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Biomedical subjects

N Sakuragawa

Publications and source records attributed to N Sakuragawa.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Study of low molecular weight heparin effect on the relation between anticoagulant activity and antithrombin III affinity.

Low molecular weight heparin (FR-860), and conventional unfractionated heparin (UF-heparin) were fractionated by rabbit antithrombin III (AT III)-Sepharose, and the effects of each affinity fraction on the coagulation and fibrinolytic activities were investigated. FR-860 was fractionated to no-affinity, low-affinity (LA) and high-affinity (HA) fractions, and UF-heparin to LA and HA fractions. The HA fractions showed higher activities regarding the prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time, anti-factor Xa activity and antithrombin activity compared with those of LA. The HA and LA fractions exhibited the enhancement of heparin cofactor II (HC II) activity and fibrinolytic activity in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the antithrombotic activity of FR-860 is exerted through AT III and other mechanism such as HC II-mediated system.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Synergistic stimulating effect between cyclic AMP and phorbol ester on plasminogen activator inhibitor type 2 production in human promyelocytic leukemia cell line PL-21.

We investigated the effect of agents which raise intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) and protein kinase C activators on the production of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-2 (PAI-2) by cultured human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, PL-21. As previously reported, PMA, a protein kinase C activator, showed a strong stimulating effect on the PAI-2 production. 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG), another synthetic protein kinase C activator, also showed a stimulating effect, which was, however, much less than that of PMA. The agents which raise intracellular cAMP, dibutyryl cAMP, 8-bromo cAMP, prostaglandin E1, and 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine, little increased the PAI-2 production when tested alone, but showed significant synergistic effects with PMA or OAG. The synergistic effect between PMA and dibutyryl cAMP was further verified by SDS-PAGE followed by immunoblotting using a monoclonal antibody against the PAI-2. It is interesting that the up-regulation of PAI-2 by cAMP and the synergistic effect with PKC activators forms a contrast to the previous reported bi-directional regulation of endothelial PAI-1 secretion by PKC activator and cAMP.

Bucladesine↗
PubMed1992

Study of anticoagulant mechanism of low molecular weight heparin.

The binding ability of low molecular weight heparin (FR-860), and conventional unfractionated heparin (UF-heparin) to factor Xa (F.Xa), thrombin and AT III was investigated using FR-860- and UF-heparin-Sepharoses. FR-860 could not bind directly to F.Xa. FR-860 bound to thrombin and AT III with stronger affinity to AT III than to thrombin. On the other hand, UF-heparin bound to F.Xa, thrombin and AT III with the strongest affinity to AT III followed by thrombin and F.Xa. AT III mediated the binding between F.Xa and FR-860 and accelerated the reaction between F.Xa and UF-heparin. On the other hand, AT III did not affect the binding between thrombin and FR-860 or UF-heparin. Diisopropyl fluorophosphate-treated thrombin inhibited the binding between AT III and FR-860, but not that between AT III and UF-heparin. These results suggest that the anti-F.Xa activity of FR-860 is mediated by AT III. Furthermore, the difference of antithrombin activity between FR-860 and UF-heparin depends on the capability to form ternary complex of FR-860 or UF-heparin, AT III and thrombin.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

The antithrombin III gene polymorphism in Japan: examination for haplotypes relevant to disordered antithrombin III biosynthesis.

In the human antithrombin III (AT III) gene of Caucasian, two restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLPs) have been identified and used for the linkage analysis of many congenital AT III abnormality and deficiency. In the present study, we attempted to examine the existence and distribution of these RFLPs in Japanese and utilize them for the molecular survey of the members in the AT III Toyama kindred and 4 type Ia deficient families. An AT III cDNA clone was isolated by ourselves and served as a hybridization probe. In Japanese, the intragenic polymorphism, which is referred to + and - alleles, was evenly distributed (.49: .51), and the 5'-length polymorphism, designated as S and F alleles, was also conserved at a ratio of .4 to .6. However, the combined genotypes of both polymorphisms revealed disproportionate, and + and S, and - and F alleles seemed mainly to coexist. AT III genes of the AT III Toyama kindred showed the homozygous genotype of -/F, and all affected members of the deficient families demonstrated no distinguishable alterations on Southern blots, suggesting that a subtle defect in the AT III gene or the "trans-acting" disordered mechanism is responsible for the decreased AT III levels. According to some reports that a defective AT III gene is the cause of inherited AT III deficiency, it was implied that the abnormal AT III gene was located on the haplotype of -/F in 3 families and +/F in one. In two deficient families with heterozygous genotypes, the RFLPs were considered to bring a clue to determine the structural changes.

