Biomedical subjects

Y Hashizume

Publications and source records attributed to Y Hashizume.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

PubMed1994

A study of parkinsonism in multiple system atrophy: clinical and MRI correlation.

We investigated clinical and MRI correlation in 18 patients with clinically-diagnosed multiple system atrophy (MSA) and 16 age-matched controls, using 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We evaluated the severity of parkinsonism in each MSA patient. In assessing the MRI findings, we examined three parameters quantitatively: width of the pars compacta of the substantia nigra (SNc); putaminal hypointensity on T2-weighted images; and putaminal atrophy. As in previous studies, SNc width was narrowed and the putaminal signal intensity was decreased in patients with MSA compared with controls. The clinical severity of parkinsonism did not correlate significantly with the SNc width or the score of putaminal hypointensity in MSA. However, not only did putaminal atrophy occur, but correlated well with the severity of parkinsonism in MSA. A significant correlation could not be established between narrowing of SNc and shrinkage of the putamen. These findings suggest that putaminal atrophy is associated with the clinical manifestations of parkinsonism and do not support the hypothesis that transsynaptic degeneration occurs in MSA.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Chemical specificity of short-chain fatty acids in stimulating insulin and glucagon secretion in sheep.

The chemical specificity and structural requirements of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in stimulating pancreatic endocrine responses was investigated in conscious sheep. Normal SCFAs with one to eight carbons were injected intravenously at seven doses of 39-2,500 mumol/kg body wt. The isomers or derivatives of SCFAs were administered at 625 mumol/kg body wt. Analysis of dose-response curves showed that n-butyric acid (4 carbons in the molecule) was most effective for both insulin and glucagon secretion among the normal SCFAs tested. In addition, one carboxylic group was absolutely required, since hormone secretion was significantly reduced or abolished with compounds in which the carboxylic element was replaced by other groups and with dicarboxylic acids. The form of the hydrocarbon chain (branched, cyclic, or benzoic ring) also affected hormone secretory activity. Most of the compounds that replaced hydrogen in the hydrocarbon chain by other groups at various positions reduced or abolished the hormone secretory effect obtained by n-butyric acid. In conclusion, a monocarboxylic acid with several numbers of hydrocarbons was required for insulin or glucagon secretion. These results suggest that the pancreatic endocrine system can recognize the chemical structure of SCFAs in detail and induce hormone secretion in sheep.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Acute adrenal insufficiency after unilateral adrenalectomy in Cushing's syndrome: precipitation by lithium-induced thyrotoxicosis during cortisol replacement.

We present a patient with Cushing's syndrome due to adrenocortical adenoma who developed acute adrenal insufficiency one month after unilateral adrenalectomy. She had received lithium carbonate for five years for manic-depressive psychosis. Drug administration was interrupted for 2 weeks postoperatively and was resumed thereafter. At the adrenal crisis, her serum free T4 and T3 levels were both high and serum TSH was subnormal. The thyrotoxicosis subsided spontaneously within 2 weeks. Serum thyroglobulin was markedly increased during the thyrotoxic state. Tests for antimicrosomal antibodies and antithyroglobulin antibodies remained negative. Examination of an open-biopsy specimen of the thyroid gland showed no evidence of thyroiditis. We considered the transient thyrotoxicosis to be due to lithium-induced thyrotoxicosis. Caution should therefore be exercised in administering lithium carbonate, especially when the patient's adrenal reserve is low, since even a mild degree of thyrotoxicosis can precipitate an acute adrenal crisis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1994

Primary Ewing's sarcoma of the skull base with intracerebral extension--case report.

A 32-year-old female presented with an uncommon primary Ewing's sarcoma of the skull involving the middle cranial fossa with an extremely unusual extension into the cerebral parenchyma. She was treated with surgical excision, irradiation, and chemotherapy. Two years after surgery she demonstrated no evidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis. Ewing's sarcoma of the skull may achieve a better survival rate under adequate management than this lesion in other sites.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

[Paraplegia in flexion and dementia].

The purpose of this study was to assess possible correlations between paraplegia in flexion and dementia in elderly patients in our special nursing home and geriatric hospital. At the time of our study, 10.5% of all our patients were suffering from paraplegia in flexion, with the ratio increasing with advancing age. Disorders of the nervous system, and in particular disorders caused by cerebrovascular disease were found at a high rate of frequency among the paraplegia in flexion patients, in whom the incidence of dementia was 97.8%. In most cases, the degree of dementia was severe, the types and respective percentages being as follows: vascular type 37.8%, Alzheimer's type 24.4%, mixed type 22.2% and others 15.6%. Many of these patients demonstrated pseudobulbar palsy, frontal sign, Babinski's sign, and typical reflexes of spinal automatism. We think that paraplegia in flexion is probably caused by reflexes of spinal automatism and extensive cerebral lesions.

