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Biomedical subjects

J Nishimura

Publications and source records attributed to J Nishimura.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

Calcitonin in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid from normal subjects and patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma: possible restriction of calcitonin by the blood-brain barrier.

Calcitonin (CT) was measured by RIA in samples of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained simultaneously from 27 normal volunteers and 8 patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma to examine the extent of penetration of CT across the blood-brain barrier. CT concentrations in plasma and CSF were 68.2 +/- 25.1 pg/ml (mean +/- SD; range, less than 25-110) and 38.5 +/- 12.1 pg/ml (range, less than 25-56), respectively, in normal subjects and 5,650 +/- 4,120 pg/ml (range, 980-21,100) and 36.1 +/- 11.1 pg/ml (range, less than 25-45), respectively, in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. No significant difference was observed in the mean concentrations of CT in CSF from normal subjects and that from patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. The concentration of CT in CSF from patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma was only 0.05-2.5% the concentration of CT in plasma. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the concentrations of CT in plasma and CSF from normal subjects, from patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma, or when normal and patient groups were combined. It is concluded that penetration of CT from blood in CSF is minimal.

Adolescent↗

[The relationship between perceived exertion of daily activities and aging of physical function (author's transl)].

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived exertion and fatigue of daily activities and the age-related decline of physical functions. Eighty-five male job applicants aged from 55 to 65 years old were asked to answer the questionnaire inquiring about perceptual effort and fatigue of daily activities, and then were examined on more than ten kinds of physical functions. The significance of the correlation coefficients between factors extracted from 35 subjective variables and those from 38 objective variables were tested. Main findings were as follows: (a) The perceived exertion of daily activities using lower limbs seems to be influenced by the decline of muscle strength. (b) The perceptual effort of daily activities using upper limbs seems to be connected with the obesity rate and also with the decline of hearing. (c) The subjective fatigue seems to be related with the level of blood pressure and also with the decline of hearing.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Abnormalities of platelet adenine nucleotides in patients with myeloproliferative disorders.

Platelet aggregation and adenine nucleotides in platelets have been studied in thirteen patients with myeloproliferative disorders. ADP induced aggregation was abnormal in two patients, but collagen induced aggregation was impaired in 11 patients. The concentrations of ATP and ADP in resting platelets in the patients with abnormal aggregation were significantly less than those in normal subjects. Marked reduction of the amounts of both nucleotides released into plasma was also observed after stimulation of collagen in these patients. Platelets in the patients with normal functions contained almost normal amounts of adenine nucleotides. We discussed the relationship between platelet dysfunction and adenine nucleotides in platelets of myeloproliferative disorders and concluded that platelet dysfunction was mainly attributable to reduction of releasable ADP.

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Effect of hydrogen ion concentration on energy metabolism in pig platelets.

Respiration and glycolysis of pig platelets suspended in a dialyzed plasma were studied at various hydrogen ion concentrations. Respiration of platelets was high at acidic pH and decreased at physiological pH. This pH profile may not be attributed to properties of mitochondria, since the respiratory rate of mitochondria prepared from platelets was maximal at physiological pH. A low respiratory rate at physiological pH seemed to be attributable to depression of respiration by glycolysis, since the addition of glucose further depressed the rate. The Crabtree effect was more prominent at alkaline ph. glycolysis increased with an increase in the pH of the plasma, contrary to oxygen comsumption. The Pasteur effect was less prominent at alkaline pH. The effect of pH on lactate production by the cytosol fraction of platelets was similar to that of whole platelets. The glycolytic intermediate pattern showed that phosphofructolinase was the committed step. Both ATP concentration and ATP formation calculated from respiratory and glycolytic rates were constant at various pH values. These observations may indicate that the pH primarily affects platelet glycolysis at the phosphofructokinase step and the respiration is secondarily controlled by glycolysis.

Animals↗

Restoration by recombinant interferon alpha A/D of host defense systems against tumor in immunosuppressed mice.

Recombinant human interferon alpha A/D (alpha A/D) restored or augmented host defense systems against tumors in immunosuppressed mice. In normal C57BL/6 mice, inoculation of B16 melanoma F1 cells caused few pulmonary metastasis, whereas in mice pretreated with cyclophosphamide (CY) it caused a high incidence of pulmonary metastasis, leading to earlier death than in the normal mice inoculated with the same dose of the tumor. alpha A/D given after the CY treatment counteracted the deleterious effects of the CY treatment. Since such restorative activity was seen even against the subline of B16 F1 which had been made resistant to its direct antiproliferative effect, alpha A/D seems to exert its effect indirectly through host defense systems. However, this activity of alpha A/D in the mice pretreated with CY was abrogated by inoculation of anti-asialo GM1 serum but not by i-carrageenan. The CY treatment reduced NK activity, while alpha A/D given after the CY treatment restored or augmented the NK cell activity in lung cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, but not in spleen cells. These findings suggest that the restoration or augmentation of NK activity in the lung and/or peripheral blood might be the major factor leading to the antimetastatic activity of alpha A/D in the mice treated with CY.

Animals↗