Biomedical subjects

L Mori

Publications and source records attributed to L Mori.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1996

Chromosomal banding patterns in the eyelid-less microteiid radiation: Procellosaurinus and Vanzosaura (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae).

Cytogenetic studies were performed on three species of eyelid-less microteiids, Procellosaurinus erythrocerus, P. tetradactylus, and Vanzosaura rubricauda (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae), all with a diploid number of 2n = 40. The specimens were collected in the palaeoquartenary dune fields of the middle Rio São Francisco in the State of Bahia, Brazil. Chromosomes from fibroblast cultures were studied after routine Giemsa staining, CBG-and RBG-banding, and Ag-NOR staining. Despite similarities in chromosome number and morphology, each species can be differentiated by the position and amount of C-heterochromatin. Our cytogenetic and DNA content data indicate that there are more similarities between the two species of Procellosaurinus than exist between either species and V. rubricauda, reinforcing the importance of banding techniques for the characterization of reptilian species.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Bronchial epithelial cells of atopic patients with asthma lack the ability to inactivate allergens.

The cause of asthma is still unknown. Though most asthmatic patients are atopic, only certain atopic subjects develop this disease, and atopic asthmatics recover from asthma after transplantation of lungs from nonasthmatic donors. Thus, there might be a primary local defect in the bronchial wall which affects the expression of asthma in atopic individuals. We show here that the bronchial epithelial cells from atopic patients with asthma are aberrantly permeable to the airborne allergen most often implicated in the pathogenesis of this disease, indicating how it can have access to the antigen-presenting cells (dendritic cells) below the apical surface of the epithelium in vivo. In addition, allergen exposure induces asthmatic epithelial cells to express granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor, a cytokine involved in the proliferation and function of dendritic cells.

Allergens↗

PubMed1995

Human V gamma 9-V delta 2 cells are stimulated in a cross-reactive fashion by a variety of phosphorylated metabolites.

Many different pathogens stimulate cells bearing the V gamma 9-V delta 2 T cell receptor (TCR), which represent the most abundant population of human gamma delta cells. The antigens responsible for the stimulation of these gamma delta cells are not well characterized. Here, we describe six non-peptidic molecules which share this property: isopentenylpyrophosphate, dimethylallylpyrophosphate, 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid, glycerol-3-phosphoric acid, xylose-1-phosphate, and ribose-1-phosphate. All these molecules are naturally occurring metabolites in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and stimulate freshly isolated gamma delta cells from peripheral blood of different donors as well as established gamma delta clones. Comparison of their structure with that of similar but inactive molecules showed that both the number and position of the phosphate groups, as well as the residues connected with the carbon backbone are required for stimulation. The CD3-TCR complex is involved in cell triggering as shown by inhibition with anti-CD3 Fab fragments. However, all gamma delta clones were broadly cross-reactive and we could not isolate cells specific for only one ligand. The capacity of this frequent subset of gamma delta cells to recognize common bacterial metabolites confers the advantage to react rapidly to different invading pathogens.

Antigens, Bacterial↗

PubMed1994

A method for determination of xylose utilizing glucose dehydrogenase.

A method is described for xylose determination on the Ciba-Corning 550 Express that utilizes the slower enzymatic action of glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) on D-xylose, after prior removal of glucose. Glucose oxidase is added to serum or urine and incubated for 120 min at 37 degrees C. After incubation, a perchloric acid filtrate of the specimen is added to the GDH reagent in the presence of NAD, the amount of NADH produced being proportional to the amount of xylose present. Absorbances at 340/380 nm are read at 180 s and 600 s after the reagent is added. The standard curve is linear to 7.50 mmol/L and the method showed day-to-day imprecision (CV%) of 2.7 (n = 18), 1.8 (n = 17), and 2.2 (n = 17) at concentrations of 0.62, 1.18, and 2.60 mmol/L, respectively. Recoveries ranged from 99 to 106% for sera and 96 to 100% for urines. Good correlation was obtained when tested against established automated ferricyanide and p-bromoaniline methods.

