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Biomedical subjects

S Watabiki

Publications and source records attributed to S Watabiki.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

[Benign brainstem encephalopathy with truncal ataxia--a clinical study of 3 cases].

Three cases (case 1, female, aged 30; case 2, male, aged 32; case 3, male, aged 34) of benign brainstem encephalopathy with truncal ataxia were reported. Two patients had prodromal symptoms Neurological examination revealed truncal ataxia in all cases. As additional neurological signs, anisocoria, mydriasis, nystagmus, ptosis, transient opsoclonus, and facial palsy were seen. There was neither drowsiness nor myoclonus in the three cases. On laboratory examinations, cold agglutination test revealed significant elevation in two cases. The examination of cerebrospinal fluid showed a moderate rise of proteins in one case, but did not revealed pleocytosis in any of the cases. Magnetic resonance imaging of one patient revealed an area of high intensity in the left pontine tegmentum by T2-weighed imaging. The prognosis for all these cases was good, and the reappearance of neurological signs was not present until now. Our cases were different from brainstem encephalitis (Bickerstaff's encephalitis) because of an absence of disturbed consciousness and no pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. Our cases were also different from "myoclonus-opsoclonus syndrome" because of an absence of myoclonus. We discussed a possibility of a new clinical syndrome which we call "benign brainstem encephalopathy with truncal ataxia".

Adult

[A case of multiple cranial nerve palsy with severe dysphagia due to herpes zoster infection].

A case of multiple cranial nerve palsy by herpes zoster was reported. A 79-year-old man showed fever, sore throat, and dysphagia. No vesicle was noted at ear and pharynx. The patient developed, later, left peripheral facial nerve palsy. The cerebrospinal fluid revealed pleocytosis with increased protein. The viral antibody titer of herpes zoster was significantly elevated both in cerebrospinal fluid and in serum. The left facial palsy was slightly improved. But his dysphagia didn't improve during at least 10 months after the onset. Among the cranial nerves, trigeminal and facial nerves are the most commonly affected by herpes zoster. But there are a few cases of the 9th and 10th cranial nerve involvement in the literature. However, dysphagia has rarely been reported in these previous cases, only four cases developed severe dysphagia like the present patient. All of these cases including our case were over sixty years old, while cases with slight dysphagia were under sixty years old. No other differentiating factor is noted between these two groups with regard to sites of vesicles, findings of cerebrospinal fluid and mode of therapy.

Aged

[Clinical characteristics of the lung diseases due to Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare classified by DNA probe test].

Clinical characteristics of the lung diseases due to M. avium and M. intracellulare classified by DNA probe test were investigated. Between M. avium and M. intracellulare, there was no significant differences in the samples' backgrounds and the clinical characteristics except for their prognoses. The prognosis of the lung diseases due to M. intracellulare was better than those due to M. avium, and M. avium was revealed to be highly susceptible to Cyclocerine than M. intracellulare. No remarkable difference was found in the susceptibility to other antituberculous drugs.

DNA Probes

Microassay of cyclic nucleotides in vessel wall. IV. Cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity.

Following our microassay for cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (1978, Microvascular Res. 15:229), a new microassay for cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase (c-GMPPDE) activity was devised, combining the quantitative histochemical method of O.H. Lowry and J.V. Passonneau (1971, A Flexible System of Enzymatic Analysis, Academic Press, New York) with the thin-layer chromatography method of W.A. Scott and B. Solomon (1973, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 53, 1024). Using this method, c-GMPPDE activity can be accurately measured in a 250 microgram dry weight sample of tissue from the aortic wall. The optimal amount of sample and incubation time were studied, and two Km values were obtained. Low Km is 4.00 x 10(-6) and high Km is 1.25 x 10(-5). The activity of this enzyme was measured in the intima and media of the aorta of three rabbits, three cows and three pigs. The cyclic GMPPDE activities in tissue from cows, pigs and rabbits were 26.61 +/- 2.19, 20.40 +/- 1.35, 43.08 +/- 4.11 pmole/mg dry weight/min in the intima; 52.56 +/- 2.73, 16.07 +/- 3.30 and 66.51 +/- 4.60 pmole/mg dry weight/min in the media. With regard to the relationship between levels of cAMP and cGMP, the activities of cGMPPDE were 10-20 times higher than those of cAMPPDE. These assay systems should provide accurate tools for researching biological, physiological and pathological states of arterial tissues, particularly in the case of atherosclerosis.

3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases