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Biomedical subjects

Y Taguchi

Publications and source records attributed to Y Taguchi.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Functional features of oriV of the broad host range plasmid RSF1010 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The broad host range plasmid RSF1010 requires for its replication in Escherichia coli three plasmid-encoded proteins and specific nucleotide sequences ssiA, ssiB, and iterons in the oriVRSF1010. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a recombinant mini-RSF1010 plasmid lacking ssiB lost its replication ability, but a miniplasmid lacking ssiA or carrying a primosome assembly site in place of ssiA could replicate. Moreover, ssiA, as a sole ssi signal, in the orientation that ssiB had originally taken was sufficient for replication of the miniplasmid. These results indicated that only one RSF1010-specific ssi signal in the orientation that ssiB takes in wild-type oriVRSF1010 was essential for replication of RSF1010. Replication of the miniplasmids was dependent on the three plasmid-encoded proteins, RepA, B', and C, as in E. coli.

Bacteriophage phi X 174↗
PubMed1994

Importance of recall and follow-up screening for chronic hepatitis C in children receiving blood products prior to 1990 in Japan.

The objective was to detect chronic hepatitis C virus infection in recipients of blood products using retrospective analysis by recall and enrollment of recipients. 226 patients who received blood products for open heart surgery from January 1983 to June 1992 were examined for HCV antibody by using a second generation assay and liver function test. 22 (14%) of the 161 patients who received blood products before November 1989 had detectable HCV antibody, but none of the 65 recipients receiving blood products after 1990, the year the Japanese blood bank began to screen for HCV-antibody. Abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, more than 25 iu/L, during the chronic phase of HCV infection was recognized in nine of 22 (41%) seropositive patients. The liver function test and second generation HCV antibody in the serum are effective markers to screen for chronic hepatitis C in blood product recipients transfused before 1990.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Serologic, virologic, and histologic characteristics of chronic phase hepatitis C virus disease in children infected by transfusion.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the time course of hepatic dysfunction, seropositivity to hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies, viremia, and histologic evidence of hepatic injury to evaluate the course of HCV infection in children infected by blood transfusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients (ages 4 to 18 years) who underwent open-heart surgeries for congenital heart disease were grouped into three categories based on alterations in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels: Group A, acute infection; Group B, subacute infection; and Group C, chronic infection. RESULTS: In Group C, all 13 patients had detectable HCV RNA in serum. In contrast, all patients in Group A had no detectable HCV RNA: In Group B, one of nine patients had detectable HCV RNA and two of four patients examined had persistent chronic hepatitis by histologic criteria. Antibodies directed against C100-3 antigen or core-antigen were more useful than second-generation HCV antibody assays in determining the relationship between viremia and immunologic response. Infection with HCV genotype II and the presence of higher HCV RNA copy numbers were associated with histologic evidence of hepatic damage. CONCLUSION: An abnormal ALT value is frequently associated with viremia, and biochemically resolved acute infection reflects clearance of HCV. However, a normal ALT does not always reflect an absence of hepatocyte damage and HCV replication in patients with subacute disease. The measures outlined in this study are useful indicators of disease activity during the chronic

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1994

[Long-term renal function after nephrectomy in living related kidney donors].

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term renal function of donors after nephrectomy in living related renal transplantation (n = 100). The survival rate of donors was 98% and causes of death in the other 2% were not associated with the donation. Serum creatinine (Scr) and Creatinine clearance (Ccr) deteriorated just after the donation, but gradually improved. The number of donors with proteinuria increased after donation. In Scr and Ccr there was no significant difference between donors with and without proteinuria. In the donors with hypertension (25.3%) mean urine protein was higher than in those without hypertension. There was a correlation between systolic blood pressure and proteinuria. These results strongly suggest that renal function of donors deteriorates once just after the donation, but gradually improves year by year, and that hypertension is strongly associated with renal dysfunction, especially proteinuria, after the donation.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[A case of intracerebral tuberculoma: clinical characteristics and MRI findings].

A case of intracerebral tuberculoma treated surgically was reported. A 47-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of progressive left hemiaparesis over the previous 5 months. A computerized tomography scan showed a well enhanced mass associated with a marked perifocal edema. T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an isosignal ring around the heterogenous low intensity mass. A low intensity area just interior to this ring was also visualized both in T1 and T2 weighted images. Although the clinical course was unusually long, this was diagnosed as a metastatic brain tumor. He underwent a right frontal craniotomy and a well circumscribed, yellowish, firm mass was totally extirpated. Pathohistologically, this mass was considered to be a tuberculoma though the tuberculous bacilli could not be identified in Ziehl-Neelsen staining. His hemiplegia improved much and his ambulation was restored. Since tuberclomas are quite rare in developed countries, the diagnosis of intracerebral tuberculomas would be extremely difficult unless tuberculosis was verified in some other organs. The auxiliary examinations even by using MRI have often given little information which would assist diagnosis. However, based on pathological findings, the ring appearance and low intensity area medial to the ring in the outer part of the tuberculoma shown in MRI of our patient seemed to represent a chronic granulomatous inflammation and gave a clue to rule out the suspicion of metastatic brain tumors. To make a correct diagnosis of intracerebral tuberculomas, multidisciplinary consideration is mandatory.

