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Biomedical subjects

K Endou

Publications and source records attributed to K Endou.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

A case of primary peritoneal serous papillary carcinoma initially presented by massive bilateral pleural effusions.

Primary peritoneal serous papillary carcinoma (PSPC) is a rare primary peritoneal tumor. Clinically, PSPC usually presents with general abdominal discomfort resulting from variable amounts of ascites. In a state of small amounts of ascites, initial manifestation of massive bilateral pleural effusion is unusual. A 76-year-old female nonsmoker with no asbestos exposure complained of dyspnea during exercise. Chest radiograph showed a massive bilateral pleural effusion. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed irregular pleural thickening and a small amount of ascites. Abdominopelvic CT revealed nodular thickening of the parietal peritoneum, mesenteric or omental nodules, omental cake, and lymphadenopathy in paraaortic regions. Adenocarcinoma cells were found via cytologic examination in bilateral pleural fluids and ascites. Because the primary site of the adenocarcinoma was not found, a surgical biopsy of the right pleural thickening was performed. The final diagnosis was PSPC. The patient was treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Physicians should be aware of a possibility of PSPC when the radiographic findings show massive bilateral pleural effusion due to pleural carcinomatosis, with high serum levels of CA125.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Changes in patterns of left ventricular hypertrophy after aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis and regurgitation with St. Jude Medical cardiac valves.

In this study, we analyzed the extent and pattern of regression of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy after aortic valve replacement in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and compared the results with those of another group of patients with aortic regurgitation (AR). Seventy patients who underwent isolated aortic valve replacement were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 was comprised of 29 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis, and Group 2 of 41 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement for aortic regurgitation. A third group of 10 healthy subjects served as a healthy control group. Echocardiographic studies were done before the operation and 5 years postoperatively. At follow-up, a significant reduction in the left ventricular mass was found in both groups, but it remained significantly greater than in the healthy control group. The ratio of LV wall thickness to radius (th/r) in Group 1 decreased significantly, and at follow-up it was within the normal value. In Group 2, the th/r ratio increased, and at follow-up it was within the normal value. After aortic valve replacement, the wall thickness remained significantly greater than normal for patients with AS, and the chamber radius remained significantly greater than normal for patients with AR. For these reasons, LV hypertrophy still existed in both groups at postoperative follow-up. The actuarial survival rate was 85.3% at 16 years for Group 1 and 83.4% at 18 years for Group 2. There was no significant difference in the long-term survival rates between the 2 groups. Actuarial freedom from valve-related events was 91.9% at 16 years for Group 1 and 82% at 18 years for Group 2. There was no significant difference in the valve-related event free curves between groups. After 5 years of follow-up, th/r reached normal for both groups, indicating remodeling of the LV geometry after aortic valve replacement.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Effect of number of syllables in word repetition].

We report a case of non-fluent conduction aphasia. The patient was a 59-year-old right-handed male. He suffered from aphasia after a left internal carotid artery occlusion. MRI study revealed subcortical lesions in the left inferior frontal gyrus and cortical lesion in the anterior part of the left insular gyrus and the left postcentral gyrus. The patient showed good comprehension of words and daily conversation but had a common difficulty in the following tasks; naming of pictures, repetition of words, reading of kanji and kana letters. In these tasks, the phonological output of the patient contained many literal paraphasias and there was a tendency that errors appeared more in the posterior portion of a target word. We analyzed the position of errors in the target word on word repetition tasks. The result confirmed the above observation. We speculate that the length of a target word may have played a critical rote in this patient's repetition capability.

Aphasia, Conduction↗
PubMed1999

Cloning and sequences of inducible and constitutive macrolide resistance genes in Staphylococcus aureus that correspond to an ABC transporter.

