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Kosei Yonemitsu

Publications and source records attributed to Kosei Yonemitsu.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

An accidental death due to Freon 22 (monochlorodifluoromethane) inhalation in a fishing vessel.

A case of accidental Freon 22 (monochlorodifluoromethane) poisoning in a fishing vessel is reported. Forensic autopsy revealed severe pulmonary edema and congestion (left lung; 576 g, right lung; 740 g). GC-MS analysis clearly showed that the deceased inhaled Freon 22 gas prior to his death. Freon 22 concentration was 169+/-7.0 microg/ml in the heart blood. The distribution pattern of Freon 22 in tissue samples was similar to that in previously reported cases. The brain had the highest concentration of Freon 22 followed by the spleen, liver, kidney and lung, respectively. Histopathologically, Oil red O staining of the liver showed many small, positive red areas in the cytosol, which have been reported in other cases of Freon 22 poisoning. However, Schmorl staining revealed that most areas of Oil red O positivity were lipofuscin granules. Lipofuscin in the liver, which closely relates to aging and other cell stresses, could have a relevance to Freon 22 exposure, but further experimental studies are needed to confirm it.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2005

Estimation of early postmortem intervals by a multiple regression analysis using rectal temperature and non-temperature based postmortem changes.

Five general methods based on rectal temperature and a multiple regression analysis using rectal temperature and non-temperature based postmortem changes were applied to 212 postmortem cases of within 24h postmortem (PM) intervals. Non-temperature based postmortem changes of rigidity, hypostasis and corneal turbidity were numerically categorized and used with rectal temperatures as four statistical variables in the multiple regression analysis. The correlation coefficient values between true and calculated postmortem intervals were 0.78-0.82 in the five general methods based on rectal temperature. The multiple regression analysis produced a multiple correlation coefficient value of 0.89 and according to the error ranges of the PM intervals, 72% of the cases were estimated within the error of +/-1.0 h and 92% within +/-5.0 h. Although assessments of non-temperature based PM changes are mostly subjective and have a wide variation, the present study demonstrated a usefulness of non-temperature based PM changes in the estimation of PM intervals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

HPLC analysis of anti-malaria agent, chloroquine in blood and tissue from forensic autopsy cases in Tanzania.

HPLC analysis of anti-malaria agent, chloroquine (CQ) in blood and tissues with a simple HCl back extraction method was applied to three forensic autopsy cases in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. CQ concentrations in femoral vein blood were 8.5, 48.4 and 43.8 microg/ml in three cases, respectively, which were high enough to attribute the cause of deaths to an acute CQ poisoning. There were great site dependent variations in blood CQ levels. The right heart blood samples were very high, which may be explained by incomplete distribution of the drug before death or postmortem diffusion from liver and its surrounding blood, as high CQ levels were remarkable in the liver. Suicidal and accidental CQ poisonings are very common and CQ is a very important chemical in the field of forensic toxicology in Tanzania.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Inhibitory activity of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) in paraquat-induced microsomal lipid peroxidation--a mechanism of protective effects of EGCg against paraquat toxicity.

Recently we have reported that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), a major component of Japanese green tea, significantly increased the survival rate of paraquat (Pq) poisoned mice. This paper describes two biochemical activities of EGCg, which relate to its protective effects against Pq toxicity. EGCg inhibited Pq-induced microsomal malondialdehyde (MDA) productions in rat liver microsome system containing 40 microM FeSO(4). Forty micromolar EGCg inhibited MDA production significantly. EGCg may inhibit the Pq-induced MDA production by at least two mechanisms. One may be iron-chelating activity as the inhibition disappeared when excess amounts of FeSO(4) were added to the reaction mixture, which indicated that EGCg reduced iron driven lipid peroxidation by pulling out available irons in the reaction mixture. The other is radical scavenging activity. EGCg scavenged DMPO-OOH spin adducts generated by the microsome-Pq system. The dose response curve of EGCg was similar to that obtained by ascorbic acid which is a typical water-soluble radical scavenger. Although ascorbic acid had a potential activity of scavenging superoxide radicals, it can not be recommended to use for the treatment of Pq poisoning, because ascorbic acid acts as a pro-oxidant in the presence of free transition metal ions by accelerating the Fenton reaction (Fe(2+)+H(2)O(2)-->Fe(3+)+OH(-)+OH*), which is responsible for lipid peroxidation. On the contrary, EGCg inhibited iron-driven lipid peroxidation presumably not only by chelating to Fe ions but also by scavenging superoxide radicals, which are responsible for the reduction of ferric (Fe(3+)) to ferrous (Fe(2+)) that catalyzes the Fenton reaction. Chelating and radical scavenging activity of EGCg can be expected simultaneously in the occurrence of Pq toxicity, which may explain the protective effects of EGCg against Pq toxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Fatal intussusception in infancy: an experience in forensic autopsy.