Glucose 1-Dehydrogenase↗

PubMed1994

Prediction of relapse in patients with breast cancer by DNA cytometry.

Nuclear DNA content was quantified for 193 ductal invasive breast carcinomas in a prospective study. The results were correlated with various clinical parameters. Of these tumours 66.2% were non-diploid and the incidence of non-diploid tumours is significantly higher in later stages of the disease. The median DNA values distribution tend to be bimodal, although in stage III a large number of cases showed DNA values between 2C and 4C. No association was observed between ploidy and menopause, lymph node status or incidence of recurrence. The mean times of relapse were 22.4 and 18.8 months in diploid and non-diploid groups, respectively. The present data suggest association between non-diploidy and tumour aggressiveness. Using Bayesian statistical analysis, the probability of the mean time of relapse in diploid group to be longer than in non-diploid group, given the data, is 0.875.

Bayes Theorem↗

PubMed1994

[Adenomatoid tumor of the epididymis].

Adenomatoid tumor of the epididymis is an uncommon lesion accounting for approximately 30% of all the paratesticular neoplasms. One case observed in this Urological Department is reported and a review of our series of paratesticular neoplasms treated in the last 10 years has been considered.

Epididymis↗

PubMed1993

Evaluation of a turbidimetric procedure for apolipoproteins A1 and B on the Ciba Corning 550 EXPRESS.

We evaluated a turbidimetric method for the estimation of apo A1 and apo B on the Ciba Corning 550 EXPRESS using Ciba Corning reagents. Interference due to bilirubin, hemoglobin, lipemia, triglycerides, and uremia was minimal, with apolipoproteins (apo) A1 and B results usually within +/- 4% of expected values. Within-run and day-to-day imprecision (coefficients of variation) ranged from 1.96 to 3.60% and 2.63 to 3.39% for apo A1 and 1.02 to 1.74% and 2.08 to 3.66% for apo B, respectively. Accuracy was determined by participation in the IFCC apolipoprotein standardization project in which results obtained on 50 patient samples were compared to those obtained by the reference laboratory. Apo A1 and apo B showed an average bias of +3.7% and +2.0% and correlation coefficients of 0.986 and 0.977, respectively. Results were also compared to those obtained on the Behring Turbitime system and showed a bias of +7.5% and -8.8% for apo A1 and apo B, respectively. The Ciba Corning automated method was rapid and gave good accuracy, precision, linearity, and parallelism and was relatively unaffected by raised triglyceride values.

Apolipoprotein A-I↗

PubMed1993

Low dose lidocaine combined with magnesium sulfate in warning ventricular arrhythmias.

This study was designed to assess if low dose lidocaine (L) (0.8 mg/min at a constant rate infusion following a 100 mg bolus) combined with magnesium sulfate (M) (2.5 mg/min) controlled warning ventricular arrhythmias (a total of 119,806 ectopic beats and 146 runs of sustained ventricular tachycardia) in 7 (17%) out of 41 patients undergoing ambulatory monitoring. L alone was administered during the first 48 hours, then L+M for 48 hours, followed by L alone for a further 48 hours. Every 12 hours L serum levels were measured. Serum levels of L alone ranged from 0.33 to 2.06 mg/l (mean: 1.28 +/- 0.7 mg/l) during the first 48 hours and from 0.30 to 2.96 mg/l (mean: 1.24 +/- 1.02 during the last 48 hours). When the subjects received L+M, L serum levels were 0.69 to 3.28 mg/l (mean: 1.60 +/- 0.9 with p less than 0.05, statistically significant). Ambulatory monitoring also displayed a 70% reduction in warning ventricular arrhythmias during L+M treatment. L+M are more effective in the control of warning ventricular arrhythmias and we can also administer a lower dose of lidocaine when given in combination.

