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Biomedical subjects

Masahiro Kohzuki

Publications and source records attributed to Masahiro Kohzuki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Patient skin dose in cardiac interventional procedures: conventional fluoroscopy versus pulsed fluoroscopy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether pulsed fluoroscopy reduces a patient's exposure compared with the exposure owing to conventional (continuous) fluoroscopy, we simulated the skin radiation doses of patients at cardiac catheterization facilities with various X-ray systems used in fluoroscopically guided intervention procedures. BACKGROUND: Although many reports have noted that "pulsed fluoroscopy" provides important further reductions in radiation exposure, it has been determined that when comparing dose rates between different vendor systems, "pulsed fluoroscopy" does not reduce patients' exposure as compared with "conventional fluoroscopy". METHODS: We examined 13 X-ray systems; 10 used pulsed fluoroscopy and three used conventional fluoroscopy. The entrance surface doses with fluoroscopy were compared for the 13 X-ray systems by using acrylic plates (20-cm thick) and a skin dose monitor. The X-ray conditions used in the measurements were those normally used in the facilities performing percutaneous coronary intervention. RESULTS: The average surface dose for systems from three different vendors producing conventional fluoroscopy systems was 23.93+/-2.77 mGy/min vs. an average surface dose of 22.52+/-4.50 mGy/min from five vendors of pulsed fluoroscopy systems (25, 30, and 50 pulses/sec) (P=0.646). The average entrance surface dose was significantly (P<0.0001) higher with conventional fluoroscopy and pulsed fluoroscopy at 25, 30, and 50 pulses/sec (23.05+/-3.78 mGy/min) than with pulsed fluoroscopy at 15 pulses/sec (13.86+/-3.22 mGy/min). CONCLUSIONS: Pulsed fluoroscopy did not in itself reduce radiation exposure. In general, the use of pulsed fluoroscopy at a pulse rate lower than 25 pulses/sec should reduce the skin dose in fluoroscopically guided intervention procedures. Nevertheless, some X-ray systems are not designed to reduce the dose rate as the number of pulses per second is decreased. Physicians should be aware of the entrance surface dose of the X-ray system that they use for cardiac IVR.

Cardiac Catheterization↗
PubMed2006

The relationship between plasma BNP level and the myocardial phosphocreatine/adenosine triphosphate ratio determined by phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level and the myocardial phosphocreatine/adenosine triphosphate ratio determined using rapid phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Thirteen DCM patients, who had slight or moderate heart failure, were examined. The plasma BNP was measured on a day close to the rapid 31P-MRS study. 31P-MRS measurements were conducted with a 1.5-T MR instrument. The plasma BNP levels tended to be correlated negatively with the myocardial phosphocreatine/adenosine triphosphate, although the correlation did not reach statistical significance (r = -0.54, p = 0.06). By contrast, the log of the plasma BNP levels was correlated negatively with the myocardial phosphocreatine/adenosine triphosphate (r = -0.73, p < 0.01). Our results indicate that the myocardial energy metabolism evaluated using 31P-MRS tends to be correlated with the severity of heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction estimated using the plasma BNP levels in DCM patients. This paper provides additional information regarding the relationship between the BNP and myocardial energy metabolism in DCM patients.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed2006

Expression of cytochrome P-450 4 enzymes in the kidney and liver: regulation by PPAR and species-difference between rat and human.

