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Biomedical subjects

A Kawada

Publications and source records attributed to A Kawada.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Localized cutaneous nocardiosis in Japan. A new case.

We report a case of localized cutaneous nocardiosis due to Nocardia asteroides, appearing on the anterior surface of the right forearm of a 29-year-old woman. Examination of the skin revealed a firm subcutaneous nodule measuring 32 x 20 mm and accompanied with a small ulcer. The histology of the lesion showed granulomatous changes interspersed with large numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. On Gram staining, a few bacillary bodies were found scattered through the lesion, but no grains were detected. The classification of the clinical types of cutaneous nocardiosis is discussed, and the Japanese literature on localized cutaneous nocardiosis is examined.

Adult

The comparison of sun protection factor values with different light sources.

Sun protection factors (SPFs) were evaluated with three light sources (sunlight, a xenon arc solar simulator, and fluorescent lamps) in indoor and outdoor studies. Two types of light, UV-A+B and UV+Visible, were obtained from the solar simulator. The untanned backs of twenty-four healthy male volunteers were used as test sites. A broad spectrum sunscreen containing SPF 6, according to the manufacturer, was used. The sunscreen tested was applied at 2 mg/cm2. The actual SPF values were 4.8 with sunlight, 6.0 with UV-A+B, 4.9 with UV+Visible, and 11.8 with fluorescent lamps. There were no significant differences between the SPF values with sunlight and those with the solar simulator; the SPF value for fluorescent lamps was significantly higher. The SPF with UV-A+B of the solar simulator was similar to that with sunlight; the use of this light served to reduce pain on tested subjects. Therefore, UV-A+B from the solar simulator seems to be the most appropriate artificial light source for evaluating sunscreens.

Adult

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients living beyond respiratory failure.

Thirty cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) supported by respirators for more than 1 year beyond respiratory failure were followed to estimate the progression of their voluntary motor impairment. The extremities were apt to be affected within two years of the onset of the disease, but complete voluntary paralysis occurred in less than half of the cases (14/30), more frequently appearing after respiratory failure. Respiratory and bulbar paralysis were closely related, and combined complete voluntary paralysis of these muscle systems was observed in 25/30 cases. Incomplete external ophthalmoplegia also increased after respiratory failure, but complete voluntary external ophthalmoplegia was rare (5/30).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Inhibition spectra of solar urticaria: a case report and a review of the Japanese cases.

A 34-year-old Japanese female with solar urticaria is described, who had an episode of urticarial response when she was exposed to indoor fluorescent light first and sunlight later. The action spectrum was found to range from 480 to 520 nm with an inhibition spectrum above 650 nm in the visible light by both postirradiation and preirradiation. Injection of in vitro-irradiated serum did not produce an urticarial wheal on the patient. In the Japanese literature, 17 cases of solar urticaria with inhibition spectra have been reported. The wavelength of the inhibition spectrum was longer than that of the action spectrum in each case.

Adult

Tinea of the eyebrow showing kerion celsi reaction: report of one case.

A case of dermatophytosis showing a kerion celsi reaction in the eyebrow of a forty-seven-year-old woman is reported. The causative organism was Trichophyton rubrum. Direct mycologic examination revealed endothrix parasitism within the shafts of the infected hairs, and the trichophytin test gave positive results. Histologic examination of the lesion revealed marked inflammatory infiltration in the dermis, and numerous arthroconidia within the hair shafts. The symptoms disappeared almost entirely after oral treatment with itraconazole for three weeks. In view of the rarity of tinea of the eyebrow, some comments are appended.

Antifungal Agents

Reproduction of the skin lesions of polymorphous light eruption: a case report and a review of the Japanese literature.

A case of polymorphous light eruption with plaque-type lesions is reported. A 55-year-old male had pruritic erythemas and plaques on the head, the face, the nape, the back of the hands, and the left loin within days following sun exposure. The patient's minimal erythema dose (MED) (60 mJ/cm2) of sunlamp irradiation for ultraviolet (UV) B was normal. Three once-daily exposures to 2 MED of UVB (Epstein's repeat phototest technique) produced pruritic papules with a similar microscopic appearance to that of the patient's skin lesion, indicating that the action spectrum causing the lesion seemed to be within the UVB waveband.

Humans

Skin typing, sun exposure, and sunscreen use in a population of Japanese.

Distribution of Japanese skin types (JSTs), sun-exposure habits, and sunscreen use were surveyed in 379 new outpatients. The largest number of subjects belonged to JST class J-II (65%), J-I was second (24%), and J-III was third (11%). Eighty-eight percent of those studied had occasional or habitual sun exposure during the summer, and many were exposed for more than three hours per exposure day (80% of those with occasional exposure; 62% of those with habitual exposure). More younger persons had occasional sun exposure than older persons. More males had habitual sun exposure than females. Sunscreens were used by 41% of the subjects, but 77% of these used them without accurate understanding of the definition of the sun protection factor. More J-I subjects used sunscreens than J-II and J-III subjects. More females than males used them.

Adolescent

Metabolism of amniotic fluid dopamine by fetal membranes.

