Depolymerization of sulfated polysaccharides under hydrothermal conditions.

Fucoidan and chondroitin sulfate, which are well known sulfated polysaccharides, were depolymerized under hydrothermal conditions (120-180°C, 5-60min) as a method for the preparation of sulfated polysaccharides with controlled molecular weights. Fucoidan was easily depolymerized, and the change of the molecular weight values depended on the reaction temperature and time. The degree of sulfation and IR spectra of the depolymerized fucoidan did not change compared with those of untreated fucoidan at reaction temperatures below 140°C.

Safety evaluation of excessive ingestion of mozuku fucoidan in human.

Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide in the brown sea algae. This study was conducted in 20 subjects taking excessive fucoidan up to 4.05 g daily for 2 wk.

Effect of fucoidan extracted from mozuku on experimental cartilaginous tissue injury.

We investigated the effect of fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide, on acceleration of healing of experimental cartilage injury in a rabbit model. An injured cartilage model was surgically created by introduction of three holes, one in the articular cartilage of the medial trochlea and two in the trochlear sulcus of the distal femur. Rabbits in three experimental groups (F groups) were orally administered fucoidan of seven different molecular weights (8, 50, 146, 239, 330, 400, or 1000 kD) for 3 weeks by screening.

Microbial fucoidan degradation by Luteolibacter algae H18 with deacetylation.

A bacterial strain that assimilates fucoidan from Cladosiphon okamuranus as sole carbon source was isolated as Luteolibacter algae H-18. It was found that it degraded fucoidan by intracellular enzymes, and that the degradation reactions were catalyzed by multiple enzymes. One enzyme, designated fraction B, was established to exhibit the deacetylation reaction of fucoidan.

[Evaluation of the diaphragm in patients with COPD (emphysema dominant type) by abdominal ultrasonography].

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to clarify whether the diaphragm in patients with COPD (emphysema dominant type) can be evaluated by abdominal ultrasonography. We therefore established a method for diaphragm scanning: The dome of the right hemidiaphragm was detected by epigastric right oblique scan passing through the right edge of the inferior vena cava and the zone of apposition. Diaphragmatic flattening, correlation between the flattening and %FEV1.

Two-step surgical treatment using miniature Ommaya's reservoirs for a neonate with multiple large arachnoid cysts.

Method: We followed a two-step surgical strategy using miniature Ommaya's reservoirs in an early neonate with multiple large arachnoid cysts.

Conclusion: Percutaneous fluid aspiration through the reservoirs placed during the first operation permitted the infant to develop sufficiently to withstand the second, more radical cyst wall excision.

Cloning and sequencing analysis of alginate lyase genes from the marine bacterium Vibrio sp. O2.

We isolated a new marine bacteria, which displayed alginate-depolymerizing activity in plate assays, from seawater in Mihonoseki Harbor, Japan. Analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence of one of the isolates proved that this alginate-depolymerizing bacterium belonged to the genus Vibrio and it was named Vibrio sp. O2.

[New monitoring test for sleep apnea syndrome].

We introduce change in pulse transit time (change in PTT: noninvasive intrathoracic pressure monitoring) as a new monitoring test of sleep apnea syndrome, which is being developed for clinical application. In addition, we report the kinetics of cardiogenic oscillation (CGO: noninvasive upper airway obstruction monitoring), which was published in this journal in 2003, and the response of the upper airway in clinical practice (under an endoscope). We also review diaphragmatic movement by abdominal echography (respiration generator monitoring).

[Intracavernous iatrogenic aneurysm causing subarachnoid hemorrhage after removal of intracranial tumor, treated by coil embolizatioin].

We describe a rare case of subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a ruputured iatrogenic traumatic aneurysm in the cavernous carotid artery, caused by injury during surgery for skull base meningioma that was performed 2 years ago. A 64-year-old woman underwent craniotomy for resection of meningioma of the right sphenoid ridge. During surgery, venous bleeding from the cavernous sinus was easily controlled by packing.

[Cardiogenic oscillation--utility of classifying types of sleep apnea].

Cardiogenic pulse waves that travel along the airway wall are captured as airflow variations synchronized with the electrocardiogram at the airway exit. We have used airflow variations caused by cardiogenic pulse waves (hereinafter referred to as cardiogenic oscillation) to classify types of sleep apnea. Pulse waves do not travel downstream if there is an airway obstruction or choke point (wave speed theory).

[A case with surgical repair for delayed occult cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea presented as meningitis fourteen years after blunt head trauma].

We describe a case of a 34-year-old woman in whom delayed occult cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea presented as meningitis. Removal of an implanted shunt system and surgical repair of the fistula were required. The cerebrospinal fluid fistula was located in the left frontoethmoidal region.

[Usefulness of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis and therapeutic strategy of deep cerebral venous thrombosis: a case report].

We present the usefulness of Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images (DWI) in diagnosis and therapeutic strategy of deep cerebral venous thrombosis (VT). We report a 37-year-old man who suffered general convulsion and deep coma. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed high intensity in the right caudate nuclei and bilateral thalamus on T2-weighted images.

[Effort-independent pulmonary function tests].

Many pulmonary function tests require forced expiration, and the precision of the tests depends on the effort of the subjects. In elderly people, the reproducibility of test results may be inadequate because of insufficiency of the subjects' effort, and the diagnosis of COPD, which is frequently observed in elderly people, is often difficult. To improve the accuracy of the diagnosis, pulmonary function tests that do not require effort are needed.

[Pulmonary function tests].

The spirometry has been most valuable pulmonary function test and it defines pulmonary physiology. But the spirometry has not been widely used by general physicians in Japan. The spirometry is effort-dependent test, so, they seem to keep it at a distance.

[A case of tomato juice-induced oral allergy syndrome in which dyspnea onset occurred during the season of Japanese cedar pollen dispersion].

A 42-year-old-man with a history of Japanese cedar pollinosis repeatedly visited the emergency clinic due to dyspnea during the season of Japanese cedar pollen dispersion. Before each onset of this symptom, he had always drunk tomato juice. Swelling of the oral and nasal mucosa, and congestion of the bulbar conjuctiva was observed.

Role of cyclase activating parathyroid hormone (1-84 PTH) measurements during parathyroid surgery: potential improvement of intraoperative PTH assay.

Summary Background Data: Quick intraoperative parathyroid hormone assays are widely used as a guide to the adequacy of resection during parathyroid surgery. However, some authors have reported a 15% error rate of these assays because of the presence of false-positive and false-negative results. Recently the authors have found that most commercial intact PTH (iPTH) assays cross-react with non-(1-84) PTH (likely 7-84 PTH) and that the proportional levels of non-(1-84) PTH in patients were variable in a much wider range, accounting mostly for 20% to 60% of the immunoreactivity in samples obtained from hyperparathyroid patients.