Members of the cytochrome P-450 4 (CYP4) family catalyze the omega-hydroxylation of fatty acids, and some of them have the PPAR response element in the promoter area of the genes. The localization of CYP4A and PPAR isoforms and the effect of PPAR agonists on CYP4A protein level and activity were determined in rat kidney and liver. Immunoblot analysis showed that CYP4A was expressed in the liver and proximal tubule, with lower expression in the preglomerular microvessel, glomerulus and thick ascending limb (TAL), but the expression was not detected in the collecting duct. PPARalpha was expressed in the liver, proximal tubule and TAL. PPARgamma was expressed in the collecting duct, with lower expression in the TAL, but no expression in the proximal tubule and liver. The PPARalpha agonist clofibrate induced CYP4A protein levels and activity in the renal cortex and liver. The PPARgamma agonist pioglitazone did not modulate them in these tissues. The localization of CYP4A and CYP4F were further determined in human kidney and liver by immunohistochemical technique. Immunostainings for CYP4A and CYP4F were observed in the hepatocytes of the liver lobule and the proximal tubules, with lower stainings in the TALs and collecting ducts, but no staining in the glomeruli or renal vasculatures. These results indicate that the inducibility of CYP4A by PPAR agonists in the rat tissues correlates with the expression of the respective PPAR isoforms, and that the localization of CYP4 in the kidney has a species-difference between rat and human.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Indicators of the maximum radiation dose to the skin during percutaneous coronary intervention in different target vessels.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the maximum radiation dose to the patient's skin (MSD) can be estimated during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, we investigated the relationship between the MSD and fluoroscopic time, dose-area product (DAP), and body weight, separately analyzing the relationships for different target vessels. BACKGROUND: Many cases of skin injury caused by excessive radiation exposure during cardiac intervention procedures have been reported. However, real-time maximum-dose monitoring of the skin is unavailable for many cardiac intervention procedures. METHODS: We studied 197 consecutive PCI procedures that involved a single target vessel and were conducted. The DAP was measured, and the MSD was calculated by a skin-dose mapping software program (Caregraph). The target vessels of the PCI procedures were divided into four groups based on the AHA classification system: AHA 5-10, left anterior descending artery domain (LAD), AHA 11-15, left circumflex artery domain (LCx), AHA 1-3 = R 1-3, and AHA 4 = R 4. RESULTS: The correlation coefficient (r) between the MSD and fluoroscopic time was higher for the right coronary artery (RCA) vessels (R 1-3, 0.852; R 4, 0.715) than for the left coronary artery (LCA) vessels (LAD, 0.527; LCx, 0.646), and the r value between the MSD and DAP was higher for the RCA vessels (R 1-3, 0.871; R 4, 0.898) than for the LCA vessels (LAD, 0.628; LCx, 0.694). Similarly, the correlation coefficient between the MSD and weight x fluoroscopic time (WFP) was higher for the RCA vessels (R 1-3, 0.874; R 4, 0.807) than for the LCA vessels (LAD, 0.551; LCx, 0.735). CONCLUSIONS: The DAP and WFP can be used to estimate the MSD during PCI in the RCA but not in the LCA, especially the LAD.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Combination of exercise and enalapril enhances renoprotective and peripheral effects in rats with renal ablation.

BACKGROUND: It is suggested that appropriate chronic exercise (EX) may produce improvements of the physical strength in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Because acute exercise causes proteinuria and decreases the renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate, it is necessary to consider the influence of EX on renal function. Therefore, we assessed the renal and peripheral effects of moderate to intense EX as well as the effects of the combination of EX and enalapril (ENA) in a rat model of CRF. METHODS: Male 5/6-nephrectomized Wistar-Kyoto rats were divided into six groups according to the following treatment: 1) no exercise (C); 2) ENA (2 mg/kg/day, subcutaneously); 3) moderate exercise with treadmill running (20 m/min for 60 min/day, 5 days/week) (EXm); 4) intense exercise with treadmill running (28 m/min for 60 min/day, 5 days/week) (EXi); 5) EXm+ENA; and 6) sham operation (S). The rats were then treated for 12 weeks. RESULTS: Both EX and ENA blocked the development of hypertension, blunted increases in proteinuria, reduced serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen, and improved the index of glomerular sclerosis (IGS) and the relative interstitial volume of the renal cortex (RIV). Moreover, IGS and RIV in the EXm+ENA group were the lowest among all other nephrectomized groups. Furthermore, EXm+ENA enhanced capillarization as well as the proportion of type-I fiber in the soleus muscle. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that EX and ENA have renoprotective effects. The findings also suggest that EXm+ENA provided greater renoprotective effects than those of ENA alone, and that EXm+ENA had some additional peripheral effects without any complications in this rat model.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors↗
PubMed2006

Effect of low-voltage electrical stimulation on angiogenic growth factors in ischaemic rat skeletal muscle.

