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Biomedical subjects

K Kito

Publications and source records attributed to K Kito.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

[Aplastic anemia successfully treated with erythropoietin and rhG-CSF].

A 32 year-old female admitted to our hospital with pancytopenia. The hematological data on admission were: RBC: 247 x 10(4)/microliters, Hb: 8.8 g/dl, Plts: 13,000/microliters, WBC: 2,500/microliters. Bone marrow aspirate and biopsied specimen showed marked hypocellularity without infiltration of abnormal cells. A diagnosis of aplastic anemia was made. Neither high-dose methyl-prednisolone pulse therapy nor anti-lymphocyte globulin were effective. With combination of oxymetholone (30 mg/day), recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEpo; 12,000 U/day, three times a week) and recombinant granulocyte-colony simulating factor (rHuG-CSF; 33 micrograms/day) for 3 months, remarkable improvements of hematological data were obtained. Her hemoglobin level reached 11.4 g/dl, and platelets count 49,000/microliters. However, 4 weeks after the withdrawal of erythropoietin and G-CSF administrations, her platelet count fell to 12,000/microliters. It was suggested that combination therapy with erythropoietin and G-CSF were effective for aplastic anemia.

Adult

Mode of inhibition of ornithine aminotransferase by L-canaline.

The mechanism of inhibition of ornithine aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.13] by L-canaline (alpha-amino-gamma-amino-oxybutyric acid) was investigated. Spectral changes of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate in ornithine aminotransferase on addition of L-canaline showed that L-canaline formed an oxime-type compound with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate that had the same spectra as the compound formed on addition of hydroxylamine to the holoenzyme. Kinetic studies indicated that hydroxylamine was a reversible noncompetitive inhibitor, whereas L-canaline was an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine aminotransferase. Other analogs, such as delta-aminovaleric acid and alpha-N-acetyl-L-ornithine, also reacted with the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate of the enzyme, but these compounds were competitive inhibitors with respect to L-ornithine. L-Canaline and hydroxylamine also reacted with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate in pig heart aspartate aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.1] to produce an oxime, but both of them were reversible and noncompetitive inhibitors of the enzyme. The Ki value of hydroxylamine for ornithine aminotransferase was 4.3 X 10(-7) M and those of L-canaline and hydroxylamine for aspartate aminotransferase were 1.7 X 10(-4) M and 2.2 X 10(-5) M, respectively.

Amino Acids

Abnormal expression of a serine protease in human dystrophic muscle.

The activities of serine protease in muscles from normal persons and from patients with progressive muscular and neuromuscular diseases have been determined. A significant increase in the level of serine protease was found in muscle of patients with Duchenne-type muscular dystrophy and with Becker-type muscular dystrophy, but the activity was not increased in muscle of a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Adult

[Combined treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin and antibiotics for severe postoperative meningitis (author's transl)].

Incidence of postoperative meningitis by gram-negative bacilli infection, so called "opportunistic infections", has recently increased in the neurosurgical field. The opportunistic infection is caused by suppression of the host's immunity and consequently limitation of the host defense mechanisms. Based on the results obtained from 4 cases of postoperative severe meningitis presented here, the authors concluded as follows: 1) Special care must be taken for intrathecal injection of antibiotics because of causing paralytic ileus, convulsion and paraparesis of the lower limbs. 2) The combined use of intravenous immunoglobulin (Gamma-Venin) and antibiotics produced potentiated effects. Accordingly, the amplification of the host's immunity is of major importance for the treatment of severe meningitis. 3) Using immunoadherence hemagglutination test of patient's CSF and the serum, it is considerably easier to determine whether or not to withdraw antibiotics.

Adult

Effects of estrogen on the turnover rates of ornithine amino transferase in rat liver and kidney.

The turnover rates of ornithine aminotransferase in the liver and kidney of control rats and those treated with estrogen were determined by injecting L-[14C]leucine (U) and following the decay of specific radioactivity incorporated into immunoprecipitates from the partially purified enzymes. The half-life of the ornithine aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.13] in the liver (t1/2=0.95 days) was significantly different from that of the kidney enzyme (t1/2=4.0 days). Studies on the incorporation of radioactive leucine into ornithine aminotransferase in the kidney under steady-state conditions showed that the rate of synthesis of this enzyme after treatment with estrogen was 5 to 6 times higher than that in untreated animals. The rate constant of degradation of kidney ornithine aminotransferase under steady-state conditions induced by estrogen treatment was not significantly different from that under control conditions. The results showed that the increase in the rate of biosynthesis, not to a decrease in the rate of degradation. No significant changes in the rates of biosynthesis and degradation of liver ornithine aminotransferase were observed after administration of estrogen.

Animals