Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Toshihiro Watari.
For the direct detection of dermatophytes in skin scrapings and hairs from animals, a primer pair specific to the chitin synthase 1 (CHS1) gene of dermatophytes was constructed. By PCR analysis with the primer pair, dermatophyte DNA could be diagnosed directly and rapidly in clinical skin samples.
Accelerated neutrophil apoptosis was confirmed by TUNEL assay in two canine cases of hepatic disorder. One dog was diagnosed as having lymphocytic hepatitis and the other lymphocytic cholangitis by histopathology of liver biopsy specimen.
To evaluate the hemostatic effects of desmopressin (DDAVP) in dogs with aspirin-induced platelet dysfunction and hemostatic impairment in chronic liver diseases, 3 microg/kg DDAVP was administrated subcutaneously. In aspirin-induced platelet dysfunction dogs (n=5), prolonged BMBT (buccal mucosal bleeding time) was shortened significantly after DDAVP injection (2.2 +/- 1.2 min, P<0.05). In dogs with chronic liver diseases (n=4), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) tended to shorten by 0.9 to 3.0 sec, and prolonged BMBT was shortened in two cases for 4.2 and 1.7 min after DDAVP injection. Therefore, the present results indicated that DDAVP shortened the prolonged BMBT in dogs with aspirin-induced platelet dysfunction and chronic liver disease. DDAVP might be helpful in hemostasis under invasive procedures such as biopsy or surgery for dogs with hemostatic impairment.
Candida species in clinical urine samples were identified directly by the newly developed method of PCR analysis on 25S ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Two dogs were referred to the Animal Medical Center, Nihon University School of Veterinary Medicine, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan for the examination of chronic cystitis. Microscopic examination of urine samples from these dogs revealed yeast cells. Urine culture on Sabouraud's dextrose agar at 27 degrees C for 5 days produced white to cream colored colonies. The isolates were identifical to Candida albicans and C. parapsilosis by mycological examination, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of 25S ribosomal DNA from these urine isolates showed 99% similarity to those of a reference strain of Candida albicans or C. parapsilosis. The nucleotide sequences of 25S rDNA obtained directly from urine samples were also identical to C. albicans and C. parapsilosis, respectively. Confirming the results on the isolates cultured from the same urine samples. This PCR analysis method could be available for the direct identification of Candida species in urine samples within 2 days.
Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) was investigated in a canine lymphoma case with hypercalcemia by means of immunoradiomentric assay (IRMA) and molecular analysis. The plasma calcium level of the patient dog was 13.7 mg/dl. The PTHrP concentration examined by IRMA was 6.1 pmol/L in the plasma sample from the dog, but it was undetectable (< 1.1 pmol/L) in plasma samples from 4 lymphoma cases without hypercalcemia or 5 normal dogs. The PTHrP concentration examined in the culture supernatant of the lymphoma cells from this case was 1.3 pmol/L, whereas those of the lymphoma cells from a lymphoma case without hypercalcemia was undetectable. PTHrP mRNA was clearly detected not only in the lymphoma cells from this dog with hypercalcemia but also in lymphoma cells from 4 lymphoma cases without hypercalcemia and 2 canine lymphoma cell lines.