1. Low-voltage electrical stimulation (LVES) in skeletal muscle at a level far below the threshold of muscle contraction has been reported to promote local angiogenesis. However, the mechanism underlying the promotion of local angiogenesis by LVES has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we evaluated whether angiogenic factors, such as vascular endotherial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF), as well as other disadvantageous factors, such as inflammation (interleukin (IL)-6) and hypoxia (hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha), contribute to the local angiogenesis produced by LVES. 2. We completely excised bilateral femoral arteries of male Sprague-Dawley rats. After the operation, electrodes were implanted onto the centre of the fascia of the bilateral tibialis anterior (TA) muscles, tunnelled subcutaneously and exteriorized at the level of the scapulae. The right TA muscles of rats were stimulated continuously at a stimulus frequency of 50 Hz, with a 0.1 V stimulus strength and no interval, for 5 days. The left TA muscles served as controls. 3. We found that both VEGF and HGF protein were significantly increased by LVES in stimulated muscles compared with control. The VEGF level of the LVES group was 89.10 +/- 17.19 ng/g, whereas that of the control group was 65.07 +/- 12.88 ng/g, as determined by ELISA (P < 0.05). The HGF level of the LVES and control groups was 8.52 +/- 1.96 and 5.80 +/- 2.14 ng/g, respectively (P < 0.05). In contrast, there was no difference in FGF, IL-6 and HIF-1alpha between the LVES and control groups. 4. These results suggest that LVES in a hindlimb ischaemia model of rats increases not only VEGF, but also HGF, production, which may be the main mechanism responsible for the angiogenesis produced by LVES.

Angiogenic Proteins↗
PubMed2006

Low-frequency electrical stimulation increases muscle strength and improves blood supply in patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the effects of low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) on muscle strength and blood flow in patients with advanced chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with CHF (n=15; age 56.5 +/- 5.2 years; New York Heart Association III - IV; ejection fraction 18.7 +/- 3.3%) were examined before and after 6 weeks of LFES (10 Hz) of the quadriceps and calf muscles of both legs (1 h/day, 7 days/week). Dynamometry was performed weekly to determine maximal muscle strength (F(max); N) and isokinetic peak torque (PT(max); Nm); blood flow velocity (BFV) was measured at baseline and after 6 weeks of LFES using pulsed-wave Doppler velocimetry of the right femoral artery. Six weeks of LFES significantly increased F(max) (from 224.5 +/- 96.8 N to 340.0 +/- 99.4 N; p<0.001), and also PT(max) (from 94.5 +/- 41.5 Nm to 135.3 +/- 28.8 Nm; p<0.01). BFV in the femoral artery increased after 6 weeks from 35.7 +/- 15.4 cm/s to 48.2 +/- 18.1 cm/s (p<0.05); BFV values at rest before and after 6 weeks of LFES did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS: LFES may improve muscle strength and blood supply, and could be recommended for the treatment of patients with severe CHF.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2006

Mechanism behind augmentation in baroreflex sensitivity after acute exercise in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

A single bout of dynamic exercise increases baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We examined whether change in hemodynamics (increases in blood pressure and heart rate) associated with dynamic exercise contribute to the post-exercise modulation of BRS. SHR aged 12 weeks were chronically instrumented with a carotid artery catheter and jugular vein catheter. They were then allocated to three groups submitted to 40 min of 1) running on a treadmill at 12 m/min (Run), 2) concomitant infusion of isoproterenol and a relatively high dose of phenylephrine (Iso+Phe(high)), or 3) concomitant infusion of isoproterenol and a relatively low dose of phenylephrine (Iso+Phe(low)). Arterial pressure and heart rate were continuously recorded throughout the experiments. BRS estimated by heart rate responses to phenylephrine injection and systolic blood pressure-low frequency power amplitude (SBP-LFamp) evaluated by power spectral analysis of SBP, a marker of sympathetic activity, were examined before and after running (Run group), or administration of drugs (Iso+Phe(high) or Iso+Phe(low) groups). BRS increased significantly from 1.4 to 1.9 bpm/mmHg after running, but not after administration of Iso+Phe(high) or Iso+Phe(low). Blood pressure and SBP-LFamp significantly decreased in each of the Run, Iso+Phe(high) and Iso+Phe(low) groups. These results suggest that hemodynamic change alone does not contribute to post-exercise modulation of BRS, while hemodynamic change or sympathetic activation during exercise contributes to post-exercise hypotension associated with a reduction of sympathetic activity.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles. An alternative to aerobic exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure?