The concentrations of L-dopa, three catecholamines and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) were measured both in the amniotic fluid and the fetal urine obtained at term elective cesarean section, using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Dopamine was the major compound in the fetal urine, while DOPAC predominated in the amniotic fluid. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was detected in the fetal membranes by the method of Wurthman and Axelrod. MAO activities in the amnion, chorion and decidua were 0.023 +/- 0.003, 0.180 +/- 0.05 and 2.69 +/- 0.66 nmol/mg protein/min (mean +/- SE), respectively. Incubation experiments, using fetal membranes with human amniotic fluid, demonstrated that dopamine in amniotic fluid was metabolized to DOPAC by fetal membranes. Additional incubation experiments with pargyline, a MAO inhibitor, showed that it strongly inhibited the conversion of dopamine into DOPAC. These results suggest that the dopamine in amniotic fluid was metabolized to DOPAC by MAO in the fetal membranes. This mechanism may regulate the dopamine concentration in amniotic fluid.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid

Assignment of three patients with xeroderma pigmentosum to complementation group E and their characteristics.

Three cases belonging to xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) complementation group E were analyzed clinically and photobiologically. The three Japanese patients were a 50-yr-old female (XP80TO), a 42-yr-old female (XP81TO), and a 41-yr-old female (XP82TO). They were assigned to complementation group E by the cell hybridization study. All showed lowered minimal erythema doses between those of normal Japanese and XP group A subjects at wavelengths of 280, 290, and 300 nm of monochromatic ultraviolet (UV) light. Patients XP80TO and XP81TO, but not patient XP82TO, showed a delayed peak reaction at 48 h to UV erythema. All fibroblast strains from these patients had a reduced level of 40%-44% unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) after irradiation with 10 J/m2 of 254 nm UV. Primary cultured epidermal cells from these patients exhibited a relatively low level of UDS (ie, 38%-51% of normal epidermal cells). All of the group E fibroblast strains were twice as sensitive to 254 nm UV killing [n (extrapolation number) = 1.3-1.8, Do (mean lethal dose) = 2.2-2.8 J/m2)] as normal fibroblasts (n = 1.5, Do = 5.0 J/m2). All of the above group E patients had mild XP symptoms, but not neurological abnormalities, at the fifth decade of age. Patients XP80TO and XP81TO had developed skin malignancies (patients XP80TO developed three basaliomas; patient XP81TO developed two basaliomas) at the ages of 46 and 41 yr, respectively.

Adult

Delayed sensorineural deafness and skin carcinogenesis in a Japanese xeroderma pigmentosum group D patient.

A 65-year-old patient with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), XP77TO, was assigned to complementation Group D by the cell-fusion study and comprised the fifth Group D case in Japan. The patient had mild solar sensitivity by age 7, dyspigmentation by 10 years, and he still currently has moderate symptoms. The skin phototest by 290, 300 and 305 nm monochromatic ultraviolet (UV) light revealed a delayed peak of erythema 48 h post-irradiation and lowered minimal erythemal doses. The XP77TO skin fibroblasts, as well as a reference Group D strain, exhibited the same 7-fold higher sensitivity to the lethal effect of 254 nm UV as did normal cells. Unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) induced in XP77TO cells by 254 nm UV (10 J/m2) was 42% of normal, falling into the Group D range of 25-50% UDS. In spite of such a similar cellular phenotype, XP77TO developed squamous cell carcinomas at 44 and 65 years of age and audiometric sensorineural deafness in a delayed fashion at advanced age.

Age Factors

UVB-induced erythema, delayed tanning, and UVA-induced immediate tanning in Japanese skin.

UVB-induced erythema, delayed tanning (DT), and UVA-induced immediate tanning (IT) in Japanese were investigated on the skin of the backs of 65 healthy subjects. The subjects were classified according to Japanese skin type (JST) based on personal history of sun-reactivity. Skin color was determined by skin reflectance using a Value Reflex Meter. With monochromatic UVR at wavelengths of 290 and 305 nm, minimal erythema dose (MED) and minimal melanogenic dose (MMD) were recorded at 24 h and 7 d after irradiation. Fading response of DT after the sunlamp-irradiation was measured by skin reflectance. Minimal IT dose (MITD) was observed immediately after irradiation with monochromatic UVR at wavelengths of 320, 340, 360, and 400 nm. The MED was exactly correlated with JST. The MED and the MMD increased with increasing JST, and with decreasing skin reflectance. The MMD was greater than the corresponding MED for individuals of all JST classes. The MITD was correlated with neither JST nor skin color. The action spectrum for IT showed a maximum at the wavelength of 320 nm and decreased gradually towards 400 nm.

Adolescent

Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group E: a case report.

A 5-year-old female Japanese patient with mild symptoms of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), XP7OTO, was assigned to complementation group E following cell hybridization. XP7OTO showed lowered minimal erythema doses compared with those of normal Japanese and XP group A subjects at 290 and 300 nm of monochromatic ultraviolet (UV) light. The delayed peak reaction of UV erythema was characteristically observed in this particular group E patient. 254 nm UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis of XP7OTO skin fibroblasts was reduced to a level of 55% of normal. XP7OTO cells exhibited a twice higher sensitivity to 254 nm UV killing (n (extrapolation number) = 1.2, Do (mean lethal dose) = 2.2 J/m2) than did normal cells (n = 1.5, Do = 5.0 J/m2). The patient has, as yet, developed neither skin malignancies nor neurological abnormalities.

Cells, Cultured