Alleles↗
PubMed1992

Down-regulation of urokinase secretion from a human lymphoma cell line RC-K8 by dexamethasone without inducing plasminogen activator inhibitors.

The plasminogen activator (PA) activity in various cell lines is suppressed by glucocorticoids. These phenomena are attributed to either a suppression of PA biosynthesis, to an increase of PA inhibitor or to a combination of both. The regulation of urokinase (UK) production in a human pre-B cell lymphoma line, RC-K8, by dexamethasone (Dex) and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) was investigated. RC-K8 is a cell line which is consistently producing a high molecular weight UK in the conditioned medium (Kubonishi, I., et al: Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 76, 12-15, 1985). The cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 with Dex or PMA for 1-4 days. UK activity was measured using a chromogenic substrate S-2444 and the antigen by an ELISA kit. PAI-1 and PAI-2 antigens were also measured by ELISA kits and the complex between PA and PAI was examined by SDS-PAGE fibrin-zymography. The UK secretion in RC-K8 cells was inhibited by cycloheximide and actinomycin D. PMA at 0.16-1.6 uM up-regulated the UK activity approximately two-fold, parallel with the antigen, whereas Dex at 1-10 uM decreased the UK expression approximately half. These were verified by SDS-PAGE fibrin-zymography. Neither PAI-1, PAI-2 nor PA/PAI complex was detected in the conditioned medium and in the cell lysate. These data suggest that PMA up-regulates the UK secretion without inducing PAIs and the down-regulation of the UK secretion by Dex results from the inhibition of the expression of UK itself but not from the induction of PAIs.

Cycloheximide↗
PubMed1992

Tay-Sachs disease: progression of changes on neuroimaging in four cases.

The neuroradiological findings in four patients with Tay-Sachs disease are described in three phases of the clinical course. The basal ganglia and cerebral white matter show low density on computed tomography and high signal intensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the initial phase. The caudate nuclei are characteristically enlarged and protrude into the lateral ventricles in the first and second phases. The cerebral white matter shows low density on the CT which varies in extent from the second to third phases, and the whole brain becomes atrophic in the last phase. Thus, central nervous system involvement in the disease may begin in basal ganglia as well as in cerebral white matter.

Atrophy↗
PubMed1992

Alternating hemiplegia in childhood: 23 cases in Japan.

Alternating hemiplegia in childhood (AHC) has clinically characteristic features which are easily defined and recognizable. Laboratory investigations were basically normal although they were extensively examined during and between attacks. There is still much debate about its etiology, particularly its relation to migraine or epilepsy. Clinical characteristics of identified 23 AHC in Japanese were presented, which were obtained from a large Japanese cooperative study in 1988. AHC may prove not to be as rare as has been thought.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Amniotic tissue transplantation: clinical and biochemical evaluations for some lysosomal storage diseases.

Amniotic epithelial cells has been used for transplantation in patients with lysosomal storage diseases as an enzyme replacement therapy. But its clinical effect is still the question under debate. We performed amniotic tissue transplantation on patients with different lysosomal storage diseases: one with Tay-Sachs disease, one with juvenile Gaucher disease and one with juvenile metachromatic leukodystrophy. The patient having juvenile Gaucher disease received this grafting twice. Objective clinical improvement was observed in the first trial where this patient showed an increase of soluble beta-glucosidase one week after implantation. No clinical or biochemical changes were seen in the other patients. Although there are some advantages to amniotic tissue transplantation, original methods should be modified to cell transplantation in order to avoid graft-versus-host reaction which could happen in repeated implantation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Partial seizures in two cases of metachromatic leukodystrophy: electrophysiologic and neuroradiologic findings.

This report concerns two cases of metachromatic leukodystrophy presenting partial seizures. One was a 2-year-old boy with a late infantile type and the other a 17-year-old girl with a juvenile type. The former had tonic-clonic seizures on the left with concomitant twitching of the left side of the face and adversive conjugate deviation of the eyes. After a while, his interictal sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) showed spikes in the right central area. The second case had hemiconvulsions on the right side, consisting mainly of tonic flexion of the upper limb followed by clonic flexions, and accompanied by adversive conjugate deviation of the head and eyes. Her ictal EEG showed rhythmic 6- to 7-Hz wave bursts in the left frontal area. To this date, no report has given a detailed discussion of the type of seizures and ictal EEG in metachromatic leukodystrophy. In addition, there have been few detailed reports of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the juvenile type. It is interesting that typical partial seizures were observed in a hereditary metabolic disorder characterized by diffuse demyelination of the white matter, and the pathophysiology is discussed here mainly in relation to MRI findings of the case with the juvenile type.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Stimulants from gardeniae fructus for cultured endothelial cell proliferation.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of Gardeniae Fructus extract (GFE), which stimulates the proliferation of cultured endothelial cells, led to the isolation of glycerol and D-mannitol. Both compounds significantly increased the incorporation of [3H]thymidine and [14C]leucine into the acid-insoluble fraction of bovine aortic endothelial cell layers in culture. This clearly indicated that glycerol and D-mannitol are active components of GFE on endothelial cell proliferation. On the other hand, they did not change the number of cultured vascular smooth muscle cells from bovine aorta. Glycerol and D-mannitol may be beneficial drugs for vascular disorders.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

