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Biomedical subjects

E Koh

Publications and source records attributed to E Koh.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Treatment of psoriasis vulgaris by oral administration of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3--open-design study.

In an open-design study 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 was administered orally to 17 patients with psoriasis vulgaris at a dose of 1.0 micrograms/day for 6 months. More than moderate improvement was observed in 13 (76%) of the 17 patients from 2.7 +/- 0.6 months (mean +/- SD) after the start of treatment. No side effects of the treatment were observed. The mechanism of the effect of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 requires study, but these data suggest that its oral administration is effective for treatment of psoriasis vulgaris.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1986

A new method of conduction system staining.

Visualization of the conduction bundle is advantageous in the prevention of surgical trauma to the conduction system during open-heart surgery. Because vital staining using an iodine starch complex has been known to result in tissue damage, we have evaluated the effects of iodine gas on the specialized conduction system. The conduction bundle was stained, well enough to be identified, with iodine tincture, with Lugol's solution, and with iodine gas. However, all these agents except for iodine gas caused marked electrophysiological changes. Similar changes occurred with the use of ethanol and of 10% potassium iodine solution, which are the solvents of iodine tincture and Lugol's solution, respectively. Microscopic examination showed that iodine tincture, Lugol's solution, and their solvents caused marked histological changes in the conduction tissue. However, no significant changes in the conduction tissue were noted from iodine gas spraying. Therefore, tissue damage caused by iodine tincture and Lugol's solution was thought to be due not to a reaction to the iodine starch complex itself, but to their solvents. In a long-term experimental study of 10 dogs, we found that iodine gas caused no electrophysiological disturbances or damage of microscopic tissue. Of the agents we tested, only iodine gas is free from harmful effects and can be used clinically.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Eel calcitonin suppresses plasma human calcitonin levels in medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

The effects of synthetic [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin (0.5 MRC unit/kg body weight intravenously for 30 min) on circulating levels of human calcitonin, calcium and gastrin were investigated in five patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. Blood samples were obtained before and 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 min after commencement of infusion of [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin. Plasma levels of human calcitonin were measured by radioimmunoassay. Cross-reactivity with [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin in this assay was negligible. On infusion of [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin, the mean plasma level of human calcitonin decreased significantly to 71.0 +/- 8.7% of the basal level (mean +/- SEM, P less than 0.05) after 30 min and 68.4 +/- 25.4% of the basal level (P less than 0.05) after 60 min. The serum calcium level also decreased significantly, but lagged behind the decrease of human calcitonin, being 95.1 +/- 0.7% of the basal level (P less than 0.01) at 120 min and 94.8 +/- 0.6% of the basal level (P less than 0.02) at 180 min. The mean plasma gastrin level did not change significantly on infusion of [Asu1,7]-eel calcitonin. In pooled data for all times, the percentage change in human calcitonin was not significantly correlated with either the percentage change in calcium (r = -0.25, P greater than 0.1) or the percentage change in gastrin (r = -0.38, P greater than 0.1).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

An open study of vitamin D3 treatment in psoriasis vulgaris.

Active forms of vitamin D3, 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 and 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, were administered in an open-design study to 40 patients with psoriasis vulgaris in three ways: to 17 patients 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 was given orally at a dose of 1.0 micrograms/day for 6 months, to four patients 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 was given orally at a dose of 0.5 microgram/day for 6 months, and 19 patients were given 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 applied topically at concentration of 0.5 microgram/g of base for 8 weeks. Improvement was observed at the end of the individual study periods in 13 (76%) patients in Group 1 with a mean period of treatment (+/- SD) of 2.7 +/- 0.6 months, in one patient in Group 2 at 3 months after the start of treatment, and in 16 (84%) patients in Group 3 when the chemical was applied for 3.3 +/- 1.2 weeks. No side-effects were observed in any of these trials. These data suggest that psoriasis may respond to active metabolites of vitamin D3 and that abnormalities in vitamin D metabolism or in responsiveness of the skin cells to active metabolites of vitamin D may be involved in the pathogenesis of this skin disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Age and sex influences on urine calcitonin-like immunoreactivity in normal subjects.

Calcitonin-like immunoreactivity levels were determined in urine specimens in 585 normal subjects of various ages. Urine calcitonin-like immunoreactivity (uCTi) was measured by the midportion-specific radioimmunoassay after extraction of urine by gel chromatography on a 0.8 X 20 cm column of Bio Gel P-2. In 197 males and 169 females below 20 years old, significant negative correlations between the age and uCTi were observed (male: r = -0.684, female: r = -0.690). In 75 males and 80 females above 41 years, however, no significant correlation was observed between age and uCTi. The high level of uCTi in children could be explained by high levels of circulating calcitonin, associated with rapid bone growth; however the uCTi level in the elderly may not reflect the physiological significance of calcitonin for them because of a suspected age-related decrease in renal clearance of uCTi in the elderly.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[Epidermoid cyst of the testis: a case report].

