PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

Y Akizawa

Publications and source records attributed to Y Akizawa.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

[Inhibitory effects of sepimostat mesilate (FUT-187) on the activities of trypsin-like serine proteases in vitro].

Inhibitory activities of FUT-187 on trypsin-like serine proteases were compared using camostat mesilate (camostat), and 4-(4-guanidino benzoyloxy)-phenyl acetic acid methanesulfonate (GBPA) known as an active metabolite of camostat in the blood. Ki values of FUT-187 on the competitive inhibition mechanism were 0.097 microM for trypsin, 0.029 microM for pancreatic kallikrein, 0.61 microM for plasma kallikrein, 0.57 microM for plasmin, 2.5 microM for thrombin, 20.4 microM for factor Xa and 6.4 microM for C1r. However, FUT-187 acted as a noncompetitive inhibitor for factor XIIa and an uncompetitive inhibitor for C1s, and Ki values for these proteases were 0.021 and 0.18 microM, respectively. Ki values of camostat for these proteases were in the range of 0.037 to 96.4 microM, and those of GBPA for the above proteases except trypsin and plasma kallikrein were higher than those of FUT-187. The inhibitory activity of FUT-187 on trypsin was not reduced by the addition of the serum at 10%, whereas, that of GBPA was reduced (4.3 fold) in terms of IC50 values. The concentration of FUT-187 required to double APTT (activated partial thromboplastin time) was 1.09 microM, while GBPA, by concentrations up to 1 mM failed to double APTT. The kinin formation by glandular kallikrein in the rat plasma was inhibited by FUT-187 with IC50 value of 0.024 microM, while camostat revealed no inhibition by concentrations up to 1 microM. The complement-mediated hemolyses in the classical and alternative pathways were also inhibited by FUT-187 with IC50 values of 0.17 and 3.5 microM, respectively, the corresponding values for camostat being 350 and 150 microM, respectively. It is concluded that FUT-187 is a potent and selective inhibitor of trypsin-like serine proteases, and its inhibitory activities are stronger than those of camostat on glandular kallikrein, factor XIIa and C1s in complement pathway.

Animals

Accommodation in astigmatic eyes.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of target chart contours and the severity of astigmatism on accommodation in astigmatic eyes. METHODS: The accommodative responses of 30 subjects were measured with an automated refractometer (Canon RK-1) using star pattern and bar pattern targets. RESULTS: The mean accommodative response was greatest when the bar pattern was parallel to the stronger principal meridian of the eye, followed by the star pattern and the bar pattern parallel to the weaker meridian on both meridians. Similar results were obtained in subjects with astigmatism greater or less than 1.25 D. The mean slopes of AR/AS plots decreased in the same order as the accommodative response and the change was significant in subjects with astigmatism exceeding 1.25 D. In addition, about one-third of the subjects showed a consistent decrease in astigmatism with accommodation. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the type of target chart and the severity of astigmatism influence the accommodative response.

Accommodation, Ocular

[Aging changes in accommodation--comparison of subjective method with objective method].

We investigated age-related changes in accommodation of the human eye by measuring the subjective amplitude of accommodation with a Visual Display Terminals Accommodometer (Tokyo-Medical NP-200) and the objective amplitude with an Auto Refkeratometer (Canon, RK-1). The accommodative responses of 5 normal eyes of 5 subjects ranging from 29 to 32 years of age were measured with 6 different sizes of targets. A distinct tendency for the subjective amplitude of accommodation to increase was observed with the targets of larger sizes, but no definite tendency was found in the objective amplitude. The accommodative responses of 92 normal eyes of 92 subjects ranging from 15 to 58 years of age were measured. Both the subjective and objective amplitude of accommodation decreased with aging. In subjects under 44 years of age, the objective amplitude was 2.2-2.5D less than the subjective amplitude, but over 45 the difference between the subjective and objective amplitude was 1.2-1.4D.

Accommodation, Ocular

An epidemiological study of the influence of sweets intake and toothbrushing on dental caries among children in Japan.

The study was designed to determine the influence of confectionery and beverages intake and of toothbrushing on infant dental caries. The participants were 700 three year old Japanese children from an urban area near Tokyo. The prevalence of caries in those who frequently consumed confectionery and beverages was higher than the prevalence in those who did not take them. However, the prevalence in children with a habit of toothbrushing did not differ from that of those without the habit. This study shows that restricting consumption of confectionery and beverages may be effective in preventing dental caries; however, encouragement of toothbrushing may not be effective in limiting dental caries progression.

Beverages

[Accommodation in ametropia and the effect of targets on astigmatism].

Measurements of accommodative responses in 28 astigmatic eyes (22 patients, 19-32 years of age) were made with an objective Auto Refkeratometer (Canon, RK-1). We constructed an actual target representative instrument with a star burst chart and a fine line chart, and attached this instrument to the Auto Refkeratometer. The fine line chart was turned around the sight line of the eye at a fixed distance. The amount of mean accommodative responses decreased in the following order; the fine line chart parallel to the first principal meridian of subjects, the star burst chart, the fine line chart parallel to the second principal one. This tendency was also shown in cases of subjects with astigmatism less than 1.25 diopters. The slopes of mean accommodative response curves reduced in the similar order as above, significantly in the cases of astigmatism over 1.25 diopters. These results suggest that target charts for accommodation and the degree of astigmatism have influence on the amount of accommodative response and the slope of its curve.

Accommodation, Ocular

Amino acid substitutions and alteration in cation specificity in the melibiose carrier of Escherichia coli.

We isolated mutants of Escherichia coli which showed Li+-resistant growth on melibiose. The melibiose carrier of the mutants lost the ability to couple to H+, whereas it retained the ability to couple to Na+. The mutated gene, melB, of the mutants was cloned, and the nucleotide sequence was determined. The nucleotide replacements caused the following substitutions of amino acid residues in the melibiose carrier: Pro-142 with Ser, Leu-232 with Phe, or Ala-236 with Thr or Val. These amino acid residues are located in slightly hydrophobic regions of the melibiose carrier. The results provide strong support for the idea that such regions or their vicinities which contain those amino acid residues play an important role in H+ (or Li+) recognition or H+ (or Li+) transport by the melibiose carrier.

Base Sequence

Quantitation of specific mRNA by RNA-RNA hybridization kinetics with single-stranded riboprobes.

A quantitative procedure by a solution hybridization involving RNA-RNA hybridization kinetics was developed for measurement of specific mRNA accumulated in particular tissues and cells. For quantitating mouse beta-tubulin mRNA two types of riboprobes were prepared: one was a truncated RNA covering only the coding portion of beta-tubulin cDNA and the other was a non-truncated RNA covering the vector portion as well as the coding portion. These antisense RNAs were hybridized with mouse brain total cellular RNA, yielding heat-stable hybrids. Both the truncated and non-truncated antisense RNA probes showed similar hybridization kinetics. Hybridization of the sense RNA, consisting of the beta-tubulin coding portion, with the antisense RNA probe gave standards for determining the proportion of beta-tubulin mRNA in total brain RNA. By this method, the amounts of beta-tubulin mRNA included in the brains of 10- and 50-day-old mice were quantitated to be 0.0056 and 0.0011% of total RNA, respectively.

Animals