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Biomedical subjects

Y Kubo

Publications and source records attributed to Y Kubo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Prospective and randomized clinical trial for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma--a comparison of lipiodol-transcatheter arterial embolization with and without adriamycin (first cooperative study). The Cooperative Study Group for Liver Cancer Treatment of Japan.

A randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing the use of lipiodol-transcatheter arterial embolization (L-TAE) in the presence versus the absence of Adriamycin (ADR) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma was conducted from August 1988 through September 1989. In all, 125 Japanese hospitals participated in this study and 289 patients were entered in the trial. The patients were randomly allocated into group A (L-TAE) or group B (L-TAE + ADR) by telephone registration. There was no significant difference in background factors between group A and group B. Additional treatment, including repeated TAE or hepatic resection, was given to 189 patients. Among the four endpoints analyzed, the rate of tumor reduction and lipiodol accumulation in the tumor did not significantly differ between the two groups. The 3-year survival values for groups A and B were 33.6% and 34.9%, respectively; the difference was not significant. The serum alpha-fetoprotein level, however, decreased to a significantly greater extent in the group that received ADR than in the group that did not (P < 0.05). This result suggests that ADR has some favorable additional effect in L-TAE for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Adult

Prospective and randomized clinical trial for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma--a comparison of L-TAE with Farmorubicin and L-TAE with adriamycin (second cooperative study). The Cooperative Study Group for Liver Cancer Treatment of Japan.

A randomized clinical trial comparing L-TAE with Farmorubicin (FARM) and L-TAE with Adriamycin (ADR) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma was conducted from October 1989 through December 1990. In all, 192 hospitals participated in this study and 117 patients were entered. The patients were randomly allocated to group A (L-TAE+FARM) or group B (L-TAE+ADR). There was no significant intergroup difference in background factors. Additional treatment consisting of repeated TAE or surgery was given to 66 patients. Four factors were analyzed in this study: the percentage of reduction in tumor size, the change in the AFP level, lipiodol accumulation, and survival. None of these factors differed significantly between the two groups. The final evaluation of this study will be based on differences in survival after a long-term follow-up. Toxic effects manifested less frequently in group A than in group B, and the decrease in the platelet count in the peripheral blood was significantly lower in group A than in group B. These results suggest that FARM exerts a more favorable effect than does ADR in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Adult

Sub-acute toxicity of piperonyl butoxide in F344 rats.

Piperonyl butoxide, alpha-[2-(2-Butoxyethoxy)ethoxy]-4,5-methylenedioxy- 2-propyltoluene, is a pesticide synergist. F344 rats of both sex were maintained on diets containing 0, 0.6, 1.2 or 2.4% of piperonyl butoxide for 13 weeks. At the end of experimental period, they were necropsied. Selected organs were weighted and serum was analyzed by clinical chemistry. In male and female rats of the 2.4%-group, body weight gains were depressed, macroscopically, hepatomegaly was marked and liver weights were significantly higher than those of the control group. In male and female rats of all treated groups, relative kidney weights were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. Rats of the 2.4%-group had increased levels of albumin, cholesterol, urea nitrogen and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Examination of livers of the male 2.4%-group by light microscopy showed enlarged hepatocytes with glassy cytoplasm and fatty deposition. On occasion, there was coagulative necrosis of a few hepatocytes in the periportal area and oval cell proliferation. The kidney of treated rats showed atrophy of epithelium in the proximal convoluted tubules. These results indicated that toxicity of piperonyl butoxide in rats was directed primarily to the liver and kidney.

Animals

Detection of proliferating hepatocytes by immunohistochemical staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in patients with acute hepatic failure.

This study evaluated whether liver regeneration could take place after massive or submassive necrosis of liver cells in 25 patients with several kinds of hepatic failure by immunohistochemical staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). PCNA positivity was significantly higher (P less than 0.01) in the patients who survived than in the patients who died. Furthermore, PCNA-positive hepatocytes were recognized diffusely in the lobule of the liver in survivors. There was positive correlation between PCNA positivity and plasma concentration of AFP (alpha-fetoprotein), (r = 0.77, P less than 0.01). These results show that liver regeneration could take place after massive necrosis of liver cells in survivors from acute hepatic failure and that immunohistochemical staining for PCNA is useful for prognostic evaluation.