Aged↗

PubMed1993

Histopathologic coronary patterns in people with acute myocardial infarction and PTCA.

We studied coronary artery specimens histologically in 96 patients who died from acute myocardial infarction(AMI), to assess those who could benefit from in-hospital percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). For the left anterior descending artery, old stenoses within 1 cm from its origin in 80 cases (83.3%), coronary narrowing over 90% and occlusive thrombi in 40 observations (41.6%) were seen. Left main artery showed proximal stenoses with an occlusive thrombus in 4 cases (41.6%). Left circumflex artery had stenoses within 1 cm from its origin in 32 cases (33.3%), with an occlusive thrombus 6 times (6.25%) and coronary narrowing 75%. Right coronary artery showed stenoses in the proximal and midportion respectively in 20 (20.8%) and 36 cases (37.5%), with 26 occlusive thrombi (27%) and coronary narrowing 85%. Four cases (4.16%) had minimal coronary changes. The patients who had one, two and three vessel disease were 32 (33.3%), 32 (33.3%) and 28 times (29.16%) respectively. Only one-third of patients could benefit from PTCA.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Menadione-resistant Chinese hamster cell variants are cross-resistant to hydrogen peroxide and exhibit stable chromosomal and biochemical alterations.

We have investigated the antioxidant properties of V79 Chinese hamster cells rendered resistant to menadione by chronic exposure to increasing concentrations of this quinone. MD1, a clone of resistant cells, was compared to the parental M8 cells; the former showed increased activity of catalase (3 fold), glutathione peroxidase (1.6 fold) and DT-diaphorase (2.6 fold), as well as an increase in glutathione (3.2 fold). Although one of the products of menadione metabolism is superoxide anion, no changes in total superoxide dismutase activity was observed in MD1 cells. MD1 menadione resistant cells were also resistant to killing by hydrogen peroxide and contained tandem duplication of chromosome 6. A similar duplication of chromosome 6 was seen in several independently derived menadione resistant clones and therefore seems closed linked to the establishment of the resistance. Upon removal of menadione from the medium, some of these properties of MD1 cells, viz., resistance to menadione, elevated glutathione levels, and glutathione peroxidase activity, were lost and the cells resembled M8 cells. However, resistance to H2O2, elevated catalase activity and the duplicated chromosome remained stable for more than 40 cell passages in the absence of menadione. The increase in catalase activity was correlated with an increase in catalase mRNA content and a 50% amplification of catalase gene, as determined, respectively, by Northern and Southern blot analysis. The role of the chromosome 6 duplication in resistance to oxidative stress remains to be established. It is not responsible directly for elevated catalase levels since the catalase gene is on chromosome 3.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Expression of a transgenic T cell receptor beta chain enhances collagen-induced arthritis.

SWR/J transgenic (tg) mice were generated expressing the TCR beta chain derived from an anticollagen type II (CII) arthritogenic T cell clone. The SWR/J strain was selected because it is resistant to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and lacks the V beta gene segment used by the T cell clone. Expression of the tg beta chain on all thymocytes and peripheral lymph node T cells led to a more efficient anti-CII immune response, but did not confer CIA susceptibility to SWR/J mice. Nevertheless, this tg beta chain enhanced predisposition to CIA as (DBA/1 x SWR) F1 beta tg mice were more susceptible than normal F1 littermates. Our results demonstrate that the expression of the tg beta chain contributes to CIA susceptibility, but by itself it is not sufficient to overcome CIA resistance in the SWR/J strain.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Formal thought disorder in pediatric complex partial seizure disorder.

We compared the formal thought disorder ratings of 27 children with complex partial seizure disorder, 31 schizophrenic children and 58 normal children. The epileptic children with fullscale IQ scores below 100 had significantly more formal thought disorder than normal children with a similar IQ. The severity of their formal thought disorder was related to the age of seizure onset, seizure control and a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder. The schizophrenic children had thought disorder irrespective of IQ scores. The cognitive correlates of their formal thought disorder scores differed from those of the epileptic children. Possible anatomical substrates of thought disorder in childhood complex partial seizure disorder and schizophrenia are discussed.