Intussusception, although a common cause of pediatric surgical emergencies, is a rarely fatal condition. A 7-month-old infant who was discovered in her cot was unresponsive and pronounced dead after 2 h of uneventful cardiopulmonary resuscitation in an emergency hospital. Forensic autopsy which was performed in order to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death revealed intussusceptions at two sites of the ileum. Although morbidity and mortality rates from the condition have progressively declined in recent decades but avoidable deaths still occur as was experienced in the present case. The forensic pathology significance in this case was the occurrence of 'painless intussusception' whereby the affected child clinically exhibited no discomfort or characteristic features of acute abdomen until death. In summary, the present case has exhibited an uncommon fatal occurrence and demonstrated the importance of forensic autopsy in such unexpected sudden infant deaths.

Autopsy↗
PubMed2002

Neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in forensic autopsy of elderly persons with fatal accident.

Cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease may lead to accidental deaths in the elderly. Neuropathological diagnosis of the disease is, therefore, an important issue in forensic autopsy to determine the causal relation to accidents. To evaluate the suitability of the current histopathological diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease by Khachaturian and Mirra et al. in elderly persons dying from accidents and coming for forensic autopsy, we studied the brains of nine demented and 12 non-demented persons by silver stain and immunohistochemistry. When the density of senile plaque was applied to the criteria, only four out of nine demented persons met the criteria for definite Alzheimer's disease. The demented persons had significantly higher density of diffuse plaque and higher frequencies of amyloid angiopathy, neurofibrillary tangle and neuropil thread than the non-demented persons. These results indicated that the current diagnostic criteria do not always diagnose Alzheimer's disease in forensic autopsy of elderly persons with fatal accident. The presence of abundant diffuse plaque, neurofibrillary tangle, amyloid angiopathy and neuropil thread may help to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in forensic autopsy.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

A simple dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for ABO blood typing of biological fluid and stains: effects of heating samples.

A simple dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Dot-ELISA) using commercially available monoclonal anti-A and anti-B antibodies and biotinylated anti-H lectin was developed for ABO blood typing of biological fluid and stains. Its application to forensic practice was examined with 117 saliva samples and their stains, and practical case samples of 8 seminal, 6 vaginal and 45 aged salivary stains. In the simple Dot-ELISA, a new step to heat biological samples was introduced in the system in order to block unfavorable non-specific reactions of the samples with secondary enzyme conjugate. The simple Dot-ELISA could determine accurately the ABO blood type of a small amount of secretor's and non-secretor's salivary samples. In practical tests of seminal, vaginal and salivary stains, all results were confirmed to be identical to those determined by the conventional absorption-inhibition test and the absorption-elution test. The simple Dot-ELISA is considered to be accurate, rapid, simple, sensitive and easy to perform in routine forensic practice. It is also a unique and helpful method to determine the ABO blood types of various biological samples.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

[Ethanol concentrations in multi-site sampling blood in forensic autopsy cases--a retrospective analysis over a period of six years (1994-1999) in Kumamoto University].

Ethanol and n-propanol concentrations in forensic autopsy cases determined in Department of Forensic Medicine, Kumamoto University School of Medicine were reviewed retrospectively. Out of 388 autopsies in 6 years (1994-1999), ethanol was positive in 88 (22.7%) cases. Higher positive rates were observed in bleeding and burning cases compared to other cases. Histograms of the blood ethanol concentrations in all ethanol positive cases had two peaks at 0.1 mg/ml to 0.5 mg/ml and 1.5 mg/ml to 2.0 mg/ml ranges, which indicated that not only an intermediate but also a weak drunkenness level could be a risk factor of being involved in forensic fatalities. There were no differences in mean ethanol concentrations in the blood samples of the right, left and whole heart blood collected from each victim. The femoral blood, however, was slightly higher than those of heart blood. N-Propanol, an indicator for postmortem ethanol production, was detected in 14.7% of stomach contents samples as early as 6 to 12 hours of post mortem intervals, whereas it was not remarkable in urine and femoral vein blood.

1-Propanol↗