A 28-year-old man was admitted to our department with the chief complaint of a painless nodule in the left scrotal content. Physical examination revealed that a small, thumb-finger sized, hard mass with a smooth surface was palpable at the upper part of the left scrotal content. With the preoperative diagnosis of testicular tumor, the left testis was explored under ischemia. Appearance of the testis was normal and the mass was felt in the upper portion of the testis. Since the mass was suspected to be malignant, left radical orchiectomy was performed. The histological diagnosis was epidermoid cyst of the testis. Sixty-five cases of testicular epidermoid cyst including this case have been reported in the Japanese literature, and are reviewed briefly here.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

An acromegalic patient with recurrent urolithiasis.

A 52-year-old man with an acromegalic appearance of prolonged duration suffered abdominal colic attacks and hematuria during the middle of the course of the disease. The patient was diagnosed as having urolithiasis caused by increased urinary calcium. The calcium metabolic disorder was not considered to be due to hyperparathyroidism because serum calcium and PTH levels were within the normal range and no abnormality was observed in a parathyroidal scintigraph. The serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D) levels (55.0 and 73.0 pg/ml) were higher than the normal range (27.2-53.8 pg/ml). A selective adenomectomy by the transsphenoidal route (Hardy's method) was performed, resulting in an improvement in the hypercalciuria and urolithiasis, and a decrease in the levels of serum 1,25-(OH)2D (23.0 and 23.0 pg/ml). These findings suggest that GH may promote the activation of vitamin D in the kidney in acromegaly, resulting in an acceleration of calcium absorption in the intestine through the action of activated vitamin D and the induction of increased urinary calcium excretion by the urinary excretion of excessive blood calcium.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1984

Ca2+ and cyclic nucleotide dependence of amylase release from isolated rat pancreatic acinar cells rendered permeable by intense electric fields.

Enzyme digestion of rat pancreatic tissue yielded a preparation of isolated acinar cells, over 90% of which excluded trypan blue. These isolated cells responded to a variety of secretagogues, the responses being sensitive to the removal of extracellular calcium, increasing extracellular magnesium, and by trifluoperazine, an antagonist of Ca-dependent processes. When exposed to intense electric fields, isolated acinar cells became permeable to CaEGTA and MgATP, these markers gaining access to over 60% of the intracellular milieu within minutes. The accessibility to these markers seemed independent of the ionised Ca2+ level. Less than 0.5% of the cellular amylase was released when cells were rendered leaky in a medium containing about 10(-9) M Ca2+, but typically 4% was released when the Ca2+ level was subsequently raised to 10(-5)M levels, the EC50 for Ca2+ being 2 microM. This amount of amylase released was comparable to the amounts secreted from intact cells in response to a variety of agonists. The cytosolic marker lactate dehydrogenase was also released from leaky cells, but the extent was independent of Ca2+ concentration. No amylase was released at 10(-7)M Ca2+ when permeable cells were exposed to cyclic 3',5'-AMP or cyclic 3',5'-GMP. The calcium activation curve for amylase release seemed to be independent of cyclic nucleotides, but was markedly increased in both the extent of release and apparent affinity for Ca2+ in the presence of the phorbol ester 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13 acetate. These results suggest that when "functionally normal" isolated acinar cells are rendered permeable, Ca2+-but not cyclic nucleotides-acts as a second messenger for amylase secretion, and furthermore that protein kinase C may be involved in the secretory process.

Amylases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relation between low serum cholesteryl-ester transfer activity and abdominal aortic calcification in normolipidemic elderly subjects.

We studied the relation between cholesteryl-ester transfer activity (CETA) and abdominal aortic calcification in elderly subjects. Compared with 10 young healthy subjects (mean +/- S.D. age, 27 +/-2 years) and to 26 elderly subjects without abdominal aortic calcification (79 +/- 7 years), 16 elderly patients with abdominal aortic calcification (82 +/- 6 years) had significantly lower levels of serum CETA. However, there were no differences in the levels of serum lipids and apolipoproteins, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoproteins A-I, A-II, B, C-II and E, between the two elderly groups. When the two groups of elderly subjects were considered together, the level of serum CETA did not correlate significantly with any lipids and apolipoproteins. These results provide evidence that CETA may prevent the development of aortic calcification in normolipidemic elderly people.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adrenal steroids in human prostatic cancer cell lines.