The aim of this study was to investigate whether electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles could represent a rehabilitation alternative for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Thirty patients with CHF and NYHA class II-III were randomly assigned to a rehabilitation program using either electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles or bicycle training. Patients in the first group (n = 15) had 8 weeks of home-based low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) applied simultaneously to the quadriceps and calf muscles of both legs (1 h/day for 7 days/week); patients in the second group (n = 15) underwent 8 weeks of 40 minute aerobic exercise (3 times a week). After the 8-week period significant increases in several functional parameters were observed in both groups: maximal VO2 uptake (LFES group: from 17.5 +/- 4.4 mL/kg/min to 18.3 +/- 4.2 mL/kg/min, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 18.1 +/- 3.9 mL/kg/min to 19.3 +/- 4.1 mL/kg/min, P < 0.01), maximal workload (LFES group: from 84.3 +/- 15.2 W to 95.9 +/- 9.8 W, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 91.2 +/- 13.4 W to 112.9 +/- 10.8 W, P < 0.01), distance walked in 6 minutes (LFES group: from 398 +/- 105 m to 435 +/- 112 m, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 425 +/- 118 m to 483 +/- 120 m, P < 0.03), and exercise duration (LFES group: from 488 +/- 45 seconds to 568 +/- 120 seconds, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 510 +/- 90 seconds to 611 +/- 112 seconds, P < 0.03). These results demonstrate that an improvement of exercise capacities can be achieved either by classical exercise training or by home-based electrical stimulation. LFES should be considered as a valuable alternative to classical exercise training in patients with CHF.

Bicycling↗
PubMed2006

Construct validity of the Frenchay Activities Index for community-dwelling elderly in Japan.

Many researchers have developed various measures to evaluate the functional status of community-dwelling elderly. The Frenchay Activities Index (FAI) was developed to measure instrumental activities of daily living in stroke populations. The FAI has undergone the most intensive evaluation, but its factor structure has not been examined in Japan. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the construct validity of the FAI for non-stroke community-dwelling elderly in Japan. The study subjects were 1,323 randomly selected community older residents in Hojo city, Ehime prefecture, the southern part of Japan. In order to investigate the construct validation, we performed factor analyses, i.e., exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, we examined the influences of age and gender on the FAI constructs. In the results, the FAI had a two-factor structure consisting of domestic chores, including washing clothes and preparing meals, and work and leisure, including gardening, driving and outings. Younger age was significantly related to increased performance on both factors. In addition, relative to females, males had a lower performance on the domestic chores and a greater performance on the work and leisure. These results suggest that the FAI satisfies the construct validity in the Japanese community-dwelling elderly. The FAI and its two factors provide important and clinically valuable information for understanding the patterns of functional status in the Japanese community-dwelling elderly.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

Relationship between fluoroscopic time, dose-area product, body weight, and maximum radiation skin dose in cardiac interventional procedures.

OBJECTIVE: Real-time maximum dose monitoring of the skin is unavailable on many of the X-ray machines that are used for cardiac intervention procedures. Therefore, some reports have recommended that physicians record the fluoroscopic time for patients undergoing fluoroscopically guided intervention procedures. However, the relationship between the fluoroscopic time and the maximum radiation skin dose is not clear. This article describes the correlation between the maximum radiation skin dose and fluoroscopic time for patients undergoing cardiac intervention procedures. In addition, we examined whether the correlations between maximum radiation skin dose and body weight, fluoroscopic time, and dose-area product (DAP) were useful for estimating the maximum skin dose during cardiac intervention procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred consecutive cardiac intervention procedures were studied: 172 percutaneous coronary interventions and 28 cardiac radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) procedures. The patient skin dose and DAP were measured using Caregraph with skin-dose-mapping software. RESULTS: For the RFCA procedures, we found a good correlation between the maximum radiation skin dose and fluoroscopic time (r = 0.801, p < 0.0001), whereas we found a poor correlation between the maximum radiation skin dose and fluoroscopic time for the percutaneous coronary intervention procedures (r = 0.628, p < 0.0001). There was a strong correlation between the maximum radiation skin dose and DAP in RFCA procedures (r = 0.942, p < 0.0001). There was also a significant correlation between the maximum radiation skin dose and DAP (r = 0.724, p < 0.0001) and weight-fluoroscopic time product (WFP) (r = 0.709, p < 0.0001) in percutaneous coronary intervention procedures. CONCLUSION: The correlation between the maximum radiation skin dose with DAP is more striking than that with fluoroscopic time in both RFCA and percutaneous coronary intervention procedures. We recommend that physicians record the DAP when it can be monitored and that physicians record the fluoroscopic time when DAP cannot be monitored for estimating the maximum patient skin dose in RFCA procedures. For estimating the maximum patient skin dose in percutaneous coronary intervention procedures, we also recommend that physicians record DAP when it can be monitored and that physicians record WFP when DAP cannot be monitored.

