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Biomedical subjects

S Saeki

Publications and source records attributed to S Saeki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[A descriptive epidemiology on sudden death among workers].

A survey on sudden unexpected death, that is, death within 24 hours from acute onset, among Japanese workers was carried out. Questionnaires were sent to full-time occupational health physicians who were active members of the Japan Association of Industrial Health at the time of the survey. Though 241 doctors answered (response rate: 61.5%), only 53 of them who had had both sudden death cases and the desire to join in this research co-operated in this survey. During the 5 years of observation (from Jan. 1, 1986 to Dec. 31, 1990), 143 cases of sudden death, 141 males and 2 females, were reported. The mean age was 46.5 (S. D. 10.5) for males. The ages of the 2 females were 31 and 44. Onset took place most frequently at home (55%) and most often during sleep (26%). This may be due to the higher rate not only of onset but of death resulting from acute onset at home and during sleep. Similar to the previous findings, a small peak of incidence was found early in the morning (4:00 AM--9:00 AM), although this was not statistically significant. However, the weekly and seasonal variations were a little different from previous reports. In this study, sudden death tended to occur more on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (not statistically significant), and as for the seasonal variation, more cases occurred in April, November, and December which were statistically significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Effectiveness of pressure support ventilation for mechanical ventilatory support in patients with status asthmaticus.

We compared the effects of pressure support ventilation (PSV) with those of assist control ventilation (ACV) on breathing patterns and blood gas exchange in six patients with status asthmaticus. Both PSV and ACV delivered adequate minute ventilation (PSV: 7.5 +/- 1.4 l/min/m2, ACV: 7.3 +/- 1.3 l/min/m2) to correct respiratory acidosis (pH = 7.33 +/- 0.12 during both PSV and ACV) and prevent hypoxia. Peak airway pressure during PSV was significantly lower with the same tidal volume than that during ACV (PSV: 30 +/- 10 cmH2O (2.9 +/- 1.0 kPa), ACV: 50 +/- 13 cmH2O (4.9 +/- 1.3 kPa)). The lower airway pressure during PSV was due to persistent inspiratory muscle activity. The oxygen cost of breathing estimated by oxygen consumption was equivalent in both modes. We conclude that PSV is effective in supplying tidal volumes adequate to improve hypercarbia at markedly lower airway pressures than ACV.

Adolescent

Pericholangitis with ulcerative colitis following autoimmune hepatitis over 12 years.

A 35-year-old woman was diagnosed as autoimmune hepatitis 12 years ago by abnormal findings of liver tests including lupus erythematosus (LE) cell phenomenon and liver biopsy. She was admitted in May 1990 with a history of lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Colonoscopy with biopsy and barium enema revealed chronic ulcerative colitis along the entire colon. Since liver tests did not respond well to prednisolone treatment, liver biopsy was again performed and it revealed periductal inflammation with small duct proliferation, a finding compatible with pericholangitis. We herein report this patient who was initially diagnosed as autoimmune hepatitis and thereafter found to be pericholangitis associated with ulcerative colitis.

Adult

[Cushing's syndrome found during long-term glucocorticoid treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in an elderly woman].

A 69-year-old female patient had been treated with glucocorticoid for eight years because of rheumatoid arthritis. She showed characteristic Cushingoid features such as central obesity, moon face, and fragility of skin and vessels. She was disabled because of spinal compression fracture and muscle weakness. The blood pressure was 186/100 mmHg and the laboratory tests revealed serum K: 2.8 mEq/l, WBC: 15, 510/mm3, total cholesterol: 310 mg/dl. These suggested that she had iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome. After discontinuation of glucocorticoid, however, the serum cortisol level remained high. This fact prompted us to conduct further examinations for Cushing's syndrome. Oral dexamethasone administration did not suppress the plasma cortisol level and a left adrenal adenoma was found on abdominal CT scan. Because of the presence of bleeding diathesis, operation for adenoma was contraindicated. Though we tried to treat her with metyrapone, trilostane or opeprim (OP'-DDD), we had to abandon specific treatment because of severe side effects such as acute adrenal dysfunction and gastrointestinal problems. Decrease in the endogenous cortisol level after metyrapone treatment caused exacerbation of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. This is a peculiar case in which the long-term administration of glucocorticoid for rheumatoid arthritis might have concealed Cushing's syndrome, and conversely the increased intrinsic adrenal steroid hormone might have suppressed the activity of the rheumatoid arthritis.