A restriction map was made and the DNA sequence was determined for a plasmid, pMC38, derived from the inducible macrolide resistance plasmid pEP2104, that showed constitutive resistance to PMS antibiotics (partial macrolide and streptogramin B antibiotics). A 5. 04 kb SalI-PstI fragment (fragment C) of pMC38, which encoded PMS resistance, was cloned into a shuttle vector, pRIT5, to yield pMR504. The transformant Staphylococcus aureus 4220 (pMR504) exhibited constitutive PMS resistance. Fragment C was subcloned to pUC19 in order to determine the DNA sequence. This sequence was consequently found to contain three open reading frames (ORF1-3), of which ORF3 corresponded to the 63 kDa membrane protein (MsrSA) that expressed PMS resistance. According to DNA sequence comparison of the control region of ORF3 in pMC38 and pEP2104, 44 nucleotides including RBS1 and the leader peptide (MTASMRLK) were deleted on plasmid pMC38. This suggests that the leader peptide is essential for the inducible expression of PMS resistance.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
PubMed1999

Prevalence of microalbuminuria and relationship to the risk of cardiovascular disease in the Japanese population.

The prevalence of microalbuminuria and its relationship to cardiovascular disease risk factors were examined in subjects participating in an annual physical and laboratory examination program. The urinary albumin concentration and the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio were determined in morning urine specimens. A turbidimetric immunoassay was used for the measurement of urinary albumin. Of the 731 subjects, 41 (5.6%) who were weakly positive or positive on a routine dipstick test for protein were excluded from the final analysis of data. Microalbuminuria was present in 14.5% of the men, in 12.4% of the women, and in 13.2% of the entire subject population when defined as a urinary albumin concentration of 30-299 microgram/ml. The prevalence of microalbuminuria was significantly higher in subjects with a high normal blood pressure (15.0%) or hypertension (26.2%) as compared with normotensive subjects (6.5%). Subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (24.3%) or hyperglycemic subjects (50.0%) had a significantly higher prevalence of microalbuminuria than normoglycemic subjects (11.3%). The prevalence of microalbuminuria was significantly higher in subjects with left ventricular hypertrophy (47.1%) as compared with those with normal electrocardiograms (11.3%). A good correlation was observed between urinary albumin concentration and albumin/creatinine ratio, and both showed a significant positive correlation with age, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and fasting plasma glucose, total serum protein, albumin, and triglyceride levels, but not with angiotensin-converting enzyme activity. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that both the urinary albumin concentration and the albumin/creatinine ratio show a significant positive correlation with systolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose. The prevalence of microalbuminuria was about 13% in this Japanese cohort, and the systolic blood pressure and the fasting plasma glucose level were demonstrated as independent risk indicators for both urinary microalbumin level and urinary microalbumin/creatinine ratio.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

A plasmid that encodes three genes for resistance to macrolide antibiotics in Staphylococcus aureus.

In previous letters, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 148 (1997) 91-96, it was demonstrated that plasmid pMS97-obtained from a in 1971 clinically isolated Staphylococcus aureus strain MS8968 resistant to macrolide (Mac) antibiotics--carried an msrA gene and uncharacterized erm gene, respectively. msrA encodes a cytoplasmic membrane protein that mediates the so-called 'active Mac-efflux' (designated hereafter as msrSA') and erm encodes a methyltransferase by which a specific adenine residue of 23S rRNA is modified: methylation prevents Mac antibiotics from binding to the 50S ribosomal subunit. Interestingly, we found, in addition, an mph-like gene (hereafter referred to as mphBM) present together with msrSA' and erm on pMS97. By a BLASTP analysis, the gene mphBM product has 49% identity and 67% similarity to the amino acid sequence of MPH(2')II encoded by mphB from Escherichia coli. The order of genes was 5'-msrSA'-mphBM-3', with a 342-base-pair spacer sequence. Although we have not yet determined where erm gene is located on pMS97, the gene seems to be downstream from mphBM. This finding suggests a warning to us concerning the imprudent use of antibiotics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

[The role of the right hemisphere on recovery from Wernicke's aphasia].

