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Biomedical subjects

H Unno

Publications and source records attributed to H Unno.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

[The treatment of pulmonary aspergilloma with itraconazole].

We evaluated the efficacy of Itraconazole (ITZ), a newly developed triazole antifungal agent, in 5 cases of pulmonary aspergilloma. A daily dose of 100-200 mg of ITZ was given orally for 5 to 20 months. In one patient, administration of ITZ was discontinued because of mild and transient hepatic injury. On computerized tomography and conventional roentgenogram of the chest, improvement was clearly observed in 2 of the remaining 4 cases. Symptomatic improvement, mainly disappearance of airway bleeding, was seen in 2 cases. Thus the overall improvement rate was 50% (two out of 4). No adverse response other than the hepatic injury mentioned above occurred. In one patient, who had two fungus balls previously, one of the fungus balls disappeared completely and the other decreased significantly in size during the course of treatment. In this case, the daily dose of ITZ was larger (200 mg once a day) and the plasma concentration of ITZ was extremely higher (2068 ng/ml) than in other cases (137-330 ng/ml). We conclude that ITZ is an efficacious drug in the treatment of pulmonary aspergilloma, and that this drug may be even more efficacious if we keep higher plasma concentration of ITZ.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

A kinetic analysis of cell disruption by bead mill. The influence of bead loading, bead size and agitator speed.

The influence of operating parameters such as bead loading, peripheral velocity and bead size on the kinetic behavior of cell disruption in a bead mill was investigated. The bead mill was equipped with a single rotating disc and operated batchwise. Analysis of the data showed that the frequency of bead collision may be correlated to the observed first-order process, applying a new concept called effective disruption volume. It was found that the first-order rate constant was proportional to the square of bead loading within the other experimental conditions examined and increased with the decrease in bead diameter. A new disruption kinetics was proposed, explaining all the observed data in terms of the frequency of bead collision and the concept of effective disruption volume. Although other types of microorganisms were not examined, the concept may well be extended to various kinds of cells.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae↗
PubMed1991

[The defensive role of human pulmonary alveolar macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes against a strongly or weakly virulent strains of Cryptococcus neoformans].

The phagocytic and killing activities of human pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM) and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), and superoxide (O2-) production in phagocytizing PAM and PMN were studied by using a strongly and weakly virulent strains of Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) in mice. The strongly virulent strain was encapsulated with a thick capsule while the other had a thin one. The phagocytic and killing activities of PAM and PMN against the strongly virulent strain were lower than against the weakly virulent one. There was no significant difference between PAM and PMN in terms of phagocytic or killing activities and O2- production. It seems likely that O2- plays no defensive role in the intracellular killing of C. neoformans by PAM and PMN because no correlation was found between the killing activity and O2- production. These results indicate that human PAM and PMN play an effective role in host defense against the weakly virulent strain of C. neoformans encapsulated with a thin capsule but are not effective against the strongly virulent strain encapsulated with a thick capsule.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Fatal delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction in a postoperative case of traumatic aortic rupture].

A 52-year-old woman with traumatic rupture of the thoracic descending aorta had a history of previous blood transfusion 23 years ago. This time, she received 4,600 ml of blood transfusion during the replacement procedure of thoracic aorta. On the 12th postoperative day, she had acutely progressive severe jaundice, anemia and hepatosplenomegaly. All transfused blood was compatible by bromelin method before operation. Serological studies revealed a secondary response of hemolytic transfusion reaction due to anti E and anti c antibodies. She fell into severe bilirubinemia (66 mg/dl) and anuria, and died on 19th day after operation. A positive Coombs test in a patient who has been transfused recently must be interpreted with great caution. The "coated" cells may be incompatible donor cells in a patient who has antibodies from a prior transfusion. The incompatibility occasionally leads to delayed transfusion reaction that may stimulate "autoimmune" hemolytic anemia.

