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Biomedical subjects

H Sasahara

Publications and source records attributed to H Sasahara.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Alteration of femoral structure in later life by chronically feeding caffeine during rapid growing period in newborn female rats.

The effects of caffeine intake in early life on bone structure later in life were studied in rats. At day 9 of gestation, dams were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 (control) received a 20% protein diet; group 2 received the 20% protein diet supplemented with caffeine (2 mg/100 g body weight). After birth pups were continuously fed their respective diets until day 93, when the diet of group 2 was replaced with a noncaffeine 20% protein diet. On day 388 animals from both groups were weighed, killed, and femora and mandibles were removed. Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, hydroxyproline, and hexosamine concentrations were measured. Radiographs of some femora were taken and paraffin cross sections were made at the midshaft of others. Femora in the caffeine group were wider, periosteal bone area/total bone area was greater, the cross sectional area of femoral bone was smaller, and there were fewer osteocytes/bone area than in controls. Calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and hydroxyproline concentrations in the caffeine group were less in both bones of the caffeine group. These results indicate that if animals are exposed to caffeine during the rapidly growing period, changes occur in femoral bone which are similar to those that occur with aging.

Animals

Role of Porphyromonas gingivalis 40-kDa outer membrane protein in the aggregation of P. gingivalis vesicles and Actinomyces viscosus.

Porphyromonas gingivalis, an important pathogen in periodontitis, produces extracellular vesicles that aggregate with Actinomyces viscosus cells. A 40-kDa outer membrane protein (OMP)-coding gene from P. gingivalis was cloned and the protein was found to be localized in these vesicles. The recombinant 40-kDa OMP did not show aggregation activity. However, affinity-purified antibody against the recombinant protein significantly inhibited aggregation of P. gingivalis vesicles with A. viscosus cells. The antibody also inhibited cellular coaggregation of several strains of P. gingivalis with A. viscosus cells, but not with other periodontal pathogens. Moreover, aggregation of A. viscosus cells with P. gingivalis vesicles was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by pre-treatment of the A. viscosus cells with the recombinant protein. These findings suggest that the 40-kDa OMP may be an important aggregation factor of P. gingivalis.

Actinomyces viscosus

Gene cloning of Porphyromonas gingivalis specific antigens recognized by serum of adult periodontitis patient.

1. Porphyromonas gingivalis is believed an important pathogen of adult periodontitis. A gene library of P. gingivalis 381 was constructed in lambda phage vector L47.1. The library was probed with serum obtained from patients of severe adult periodontitis. Two clones, lambda MDBG101 and lambda MDBG103 which were expressed, 200 and 160 kDa respectively, were selected and further studied. 2. The expressed antigens in these two clones were also reacted with rabbit antiserum against whole cells, capsular fraction and cell surface fraction of P. gingivalis. 3. Genes coding protein antigens in lambda MDBG101 and lambda MDBG103 were subcloned into high-copy-number plasmid vector pACYC184 and subclones obtained were designated as MD101 and MD103. Recombinant plasmids, pMD101 and pMD103, differed in their restriction endonuclease digestion. 4. Immunodiffusion analysis showed that cloned proteins from MD101 and MD103 reacted with antiserum against P. gingivalis but did not react with antiserum against Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella loescheii and Prevotella asaccharolyticus. 5. These data suggest that P. gingivalis species-specific antigens has been successfully cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Since these cloned specific antigens were recognized by adult periodontitis patient sera, the recombinant antigen will be useful material for the development of serodiagnosis of P. gingivalis infection in adults periodontitis.

Adult

Effects of maternal caffeine with zinc intake during gestation and lactation on bone development in newborn rats.

On day 9 of gestation, pregnant dams were randomly divided into 3 groups. Dams of group 1 were fed a 20% protein diet as a control. Dams of group 2 were fed a 20% protein diet supplemented with caffeine. Dams of group 3 were fed a 20% protein diet supplemented with caffeine and zinc. The amount of caffeine added to the maternal diet was 2 mg/100 g body weight; the amount of zinc was 0.6 g/kg of diet. At birth, pups were mixed within each group, and 8 randomly selected pups from each group were assigned to each dam of the respective group and were continuously fed the same diet. On day 15, the pups were killed and cranial bones, mandibles and femurs removed. The bones were measured, and the mineral content of the mandibles and femurs was determined. Although there were no differences in the dimensions of the cranial bones among the groups, the measurements and mineral content of the mandibles and femurs were consistently affected by the caffeine in the diet. On the other hand, supplementation of the caffeine-added diets with zinc led to greatly improved bone development, reaching values up to or beyond control levels. Thus zinc supplementation of a caffeine diet given to the dams during gestation and lactation can favourably influence the otherwise impaired bone development of their offspring.

Animals

Comparison of objective methods for determining ventilatory threshold.

This study was undertaken to compare and re-examine the relation of lactate threshold (LT) and ventilatory threshold (VT), using six objective determination methods proposed previously. Twenty-one young male subjects performed a cycle exercise test in which the work rate was increased by 150 kg.m every 2 min up to his limit of volitional fatigue. Through each test, gas exchange parameter measurements were made every 1 min (every 30 s at nearly maximal level), and the venous blood samples were taken from a warmed ear lobe at each work rate for determining blood lactate concentration. LT and its variance were determined by the intersecting straight lines regression. LT ranged from 0.72 to 1.40 l/min in terms of VO2, and the mean value of S.D. for each LT was about 0.1 l/min. Each objective method for determining VT used in this study was based on the simple modelling of the criterion for visual detection of VT, that is the non-linear increase in VE or the systematic increase in VE/VO2. When the relationship between LT and VT was examined, VT by the objective methods based on determining minimum value of VE/VO2 showed relatively high consistency with LT. Of 16-20 individuals out of all 21 subjects, there were VT within LT +/- 0.2 in VO2. It is concluded that VE/VO2 is a more sensitive index for detecting VT than VE in the gas exchange parameters, and the objective VT determination method based on minimum value of VE/VO2 could facilitate estimation of LT within an error of +/- 0.2 l/min VO2 in most normal individuals.

Adult

[Behavioral dental science. Part VIII. The dentist's rating and adolescents' perceptions of oral health].

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first objective was to measure the periodontal status and perceptions of oral health in adolescents. The second objective was to determine the effects that a program of dental health education would have on their periodontal status and perceptions of oral health. The dental health education with a 90-minute lecture had been given to eleventh-grade students (352) in the previous year. The dental health education program was not carried out in tenth-grade students (442) yet. The oral examination was performed by a dentist for both grades. The examination time was about ten seconds per person. The students' periodontal status was scored as "excellent (+2)," "good (+1)," "questionable (0)," "poor (-1)," or "very poor (-2)" according to the criteria of an Oral Rating Index (ORI) System proposed by the present authors. The level of students' perceptions was assessed by the cognition score of our dental health test (10 items concerning dental attitudes and behavior). Main results were as follows: 1. Only 6% of the 10-th grade students were judged as having "excellent (+2)" oral health. Thirty-six percent were "very poor (-2)" or "poor (-1)" periodontal status. 2. The mean cognition score and the mean ORI score of the 11-th grade students were significantly greater for each sex group than those of the 10-th grade students. 3. The cognition score showed a clear relationship to the ORI score in each grade and in all. The behavioral component of the cognition score was more closely related to the ORI score. These findings suggest that the dental health education contributes to the improvement of periodontal status as well as that of perceptions. Furthermore, the ORI may be utilized for a screening system to evaluate adolescents' periodontal status quickly and effectively.

Adolescent