We report a rare case of severe Wernicke's aphasia who showed a rapid and surprisingly good recovery despite of a large infarct involving the left posterior language area. A 68-year-old right-handed woman without a family history of left-handedness developed a severe comprehension difficulty and paraphasic output following a large infarct in the left posterior temporoparietal region. However, in 6 weeks, naming, comprehension, and repetition of words became almost normal. Spontaneous speech also became almost normal, although comprehension and repetition of sentences remained slightly impaired. The lesion size remained unchanged. A dichotic listening test 4 months after the onset showed clear left ear superiority. We speculate from these observations that the dormant language function in the right hemisphere might have played a role for rapid and good recovery of this case.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Autosomal dominant early onset dementia and leukoencephalopathy in a Japanese family: clinical, neuroimaging and genetic studies.

We report here the results of clinical, neuroimaging and genetic studies of autosomal dominant dementia and leukoencephalopathy in a Japanese family. Twenty-two individuals in this family were examined clinically (17 living, 5 deceased), neuroradiologically and genetically (16 of 17 living members). Ten (5 deceased) of 22 individuals had early onset dementia (age of onset: 45.2 +/- 12.1 years on average) and four of them had multiple white matter lesions and brain atrophy on brain MRI without history of brain ischemic attack. Another four individuals had abnormal white matter lesions on brain MRI without dementia. Linkage studies for chromosome 1q31-42, 14q24.3 and 21q21 responsible for Alzheimer's disease, chromosome 19p13.1-13.2 for cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) and chromosome 3 for familial non-specific dementia suggested no specific haplotypes cosegregated with the disease. Apo E genotypes were E2/2 and E2/3 in this family. Clinical, neuroimaging and genetic studies revealed that the disease in this family was distinguished from known familial dementia. This is the first report of a large Japanese family with autosomal dominant early onset dementia and leukoencephalopathy.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

A dyadic plasmid that shows MLS and PMS resistance in Staphylococcus aureus.

Out of a collection of 56 Staphylococcus aureus clinical strains from 1971 to 1990 in Japan, we found one 1971 isolate, strain MS8968, harboring plasmid pMS97. A transductant strain, MS15009(pMS97), showed inducible resistance to a group of drugs, the so-called MLS antibiotics in the presence of a low concentration of erythromycin (EM). However, in the case of oleandomycin (OL), the strain showed resistance to another group of antibiotics: 14-membered macrolides (EM and OL), a 16-membered macrolide (mycinamicin I), and type B streptogramin, the so-called PMS antibiotics. Moreover, plasmid pMS97 contained an erm gene with universal primers specific for erm A, AM, B, BC, C, C', and G and an msrA gene with primers specific for msrA. The first finding suggests that two genes encoding functionally different mechanisms for MLS and PMS resistance, erm and msrA, are present together within plasmid pMS97 originating from S. aureus.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1997

[Relationship of pollen counts of Japanese cedar to weather factors in Isehara City, Kanagawa].

We investigated the relationship of pollen counts of Japanese cedar to 9 different weather factors including means of the highest, and lowest temperatures, variation in temperatures mean of the lowest humidity on a day, daily mean, maximum wind velocity and daily wind direction in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995 in Isehara City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The results were as follows: 1. In each year, the highest temperature and the mean humidity were statistically related to the maximum pollen counts of Japanese cedar in the air. 2. Mean pollen counts per day on the days that the wind from the southwest were much higher than on the days with wind from the south. 3. These wind directions coincided with the dense plantation areas of Japanese cedar trees around Isehara City. We concluded that in terms of accurate daily forecasting of pollen counts in the air in a certain area or city, it should be taken into consideration that the highest temperature, and mean humidity together with the wind direction from the area of dense population of Japanese cedar trees surrounding the area are closely related to the increased pollen count per day.

Humidity↗
PubMed1997

[Resistance to macrolides].

Resistance mechanisms to macrolide antibiotics involving lincosamide and streptogramin type B antibiotics were described in bacteria. Phenotype in the resistant microorganism is generally observed as one of two characteristics, i.e., decrease of intracellular macrolide-accumulation and inactivation of the drugs. The former phenotypic resistance results from one of three mechanisms: (1) mono- or di- methylation of a specific adenine residue in 23 S ribosomal RNA and (2) impaired uptake and (3) enhanced efflux of the antibiotics. The latter is caused by one of two mechanisms: (1) degradation of the drugs by a hydrolytic enzyme such as an esterase and (2) drug modification by one of enzymes such as nucleotidyl- and phospho- transferases.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1996

[Long-term results of emergency coronary artery bypass grafting].