Aged

Isolation of plasma cholesterol-lowering components from ningyotake (Polyporus confluens) mushroom.

The present study was undertaken to isolate component(s) which contributes to the hypocholesterolemic action of Ningyotake (Polyporus confluens) mushroom. The mushroom powder was extracted with 80% ethanol, and the extract and residue were fractionated into five fractions according to the solubility to solvents. When each fraction was added to a diet containing 1% cholesterol and 0.25% sodium cholate and fed to rats, the plasma cholesterol level was significantly decreased only by ethyl acetate-soluble fraction. Therefore, ethyl acetate-soluble fraction was further fractionated by silica gel column chromatography. Two major compounds, which comprised 45.0% and 28.5% of the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction, were obtained in a pure form by the chromatography, and the compounds were identified as grifolin (2-trans, trans-farnesyl-5-methylresorcinol) and neogrifolin (4-trans, trans-farnesyl-5-methylresorcinol), respectively. The addition of grifolin and neogrifolin to the high cholesterol diet was found to lower plasma cholesterol level significantly.

Animals

Investigation of suitability of devascularized upper half of the whole stomach as replacement for the esophagus.

One hundred and fifteen patients with esophageal cancer underwent esophageal replacement with the stomach. The patients were divided into group A (52 patients, stomach tube, ante- or retro-sternal route) and group B (54 patients, devascularized upper half of the whole stomach, posterior mediastinal route). The post-operative complications, post operative symptoms and nutritional status were investigated in both groups. Lung complications tended to occur more frequently in group A (28.8% versus 22.2%), showing no significant difference. The incidence of other complications did not show a remarkable difference between either group except for leakage at the site of anastomosis. Major leakage occurred in 11.5% and 5.6%, and minor leakage in 30.8% and 18.5%, respectively. Postprandial fullness, nausea, heart burn and diarrhea were found to be somewhat higher in Group B. Change of oral intake, body weight and other indices of nutritional status were investigated and compared with pre- operative data. The amount of oral intake and levels of serum albumin was higher in group B than in group A between one and 12 months. These results demonstrate the superiority of the devascularized upper half of the whole stomach as an esophageal substitute.

Aged

Suppression by spinal alpha-2 agonists of motor and autonomic responses evoked by low- and high-intensity thermal stimuli.

In halothane (0.9%)-anesthetized rats, the immersion of the tail in 52.5 degrees C or 60 degrees C water for 15 sec resulted in a short-latencied tail jerk and a subsequent tachycardia and elevation in blood pressure. The i.t. administration of the alpha-2 agonists, dexmedetomidine (DMET), clonidine (CLON) and ST-91, resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the somatomotor reflex latency and a reduction in the magnitude of the increase in the magnitude of the cardiovascular response, with the ordering of activity on all endpoints at all temperatures being: DMET greater than CLON greater than or equal to ST-91. Increasing the stimulus intensity from 52.5 to 60 degrees C resulted in right shifts in the dose-response curves for all agents with the magnitude of shift being: 1) greatest on the blood pressure and least on the tail flick, and 2) greatest for ST-91 and CLON and least for DMET. Thus, the dose ratio (ED50 at 60 degrees C/ED50 at 52.5 degrees C) for these three agents on the tail flick and blood pressure response was, respectively, 1.1 and 1.8 for DMET, 1.1 and 4.3 for CLON and 4.8 and 9.7 for ST-91 (mean +/- S.E.). On resting blood pressure, i.t. DMET and CLON produced a dose-dependent hypotension and bradycardia. ST-91 had no consistent dose-dependent effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists

[Suppressive effect of sevoflurane on somato-sympathetic reflexes in cats].

