Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Y Taniguchi.
The authors report the successful treatment of an intractable ulcer of the right knee in a patient with Werner's syndrome, using a free latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap transfer.
The effects of nimesulide, a selective inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis were investigated in mice. AOM at a dose of 10 mg/kg body wt was administered to male ICR mice once a week for 6 weeks. The animals were fed on AIN-76A powder diet containing nimesulide at doses of 200 or 400 p.p.m., starting the day before the first carcinogen treatment until the end of the experiment, at week 30. Administration of nimesulide reduced the incidence of colon carcinomas to 32 and 25% for the AOM + 200 and 400 p.p.m. nimesulide groups, respectively, compared with the AOM + basal diet group (50%). Multiplicities of colon carcinomas in the 200 and 400 p.p.m. nimesulide-treated groups were 0.70 +/- 0.28 and 0.35 +/- 0.11, respectively, being significantly smaller than the AOM alone value (1.79 +/- 0.47). The sizes of the colon carcinomas in the nimesulide-treated groups were also decreased. No significant influence on liver and lung tumor development was apparent. Thus, nimesulide exerted a suppressive effect on AOM-induced colon carcinogenesis in mice.
We have developed a drill-hole guide valuable in accurately positioning the fracture of the mandibular ramus. It operates by introducing a Kirschner wire through the fracture stump from the mandibular angle to the condyle. A 2.0- to 2.4-mm-diameter Kirschner wire is drilled into the ramus from below and proceeds up to the condylar fragment through the stump of the fracture. With this guide, 15 patients with 23 subcondylar fractures underwent open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation. In each case, wire, by means of a pinning technique, was inserted accurately from the mandibular angle to the repositioned condyle.
HLA alleles in generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) were investigated to clarify the etiology and/or pathogenesis of this disease. Not only serological typing of HLA class I and II antigens but also genotyping of HLA class II alleles were carried out in twenty-six unrelated Japanese patients with GPP. These patients were classified according to their history of psoriasis vulgaris (PV). Serological typing revealed a significantly high incidence of HLA-Cw1 (Pc = 0.04) in the patients as compared with Japanese healthy controls. The frequency of HLA-B46 was particularly high in the patients with GPP and a previous history of PV. Genotyping of HLA class II alleles showed a highly significant increase in HLA-DQB1*0303 (Pc = 0.01) in the patients vs. the healthy controls. In particular, HLA-DQB1*0303 was significantly more frequent in the patients with no prior history of PV than in those with a history of PV. Analysis on linkage disequilibrium showed remarkably different patterns for HLA class II haplotypes between the patients and the healthy controls. Based on the comparative analysis among the amino acid sequences of the beta 1-domain of the HLA-DQB1*03 alleles, proline at residue 55 was suggested to be important as a common amino acid for determination of the susceptibility to GPP. These results revealed not only an association between the etiology and/or pathogenesis of GPP and HLA, but also different mechanisms of the immune response between the patients with GPP and PV.
OBJECTIVES: We performed this study to determine which biopsy sites in the stomach are suitable for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and the assessment of the extent of atrophic gastritis. METHODS: Endoscopy was performed in 76 H. pylori-positive patients with histologically confirmed chronic gastritis. Biopsies were taken from the following six sites: the lesser curvatures of the mid-antrum (site 1), the angulus (site 2), the middle body (site 3), and the greater curvatures of the mid-antrum (site 4), the angulus (site 5), and the middle body (site 6) of the stomach. The extent of atrophic gastritis was assessed endoscopically as well as histologically, and patients were classified into five groups according to its extent. H. pylori status was assessed histologically. The histological severity of inflammation, activity, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia was assessed according to the Updated Sydney System. The grades of these items were compared among the six biopsy sites in each group of patients. RESULTS: Site 6 was most reliable for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection, and site 4 was suitable for examining the status of H. pylori colonization in the antrum. Site 1, site 3, and site 6 were suitable for the assessment of the extent of atrophic gastritis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that for an accurate diagnosis and assessment, biopsies should be taken from the following four sites: the lesser curvatures of the mid-antrum (site 1) and middle body (site 3), and the greater curvatures of the mid-antrum (site 4) and middle body (site 6) of the stomach.
We report on a patient with myeloperoxidase antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (MPO-ANCA) associated glomerulonephritis who had an elevated MPO-ANCA level and necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis on renal biopsy. She was treated by double filtration plasmapheresis and immunoadsorption plasmapheresis combined with steroid therapy and immunosuppressive agents. After plasmapheresis, the MPO-ANCA level decreased, and the cellular crescents were reduced. We conclude that plasmapheresis combined with steroid and immunosuppressive therapy may be useful to decrease the activity of MPO-ANCA associated crescentic glomerulonephritis.