Antibodies, Monoclonal

Presence of transplantable T-lymphoid cells in C57BL/6 mice infected with murine AIDS virus.

The Duplan strain of murine leukemia virus induces murine AIDS in C57BL/6 mice. When spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice infected with the virus were transplanted into nude mice, subcutaneous solid tumors at the transplanted sites were formed and splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy were induced. These transplantable cells were Thy-1- CD4+ alpha-beta T-cell receptor-positive T cells and integrated with the pathogenic defective viral genome. These results indicate that neoplastic cells of T-cell lineage were induced by infecting C57BL/6 mice with murine AIDS virus.

Animals

Diagnosis and management of endobronchial tuberculosis.

We examined the records of sixty-one patients (17 males and 44 females) with endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB). Smear tests of acid-fast bacilli were positive in 42 cases and cultures of tubercle bacilli (TB) were positive in 57. The main findings of chest roentgenogram on admission were as follows: no abnormal findings in 8, atelectasis in 30, infiltration in 25, and cavitary lesions in 6. The localization and cross-sectional extension of lesions confirmed bronchoscopically were as follows: trachea in 15, with 3 circular lesions (CLs). Right (R-) main bronchus in 19 with 11 CLs, left (L-) main bronchus in 18 with 11 of CLs, R-truncus intermedius in 14 with 6 of CLs, R-upper lobar bronchus (UB) in 17 with 12 CLs, R-middle lobar bronchus in 14 with 11 of CLs, R-lower lobar bronchus (LB) in 6 with 2 CLs, L-UB in 10 with 7 CLs and L-LB in 3 with 2 CLs. All cases were treated by combination chemotherapy with isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin and/or ethambutol and the rate of negative conversion of TB was good, but most of circular lesions resulted in severe bronchial stenosis or complete obstruction during and after chemotherapy, and no improvement was seen in any of the atelectasis cases at the cessation of chemotherapy. We discuss the points of early diagnosis and management of EBTB.

Adult

[Surgery for the patients whose total pulmonary vascular resistance was over 700 dyne during unilateral pulmonary artery occlusion test].

To determine the indication for surgery from the point of pulmonary function, we have performed the unilateral pulmonary artery occlusion test in lung cancer patients. In these patients, we gave a surgery in 13 cases whose total pulmonary vascular resistance were over 700 dyne.sec.cm-5/M2 per body surface area. The pulmonary hemodynamics before and during pulmonary artery occlusion were 549 +/- 82 and 798 +/- 78 dyne.sec.cm-5/M2 in total vascular resistance, 18.7 +/- 3.8 and 27.2 +/- 4.3 cmHg in mean pulmonary arterial pressure and 2.69 +/- 0.36 and 2.73 +/- 4.3 L/min/M2 in cardiac index respectively. In 7 cases out of 13, we performed selective pulmonary artery occlusion test. In pulmonary function test, 10 cases had a chronic obstructive diseases, 2 cases had a disturbance of diffusion and one case has a contractive disease. We gave a lobectomy in 12 cases and completion pneumonectomy in one case. Two of lobectomy cases died in the early phase: 42 and 72 days after surgery due to pulmonary complications. One of these cases needed an additional completion pneumonectomy because of bronchial fistel. Surgical complications were seen in 12 cases. These 13 cases used to be recognized that they have no indication of surgery because of low pulmonary function, however it revealed that we can give a lobectomy through a high intensive care after surgery.

Adenocarcinoma

[A case of anomalous course of the pulmonary vein with a tracheobronchus].

A 28-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for further evaluation of a loop-like abnormal shadow in the middle lower lung field on chest X-ray film. Pulmonary angiograms demonstrated staining of the abnormal shadow during the venous phase. The abnormal vein descended from the right upper lobe to the middle lobe and then tortuously made a loop upward to drain into the left atrium. A part of the right apical vein was stenosed. The right apical segmental bronchus directly branched from the trachea. These observations indicate that the abnormalities may have originated in the prenatal period. Cases of anomalous course of the pulmonary vein are very rare.

Adult

[Examination of post operative split lung function using quantitative xenon 133 (133Xe) inhalation scan].