Effects of sevoflurane on the reflex activity of the sympathetic nervous system in cats were investigated by observing alteration of the amplitudes of somato-sympathetic medullary reflex potentials. These reflex potentials consist of two components, A- and C-reflex potentials, which are induced from the lumbar sympathetic trunk by electric stimulation of the ipsilateral femoral nerve. It is known that A- or C-reflex potential is induced by stimulating peripheral A-fiber group or C fiber group, respectively. Sevoflurane 1, 2 and 3% in oxygen for 30 minutes for each concentration by incremental fashion, were inhalated. Neither A nor C reflex potentials were suppressed by 1 and 2% sevoflurane but 3% sevoflurane caused a significant suppression of both reflex potentials in brain intact cats. Concentration-dependent suppression of C-reflex potentials and a tendency of concentration-dependent suppression of A-reflex potentials were observed in decerebrate cats. Mean arterial blood pressure showed a concentration-dependent decrease in both brain intact and decerebrate groups. These results indicate that sevoflurane with concentrations higher than 1 MAC (2.5% for cats) significantly suppresses somato-sympathetic reflex activities. The results suggest, however, that this agent with concentrations lower than 1 MAC suppresses the descending inhibitory system from supra-medullary centers so that the integrated sympathetic outflow from the medulla oblongata are not suppressed significantly. The results also suggest that direct depressive effect on the cardiovascular system by sevoflurane rather than through suppressive effect on sympathetic reflexes may play a major role in hypotension during inhalation of concentrations below 1 MAC.

Action Potentials

[Involuntary smoking in a workplace situation--discomfort of nonsmokers and interpersonal awareness of smokers].

A questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the socio-behavioral interaction between smokers and nonsmokers in a workplace situation. A socio-behavioral interaction is hypothesized to be centered around the subjective discomfort such as 'bothered feelings' towards involuntary smoking among nonsmokers. Study subjects were 1,134 nonsmokers and 1,457 smokers working in 21 small-scale production companies in Japan. Among nonsmokers, a combined 93.3% reported 'perceived exposure to smoking', 'always', 'often', or 'sometimes' compared to 6.6% reporting 'never'. Similarly, 74.6% experienced 'bothered feelings' 'sometimes', 'always', or 'often' compared to 25.3% reporting 'never'. A combined total of 39.4% expressed their discomfort to smokers 'sometimes', 'often', and 'always' compared to 60.6% who 'never' did. In contrast, 59.1% of smokers responded that they smoked with consideration of nonsmokers' presence (interpersonal awareness) 'sometimes', 'often', and 'always' compared to 41.0% for 'never'. 'Bothered feelings' among nonsmokers was significantly lower among those with past smoking history and correlated positively with 'perceived exposure to smoking' (rs = 0.22, p less than 0.001) and with 'expression of discomfort among both male (rs = 0.32, p less than 0.001) and female nonsmokers (rs = 0.34, p less than 0.001). Among male smokers 'interpersonal awareness' was significantly higher for those with less cigarette consumption and with past history of smoking cessation. A regression analysis was performed using mean scores calculated for smokers and nonsmokers of each workplace. Lower 'bothered feelings' of nonsmokers significantly correlated with higher 'interpersonal awareness' of smokers (r = -0.59, p less than 0.005). These finding imply the presence of socio-behavioral interactions between smokers and nonsmokers and thus suggest the significance of workplace education on involuntary smoking.

Adult

Significance of freshly cultured fibroblasts from different tissues in promoting cancer cell growth.