The intracellular region (RAMIC) of the mouse Notch1 receptor interacts with RBP-J/CBF-1, which binds to the DNA sequence CGTGGGAA and suppresses differentiation by transcriptional activation of genes regulated by RBP-J. Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) is essential for immortalization of human B cells by the virus. EBNA2 is a pleiotropic activator of viral and cellular genes and is targeted to DNA at least in part by interacting with RBP-J. We found that EBNA2 and the Notch1 RAMIC compete for binding to RBP-J, indicating that their interaction sites on RBP-J overlap at least partially. EBNA2 and Notch1 RAMIC transactivated the same set of viral and host promoters, i.e., the EBNA2 response element of the Epstein-Barr virus TP1 and the HES-1 promoter. Furthermore, EBNA2 functionally replaced the Notch1 RAMIC by suppressing differentiation of C2C12 myoblast progenitor cells.
The RBP-J/Su(H) DNA-binding protein plays a key role in transcriptional regulation by targeting Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) and the intracellular portions of Notch receptors to specific promoters. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we isolated a LIM-only protein, KyoT, which physically interacts with RBP-J. Differential splicing gave rise to two transcripts of the KyoT gene, KyoT1 and KyoT2, that encoded proteins with four and two LIM domains, respectively. With differential splicing resulting in deletion of an exon, KyoT2 lacked two LIM domains from the C terminus and had a frameshift in the last exon, creating the RBP-J-binding region in the C terminus. KyoT1 had a negligible level of interaction with RBP-J. Strong expression of KyoT mRNAs was detected in skeletal muscle and lung, with a predominance of KyoT1 mRNA. When expressed in F9 embryonal carcinoma cells, KyoT1 and KyoT2 were localized in the cytoplasm and the nucleus, respectively. The binding site of KyoT2 on RBP-J overlaps those of EBNA2 and Notchl but is distinct from that of Hairless, the negative regulator of RBP-J-mediated transcription in Drosophila. KyoT2 but not KyoT1 repressed the RBP-J-mediated transcriptional activation by EBNA2 and Notch1 by competing with them for binding to RBP-J and by dislocating RBP-J from DNA. KyoT2 is a novel negative regulatory molecule for RBP-J-mediated transcription in mammalian systems.
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A 57-year-old woman was admitted with symmetrical proximal muscle weakness, liver dysfunction, abnormal muscle enzymes, and she was an antibody to hepatitis B e (anti-HBe) positive hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier. Biopsy of her left quadriceps femoris showed myositis, so prednisolone was started at 40 mg/day. However, her hepatic function deteriorated and liver biopsy after 4 months showed acute hepatitis with partial submassive necrosis. Treatment with interferon-alpha and cyclosporin A progressively reduced the transaminase and HBV-DNA levels. Early treatment with interferon-alpha plus cyclosporin A can control exacerbation of hepatitis B.
A 61-year-old man developed mononeuritis multiplex accompanied by eosinophilia in 1993. Approximately 3 years later, acute renal dysfunction, a subendocardial tumor, and a high peripheral anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody titer were also detected. Renal biopsy revealed glomerular crescents and interstitial infiltration of eosinophils, so allergic granulomatosis and angiitis was diagnosed. These clinical abnormalities regressed with steroid therapy. He had no history of asthma. This was therefore considered to be an atypical form of Churg-Strauss syndrome with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis.
There are two types of coughs, productive and non-productive; the former is caused by excess airway secretions. The analysis of cough may provide important clues not only to aid diagnosis, but also for the selection of drugs for treatment. In this study, cough sounds recorded in a free acoustic field from patients with productive cough and non-productive cough due to chronic airway diseases were compared with those of voluntary cough of healthy subjects and were analyzed by sound spectrogram and time-expanded waveform. All cough sounds could be separated into two or three phases. The implementation of the novel technique to record cough sounds in the free acoustic field and to analyze the sounds of the high frequency range enable recognition of the characteristics of the cough sounds in phase 2 of the cough.
Recently, the N-terminal fragment of proatrial natriuretic peptide (N-terminal proANP) has been proposed as a marker of chronic congestive heart failure. In this study, we established a two-step immunoradiometric assay using monoclonal antibodies and synthetic N-terminal proANP (1-67) as a standard. It allows us to measure plasma N-terminal proANP in only 4 h without prior extraction. The detection limit of this assay was 15 pmol/L for a 100 microL sample of plasma. Within-run CVs ranged from 1.7% to 2.9% and between-run CVs ranged from 4.2% to 5.1%. The dilution curves of plasma samples showed good linearity and analytical recovery was 89-104%. The mean (+/-SD) N-terminal proANP in plasma of 33 healthy subjects was 188 (+/-71) pmol/L and 1030 (+/-411) pmol/L in 25 patients with heart failure. Our immunoradiometric assay is rapid and precise enough for routine determination of N-terminal proANP in human plasma.
