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Biomedical subjects

Y Niki

Publications and source records attributed to Y Niki.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Sero-diagnosis for pulmonary aspergillosis--its utility in early diagnosis].

The clinical utility of Pastorex Aspergillus, a commercially available circulating aspergillus galactomannan antigen detection kit was evaluated. In animal models of pulmonary aspergillosis, it was extremely sensitive for detection of not only A. fumigatus antigen but also antigens of A. flavus and A. niger both in serum and urine. In a preliminary study in autopsied or clinically proven cases with aspergillus infections a high positive rate of antigen detection was obtained when it was applied prospectively. A total of 1,373 clinical samples obtained from patients with suspected aspergillus infection were examined. Among 67 patients giving antigen-positive results in their clinical samples including serum, urine, sputum and others, 17 patients proved to have aspergillus infection by histological or cultural studies. Sixteen patients were judged to be suspicious of aspergillus infection. Measurement of serum (1 --> 3) beta-D glucan by G-test in these cases was well correlated to the results of the antigen detection test. However, the serum showed often antigen-negative even when it was examined at the peak of illness. The rapid clearance of the antigen from circulation was considered to be one of the reasons for this phenomenon. In these cases, antigen detection in samples other than serum, such as urine, sputum, and pleural fluid was also useful. In conclusion, when using Pastorex Aspergillus to obtain the early diagnosis of aspergillus infection frequent examination in different types of samples is recommended.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

[Small-cell carcinoma of the lung with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration].

A 50-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of slowly progressing ataxia. After the neurological examination and after observation of the clinical course, paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration was suspected. Extensive examination revealed a malignant tumor in the right upper lobe of the lung. Immunoblotting with rat cerebellum revealed a 68 KDa protein in the patient's serum, which suggested that paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration was caused by an auto-antibody. Anti-cancer drugs and radiation therapy were begun 4 months after the onset of symptoms. After 4 months of therapy, the lung cancer had shrunk, but the neurological symptoms had become more severe.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

[Summer-type hypersensitivity pneumonitis in a patient with a positive skin test (15 minutes) for Trichosporon mucoides and a high serum IgE level].

The serum IgE level is usually not high in hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) because it develops from Type III and Type IV allergies (Gell and Coombs). However, we have previously reported infiltration of lymphocytes and mast cells in patients with summer-type HP and a high serum IgE level. We encountered a 56-year-old woman with summer-type HP who had a high serum IgE level and a positive skin reaction to the causative antigen. She was admitted to our hospital because of coughing, fever, and dyspnea. On admission, a chest X-ray film and a chest CT scan disclosed ground-glass opacity and diffuse small nodular shadows. Her PaO2 was 56 mmHg on room air and her serum IgE level was high (725 U/ml). Pulmonary-function testing revealed a low DLCo, but the FEV1 was normal. Summer-type HP was diagnosed because of a positive test for serum antibody to Trichosporon mucoides (TIMM1573), a positive result on an antigen challenge test, and because pathological examination of specimens obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy showed severe infiltration of lymphocytes. After admission, her serum IgE levels gradually improved along with the symptoms and the PaO2. A skin test for the causative antigen was done to study the early immunological reaction, and a positive result (22 mm x 24 mm) was obtained for T. mucoides (TIMM1573) in only 15 minutes. We could not elicit any history of atopy that may have been associated with the high serum IgE level and the positive skin test. Therefore, we suspect that this patient had an early immunologic reaction (Type I allergy) to T. mucoides, and that Type I allergy is involved in the development of HP.

Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic↗
PubMed1995

[A case report of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis which could not be saved in spite of making an early diagnosis].

A seventy-one year old male with pemphigus vulgaris and treated with steroid therapy for long periods of 7 months was suffered from invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. He complained of a productive cough and the chest X-p indicated a mild infiltration shadow in his both lungfields. He was treated by intravenous antibiotics and no clinical improvement was observed. Two days after the onset of the clinical respiratory symptoms, he was transferred to the division of respiratory diseases and the diagnosis of aspergillosis was confirmed by serological and histopathological studies on the same day. Intravenous amphotericin B and oral itraconazole administrations were started immediately after the diagnosis was made. However, the progression of the disease was so rapid and his immune condition was too weak to respond to the treatment. The overall clinical course of the case was extremely short only 5 days.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

[A case of Plasmodium ovale malaria with thrombocytopenia and an abnormality grade in FDP concentration despite the use of chloroquine as a malaria prophylaxis].