Aged↗

PubMed1994

[Role of institutions for the elderly in senile dementia].

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of institutions for the elderly, and special nursing homes in particular, with regard to senile dementia. The subjects consisted of 81 cases who were institutionalized in our special nursing home from early November, 1992 to late October, 1993. Of these, 37 cases (45.7%) showed clinical dementia at the time of institutionalization. The severity and respective percentages of dementia were as follows: slight degree 32.4%, moderate degree 27.0% and severe degree 40.6%. The severity of dementia demonstrated significant correlation with age. Hasegawa's Dementia Scale, activity of daily living and physical conditions. The admission rate (40.5%) of the demented group for physical diseases was significantly higher than that (22.7%) of the non-demented group. The majority of families of both groups first sought advice at institutions other than our special nursing home and the welfare office in the city, prior to being institutionalized. The referral rate from such institutions was far higher than that for direct entry from their homes. We consider that special nursing homes, in addition to carrying for daily living requirements, should pay great attention to physical diseases in patients suffering from senile dementia, and cooperate with medical institutes, particularly referring hospitals, and other welfare and health facilities, in this regard.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1994

Factor VIII can be positive in a special type of malignant lymphoma, intravascular malignant lymphomatosis: an immunohistochemical investigation.

This report presents seven cases of intravascular malignant lymphomatosis (IML). The patients exhibited clinical signs and symptoms of multiple cerebral infarctions and polyradiculopathy, but in each case the diagnosis of IML was only established by postmortem examination. The autopsies revealed that almost every organ was involved and that there were atypical cells which had proliferated intravascularly. This was especially remarkable in the central nervous system. Extravascular extension of the tumor cells was rarely observed. It was documented by immunohistochemical studies that the abnormal cells were B cell lymphoma cells with a high proliferative capacity. Factor VIII, an endothelial cell-related antigen, was detected in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells of two cases (28%), but this finding was considered to represent a non-specific absorption of factor VIII from the thrombi.

Aged↗

PubMed1994

Protective effect of the calcium antagonist NKY-722 against renal and arterial injuries in Dahl salt-sensitive rats.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of long-term administration of NKY-722 and nicardipine on renal dysfunction and morphological changes in the kidneys and arteries in Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl-S) rats. DESIGN: Vehicle, NKY-722 and nicardipine were administered orally to Dahl-S rats fed a high-salt diet for 6 weeks. METHODS: Systolic blood pressure was measured once a week. At the last week blood and urine were collected and an autopsy was carried out. RESULTS: NKY-722 (1 mg/kg per day) lowered blood pressure reproducibly for 6 weeks, whereas nicardipine (3 mg/kg per day) showed a similar effect at week 1 only. NKY-722 tended to decrease blood urea-nitrogen, and reduced plasma creatinine and renin activity significantly. NKY-722 increased urine volume, urinary sodium, creatinine and protein excretions, but did not affect urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity significantly. NKY-722 increased the glomerular filtration rate and reduced glomerulosclerosis and renal arterial injury morphologically. Nicardipine did not affect blood or urinary parameters, but reduced glomerular injury significantly. NKY-722 but not nicardipine reduced cerebral arterial injury. A lower dose of NKY-722 (0.3 mg/kg per day) did not affect blood pressure, blood or urinary parameters, but reduced glomerulosclerosis and renal arterial injury significantly. NKY-722 (1 mg/kg per day) and nicardipine (3 mg/kg per day) increased urinary 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha) and PGE2. NKY-722 but not nicardipine increased the 6-keto-PGF1 alpha:thromboxane B2 ratio in the thoracic aorta. CONCLUSIONS: NKY-722 improved the renal dysfunction, and reduced glomerular, renal and cerebral arterial injuries in Dahl-S rats. The effect of NKY-722 on glomerulosclerosis and arterial injuries is, at least partly, independent of blood pressure, and is probably related to the effect on eicosanoid metabolism.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

[Difference of cerebral arteriolosclerosis between the deep and subcortical white matter in normal aging and vascular dementia of Binswanger type].