Body Weight↗
PubMed2006

[Relationships between spinal deformities and respiratory function in patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities syndrome].

The term severe motor and intellectual disabilities syndrome (SMIDS) refers to describe a heterogeneous group of disorders with severe physical disabilities and profound mental retardation. Many patients with SMIDS have spinal deformities such as spinal rotation and scoliosis. On the other hand, they often have respiratory dysfunction, resulting in high mortality from respiratory failure. Therefore, we hypothesized that spinal abnormalities might affect respiratory dysfunction, and analyzed the correlation between spinal abnormalities (Cobb angles (CA) and spinal rotation scores (SRS)) and respiratory parameters (observed during tidal breathing at static supine posture) in 10 patients with SMIDS (M: F 2:8, age 29.0 +/- 7.3 years). The patients inability to make effort in spirometry prevented us from evaluating vital capacity and forced expiratory volume. We measured respiratory rate, tidal volume, and expiratory gas during tidal breathing for 10 minutes. There was no patient with the athethotic type of CP. CA and SRS were found to be correlated with each other (r = 0.81, p < 0.01). CA was inversely correlated with tidal volume (both Vt and Vt/Height;r = -0.69, p < 0.05). Both CA and SRS correlated with respiratory rate (r = 0.67 and 0.69, respectively). Moreover, the slope of the regression lines of the VO2-VCO2 plots (V-slope) was correlated with CA (r = 0.86, p < 0.01). Contrary to our expectation, none of the respiratory parameters showed significant correlations with BMI. Moreover, we found no relationship between the spinal deformity (CA or SRS) and BMI. These observations suggest that the spinal abnormalities affect respiratory patterns in a restrictive manner and increase the respiratory change rate during tidal breathing in patients with SMIDS.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

[Renoprotective and antihypertensive effect of combination therapy with a low protein diet, long-term exercise and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in rats with renal ablation].

A low protein diet(LPD) has been prescribed to alleviate uremic symptoms, and to delay the aggravation of chronic renal failure(CRF). However, it has been suggested that LPD treatment causes malnutrition and attenuation of muscle power. On the other hand, it also has been suggested that appropriate long-term exercise training(EX) may lead to improvement of the physical fitness and quality of life (QOL) in patients with CRF. However, there is no definitive conclusion as to whether EX has any renal protective effect or not. We assessed the effects of combination therapy with LPD and EX. We also assessed the effects of a combination of these therapies and the angiotensin II receptor antagonist, olmesartan (OLS). Male Wistar Kyoto rats that were five-sixth-nephrectomized were divided into 6 groups; 1) normal-protein diet(NPD); 2) NPD and EX with treadmill running(1 h/day, 5 days/week for 12 weeks)(NPD + EX); 3) LPD; 4) LPD + EX; 5) LPD + EX with OLS( 10 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks) (LPD + EX + OLS); and 6) Sham-operated(S). Systolic blood pressure(SBP) in the NPD + EX, LPD + EX, LPD + EX + OLS, and S groups was significantly lower than in the NPD group. Moreover, SBP in the LPD + EX + OLS was significantly lower than in all the other groups. LPD, LPD + EX, and LPD + EX + OLS induced a significant decrease in UP, Scr and BUN compared with the NPD group. UP in the LPD + EX, LPD + EX + OLS, and S groups was significantly lower than in the LPD group. The index of glomerular sclerosis (IGS) and relative interstitial volume(RIV) in the NPD + EX, LPD, LPD + EX, LPD + EX + OLS, and S groups were significantly lower than the values in the NPD group. IGS and RIV in the LPD, LPD + EX, LPD + EX + OLS, and S groups were significantly lower than the values in the NPD + EX and LPD groups. Glomerular ED-1 positive cells in the LPD + EX, LPD + EX + OLS, and S groups was significantly fewer than in the NPD groups. These results indicate that LPD and EX have renoprotective effects, and suggest that the combination therapy with LPD and EX provides greater renoprotective effects than LPD alone. Moreover simultaneous treatment of OLS and LPD + EX provides greater antihypertensive and antiproteinuric effects than treatment with LPD + EX.

Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers↗
PubMed2005

Cytochrome P-450-dependent metabolism of arachidonic acid in the kidney of rats with diabetes insipidus.

This study compared the renal metabolism of arachidonic acid in Brattleboro (BB) (vasopressin deficient) and Long-Evans (LE) control rats and the effects of a cytochrome P-450 (CYP) inhibitor 1-aminobenzotriazole (ABT) on renal function in these animals. The production of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) by renal cortical and outer medullary microsomes was significantly greater in BB than in LE rats (155 +/- 16 vs. 92 +/- 13 and 59 +/- 7 vs. 33 +/- 3 pmol.min(-1).mg protein(-1)). Renal cortical epoxygenase activity was not different in these strains. The expression of CYP4A proteins was 58 and 78% higher in the renal cortex and outer medulla of BB than in LE rats. Chronic treatment of BB rats with a vasopressin type 2 receptor agonist for 1 wk normalized the renal production of 20-HETE. Chronic blockade of the formation of 20-HETE and EETs with ABT had little effect on renal function in LE rats. However, urine flow increased by 54% and urine osmolarity decreased by 33% in BB rats treated with ABT. Plasma levels of oxytocin fell significantly from 7.2 +/- 1.3 to 3.9 +/- 1.0 pg/ml. The effects of ABT in BB rats were attenuated by chronic infusion of oxytocin (0.7 ng.min(-1).100 g(-1)) to maintain fixed high plasma levels of this hormone. These results indicate that the expression of CYP4A protein and the renal formation of 20-HETE are elevated in the kidney of BB rats due to a lack of vasopressin and that chronic blockade of the formation of 20-HETE and EETs with ABT promotes water excretion in vasopressin-deficient BB rats by reducing the circulating levels of oxytocin, which is a weak vasopressin agonist.

8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic Acid↗
PubMed2005

Validity and utility of the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors for Korean community-dwelling elderly with or without stroke.

The social environmental barriers are considered to be important because the "social participation" of people with impairments would be facilitated by the prevention and reduction of environmental barriers. The Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors (CHIEF) is one of the few scales to assess the environmental barriers. In this study, we developed the Korean version of CHIEF and evaluated its construct validity and utility in a sample of Korean community-dwelling elderly with or without stroke. We evaluated the construct validity of the CHIEF by testing the original five-factor structure using a confirmatory factor analysis in 400 elderly in Seoul, Korea. The utility of the CHIEF was then assessed by examining the relationships between individual characteristics, Barthel Index and perceived environmental barriers, measured by the CHIEF, using a structural equation modeling approach. The confirmatory factor analysis result demonstrated the validity of a second-order factor model of the CHIEF comprising the five factors as first-order factors. The perceived environmental barrier was a second-order factor when provided acceptable fit indices after two modifications. The structural equation modeling indicates that perceived environmental barriers are significantly related to activities of daily life but not age, gender, and the episode of stroke. The CHIEF is useful in measuring environmental factors for Korean older adults with or without stroke.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Effect of high-salt diet or chronic captopril treatment on exercise capacity in normotensive rats.

1. We investigated whether chronic suppression of the renin-angiotensin system, which is known to be associated with reductions in microvascular density and vasodilator responsiveness of skeletal muscle, could affect exercise capacity in normotensive rats. 2. Rats were placed on normal rat chow, normal rat chow with captopril (100 mg/kg per day) or a high-salt diet (HS; 4%) for 4 weeks. Following these interventions, rats with indwelling carotid artery catheters were submitted to stepwise increasing exercise on a motor treadmill at a speed of 10, 20 and 30 m/min for 4 min while blood lactate was measured. 3. Blood lactate after exercise at a speed of 20 m/min was significantly higher and the duration during which rats were able to run at a speed of 30 m/min was significantly shorter in captopril-treated rats and rats fed an HS diet compared with control rats. 4. We conclude that chronic treatment with captopril or HS diet could reduce the exercise capacity in inactive normotensive rats, probably through chronic inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system.

Animals↗