygen evolving complex in His-tagged photosystem II from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus.

The Mn(4)-cluster and the cytochrome c(550) in histidine-tagged photosystem II (PSII) from Synechococcus elongatus were studied using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The EPR signals associated with the S(0)-state (spin = 1/2) and the S(2)-state (spin = 1/2 and IR-induced spin = 5/2 state) were essentially identical to those detected in the non-His-tagged strain. The EPR signals from the S(3)-state, not previously reported in cyanobacteria, were detectable both using perpendicular (at g = 10) and parallel (at g = 14) polarization EPR, and these signals are similar to those found in plant PSII. In the S(3)-state, near-infrared illumination at 50 K induced a 176-G-wide split signal at g = 2 and signals at g = 5.20 and g = 1.51. These signals differ slightly from those reported in plant PSII [Ioannidis, N., and Petrouleas, V. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 5246-5254]. In accordance with the cited work, the split signal presumably reflects a radical interacting with the Mn(4)-cluster in a fraction of centers, while the g = 5.20 and g = 1.51 signals are tentatively attributed to a high-spin state of the Mn(4)-cluster with zero field splitting parameters different from those in plant PSII, reflecting minor changes in the environment of the Mn(4)-cluster. Biochemical modifications (Sr(2+)/Ca(2+) substitution, acetate and NH(3) treatments) were also investigated. In Sr(2+)-reconstituted PSII, in addition to the expected modified S(2) multiline signal, a signal at g = 5.2 was present instead of the g approximately 4 signal seen in plant PSII. In NH(3)-treated samples, in addition to the expected modified S(2)-multiline signal, a g approximately 4 signal was detected in a small proportion of the reaction centers. This is of note since g approximately 4 spectra arising from the Mn(4)-cluster in the S(2) state have not yet been published in cyanobacterial PSII. The detection of modified S(3)-signals in both perpendicular (at g = 7.5) and parallel (at g = 12) polarization EPR from NH(3)-treated PSII indicate that NH(3) is still bound in the S(3)-state. The acetate-treated PSII behaves essentially as in plant PSII. A study using oriented samples indicated that the heme plane of the oxidized low spin Cytc(550) was perpendicular to the plane of the membrane.

Acetates↗

PubMed2000

Acid-base properties of the reaction product of sialic acid with fluorogenic reagent, 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene (DMB).

N-Acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) forms the highly fluorophoric quinoxalinone derivative (Q) when treated with 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene (DMB). Effects of protonation and deprotonation on the fluorescence of Q were examined at room temperature. The strong fluorescence was found to be caused by the neutral form Q but not the protonated form of its excited state [Q]* and at pH below 1 the emission was completely quenched. The deprotonated singlet form [Q-]* was a less efficient fluorescer than [Q]*.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

PubMed2000

HTLV type 1 envelope glycoprotein gp46 evokes necrosis by binding to receptor complex.

In syncytium formation induced by HTLV-1-bearing cells, 71-kDa heat shock cognate protein (HSC70) functions as a receptor molecule and the receptor complex with beta-actin and palmitoyl(16:0)-oleoyl(18:1)-phosphatidylglycerol (PG) is thus formed. We now have evidence that the molecular association between HTLV-1 gp46 envelope protein and HSC70 led to pore formation on the surface of target cell membrane and cell death followed. The peptide segment corresponding to the region from Asp-197 to Leu-216 (gp46-197), and which serves as a binding site to both HSC70 and PG for syncytium formation, also had cytotoxic effects on target cell MOLT-4. This cytotoxicity was due to necrosis, not apoptosis. On the other hand, two other receptor-binding sites, Lys-111 to Asp-138 on gp46 (gp46-111) and Cys-400 to Leu-429 on gp21 (gp21-400), and which bound only with PG, had no cytotoxic effects on MOLT-4 cells. The HTLV-2 peptide (gp46-194; Glu194 to Leu-213) corresponding to the region of HTLV-1 gp46-197 showed no cytotoxicity, and interacted only with PG, not with either HSC70 or beta-actin. Amino acid alterations between HTLV-1 gp46-197 and HTLV-2 gp46-194 were significant on the hydrophilic face of the amphipathic structure. Taken together, the interaction between HSC70 and gp46 of HTLV-1 through the hydrophilic face of gp46-197 may lead to pore formation in lipid bilayers to be followed by membrane fusion or cell death.

Cell Line↗