133Xe inhalation scan and ordinary lung function testing were performed three times in 34 patients undergoing pulmonary resection: before surgery, and one and six months postoperatively. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1.0) were used as spirometric parameters. From the 133Xe inhalation scan, a split lung capacity (right to left, upper, middle and lower) and T1/2 (time required for half of the inhalation of 133Xe gas to be expired) were calculated by computer and used as indices of split lung capacity and ventilation, respectively. Results obtained from this study are as follows. 1) The predicted postoperative lung functions were calculated using preoperative spirometric respiratory function and 133Xe inhalation data according to the formula reported by Ali and associates. At sixth postoperative month, both predicted FVC (r = 0.895, p < 0.001) and FEV1.0 (r = 0.897, p < 0.001) correlated highly with those actually observed. These results appear to be very useful for preoperative evaluation of operative indications and the choice of surgical methods. 2) The ratios of observed to predicted lung capacity in the post operative state were examined by splitting the right and left lung and the means +/- S.D. (%) were as follows. One month after surgery, operated side; 80.5 +/- 9.7%, opposite side; 119.2 +/- 11.7%. Six months after surgery, operated side; 111.0 +/- 5.6%, opposite side; 96.7 +/- 16.4%. The post operative T1/2 values on the operated sides were about 2.4 times the preoperative values at one month after surgery but had recovered to the preoperative values by the six postoperative month.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Inhalation

[Three familial patients with chronic acquired pure red cell aplasia].

It has not been reported that chronic acquired pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) occurs among family members. The authors report his at familial patients with chronic acquired PRCA, a 23-year-old male, a 54-old uncle and a 20-year-old male cousin. They had no complication sor thymoma, and hematological findings were compatible with typical chronic acquired PRCA. In the 23-year-old male, the autologous BFU-E number was suppressed by the addition of pretreatment serum, and in the his uncle, the autologous CFU-E number was suppressed by the addition of IgG fraction of plasma. In these cases, the development of PRCA was considered to be based on the autoimmune mechanism due to by the presence of serum antibodies. This suggests the possibility that genetically inherited susceptibility may also be an important factor causing chronic acquired PRCA.

Adult

[Effect of cytokines on anti-Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) activities of human alveolar macrophages].

The macrophage is an essential component of the host defense against intracellular pathogens including MAC. Especially alveolar macrophages act as a first line defense in the lungs against MAC infection. Some cytokines were reported to activate mouse peritoneal macrophages and human monocyte-derived macrophages to inhibit growth or kill MAC. But we could find only one report describing the effect of cytokines on anti-MAC activities of human alveolar macrophages (PAM). Thus, we investigated the effect of several cytokines on anti-MAC activities of PAM. PAM were recovered from 12 healthy subjects by bronchoalveolar lavage and cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 with 10% heat-inactivated human AB serum. After 2 hours incubation nonadherent cells were discarded by vigorous washing to from monolayers of PAM (2 x 10(5) PAM in each 11-mm diameter tissue culture dish). Then we added 2 x 10(6) viable MAC bacteria (31F093T) and each cytokine to the wells simultaneously. We prepared the well without cytokines as control. After 96 hours incubation, PAM were disrupted by sonication, then all bacteria that had located inside and outside of the cells were plated onto 7H10 agar. The results are reported as mean colony forming units per each well. We had determined the optimal dose of each cytokine to prime PAM for enhanced O2- release and we used that optimal dose in this experiment. PAM with TNF-alpha pretreatment, and PAM with IFN-gamma pretreatment could release increased amount of O2- significantly, compared with control. PAM with IL-2 pretreatment and PAM with GM-CSF pretreatment also released somewhat increased amount of O2-.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cells, Cultured

[A clinical study on coexistence of active pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer].

Twenty-two patients were diagnosed as coexisting active pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer during last ten years until 1989. They were nineteen men and three women and their age ranged from 61 to 84 years with a mean age of 71.3. Six patients had history of tuberculosis, three had undergone gastrectomy and four patients were complicated with diabetes mellitus. Histological types of lung cancer were epidermoid cell carcinoma in 13, adenocarcinoma in 3, large cell carcinoma in 2, and small cell carcinoma in 4 and clinical stages were "stage I" in 2, "stage II" in 2, "stage IIIA" in 5, "stage IIIB" in 4 and "stage IV" in 7, except 2 patients after surgical treatment. Localizations of lesions of cancer and tuberculosis were in the same lobes in 6, in ipsilateral lung in 6, and in contralateral lung in 6, except 4 cases, whose lesion of tuberculosis was not detectable roentgenologically and all cancers of "same lobe" cases were peripheral origins. Although, the prognosis was poor, which reflects the prognosis of lung cancer as a whole, the efficacy of anti-tuberculous chemotherapy was as good as patients without lung cancer. We mainly discussed the diagnostic points to detect the coexistence of lung cancer and pulmonary tuberculosis at early stage.