Anemia, Hemolytic↗
PubMed1983

Human C4b-binding protein, C4bp. Chymotryptic cleavage and location of the 48 kDa active fragment within C4bp.

C4bp, a regulator of the classical pathway of complement system, is composed of 6-8 disulfide-linked subunit chains of 75 kDa. Upon incubation with chymotrypsin, C4bp was rapidly cleaved into a nicked C4bp, composed of disulfide-linked 48 kDa and 27 kDa fragments. Subsequent slow cleavage on the 27 kDa fragment resulted in the liberation of the active site-containing 48 kDa fragment from the nicked C4bp. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 48 kDa fragment was identical to that of the parent subunit chain of C4bp, indicating that the 48 kDa active fragment was released from the N-terminal side of the parent subunit chain. Based on these results, a possible gross structure of C4bp is proposed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1976

Changes in body weight, milk production, food and water consumptions and vaginal smears in rats during prolonged lactation.

Concurrent observations were made in the rat on the changes in the milk production, body and organ weight, food and water consumptions and in the ovarian function in two separate series of experiments in which the period of lactation was prolonged to 60 and 45 days, respectively, by replacing suckling pups by younger ones. In most of the variable examined, marked changes occured between day 20 and 30 of lactation, that is, at the stage correspondong to the end of the normal lactation period. Milk production rate during prolonged lactation expressed by daily gain in weight of litters decreased to 60% of the level before day 20, and was associated with a great reduction of nucleic acid contents of the mammary gland. Definite decreases in weight of the anterior pituitary and the adrenal glands were observed. The food intake remained constant from day 15 of lactation onwards, therefore, the feed efficiency for milk production declined gradually during the period of normal lactatation remaining at a low level thereafter.. After the first recurrence of vaginal estrus which also occured between day 20 and 30, the replacement of litters was followed by the appearance of estrus, whereas replacement before day 15 did not affect the ovarian function. In addtition to these changes, a depressing effect of estrus on the milk production was observed.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Programmed Escherichia coli cell lysis by expression of cloned T4 phage lysis genes.

Self-disruptive Escherichia coli that produces foreign target protein was developed. E. coli was co-transformed with two vector plasmids, a target gene expression vector and a lysis gene expression vector. The lytic protein was produced after the expression of the target gene, resulting in simplification of the cell disruption process. In this study, the expression of cloned T4 phage gene e or t was used for the disruption of E. coli that produced beta-glucuronidase (GUS) as a model target protein. The expression of gene e did not lead to prompt cell disruption but weakened the cell wall. Resuspension with deionized water facilitated cell lysis, and GUS activity was observed in the resuspended liquid. Expression of gene e at mid logarithmic growth phase was the optimal induction period for GUS production and release. On the other hand, the expression of gene t induced immediate cell lysis, and intracellular GUS was released to the culture medium. Maximum GUS production was obtained when gene t was induced at late logarithmic growth phase.

Bacteriolysis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A murine model of zygomycosis by Cunninghamella bertholletiae.

Infections by Cunninghamella bertholletiae have been on the increase in recent years. However, little is known about this fungus and its infection. To clarify the pathogenicity of C. bertholletiae, we made a murine model, and to our knowledge, the first infectious model of this fungus. ICR mice pretreated with cortisone acetate and cyclophosphamide were inoculated intratracheally with 5 x 10(5) spores of C. bertholletiae. About half of the mice died by day 4 and 90% died by day 9. C. bertholletiae was cultured from the lungs, and the pathological analysis disclosed diffuse hyphal growth in the lungs, resulting in necrosis in the later stage. Angioinvasion with alveolar hemorrhage was extremely pronounced from the early stage, and this was the most characteristic feature of this infection. Treatment with amphotericin B showed only minimal improvement of survival, comparable to the poor result of this treatment in actual human cases. In fact, our model has many similarities to the actual human infection by C. bertholletiae, and will be useful for further investigations of this infection.

Amphotericin B↗