We have investigated the inhibitory action of nimesulide (4-nitro-2-phenoxymethanesulfonanilide) on release of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) from rat peritoneal exudated macrophages (macrophages) and its mechanism of action. PGE2 release from macrophages stimulated with opsonized zymosan (OPZ) were increased in the 20 h after stimulation, whereas no significant increase was noted in PGE2 release from unstimulated macrophages. Nimesulide caused a weak inhibition of PGE2 release from macrophages at 15 min after OPZ stimulation as compared with indomethacin, but nimesulide caused approximately the same strong inhibition as indomethacin at 10 h after OPZ stimulation. Cellular cyclooxygenase (COX) activity in macrophage at 10 h after OPZ stimulation was increased approximately seven times the COX activity in macrophages before OPZ stimulation. Nimesulide caused approximately the same strong inhibition of cellular COX activity as indomethacin at 10 h after OPZ stimulation. COX-1 mRNA was expressed in macrophages irrespective of OPZ stimulation, but COX-2 mRNA was expressed only after OPZ stimulation, and COX-2 protein was simultaneously induced. Nimesulide affected neither the levels of COX-1 mRNA and COX-2 mRNA at 4 h after OPZ stimulation nor the levels of COX-2 protein at 10 h after OPZ stimulation. In contrast, actinomycin D caused strong inhibition of COX-2 mRNA expression and protein induction. These results suggest that inhibition by nimesulide of PGE2 release from macrophages, namely inflammatory cells, would be neither due to inhibition of COX-2 mRNA expression nor COX-2 induction, but to the selective inhibition of COX-2 activity itself.
This study was performed to clarify the possibility of visualization and quantification with 99mTc-tetrofosmin (Tf) myocardial scintigraphy in cases with a large atrium demonstrated by trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE). Myocardial SPECT was evaluated in 4 patients with mitral stenosis and 15 patients with mitral regurgitation. Left atrium was identified in 12 out of 19 cases from an antero-posterior projection. The Tf uptake ratio of the left atrium, which was defined as the ratio of ROI count of the left atrium divided by the ROI count of the left ventricle, showed a good correlation with the left atrial area obtained by both trans-thoracic and trans-esophageal echocardiography (r = 0.88 and 0.91, respectively), These data suggest that Tf myocardial SPECT is a useful method of evaluating left atrial enlargement.
We established an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for the determination of human bisphosphoglycerate mutase (BPGM) protein content in human erythrocytes using a polyclonal anti-BPGM antibody, we determined reference ranges for BPGM protein content, synthase activity, and specific activity in human erythrocytes. We produced a recombinant human BPGM (rBPGM) by gene manipulation using E. coli and then obtained the polyclonal antibody by immunizing rabbits with purified rBPGM. The reproducibility of the ELISA was in an acceptable range with a coefficient of variation under 1.5%. The ELISA was reliable in the range of 0.1 to 10 ng/mL. The polyclonal anti-rBPGM antibody did not show any cross-reaction with recombinant human B type phosphoglycerate mutase, which is highly homologous to rBPGM. The ELISA was found to be practical for the determination of BPGM protein content in human erythrocytes. The mean BPGM protein content was 56.3+/-9.7 microg/mL in whole blood (mean+/-SD, n = 50). The ELISA can be used to examine various hematologic disorders with abnormal red cell size and cell counts, and to detect BPGM enzymopathy in human erythrocytes.
BACKGROUND: Tenascin is a large oligomeric glycoprotein component of the extracellular matrix that increases rapidly after inflammation or injury, suggesting that it may be an indicator of renal disease activity. Histological activity and chronicity indices are currently used to evaluate the activity and chronicity of IgA nephrophathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated whether tenascin staining could be an indicator of activity or chronicity in patients with IgA nephropathy using immunohistochemical and in situ polymerase chain reaction methods. Immunostaining for tenascin was done on 58 renal specimens, (51 from IgA nephropathy patients and 7 from normal kidneys), and the in situ polymerase chain reaction was performed on 24 renal specimens (21 from IgA nephropathy patients and 3 from normal kidneys). RESULTS: Tenascin expression in the glomeruli was correlated with tenascin expression in the tubulointerstitium (protein; r = 0.386, p = 0.0063, mRNA; r = 0.510, p = 0.0225). Tenascin protein staining in the glomeruli was correlated with the chronicity index (r = 0.506, p = 0.0003), and glomerular tenascin mRNA positivity was correlated with the activity index (r = 0.449, p = 0.0448). CONCLUSION: Tenascin expression was similar in the glomeruli and tubulointerstitium, but glomerular staining more closely reflected the pathological state. Tenascin protein expression may be an indicator of chronicity and tenascin mRNA expression may be an indicator of disease activity in IgA nephropathy.