A 45-year-old Japanese male, who had been to the Central African Republic, was admitted to our hospital because of high fever with chills on July 29, 1994. He used chloroquine as a malaria prophylaxis during his stay and for 6 weeks after his return to Japan. On admission, Plasmodium ovale was detected in his blood smears and in the DNA analysis. He was treated successfully with chloroquine (1500 mg over 3 day period) and primaquine (15 mg/day for 14 days beginning day 4). Disappearance of malarial parasites in the peripheral blood smear occurred on the third day and his temperature returned to normal on the 4th day. Interestingly, he had thrombocytopenia and an abnormal grade in fibrin degradation products (FDP) concentration. This led to the suspicion of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). This report indicates the importance of thrombocytopenia which may develop into DIC even though P. ovale malaria infection rarely becomes severe. This is the second report of a P. ovale malaria case in the Central African Republic.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Spontaneous cure of pneumonia caused by Chlamydia pneumoniae].

A 62-year-old male was admitted to our hospital after an abnormal shadow was pointed out by Chest X-ray in June, 1994, even though he was asymptomatic otherwise (first episode). The serum IgG antibody against Chlamydia pneumoniae was elevated up to 512-fold in the acute phase and decreased to 32-fold in the convalescent phase using the micro-immunofluorescence (MIF) test, indicating a C. pneumoniae acute infection. In fact, no other micro-organisms were detected. The patient recovered from the pneumonia without any treatment. He was admitted to our hospital again after having right chest pain in December, 1994 (second episode). An X-ray examination revealed a slight infiltration of the right lower lung field and pleural effusion. In this episode, he received therapy with carbapenem anti-bacterial agent and he recovered from the pneumonia 9 days after the administration of the antibiotic. The serum IgG titer against C. pneumoniae was elevated up to 1024-fold on admission, indicating mixed infection with bacteria and C. pneumoniae. It was concluded that both of these episodes indicated a spontaneous cure of the pneumonia which had developed from C. pneumoniae.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1994

Contractile actions of endothelins in rat gastric body: evidence for receptor subtypes and involvement of prostaglandin E2.

Endothelin-1 produced a phasic contraction in the longitudinal muscle preparation isolated from the rat gastric body, but produced a sustained contraction in the circular muscle preparation. Indomethacin, a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, decreased the endothelin-1-induced contraction of the longitudinal preparation, but did not affect the endothelin-1-induced contractions of the circular muscle. In the absence of indomethacin, the maximal contractile tension (Emax) and the concentration producing a half-maximal contraction (EC50) induced by endothelin-3 in the longitudinal muscle preparations were smaller than those for endothelin-1, whereas in the circular muscle preparations there were no significant differences between the values (EC50, Emax) for endothelin-1 and endothelin-3. In the presence of indomethacin, endothelin-3-induced contraction of the longitudinal muscle preparation is more potent than that of endothelin-1. SC-19220, a prostaglandin E2 receptor antagonist, significantly decreased endothelin-1-induced contraction of the longitudinal preparation, prostaglandin E2 produced a concentration-dependent contraction in the longitudinal preparation, but had no effects in the circular muscle preparation. Endothelin-1 (10(-8) M) significantly increased the release of immunoassayable prostaglandin E2 from rat gastric smooth muscle. These results point to the existence of distinct endothelin receptor subtypes in the smooth muscle of rat gastric body, and a potential role of endothelin-1 in regulating gastric motility. Moreover, one of the endothelin receptor subtypes is related to the production of prostaglandin E2.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Characterization of a Chlamydia pneumoniae strain isolated from a 57-year-old man.

The isolation of Chlamydia pneumoniae, especially from elderly persons, is generally not easy. Recently, we succeeded in isolating a chlamydial strain, which was designated KKpn-15, from a 57-year-old man suffering from acute bronchitis. It was compared with well established strains of C. pneumoniae, C. trachomatis and C. psittaci, and its biological properties, such as the morphology of elementary bodies (EBs) and inclusions, and the immunochemistry of EB proteins, were investigated. Based on the results obtained in the present study, it was confirmed that the new chlamydial strain, KKpn-15, is a member of the C. pneumoniae strain and that the organisms of KKpn-15 are useful as an antigen for the serodiagnosis and epidemiology of C. pneumoniae infection.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1994

[Three interesting pediatric cases with penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae infection].

