Biomedical subjects

Y Yamashiro

Publications and source records attributed to Y Yamashiro.

240 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Age dependency of stiffness of the abdominal aorta and the mechanical properties of the aorta in Kawasaki disease in children.

Measuring aortic distensibility has been shown to be useful in adults as a noninvasive method in the early detection of atherosclerosis. This study had two purposes: to assess the stiffness of the abdominal aorta by using two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) in healthy neonates, children, and adults and to assess aortic distensibility in children with Kawasaki disease in acute and subacute phases. The study comprised 168 healthy subjects and 40 patients with Kawasaki disease. We recorded systolic (Ps) and diastolic (Pd) blood pressure and measured aortic diameter (Dd) at both minimum diastolic pressure and maximum systolic expansion (Ds) by 2DE. These measurements were used to determine (1) aortic strain (S) = (Ds - Dd)/Dd, (2) pressure strain elastic modulus (Ep) = (Ps - Pd)/S, and (3) normalized Ep (Ep*) = Ep/Pd. Significant correlations were found between S and age, Ep and age, and Ep* and age. In Kawasaki disease, Ep and Ep* showed negative correlations to day after onset. The aorta was less distensible in infants, became soft in 12- to 16-year-olds, and then stiffened with increasing age among normal subjects. In Kawasaki disease, aortic stiffness was high at the acute phase and normal at the subacute phase. These tendencies may be related to the biological characteristics of smooth muscle cells.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of stool dilution on the faecal Helicobacter pylori antigen test.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of stool dilution on the results of the faecal Helicobacter pylori antigen test. METHODS: Stool samples from nine children with H. pylori infection were diluted with normal saline at dilutions of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 times, and optical density (OD) was measured. RESULTS: The faecal H. pylori antigen test yielded positive results for all samples at dilutions of 1:10 and less, although the sample from the case whose original stool showed the lowest OD value changed from positive to negative at a dilution of 1:50. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that stools at dilutions of less than 1:10 usually do not yield false-negative results in the faecal H. pylori antigen test, even in patients with low faecal antigen levels.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prostaglandin metabolism in children with diabetes mellitus. I. Plasma prostaglandin E2, F2 alpha, TXB2, and serum fatty acid levels.

To study prostaglandin (PG) metabolism in children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, plasma levels of PGE2, PGF2 alpha, and thromboxane B2 and the composition of serum fatty acids were measured. Platelet aggregation, a risk factor in diabetic vascular complications, was also measured. The mean levels of plasma PGE2 and PGF2 alpha were high and serum dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid were low in the diabetic children. The plasma thromboxane B2 levels of the diabetic children and normal controls were not significantly different. Platelet aggregation was also increased in diabetic patients. These results suggest that the insulin deficiency and high blood sugar in diabetic children may disturb the supply of dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid from cis-linoleic acid, decreasing prostaglandin formation in series 1. Then feedback regulation may increase production of PGE2 and PGF2 alpha in series 2. Altered PG metabolism may be responsible for the occurrence and progression of vascular complications in the diabetic children.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic red blood cell scintigraphy in GI tract bleeding from an intestinal hemangioma.

99mTc-labeled red blood cell (RBC) scintigraphy in vivo established the diagnosis of intestinal hemangioma in a 6-year-old girl suffering from gastrointestinal (GI) tract bleeding who had undergone an operation for removal of hemangioma at the nail bed. Other examinations, double-contrast barium meal study and angiography, were unsuccessful in making the diagnosis. Intestinal hemangioma is rare in childhood, but a useful technique such as RBC scintigraphy should be performed to find the bleeding point of the GI tract, especially in case the patient has another obvious hemangioma.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Lack of plasma leptin response to feeding in newborn infants.

OBJECTIVE: Previous reports of the postprandial regulation of leptin are controversial, and there have been few studies on the effects of breast-feeding on postprandial regulation in newborn infants. We examined the response of plasma leptin to breast- and formula-feeding in newborn infants. METHODS: We measured the plasma leptin levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit before and after feeding in 12 breast-fed and 11 formula-fed mature infants. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in plasma leptin levels in breast-fed infants before and after feeding or in artificially fed infants before and after feeding. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that feeding does not play a role in the acute response of circulating leptin levels in either breast- or formula-fed infants.

Breast Feeding↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Growth factors in breast milk and their effect on gastrointestinal development.

Breast milk contains various biologically active factors including, hormones, peptide growth factors, and cytokines. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulinlike growth factor-I (IGF-I) are two of the major milk-derived peptide growth factors. Colostrum contains higher levels of these growth factors than mature milk does, and, these factors are relatively resistant to proteolysis and stable in the G-I tract. There are specific receptors found in G-I mucosa. Luminal EGF and IGF-I stimulate growth and development of gastrointestinal tract. Intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells are a good model for studying physiological roles of exogenous growth factors in the G-I development. Effect of EGF and IGF-I on proliferation, differentiation, and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) production of intestinal Caco-2 cells were studied. Both EGF and IGF-I increased cell proliferation in dose dependent manner. The number of IGF-I receptors on Caco-2 cells increased after differentiation, in contrast to EGF binding which was reported to decrease. Caco-2 cells produced at least three IGFBPs, namely IGFBP-2, -3, and -4. The profile of these IGFBPs varied with differentiation. Secretion of IGFBP-2 and -3 increased with differentiation, but IGFBP-4 diminished. IGF-I stimulated mainly IGFBP-3 production, while EGF stimulated predominantly IGFBP-4. The effects of IGF-I and EGF on IGFBP secretion diminished with increasing cell differentiation. Thus, the interaction between intestinal epithelial cells and extrinsic growth factors are complex and the stage of differentiation is an important determinant of this phenomenon.

Animals↗