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Biomedical subjects

T Furuya

Publications and source records attributed to T Furuya.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Preformed lymphocytotoxic antibodies: the effects of class, titer and specificity on liver vs. heart allografts.

The effect on liver and heart allograft survival (ACI rats to Lewis rats) was studied after three methods of recipient presensitization and after different intervals between sensitization and transplantation. With comparable lymphocytotoxic antibody titers, liver allografts always survived longer than heart grafts. The titer, class and specificity of the antibodies varied with the method of sensitization. Four skin grafts produced IgG and IgM lymphocytotoxic antibody titers of 1:2,000 to 4,000. The IgG fraction was shown to have hepatic vascular endothelial specificity by indirect immunofluorescence. These primed recipients hyperacutely rejected both heart and liver allografts, which showed vascular deposition of IgG antibodies. Survival of either kind of graft was inversely proportional to the lymphocytotoxic antibody titer and length of time after placement of the last skin graft. Presensitization with a single heterotopic heart graft produced an even higher mixed IgG and IgM lymphocytotoxic antibody titer of 1:8,000 but with less IgG vascular endothelial specificity. These animals also hyperacutely rejected heart or liver grafts with tissue deposition of IgG but less consistently and with a weaker correlation with lymphocytotoxic antibody titers and time after sensitization. Sensitization with two pretransplant blood transfusions produced the lowest titer (1:500 to 1,000) and the least IgG vascular endothelial specificity. Liver allograft survival was routinely enhanced in these animals, and little effect was seen on heart grafts. Collectively, the experiments showed that the liver is not only resistant to antibody-mediated rejection relative to the heart but is more easily enhanced.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Replicative difference in early-passage feline brain cells among feline immunodeficiency virus isolates.

The susceptibility of early-passage feline brain cells and Crandell feline kidney (CRFK) cells to infection with three isolates of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) was investigated. The Petaluma strain of FIV could well infect both the feline brain cells and CRFK cells. The KYO-1 strain could well infect the feline brain cells but the replication in CRFK cells was demonstrated only by coculturing fresh feline T-lymphoblastoid cells with the infected cells. On the other hand, the TM1 strain could infect the feline brain cells but not CRFK cells. Moreover, the replicative ability of the TM1 strain in the feline brain cells was much less than the KYO-1 and Petaluma strains. These results indicate that biological differences can be detected among the FIV isolates.

Animals

Detection of anti-gag antibodies of feline immunodeficiency virus in cat sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Using gag protein of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) expressed in Escherichia coli, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system was developed for detection of antibodies to FIV gag protein in cat sera. With serum samples from cats experimentally infected with several strains and an infectious molecular clone of FIV, increases of the antibody titers to FIV gag protein were observed in all cases by the ELISA at early stage of infection. When we examined a total of 415 field cat sera which were previously tested by an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), 9 (12.9%) out of 70 IFA positive sera were judged as negative by the ELISA. However, all 3 serum samples tested among the 9 IFA positive sera had antibodies to gp130 but not to p26 by a radioimmunoprecipitation assay. The results indicated that some IFA positive sera did not have antibodies to the p26 though they have antibodies to other proteins specific for FIV.

Animals

Expression of feline immunodeficiency virus gag gene in Escherichia coli.

The gag gene of a Japanese feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolate, designated as FIV TM 2, was expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with TrpE. Using this expressed protein, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed for detection of antibodies to FIV gag protein in feline sera. With serum samples from a cat experimentally infected with FIV, it was demonstrated that the period of seroconversion detected by this method corresponded to that by Western blotting.

Cloning, Molecular

Biotransformation of isoeugenol and eugenol by cultured cells of Eucalyptus perriniana.

Three new biotransformation products, eugenyl beta-rutinoside, and isoeugenyl beta-gentiobioside and beta-rutinoside, together with eugenyl beta-glucoside and beta-gentiobioside, and isoeugenyl beta-glucoside, were isolated from jar fermentor culture of Eucalyptus perriniana following administration of eugenol and isoeugenol, respectively. This is the first report of rhamnosylation in a biotransformation catalysed by cultured cells of E. perriniana.

Acetylation

Biotransformation of tabersonine in cell suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus.

To investigate the reactions involved in the biosynthesis of vindoline from tabersonine, the bioconversion products formed when the latter compound was fed to cell suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus were isolated and characterized. Two biotransformation products of tabersonine were isolated and shown to be lochnericine, which is formed by epoxidation of tabersonine at positions 14, 15, and lochnerinine, the 11-methoxylation product of lochnericine. The bioconversion ratio of the main biotransformation product, lochnericine, reached a value of 80.6% within three days.