Attention↗

PubMed1992

Postinfarction cardiac rupture in the nineties: do we know determinating factors?

Postinfarction cardiac rupture (PCR) up to the present accounts for approximately 20 percent of autopsy infarcted cases, ranking only behind arrhythmias and cardiac failure in the frequency of AMI complications. We re-examined our observations of a previous anatomo-clinical study of 96 patients who underwent autopsy after death from AMI. Sixteen patients had rupture of the free wall of the left ventricle at the site of infarction. All the patients with rupture showed the following statistically significant characteristics (p less than 0.01) if compared to those without rupture: cardiac hypertrophy (heart weight 390 to 1020 gm; mean: 627.5 +/- 201 gm; left ventricular wall thickness 18 mm to 29 mm; mean: 25.17 +/- 3.6 mm), sudden death (6 cases) without premonitory symptoms or with symptoms of less than an hour's duration or reappearance of chest pain not improved by opiates before late death, that occurred 240 to 660 minutes from chest pain, recorded electrocardiograms showing sinus rhythm with unchanged ST-segment (12 cases), atrioventricular block (2 cases) and junctional rhythm (2 cases). Hypertension pre-existing to the infarction was seen in 6 cases with rupture versus 9 cases without rupture (p less than 0.01). Blood pressure, heart weight and wall thickness of the left ventricle are the most increased parameters in the patients with PCR. Preventive measures against these factors can reduce PCR.

Aged↗

PubMed1991

Indoor passive smoking: its effect on cardiac performance.

We studied 19 nonsmoker male volunteers, 9 healthy (mean age 30.5 +/- 8.5), and 10 with previous myocardial infarction (mean age 53.8 +/- 5.3), who underwent exercise stress testing twice: in a smoke-free environment and in a smoking environment (carbon monoxide concentration 30-35 ppm). We measured peak exercise power, time to recovery of pre-exercise heart rate, expired concentration of carbon monoxide and plasma carbon monoxide. Obtained data were compared by using t-test. P less than 0.05 was statistically significant. Mean data observed in healthy people were as follows. Peak exercise power 220 +/- 30 watts in a smoking environment versus 220 +/- 30 in a smoke-free environment (P greater than 0.05). Time to recovery of pre-exercise heart rate 19 +/- 4 minutes in a smoking environment versus 8.5 +/- 4 in a smoke-free environment (P less than 0.01). Expired concentration of carbon monoxide before exercise 2.3 +/- 2.01 ppm versus 8.5 +/- 1.6 (P less than 0.01) after exercise in a smoking environment, and 2.3 +/- 2 ppm before exercise versus 2.1 +/- 1.9 after exercise in a smoke-free environment (P less than 0.05). Plasma carbon monoxide before exercise 1.4 +/- 0.2% versus 1.7 +/- 0.4 after exercise in a smoking environment (P greater than 0.05), and 1.2 +/- 0.4% before exercise versus 1.2 +/- 0.4 in a smoke-free environment (P greater than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Comparative characterization of a human large cell lung carcinoma cell line and the xenograft derived cell line.

The HK-1 cell line established from a human large cell lung carcinoma shows a high transformed phenotype and undifferentiated characteristics. This cell line grows as an adherent monolayer in fetal calf serum-supplemented medium, shows a high proliferation index, is able to grow in semi-solid agar and is tumorigenic in athymic nude rats. The cell line HK-2 derived from the HK-1 xenograft in athymic nude rats shows basically the same features found in the original HK-1 cell line, which include aneuploid nuclear DNA content, abnormal chromosomal number. rearranged marker chromosomes and abnormally localised nucleolar organizer regions. Cytokeratin and vimentin intermediary-sized filaments were found in both cell lines as well as in the original and induced tumour, while neither oncofetal antigens (alphafeto-protein, carcinoembryonic antigen, chorionic gonatropin and human placental lactogen) nor neural differentiation markers (neurofilament and neural specific enolase) were expressed. Analysis of sulphated glycosaminoglycans in the cell cultures and in the nude rat induced tumour showed high expression of chondroitin sulphate.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Middle childhood onset of interictal psychosis.