The interactions between human cancer cells and primary cultured human fibroblasts without cell-to-cell contact were investigated using double soft-agar culture. Human fibroblasts obtained from different organs were cultured in monolayers and used after the 3rd or 4th passage. In double soft-agar culture, colony formations of cancer cells in the overlayer were stimulated or inhibited by the presence of various kinds of fibroblast in the underlayer. The growth of all cancer cells tested was always stimulated by the presence of fibroblasts obtained from an organ in which cancer cells had already developed, and inhibited by those from skin. However, fibroblast-conditioned media failed to affect cancer cell growth, either in MTT assay or in soft-agar culture. These results suggest that mutual growth reliance exists between human cancer cells and primary cultured fibroblasts by diffusible factors secreted by both cells (paracrine growth) and that mutual growth enhancement occurs between cancer cells and fibroblasts derived from tissues in which cancer cells had originated.

Adenocarcinoma

Effect of synthetic prostaglandin E1 analog (ornoprostil) on gastric emptying and pancreatic polypeptide release after solid-meal ingestion in man.

The effect of orally administered ornoprostil, 17S,20-dimethyl-6-oxoprostaglandin E1 methyl ester, on gastric emptying and on pancreatic polypeptide (PP) release after solid meal ingestion, was investigated in man. A radionuclide technique was used to measure gastric emptying of eight healthy volunteers. In addition, four parameters [SI (starting index): the lag time in the start of emptying; K value: the emptying rate; T1/2: the half emptying time; 120 min RR: the percent retention at 120 min] were determined for evaluation. Also, the PP response was analyzed according to two parameters: IPPRSI the integrated PP response for periods up to SI, and IPPR120, the integrated PP response for 120 min. The results demonstrated that 5 micrograms of orally administered ornoprostil significantly reduced the gastric emptying rate of solid meal (T1/2 and 120 min RR, P less than 0.05). However, ornoprostil affected neither the basal PP concentrations nor the cephalic phase of PP secretion which was determined as IPPRSI. This thus suggests that ornoprostil affects the gastric motor function without interfering with the vagal-cholinergic pathway to the stomach.

Adult

Studies on the role of platelet-activating factor in blood pressure regulation.

Circulating levels of 1-O-hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C16PAF) in human subjects were measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry using negative ion chemical ionization. The mean (+/- S.D.) circulating C16PAF levels in patients with essential hypertension (18.1 +/- 5.3 pg/mL, n = 16) were not significantly different from those in normotensive subjects (17.2 +/- 7.2 pg/mL, n = 14). During a salt balance study, high salt intake (20 g/day) significantly increased the circulating level of C16PAF, and changes in circulating C16PAF significantly and positively correlated with changes in mean arterial blood pressure (r = 0.47, p less than 0.05). Changes in C16PAF also correlated with changes in creatinine clearance (r = 0.55, p less than 0.05), but did not correlate with changes in plasma sodium concentration, plasma chloride concentration and plasma volume. An intravenous injection of 50 micrograms of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) decreased circulating C16PAF levels from 20.0 +/- 2.7 to 13.9 +/- 2.4 pg/mL of blood (n = 10, p less than 0.01) in healthy subjects. The data appear to indicate that C16PAF levels are changed by salt intake-induced mild increase in blood pressure, and that hANP may be an endogenous factor which lowers circulating C16PAF.

Atrial Natriuretic Factor

A case of syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone associated with diabetes mellitus.