Since penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae first recognized in 1967, the rate of penicillin-resistant strains has been increasing worldwide. There have been up to 50% from pediatric specimens in Japan. We reported three pediatric cases with penicillin G resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae infection to show some important clue from these cases for clinical practice against resistant pneumococcal infection. The first case was a typical acute mastoiditis, although we have experienced only masked mastoiditis recently. The second case was meningitis with septicemia, which did not show any abnormality in the first obtained cerebrospinal fluid. The third case was recurrent bronchitis in a child with cerebral palsy. The minimum inhibition concentrations of these isolated strains were 0.25 microgram/ml in the second case an 2.0 microgram/ml in the first and third cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Fungal infection in hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases: clinical evaluation in autopsy cases].

A clinical assessment of fungal infection in hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases during 1975 and 1991 was made and 25 cases of systemic mycosis were noted. Among 25 cases there were 20 liver diseases (hepatocellular carcinoma 12, liver cirrhosis 5, fulminant hepatitis 2, polyarteritis nodosa 1), 2 cases of gallbladder cancer and 3 cases of pancreatic cancer. The fungus was consisted of 14 cases (56%) of Candida, 9 cases of Aspergillus (36%), and 2 cases of Cryptococcus (8%). Fungal infection was most frequent in the lung (8 cases) and esophagus (6 cases), but rarely in the stomach, lymph node, liver, thyroid, kidney and gallbladder. Generalized fungus infection was noted in four cases (16%). Fatal fungal infection was complicated in liver cirrhosis (2 cases), fulminant hepatitis (one case), gallbladder cancer (one case) and cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas (one case). In five fatal cases three cases of Aspergillus pneumonia and two cases of Candida septicemia were included. Glucocorticoid was used in 13 cases (52%) and anti-cancer drugs was administered in two cases (12%). However, in 9 cases (36%) without treatment of glucocorticoid or anti-cancer drug fungal infection was detected. In conclusion, there is a possibility of fungal infection in grave hepatic diseases and empirical administration of anti-fungal agent may be necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[A case of needlestick-induced acute type C hepatitis].

The patient was a 25-year-old male doctor, who had pricked his finger with a needle contaminated with blood from a 69-year-old male patient with liver cirrhosis (HCV-Ab positive, genotype II). He was informed from the blood bank that his blood was positive for anti-HCV and his GPT being 148 IU/l on the 65th day after exposure. He was admitted on February 16, 1993 and received a liver biopsy, which was consistent with acute viral hepatitis. His genotype was the same (type II) with the donor patient. IFN-alpha-2b of total doses of 656 Megaunits resolved the hepatitis completely and the HCV-RNA became negative as early as two weeks after starting IFN therapy. Liver biopsy after IFN therapy showed convalescence of acute hepatitis. The progression of acute hepatitis C to chronicity could be prevented by interferon therapy even in unfortunate cases of HCV transmission by needlestick. In conclusion, accidental needlestick should be followed for at least six months, and serum GPT and second-generation anti-HCV ELISA tests are recommended for all infected personnel.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1994

[A case of Aspergillus niger pneumonia cured with an early diagnosis].

We have experienced a case with A. niger aspergilloma who developed Aspergillus pneumonia after bacterial pulmonary infection. Examinations of sputum cytology and detection of serum Aspergillus antigen were useful for an early diagnosis of his condition. Early and intensive antifungal chemotherapy mainly with intravenous amphotericin B brought about his complete remission.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1994

In vitro and in vivo activities of azithromycin, a new azalide antibiotic, against chlamydia.

The in vitro and in vivo activities of azithromycin against chlamydia were investigated. The MIC of azithromycin for five standard strains of different species of chlamydia and six wild-type strains of Chlamydia pneumoniae was 0.125 microgram/ml, which was superior to that of erythromycin but inferior to those of clarithromycin and minocycline. However, the therapeutic effect of a 7-day course of azithromycin at a dose of 10 mg/kg of body weight administered orally once daily to mice with experimental Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia was excellent, with a 100% survival rate at 14 days after infection, which was the same as that for treatment with minocycline administered at 10 mg/kg twice daily; all erythromycin treated animals died within 10 days. When treatment was discontinued 3 days after the infection, the survival rate for mice treated with azithromycin was 90% and that for mice administered minocycline was 30%. These results suggest that azithromycin may be useful in the treatment of respiratory infections caused by intracellular pathogens, including chlamydia because of its excellent accumulation within host cells.

Animals↗