A comparative pathological study of arteriosclerosis was conducted between the deep white matter (M1) and the subcortical white matter (M2) to investigate the difference in the arteriolar changes in normally-aging individuals and those presenting vascular dementia. The arterioles (20-100 microns in outer diameter) of 95 autopsied brains were examined (56 control cases; C group, 24 hypertensive cases; HT group, and 15 Binswanger type vascular dementia cases; VD group). In C group, the primary pathological change was adventitial proliferation (AP), which was significantly more pronounced in M1 than in M2. AP in M1 was found to have advanced promptly with aging, while AP in M2 advanced mildly. AP in M1 was much more pronounced in HT group than in the age-matched C group, but little difference in M2 was observed between the two groups. AP in VD group was more pronounced in M2 than in M1 compared with HT group. These findings indicate that AP in M1 occurs prior to that in M2 in the process of normal aging, and that AP, in M2 as well as in M1, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Binswanger type vascular dementia.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Bunina bodies in neurons of the medullary reticular formation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

To determine how often Bunina bodies (BBs) appear in the medullary reticular formation (MRF) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we microscopically examined 20 serial sections of MRFs from each of nine autopsied ALS cases, which had BBs in the lower motor neurons, including those of cranial motor nuclei. In 1 of them, the pontine tegmentum was examined in the same way. In 8 cases one to several BB-containing neurons in the MRF were seen. The case in which the pontine tegmentum was also investigated exhibited several neurons with BBs in this region. Some of the BBs in the MRFs were confirmed by electron microscopy. Thus, this study demonstrates the common appearance of BBs, although the number is small, in the MRF, indicating that pathological processes that undermine the lower motor neurons in ALS in some way also affect neurons other than motor neurons in this condition.

Aged↗

PubMed1993

Neuronal cell loss of the striatonigral system in multiple system atrophy.

We investigated the longitudinal as well as lateral loss of striatal and nigral cells and its distribution in 7 cases of multiple system atrophy. Loss of striatal small cells and nigral pigmented cells was more prominent in the caudal part than in the rostral and mid-parts. Cell loss was especially high in the dorsolateral zone of the caudal putamen and in the lateral zone of the caudal nigra. These findings indicate that MSA predominantly disturbs the striatal and nigral efferent systems, which interlink the caudal and dorsolateral putamen with the caudolateral nigra. In less severe cases, the rostral to mid-parts of the putamen or substantia nigra were almost intact while its caudal portion was clearly affected. The degenerative process of MSA seems to occur initially in the caudal parts of the putamen and substantia nigra, extending later to the rostral parts. Thus striatal small cells and nigral pigmented cells degenerate according to anatomical relationship. In MSA, degeneration of the striatonigral system could well be explained as being transsynaptic.

Aged↗

PubMed1993

A histometrical study on the globus pallidus in Huntington's disease.

Pathological change of the globus pallidus (GP) in 6 cases of Huntington's disease (HD) was examined histometrically by comparison with 10 normal control cases. All but 1 case of HD were in late stages of the disease. Total neuronal count, area of GP, and neuronal cell density were measured in 5 selected regions of coronal sections taken along the antero-posterior axis. Contrary to the findings of previous reports, no neuronal depletion was recognized in HD in any region despite marked atrophy of tissue bulk. The atrophy was more severe in the external segment (GPe) than in the internal segment (GPi). Reactive astrocytosis and fibrillary gliosis were observed in the atrophic lesions. These results indicate that atrophy of the GP can be attributed to striato-pallidal fiber loss and not to neuronal depletion even in the late stages. These findings support the hypothesis that loss of striato-GPe fibers plays the most important role in choreic movements in HD. It remains to be determined whether the pallidal neurons are also preserved in the end stage of the disease.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Ubiquitin-positive inclusion in anterior horn cells in subgroups of motor neuron diseases: a comparative study of adult-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.

This report concerns the expression of ubiquitin in anterior horn cells of various subgroups of adult and infantile motor neuron disease (MNDs); immunohistochemical techniques were employed. Ubiquitin-positive skein-like inclusions (SLIs) were found in all cases of adult-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including 16 cases with sporadic ALS, two cases of familial ALS with posterior column degeneration and Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions (LBHIs), two sporadic ALS cases with LBHIs, and three cases of sporadic ALS with dementia. SLIs were not found in anterior horn cells of 5 cases with Werdnig-Hoffmann disease (WHD). However, granular ubiquitin-positive deposits were seen in ballooned neurons of WHD patients. No ubiquitinated materials were found in the perikarya of two sporadic juvenile ALS patients with basophilic inclusions (BIs), but granular ubiquitin-immunoreactive deposits were occasionally observed in the BIs. These results suggest that ubiquitin-positive SLIs are characteristic features of various forms of adult-onset ALS and that aggregated ubiquitinated granules are characteristic of ballooned neurons of WHD. Ubiquitinated structures and their distribution patterns may reflect degenerative processes of anterior horn cells, and may be useful for classifying subgroups of motor neuron diseases.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Cerebrospinal fluid 28-kDa calbindin-D as a possible marker for Purkinje cell damage.