Aged

[Nd-YAG laser treatment of tracheo-bronchial stenotic lesions].

Fourteen patients were treated with a Nd-YAG laser. Treatment to relieve airway stenosis was administered on fifteen occasions, and on one occasion to treat an obstruction. In each case the flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope was used. In 4 emergency cases, three involving tracheal lesions and one involving a bronchial lesion, the airway was widened and the patients' condition was improved after laser ablation. In the palliative treatment of 12 lesions, the stenoses were severed and treated at an interval of time varying between one and three weeks. Complications occurred in 3 cases. There were 2 instances of massive haemorrhage and one of pneumothorax which occurred while treating the 5 stenoses situated at broncho-plastic anastomoses.

Adult

Detection and quantitative estimation of metalloporphyrins in vivo.

Spectrofluorometry, radioisotope (RI) labelling and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) can be used to estimate photosensitizer concentrations. The biodistribution of porphyrins and metalloporphyrins containing the bifunctional chelating agent diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) was examined in tumour-bearing mice by nitrogen-pulsed laser spectrofluorometry (PLS) and RI labelling. The biodistribution of metalloporphyrin amino acid derivatives containing alkoxyl groups was also examined by PLS and HPLC analysis using an acetone powder extraction method. Spectrofluorometry is useful for estimating the biodistribution of porphyrins in tumour, lung, kidney and serum, but not in liver. However, spectrofluorometry cannot be used to evaluate the concentration of certain metalloporphyrins such as manganese complexes. The concentrations of porphyrins in liver measured by PLS and two other methods showed remarkable differences. RI labelling and HPLC analysis are obviously tedious methods. Therefore it seems practical to screen for a number of compounds using the spectrofluorometric method (PLS). Subsequently, the porphyrins which give good results with PLS should be measured using RI labelling and HPLC.

Animals

Properties of ionic currents induced by external ATP in a mouse mesodermal stem cell line.

1. ATP was puff applied to cells of a mesodermal stem cell line, C3H10T1/2, and the responses were studied by whole-cell patch clamp recording. 2. In 91% of the cells (90/99), K+ current lasting for tens of seconds was observed after several seconds latency. The current showed outward rectification. In 10% of the cells (9/99), ATP induced Cl- current which also lasted for tens of seconds after several seconds latency, but showed little rectification. In 6% of these cells (5/99), both K+ and Cl- currents were induced by ATP. 3. The K+ current induced by ATP was dose dependent, with a Kd of 0.4 microM. The effects of ATP analogues were tested at a concentration of 20 microM. ADP and ATP-gamma-S induced the K+ current, while AMP and adenosine did not. alpha, beta-Methylene ATP produced a diminished K+ current. 4. The ATP-induced K+ current was not observed when EGTA in the internal solution was raised from 0.1 to 5 mM. In Fluo-3-loaded cells, an increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration induced by the application of ATP was observed, and the time course was similar to the induced K+ current. Both the increase in intracellular Ca2+ and the K+ current were induced by ATP even in Ca(2+)-free external solution. Ryanodine (50 microM) in the external solution did not affect the ATP response, and application of 10 mM-caffeine alone to the external solution did not induce any response. 5. The variance of the steady-state fluctuations in the course of the ATP-induced slow K+ current was analysed. The single-channel conductance was estimated as 2.7 pS at 0 mV with external and internal K+ concentrations of 5 and 140 mM respectively. The K+ current was not affected by apamin at concentrations of up to 1 microM but was reduced to one-third by 140 mM-tetraethylammonium (TEA). 6. It was concluded that puff-applied ATP has two main effects in the mesodermal stem cells: an increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration and a succeeding hyperpolarization due to the Ca(2+)-activated K+ conductance which is present in this cell. The significance of the increase in intracellular Ca2+ caused by ATP is discussed.

Adenosine Triphosphate