Alkaloids

Cytogenetic biclonality in malignant hematologic disorders.

Generally, malignant hematologic disorders have been believed to be of monoclonal origin. However, cytogenetically unrelated clones have been reported in some disorders including one case of acute leukemia (AL), one of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), one of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AMMoL), and five of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The most frequent chromosome abnormality was trisomy 8 (75%), followed by trisomy 21 (37.5%, including tetrasomy 21) and trisomy 11 (25%). Two patients showed both trisomy 8 and 11, one also had trisomy 21 (triclonal). One patient showed two cytogenetically distinctive clones in which one was 47,XY,+8, related to myeloid cells, and the other had a del(6q) and del(9p), suggesting lymphoid cells. One patient we report and 5 from the literature had two unrelated clones with trisomy 8 and deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5 (5q-); all had MDS. Review of our records showed that 11 patients with both trisomy 8 and 5q- in the same abnormal karyotype (not biclonal) had AL, i.e., 10 of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANNL) and one of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blastic crisis. These findings suggest that cytogenetically unrelated clones may indicate hematopoietic biclonality.

Acute Disease

Mixed connective tissue disease associated with protein losing enteropathy: successful treatment with intravenous cyclophosphamide therapy.

A patient with mixed connective tissue disease who developed protein losing enteropathy (PLE) is described. The PLE and other symptoms improved dramatically after monthly intravenous administration of 700 mg/day cyclophosphamide three times combined with oral prednisolone, while they were ineffective to the treatment with intravenous methyl-prednisolone 500 mg per day for 3 days. The serum level of CA125 antigen paralleled the severity of symptoms, signs and laboratory data associated with PLE. Thus, pleural effusion, ascites, edema and hypoalbuminemia improved along with the decrease in the level of CA125, suggesting that CA125 might be a marker of the activity of PLE.

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate

Effects of attention state on electrodermal activity during auditory stimulation of children.

During passive and active listening tasks electrodermal activity of 49 healthy school children was studied. The procedure included baseline recording, a passive listening task, instructions, and simple and discriminative active-listening tasks. On the passive task from Trials 1 to 10, habituation of the amplitude of the skin conductance response (SCR) occurred. Habituation of SCR amplitude did not occur during the active tasks. The children seemed to pay more attention during the active tasks than during the passive task, since the need to press the key is apt to require and may even increase general attention. As for temporal variables of SCR, the frequency of spontaneous SCRs showed a significant negative correlation with SCR latency and rise time. Reaction time exhibited a significant negative correlation with age. An increase in reaction time was found during the discriminative active-listening task over that for the simple active-listening task during the course of 10 trials. The younger children (6-8 yr.) seemed to require longer to pay attention than the older ones (10-12 yr.). Children seemed to pay more attention during the discriminative than during the simple active-listening task, since the need to press the key for discrimination should require and is likely to increase general attention.

Arousal

[Studies on reinforcing effects of methylephedrine, caffeine and their mixture with intravenous-self administration in rhesus monkeys].

The reinforcing effects of methylephedrine hydrochloride (ME), anhydrous caffeine (CA) and their mixture (ME+CA) were studied by the intravenous cross self-administration experiment and by the progressive ratio experiment in four male rhesus monkeys each. In the intravenous cross self-administration experiment, ME, CA and ME+CA were found to have reinforcing effects. Self-administration rates above the level of cocaine, a typical reinforcing drug, were not observed in ME or CA alone, but observed in their mixture (120 + 126 micrograms/kg/inj.: M dose or 480 + 504 micrograms/kg/inj.: H dose). The minimum reinforcing doses were 120 micrograms/kg/inj. (M dose) for ME, 126 micrograms/kg/inj.: (M dose) for CA, and ME 30 micrograms+CA 32 micrograms/kg/inj. (L dose) for the mixture. Vomiting was observed during the session in monkeys which showed higher self-administration rates of ME and the mixture, and decreases in the rates were observed in these animals on the next day. One animal at H dose of the mixture, which showed a high self-administration rate on both the 1st and 2nd days, died after the end of the session on the 2nd day. In the progressive ratio experiment, the final ratios at 120 micrograms/kg/inj. of ME, 126 micrograms/kg/inj. of CA and the mixture of ME 120 micrograms/CA 126 micrograms/kg/inj. were almost equal to or less than that of saline (negative control). Thus, these drugs didn't show reinforcing effects at the above levels. However, a reinforcing effect was observed in three out of four monkeys administered 1920 micrograms/kg/inj. of ME, 2016 micrograms/kg/inj. of CA, and the mixture of ME 1920 and CA 2016 micrograms/kg/inj.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

All-trans-retinoic acid induced enrichment of functionally normal neutrophils in vivo in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

A patient with resistant acute promyelocytic leukemia was treated with all-trans-retinoic acid (45 mg/m2 per day for 42 days) and obtained complete remission at day 14. Analysis of the neutrophils from the patient at day 7 demonstrated that they were indistinguishable from neutrophils from normal individuals as far as this is assessed by presently available functional tests. Furthermore, the degree of peroxidase positivity of neutrophils obtained from the patient was similar to control values. Thus, taken together with the hematologic features, all-trans-retinoic acid induces leukemic promyelocytes to become functionally normal neutrophils. This therapy is particularly suitable in obtaining complete remission in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia with neutropenia with or without previous chemotherapy.