To examine the clinical value of 28-kDa calbindin-D (CaBP) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a marker for the damage to Purkinje cells, we measured CSF CaBP levels using an enzyme immunoassay method in 107 patients with cerebellar and other neurological diseases, and 26 controls. The mean CaBP level was markedly elevated in patients with cerebellar diseases, and the elevation of CaBP level was more frequent in the diseases involving Purkinje cells, such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and subacute cerebellar degeneration in association with lung cancer. Further, in MSA patients, the CaBP levels decreased with duration of illness. The mean levels of CaBP were also elevated in some of the other diseases. We conclude that the elevations of CaBP levels are not specific for cerebellar diseases, but CSF CaBP may be a useful marker for examining the Purkinje cell involvement in cerebellar diseases.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Effects of zopiclone on slow wave sleep and spontaneous K-complexes for normal healthy young adults.

Benzodiazepine (BZD) hypnotics have been known to decrease, to some degree, human slow wave sleep (SWS) although they elevate the arousal threshold during sleep. Zopiclone (ZPC), a cyclopyrrolone hypnotic, has attracted the interest of sleep researchers because an increase in human SWS has been reported. Since the increase has not been fully confirmed by all of the studies, the authors investigated the effects of ZPC 10 mg on SWS and the K-complexes for 7 healthy young adults because there is evidence indicating that delta waves consisting of SWS and the spontaneous K-complexes are identical. SWS and st. 4 sleep did not decrease on any of the ZPC nights but st. 3 sleep showed a tendency to reduce on the 1st ZPC night. The frequency of the K-complexes decreased significantly on the 2nd ZPC night and tended to reduce on the 1st ZPC night. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was noted between the decrease rates of SWS and the K-complexes on both the ZPC nights. The authors, therefore, could not obtain any findings suggesting an increase in SWS with ZPC.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1993

Oculomotor nerve palsy due to intraneural hemorrhage in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: a case report.

We report a 52-year-old man with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura accompanying acute oculomotor nerve palsy. At autopsy, intraneural hemorrhage was found in the cavernous portion of the oculomotor nerve. Intraneural bleeding as well as extraneural compression by hematoma formation should be considered as a cause of neuropathies occurring in patients with aggravated thrombocytopenia.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

PubMed1993

Cysteine proteinases in rat parathyroid cells with special reference to their correlation with parathyroid hormone (PTH) in storage granules.

To further understand the roles of storage granules in parathyroid cells, we examined by immunocytochemistry the localization of cathepsins B and H and of PTH in rat parathyroid gland. In semi-thin sections, small and large granular immunodeposits for cathepsins B and H appeared in the cells, whereas those for PTH were detected throughout the cells, especially in perinuclear regions. By electron microscopy, immunogold particles indicating cathepsins B and H labeled lysosomes and storage granules, whereas those showing PTH were localized in storage granules, small secretory granules, and the trans-Golgi network. Small vesicles labeled by immunogold particles showing these proteinases often appeared close to the storage granules. By double immunostaining, immunogold particles indicating these proteinases were co-localized with those for PTH in storage granules. By EDTA treatment, immunoreactivity for cathepsins B and H and for PTH was notably reduced in the cells, but immunoreactivity for the proteinases was still seen in lysosomes. These results suggest that storage granules in the rat parathyroid cells fuse with small vesicles containing cathepsins B and H, which may participate in regulating the intracellular PTH levels by degrading PTH in the granules.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1993

[Comprehensive functional assessment of the elderly in institutions, particularly in terms of social life].

The purpose of this study was to clarify aspects of social life in a comprehensive functional assessment of 160 elderly subjects, over 60 years of age, in institutions for the elderly. Five items were assessed: economic conditions, marital status, family conditions, family relationships and group behavior. The institutions were of 4 types: a geriatric hospital, a special nursing home for the aged, a home for the elderly and a home with moderate fees. The assessment of social life demonstrated significant correlation between the revised version of Hasegawa's Dementia Scale, activity of daily living and physical conditions. Inter-institution comparisons revealed significant differences in terms of economic conditions for the home for the elderly, family conditions for the home with moderate fees, and family relationships and group behavior for the geriatric hospital. Total grades across the 5 items were significantly lower for the geriatric hospital cases. This assessment proved useful to illuminate aspects of social life of the elderly in institutions.

Activities of Daily Living↗