[Effect of cyclic AMP and phorbol ester on PAI-2 synthesis in a leukemic cell line PL-21 and on u-PA secretion in a pre-B cell lymphoma cell line RC-K8].

We investigated the effect of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), dexamethasone (Dex) and reagents which raise intracellular cyclic AMP, on the production of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-2 (PAI-2) in human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, PL-21 and on the production of urinary type plasminogen activator (u-PA) in human pre-B cell lymphoma cell line, RC-K8. Cells were cultured in fetal bovine serum free RPMI-1640 containing the test-reagents for 48 hours. PAI-2 and u-PA antigens were measured by ELISA kits. PMA, an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), markedly increased both PAI-2 and u-PA production in each cell line. On the other hand, cAMP increased PAI-2 production in PL-21 cells, but decreased u-PA synthesis in RC-K8 cells. Similar to cAMP, Dex also increased PAI-2 production but decreased u-PA production in RC-K8 cells. Moreover, PMA and cAMP synergistically increased the PAI-2 production. This was verified by Western blot, using a monoclonal antibody against the PAI-2. These two cell lines are, therefore, useful for clarifying the role of A kinase and C kinase on PAI-2 and u-PA synthesis in human hemopoietic cells.

Cyclic AMP↗
PubMed1992

[Activities of antithrombin III and heparin cofactor II in patients with pathologic blood coagulation conditions].

To investigate the physio-pathological functions of HC-II, assays for HC-II and AT-III were performed simultaneously on the samples from patients with DIC, liver dysfunction or renal disease from the three view points of consumption, production and loss of AT-III and HC-II. For the AT-III activity, two kinds of assays were applied: the automatic chromogenic substrate method and a newly developed clotting method which receives no effects from HC-II activity. The activity of HC-II was significantly lower than that of AT-III in patients with either DIC or liver dysfunction. However, no significant difference between HC-II and AT-III activities in patients with either thrombosis or renal disease. There were high correlations between HC-II and AT-III activities were found in the patients with liver dysfunction, suggesting that low activity was due to decreased production of HC-II and AT-III in the liver. It will be necessary that elucidation of the significant functions of HC-II not only in coagulation and hemostasis but also in regulation of local inflammation and invasion of neoplasm is necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Absence attacks with secondary bilateral synchrony].

Three cases with petit mal absence attacks with secondary bilateral synchrony were presented. The interictal EEG showed unilateral focal epileptic discharges in the frontal area with normal background activity. The ictal EEG disclosed 3-Hz generalized symmetrical spike-wave patterns preceded by unilateral focal discharges, which were elicited by hyperventilation. None of the three cases had abnormal neurological findings or abnormal CT findings. All three cases had normal psychomotor development. One case had a history of febrile convulsions. The ictal manifestations were as follows; impairement of consciousness without any other signs in one case, with decreased posture tone in the second, and automatism in the third. The authors suggest that there can be petit mal absence with 3-Hz generalized spike-wave discharges induced by secondary bilateral synchrony.

Child↗
PubMed1992

[Parasagittal cerebral injury in perinatal asphyxia].

It is suggested that parasagittal cerebral injury in the asphyxiated full term infant may be common. However, parasagittal cerebral injury is rarely diagnosed in the neonatal period. It is said that cranial ultrasonography and CT scan are not useful to identify this lesion. Recently, it is considered that some of the intellectual deficits and behavioral problems in children at school age may have their origin in perinatal parasagittal cerebral injury. We described a patient with parasagittal cerebral injury demonstrated by CT scan. Infants with neurological abnormalities which include weakness or abnormal muscular tone of proximal upper limbs suggest parasagittal cerebral injury. CT scan obtained between 1 and 3 weeks of life is considered to be useful for the diagnosis. Early diagnosis and follow-up of parasagittal cerebral injury may lead to the understanding of frequency, prognosis and pathogenesis and to its prevention.

Adolescent↗