Antitubercular Agents↗
PubMed1994

[A case of desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma].

We have been experienced a rare case of large supratentorial neuroepithelial tumor with a subdural cyst originated from the left fronto-parietal lobe in a 14-month-old boy. The tumor was characterized by its voluminous size, a leptomeningeal growth pattern with intense desmoplasia and divergent astrocytic and ganglionic differentiation. Schwann cell differentiation and melanocytes were also minutely demonstrated. These histological findings are characteristic of desmoplastic infantile gangliogliomas, reported by VandenBerg et al in 1987. And this tumor tissue architecture strongly suggests the hamartomatous nature, rather than the ordinary neoplastic lesion.

Brain↗
PubMed1994

[A surgical case of achalasia with empyema].

A 57-year-old man who had been complicated with achalasia for thirty years was admitted because of back pain and low grade fever. Chest X-p and Chest CT showed consolidation in the left lower lung field. His respiratory condition was diagnosed as lung abscess preoperatively. After systemic chemotherapy, surgical management was done for both achalasia and this inflammatory respiratory disease. In the operation by left thoracotomy, it was revealed that this case had empyema, not lung abscess. Thus decortication of left lung and esophagomyotomy were performed simultaneously. In the treatment of achalasia, respiratory complications due to aspiration may appear. In addition, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish empyema from lung abscess preoperatively. Therefore much care should be taken during operation in order to treat these respiratory diseases.

Empyema, Pleural↗
PubMed1993

Alpha-amylase from the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus. Cloning and sequencing of the gene and expression in Escherichia coli.

A gene encoding a highly thermostable alpha-amylase from the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of the gene predicts a 649-amino acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 76.3 kDa, which corresponds well with the value obtained from purified enzyme using denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The NH2 terminus of the deduced amino acid sequence corresponds precisely to that obtained from the purified enzyme, excluding the NH2-terminal methionine. The amylase expressed in E. coli exhibits temperature-dependent activation characteristic of of the original enzyme from P. furiosus, but has a higher apparent molecular weight which is attributed to the improper formation of the native quaternary structure. No homology was found with previously characterized promotor or termination sequences. The deduced amino acid sequence displayed strong homology to the alpha-amylase A of Dictyoglomus thermophilum, an obligately anaerobic, extremely thermophilic bacterium. Evolutionary implications of this homology are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

A base-paired hairpin structure essential for the functional priming signal for DNA replication of the broad host range plasmid RSF1010.

The two single-strand DNA initiation signals, ssiA(RSF1010) and ssiB(RSF1010) of the broad host-range plasmid RSF1010 contain proposed stem-loop structures. Nine single base-change mutations in the stem of the ssiA structure, each of which destroyed a relevant base pairing, damaged the ssiA activity. A second single-base change was introduced into each of the nine ssiA mutants in such a way that the base pairing was restored. Only three out of nine second base changes that restored the base pairing restored the ssiA activity up to the wild-type level. Thus, the three are intramolecular suppressors. The results strongly suggested that, in the area of the stem of ssiA where the suppressor mutations fell, base pairing was the most important structural parameter for the ssiA activity. By contrast, it is most probable that, in the other part of the stem of ssiA, both base-pairing and the intrinsic base sequence were the major determinants of the ssiA activity.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

2-(4-Hydrazinocarbonylphenyl)-4,5-diphenylimidazole as a versatile fluorescent derivatization reagent for the high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of free fatty acids.

A new fluorescent derivatization reagent with a lophine skeleton, 2-(4-hydrazinocarbonylphenyl)-4,5-diphenylimidazole (HCPI), has been synthesized and applied to the assay of saturated free fatty acids. The HCPI derivatives with five representative saturated fatty acids [caproic acid (C6), lauric acid (C12), palmitic acid (C16), stearic acid (C18) and arachidic acid (C20)] were synthesized to examine their fluorescence properties. The fluorescence spectra (lambda ex ca. 335 nm, lambda em ca. 455 nm) of the derivatives were almost identical in methanol, n-heptane and acetonitrile. For the high-performance liquid chromatographic assay, fatty acids were derivatized with HCPI using a condensing agent, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, and pyridine at room temperature. The HCPI derivatives were separated on a C18 column with a gradient elution of methanol-water, and the eluates were monitored at 455 nm using an excitation wavelength of 335 nm. By this method, seven kinds of free fatty acid (C6, C10, C12, C14, C16, C18 and C20) could be determined using margaric acid (C17) as an internal standard. Calibration curves were linear over the range 0.2-400 pmol per 20-microliters injection (r = 0.994-1.000). Relative standard deviations of the peak-height ratio for five replicate measurements of fatty acids (100 pmol per injection) were 0.7-2.6%. Detection limits were 7-57 fmol at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The method could be successfully applied to the determination of four saturated fatty acids (C12, C14, C16 and C18) in normal human serum.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