Female

The secretin precursor gene. Structure of the coding region and expression in the brain.

Secretin is a 27-amino acid gastrointestinal hormone that stimulates the secretion of bicarbonate-rich pancreatic fluid. We isolated and analyzed the coding region of the gene for the rat secretin precursor. The entire coding region spans 692 base pairs and is divided into four regions corresponding to the signal peptide and NH2-terminal peptide, the secretin peptide and processing signal sequences, a part of the COOH-terminal peptide, and the remainder of the COOH-terminal peptide, which are interrupted by three short introns (81, 105, and 104 base pairs). The organization is similar to those of the genes for other members of the secretin family, glucagon and VIP/PHI-27 precursors, supporting the assumption that the genes for the secretin family peptide precursors originated from a common ancestral gene. We also demonstrated that the secretin precursor gene is widely expressed in the brain and in the hypophysis. The regional expression pattern of the secretin precursor gene in the brain is quite different from those of the glucagon and VIP/PHI-27 precursor genes. The secretin precursor gene is highly expressed in the medulla oblongata and pons of the brain and the hypophysis, the expression levels of which are comparable to those in the duodenum. The secretin precursor mRNA in the brain and the hypophysis has the same coding sequence as that in the duodenum, indicating that secretin in the brain and the hypophysis is produced from the same secretin precursor protein as that in the duodenum. This is the first evidence to be reported that the secretin precursor gene is definitely expressed in the brain.

Amino Acid Sequence

Changes of common fragile sites on chromosomes according to the menstrual cycle.

The frequencies of chromosomal breaks and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) are influenced by pregnancy, oral hormonal contraceptives and the menstrual cycle. The changes in the number and sites of spontaneous and aphidicolin-induced breaks on chromosomes from peripheral blood lymphocytes during the menstrual cycle were examined in 8 healthy women. Menstrual cycle was determined by menstruation and the quantity of serum estrogen, progesterone and luteinizing hormone. The number of spontaneous breaks at the follicular phase, the interval phase (which includes ovulation) and the luteal phase were 3.1 +/- 1.1, 2.7 +/- 2.3 and 3.9 +/- 2.6 per 100 mitoses, respectively. The frequencies of aphidicolin-induced breaks in the same phases were 95.8 +/- 23.3, 90.6 +/- 14.3 and 122.7 +/- 20.1 per 100 mitoses, respectively. The higher frequency at the luteal phase was statistically significant compared with the other phases. In the luteal phase, bands 2q32, 3q27, 6q26 and 16q23 had higher frequencies of breaks (P less than 0.05); however, breaks at band 9q32 decreased significantly. SCE showed considerable variation, but with no statistical significance.

Adult

A simple experimental model of total hepatectomy, hepatic ischemia and extrahepatic portal obstruction in rats using splenic transposition.

The objective of this study was to develop an easy and simple experimental rat model of total hepatectomy, hepatic ischemia and extrahepatic portal obstruction. The first operation involved transposing the spleen with its scarified capsule in a subcutaneous pouch to produce portasystemic anastomosis. Total hepatectomy was easily performed in a lobe-by-lobe fashion 2 weeks following the first stage operation. Anhepatic rats receiving a glucose infusion survived for about 10 hours and all died of acute hepatic failure. Hepatic support systems can be accurately evaluated in this anhepatic rat model because of its uniformity. Sixty minutes of hepatic ischemia was able to be performed in rats with a transposed spleen for a portasystemic shunt and no complicated or technically involved procedure was required for the ischemic model. No rats died due to technical difficulties, suggesting the reliability and reproducibility of this ischemic model. An animal model resembling extrahepatic portal vein obstruction was also obtained by ligation of the portal vein; a simple maneuver which was able to produce collateral veins to the liver and cavernous transformation, as similarly seen in clinical patients with extrahepatic portal obstruction. Because these 3 animal models were so easily achieved in the rat, and since the changes in hepatic function and formation of the collaterals to the liver after portal vein occlusion are still poorly understood, this model should prove valuable for future study.

Animals