During a 20-year period, 364 patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for the treatment of ischemic heart disease. Among these patients, 28 underwent emergency surgery. The reasons for performing emergency CABG were unstable angina in 15 patients, impending myocardial infarction in 12 patients, and congestive heart failure in 1 patient. Eleven patients died postoperatively. Eight variables were examined by univariate analysis for their influence on the occurrence of a hospital death. IABP and acute coronary occlusion were found to be predictors of hospital death and previous myocardial infarction was a predictor of hospital survival. Seventeen patients were followed up for 12 years. There was no cardiac death and actuarial survival at 12 years was 63%. The 14 survivors are now in NYHA functional class I or II. Although the operative mortality rate is high after emergency CABG, the patient's prognosis is good.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[A case of swallowed fish bone-induced esophageal perforation and mediastinitis treated with pedicled omental graft].

We experienced a case of 47-year-old man who suffered swallowed fish bone-induced esophageal perforation with purulent mediastinitis and underwent direct suture closure of the perforation and reinforcement with a pedicled parietal pleura four days after the onset. Postoperative esophageal suture insufficiency was occured and reoperation was performed two months after the first operation. The esophageal fistula was plugged with a pedicled omental graft successfully. The postoperative course of the patient was uneventful and he discharged 45 days after the second operation. A reinforcement by pedicled omental graft for esophageal rupture accompanied with mediastinitis was considered to be a useful procedure.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

A mechanism of resistance to partial macrolide and streptogramin B antibiotics in Staphylococcus aureus clinically isolated in Hungary.

A plasmid pEP2104 originated from Staphylococcus aureus was clinically isolated in Hungary during 1977. The plasmid mediates inducible resistance to PMS-antibiotics; partial macrolide [the 14-membered macrolides, erythromycin (EM) and oleandomycin and the 16-membered macrolides mycinamicin I (MCM I) and mycinamicin II (MCM II)and type B streptogramin (MKM-B) antibiotics. The sequence of 31 amino acid residues obtained by N-terminal analysis of the 63kDa protein (MsrSA) present in the membrane from 8325(pEP2104) cells whose PMS-resistance was induced by a concentration of 1.35 micrograms EM/ml [EM-induced 8325(pEP2104)], was identical to the corresponding sequence in a membrane protein MsrA related to promoting efflux of [14C]EM [Ross J.I., et al., Mol. Microbiol., 4, 1207 (1990)]. A constitutive PMS-resistant strain 8325(pMC38) was obtained from the 8325( pEP2104) strain in the presence of 1 microgram MCMI/ml. No inactivation of EM in EM-induced 8325(pEP2104) was observed. Moreover, poly (A)-directed polylysine synthesis by a cell-free system containing ribosomes from EM-induced 8325 (pEP2104) cells and S100 from Escherichia coli was inhibited by not only EM but spiramycin and MKM-B [Matsuoka M., et al., Biol. Pharm. Bull., 16, 1288 (1993)]. In addition, ribosomes from both EM-induced 8325 (pEP2104) and 8325(pMC38) strains showed about the same affinity as those from the host stain. NCTC8325. These results suggest, that like MsrA protein, active drug-efflux due to MsrSA protein may be responsible for PMS-resistance. How can the 8325 (pMC38) strain discriminate PMS-antibiotics from most of 16-membered macrolides and lincosamides? A possible explanation is discussed in terms of the pKa-value related to the physicochemical nature of the antibiotics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Evaluation of the therapeutic effect of TAE on primary liver cancer.

The therapeutic effect of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TAE) performed on 31 patients with primary liver cancer was evaluated using the following procedures: (1) the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) reduction rates and prognoses were analyzed according to the tumor reduction rates (TR), and (2) the AFP reduction rates and prognoses were also analyzed according to the tumor necrosis rates (TN) estimated by regarding every region with Lipiodol retention as being necrotic. The following results were obtained. The AFP level was 400 ng/ml or higher in 15 patients (48%). Their AFP reduction rates were as favorably high as 65.4%-99.8% (mean, 88.1%), and the AFP level was normalized in 3 patients. The cumulative survival rates after the initial treatment were relatively high, i.e., 78.4% in the 1st year, 58.1% in the 2nd year, and 38.7% in the 3rd year. These results suggested the effectiveness of the TAE treatment undertaken in this study. Regarding the TR, the tumor was reduced in size by 50% or more in only 5 patients (16%), and most patients had a TR of less than 25%. On the other hand, the majority, 25 patients (81%), had a TN ranging between 50% and less than 100%, including 7 who had a TN ranging between 50% and less than 90% and 18 who had a TN ranging between 90% and less than 100%. There was no significant correlation between the AFP reduction rate and the TN or TR. Regarding evaluation of the cumulative survival rates by TR and TN, the 1-year survival rate was lower in patients having a TR of less than 25% than in those having a TR of 25% or more. Patients having a TN of less than 50% showed a poor outcome as compared with those having a TN of 50% or more. Although the TR was found to be less than 50% in a majority of the patients when the therapeutic effect of TAE on the liver cancer was evaluated according to the TR, many of these patients showed a good outcome. Thus, the conventional efficacy evaluation, in which a tumor reduction of 50% or more is considered to be effective, should be reconsidered. On the other hand, the TN was found to be 50% or more in most of the patients, suggesting the necessity of a more detailed classification of TN. In relation to the survival rate, patients having a TN of less than 50% showed a poor outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[A quantitative determination of inducibility by 14 membered ring macrolide antibiotics in inducible resistant Staphylococcus aureus to macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B antibiotics].

Using Staphylococcus aureus ISP447 strain, which shows inducible resistance to macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLS) antibiotics, the extent of MLS-resistance induced by several macrolide antibiotics [erythromycin (EM), oleandomycin (OL), or roxithromycin (RXM)] was determined in terms of a relative ratio of a growth rate of the induced cells in the presence of a challenging drug, rokitamycin (RKM), to that of uninduced cells in the absence of RKM. The ratio was referred to as a relative inducibility (%). The inducibility was obtained at an optimum-induced condition by considering the following factors: (1) exponentially growing cells, (2) the optimum concentration of an inducer drug, i.e., 50, 150, and 150 ng/ml for EM, OL, and RXM, respectively, (3) a 3-h previous incubation at 37 degrees C in the presence of the inducer, and (4) 300 ng of RKM/ml, which is found to be optimum for induced cells to challenge, because of having no inducer activity. Using these qualification methods, inducibilities of EM, OL, and RXM as an inducer were 100.4, 27.9 and 81.1%, respectively. This method is allowed to be useful for the analysis of a structure-inducibility relationship.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1993

An increase of 63 kDa-protein present in the cell membranes of Staphylococcus aureus that bears a plasmid mediating inducible resistance to partial macrolide and streptogramin B antibiotics.

A plasmid, pEP2104 (23.9 kilobase pairs), from Staphylococcus aureus carries a gene that specifies inducible resistance to 14-membered (erythromycin, EM, and oleandomycin, OL) and 16-membered macrolide (mycinamicin I and II), but not to all of the latter, and to streptogramin type B antibiotics (partial macrolide- and streptogramin-B-antibiotic resistance: PMS-resistance) (L. Jánosi, E. Bán, Acta Microbiol. Acad. Sci. Hung., 29, 187 (1982) and Y. Nakajima et al., J. Pharmacobio-Dyn., 15, 319 (1992)). The induced cells of strain 8325(pEP2104) did not inactivate EM, OL, josamycin, rokitamycin or mikamycin B (MKM-B), and the cell-free extract of the strain did not inactivate EM or MKM-B, either. Ribosomes from the cells whose PMS-resistance was induced by EM were sensitive not only to EM or spiramycin, but also to MKM-B. A 63000-dalton protein increased to a great extent only in the cell membrane fractions of induced 8325(pEP2104), and may be involved in PMS-resistance.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