The authors describe three children (mean age = 7.8 years) with complex partial epilepsy, left temporal lobe involvement, and interictal schizophrenia-like psychosis. As described in adults with complex partial epilepsy, these children met DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia, their affect was intact, and they demonstrated no negative signs of schizophrenia. Unlike adult epileptic patients, these children demonstrated psychotic symptomatology despite inadequate seizure control and after a short latency period. The possible role of early onset seizures, temporal lobe lesions, and kindling on the developing brain are discussed.

Child↗

PubMed1991

Detection of HIV-1 in epidermal Langerhans cells of HIV-infected patients using the polymerase chain reaction.

Langerhans cells (LC) are bone marrow-derived, HLA-DR+, CD1a+, dendritic antigen-presenting cells found in stratified squamous epithelia. Within resident epidermal cells (EC), LC are the only cells expressing the CD4 antigen and are, therefore, a possible target for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. To date, conflicting results have been reported on the in vivo infection of LC by HIV. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of HIV-1 proviral DNA in epidermal LC of HIV-1-infected patients. EC suspensions were prepared from clinically normal skin of nine seropositive patients. Purified LC and LC-depleted EC were obtained by immunomagnetic separation and analyzed for the presence of HIV-1 proviral DNA by the polymerase chain reaction using primer pairs from different conserved regions (env and gag) of the HIV-1 genome. HIV-1 proviral DNA was detected in LC from seven of nine patients. LC-depleted EC fractions from the same nine patients were all negative, with the exception of one case. Altogether these results demonstrate that epidermal LC are infected by HIV-1 and constitute the only resident cell type in the epidermis harboring the virus. Further studies are, however, needed to demonstrate HIV replication in LC and to elucidate the functional role of LC in this infection.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Life-threatening arrhythmias after intravenous lidocaine alone or with magnesium in myocardial infarction complicated by ventricular fibrillation.

To compare the effects of Lidocaine (LID) alone or with Magnesium Sulfate (M) on life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias which followed cardioverted prolonged ventricular fibrillation (VF) during an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), we studied 34 (24.63%) out of 138 patients aged from 52 to 83 years (mean: 66.92 + 8.82) with an anterior AMI, who had cardioverted prolonged VF. Twenty patients (58.8%)--Group A--received LID 2 mg/min at constant-rate infusion through a subclavian catheter following a bolus of LID 100 mg, whereas 14 patients (14.2%)--Group B--received LID at the same dose + M 2.5 mg/min. All the patients had continuous monitoring and LID serum level was measured daily by means of immunofluorescent method (TDX Abbot; range 1.5-5 micrograms/ml). Group A had the following mean serum levels of LID; 250 + 0.9; 1.52; 245 +/- 0.9; 3.20 + 1.1. Group B showed: 2.65 + 1.2; 2.80 + 1.8; 3.10 + 1.2; 3.25 + 1.1. Continuous monitoring displayed the following arrhythmias respectively for Group A and Group B: VT 37 times vs 16(P less than 0.05, significant), transiently cardioverted VF during therapy 17 times vs 6(p less than 0.01, significant), 8 deaths from VF vs 6 - 3 from VF and 3 from asystole - (p = NS). LID + M treatment seemed to be more effective than LID alone to reduce life-threatening arrhythmias following cardioverted prolonged VF of AMI but not the deaths. In addition, M would raise moderately LID serum level and this fact, not yet well known, needs further investigation.

Aged↗