Adrenal androgens function as an androgen source within prostate and androgen target tissue. This study compares the ability of three human prostatic cancer cell lines to metabolize the adrenal androgens, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and androstenedione under living culture conditions. Androgen-independent cell lines PC-3 and DU145 and androgen-dependent cell line LNCaP were investigated. The effect of glucuronide and sulfate conjugates was also investigated. There was a strong tendency in PC-3 or DU145 to convert androstenedione to DHEA or DHEA-S reservoir. On the other hand, LNCaP was capable of converting DHEA into androstenedione and subsequently into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Moreover, androgens were converted into a glucuronide conjugate in LNCaP, but not in PC-3 or DU145. As a result, the metabolism of the adrenal precursor shifted to androgen formation in LNCaP. This could be confirmed by means of reverse transcription-PCR of uridine diphosphoglucuronosyl-transferase (UGT) 2B15. Kinetic properties of UGT activity in LNCaP revealed DHT to be a better substrate than testosterone. In conclusion, the findings show that the adrenal precursor pool has the potential to contribute to the regulation of prostatic cells. Moreover, the presence of UGT activities in LNCaP may have a regulatory effect on the active androgen level in the intracellular environment.

Androstenedione↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multiplex sequence-tagged site PCR for efficient screening of microdeletions in Y chromosome in infertile males with azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia.

The multiplex STS-PCR method was used to detect microdeletions in the long arm of the Y chromosome (Yq) of cytogenetically normal men. One hundred infertile men with azoospermia or oligozoospermia were screened with the multiplex PCR method using 58 STSs, which are specific to Yq for detecting microdeletions on this chromosome. Correlations between the microdeletions on Yq and phenotypes of spermatogenetic disturbance were also examined. Ten patients (10%) had microdeletions on Yq. Seven of the 60 azoospermic patients (11.7%), and 3 of the 40 oligozoospermic patients (7.5%) had microdeletions on Yq. None of the patients showed microdeletions in the AZFa region, but 2 had deletions in the AZFb region, another 2 in the AZFc region, including DAZ, and 1 had deletions in both the AZFb and in the AZFc, including RBM and DAZ. Single microdeletions were found in 4 patients, all of them in the AZFc around DAZ, and 1 patient had 2 microdeletions in the AZFb. The improved multiplex STS-PCR method efficiently detected microdeletions in 10% of azoospermic or severe oligozoospermic men who were cytogenetically normal. All of these microdeletions were presented in the AZFb and/or AZFc regions. This suggests that these regions contain candidate genes for spermatogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical evaluation of hypokalemia in anorexia nervosa.

The serum and urinary levels of electrolytes were measured in 25 patients with anorexia nervosa admitted to this hospital. Seven (28%) of these patients vomited, usually surreptitiously. Hypokalemia was detected in 5 (20%) of these patients, all among those who vomited. The urinary chloride/sodium ratios were low in the patients who vomited, and did not overlap the values in patients who did not vomit, indicating that this ratio was a good indication of vomiting. These results suggested that stopping vomiting is most important for correcting hypokalemia.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Depressed DNA synthesis in vitro by early prepubertal undescended human testis.

To study the spermatogenic potential of the early prepubertal inguinal testis and the effect of temperature on spermatogenesis, the levels of incorporation of 3H-thymidine and 14C-uridine into the testicular tissue were studied at 31 degrees C and 37 degrees C in vitro and compared with those of scrotal (descended) testis. 3H-thymidine incorporation into the inguinal testicular tissue at 31 degrees C, which is close to normal testicular temperature, was significantly lower than that of the scrotal testis. There was no significant differences in 14C-uridine incorporation between inguinal and scrotal testis at that temperature. At 37 degrees C, which is close to normal body temperature, 3H-thymidine and 14C-uridine incorporation into the tissues of inguinal and scrotal testes was significantly higher than at 31 degrees C. It would appear that DNA synthesis of the inguinal testis is lower than that of the scrotal testis at 31 degrees C, and higher temperature, at least for a short while, did not contribute to the impairment of spermatogenic potential in early prepubertal inguinal testis.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

In vitro temperature sensitivity of DNA, RNA, and protein syntheses throughout puberty in human testis.

To evaluate the optimal temperature for DNA, RNA, and protein syntheses in the prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal human testis, the levels of incorporation of 3H-thymidine, 14C-uridine, and 14C-leucine into cultured testicular tissue were studied at 28 degrees C, 31 degrees C, 34 degrees C, 37 degrees C, 40 degrees C, and 43 degrees C. The maximum level of 3H-thymidine incorporation in prepubertal testes occurred at 37 degrees C, whereas the maximum incorporation in the pubertal and postpubertal testes occurred at 31 degrees C. Incorporations of 14C-uridine and 14C-leucine in the three groups were temperature dependent (28 degrees C to 37 degrees C). DNA synthesis by germ cells in the pubertal and postpubertal testes was maximum at 31 degrees C and was impaired at body temperature (37 degrees C), whereas in the prepubertal testis it was temperature dependent with a maximum at 37 degrees C. RNA and protein synthesis in the three groups was temperature dependent at 28 degrees C to 37 degrees C, was depressed at 40 degrees C, and remarkably depressed at 43 degrees C.

Adolescent↗