A 46-year-old man, presenting with headache, nausea, and lassitude, was diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus and hyponatremia, and admitted to Tohoku University Hospital. Insulin treatment improved the hyperglycemia but aggravated hyponatremia, which was proved to be elicited by the inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). An acute water load failed to suppress ADH release in the supine posture but slightly increased plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). On the other hand, plasma ADH markedly increased in response to an upright posture, accompanied by a fall in blood pressure and a rise in heart rate. After treatment with droxidopa "a sympathomimetic drug", ambulatory blood pressure gradually increased and hyponatremia disappeared. However, blood pressure and ADH responses to upright posture were not improved by treatment with the drug. Moreover, plasma ADH was still not sufficiently suppressed by acute water loading in the supine position, but plasma ANP markedly increased, thereby resulting in urinary dilution and natriuresis. These results suggest that exaggerated ADH release (SIADH) was brought about by the baroreceptor reflex stimulated by the postural hypotension, and also by the impaired osmoregulation associated with diabetic neuropathy, and that droxidopa improved cardiovascular function and increased ANP release with resultant urinary dilution and natriuresis in spite of slightly increased ADH release.

Blood Pressure

[An elderly case of systemic lupus erythematosus associated with herpes zoster, anemia, and hemiparesis].

An elderly case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with suspected hemolytic anemia was experienced. A 70 year-old female was admitted to our hospital on December 31 with complaints of herpetic eruption. She complained of arthralgia since 3 month prior to her admission. The positive findings on examination were skin eruption in the left chest, a systolic heart murmur and a palpable elastic hard liver. Laboratory data showed raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 149 mm per hour, decreased Hb (10.1 g/dl), decreased hematocrit (30.0%), increased reticulocytes (33%1000), decreased thrombocytes (73,000/mm3), increased gamma-globulin (33%) and positive rheumatoid factor. During admission, she developed anemia. A stool test for occult blood was negative. The haptoglobin was 38.8 mg/dl and bone marrow aspiration showed increased erythropoiesis, suggesting features of immune hemolytic anemia, except she was negative on Coomb'test. Eye fundi were similar to case of typical bleeding observed in SLE. Concerning immunological findings, the antinuclear factor was x 1280 and the anti-dsDNA antibody was x 80, on which a diagnosis of SLE was based. She experienced numbness of the left arm and developed left hemiparesis 2 days later. Therapy with 15 mg/day prednisone obtained a good response and anemia, abnormal immunological findings and hemiparesis disappeared.

Aged

[Combination of a biscoclaurine alkaloid, cepharanthine, and anticancer agents: effects and mechanism in human gastric and pancreatic carcinoma cell lines].

A biscoclaurine alkaloid, cepharanthine (CE) potentiated antitumor activity of doxorubicin (ADM) against human carcinoma cell lines, K 562 (myelogenous leukemia), PH 101 (pancreas cancer) and SH 101 (gastric cancer). The effect of CE was irreversible and ADM activity was potentiated only in the presence of CE. While, CE could not augment anticancer activities of mitomycin C (MMC) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). We also found an increase of cellular plasma membrane potential in the presence of CE. In physiological condition, ADM was charged positively, while MMC or 5-FU was neutrally charged compound. Thus, we suggest that CE can potentiate the activity of positively charged anticancer drugs by increasing plasma membrane potential. Since electronegative plasma membrane potential exerts a net driving force which attracts and retains positively charged compound, it may be accompanied with an increase of drug accumulation.

Alkaloids

[Is airway occlusion pressure useful to predict successful weaning from mechanical ventilation in patients with acute respiratory failure?].

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether airway occlusion pressure (P0.1) would be a useful predictor for successful weaning in mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory failure. We studied 23 marginal weaning candidates. Fourteen patients were able to be weaned from the ventilator, and 9 patients were not able to be weaned. P0.1 and other respiratory parameters were measured just prior to weaning and at the end of weaning or at the time of discontinuation of weaning. The mean value of P0.1 in the failed group was higher than that in the successful group both before and after weaning periods. However, P0.1 varied widely among patients and did not separate the failure group from the success group because of overlap between the two. There were significant differences between the two groups of the conventional weaning parameters, such as respiratory rate, minute ventilation, PaO2, and oxygen equivalent. We conclude that P0.1 is helpful to predict successful weaning. However, it can not be used as a single parameter for weaning because of the wide variations of absolute values among patients with acute respiratory failure.

Acute Disease