Bradykinin enhances GLUT4 translocation through the increase of insulin receptor tyrosine kinase in primary adipocytes: evidence that bradykinin stimulates the insulin signalling pathway.

It has been suggested that bradykinin stimulates glucose uptake in experiments in vivo and in cultured cells. However, its mechanism has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, the effects of bradykinin on the insulin signalling pathway were evaluated in isolated dog adipocytes.

Effect of beraprost sodium, a stable prostaglandin I2 analogue, on platelet aggregation in diabetes mellitus.

Test results concerning platelet behavior in vitro, particularly aggregation, are frequently abnormal in diabetic patients. The concept has therefore arisen that platelet hyper-reactivity is one factor contributing to diabetic microangiopathy. We report here the antiplatelet effect of beraprost sodium, a chemically stable prostaglandin I2 analogue made in Japan, in 6 diabetic patients.

[Double cancers of renal cell carcinoma and testicular seminoma: a case report].

A case of metachronous presentation of renal cell carcinoma and testicular seminoma is reported. A 48-year-old man underwent left radical nephrectomy for a renal tumor on September 4, 1991. Pathological examination revealed clear cell carcinoma with no capsular penetration.

Intensive insulin therapy prevents the progression of diabetic microvascular complications in Japanese patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: a randomized prospective 6-year study.

To examine whether intensive glycemic control could decrease the frequency or severity of diabetic microvascular complications, we performed a prospective study of Japanese patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) treated with multiple insulin injection treatment. A total of 110 patients with NIDDM was randomly assigned to multiple insulin injection treatment group (MIT group) or to conventional insulin injection treatment group (CIT group). Fifty-five NIDDM patients who showed no retinopathy and urinary albumin excretions < 30 mg/24 h at the baseline were evaluated in the primary-prevention cohort, and the other 55 NIDDM patients who showed simple retinopathy and urinary albumin excretions < 300 mg/24 h were evaluated in the secondary-intervention cohort.

Expression of insulin receptor on clonal pancreatic alpha cells and its possible role for insulin-stimulated negative regulation of glucagon secretion.

In pancreatic alpha cells, the existence and function of the insulin receptor has not yet been fully established. In this study, to confirm the expression of functional insulin receptors in pancreatic alpha cells, we performed: 1) insulin receptor binding assay, 2) Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) amplification of insulin receptor mRNA, 3) immunocytochemical staining, 4) biosynthetic labelling of insulin receptor protein using [35S]methionine, 5) analysis of insulin-stimulated autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor in glucagon secreting cell lines, In-R1-G9 and alpha TC clone 6 cells. Glucagon secretion decreased with the addition of insulin in both cells.

[Familial hyperparathyroidism].

Recently, not only the multiple endocrine adenomatosis (MEN)-associated type but also the type which can be isolated from MEN syndrome have been widely accepted in the classification of familial hyperparathyroidism. Analysis of gene markers specific to MEN syndrome contributed markedly to the establishment of isolated familial hyperparathyroidism. We attempted an analysis of 15 pedigrees in the report of familial hyperparathyroidism in which MEN syndrome was actively ruled out.

Artificial endocrine pancreas and optimal blood glucose regulation in diabetic patients--from bedside-type to wearable-type.

The artificial endocrine pancreas is a feedback control system regulating insulin delivery on a minute-by-minute basis according to the measured blood glucose levels. The bedside-type artificial endocrine pancreas has been proven to be useful not only as a therapeutic tool for diabetes mellitus but also as an elegant research tool for investigating the pathophysiology of the disease. With significant advances in the development of a subcutaneous tissue glucose monitoring system, the wearable-type artificial endocrine pancreas has been applied to diabetic patients.

Quantitative footprinting analysis.

This review outlines the steps for obtaining relative binding constants for drugs from footprinting data. After correcting the autoradiographic spot intensities for differing amounts of radioactive DNA loaded into the lanes of a sequencing gel, footprinting plots, showing individual spot intensities as a function of drug concentration, are constructed. The initial relative slopes of footprinting plots are proportional to the binding constant of the drug for its DNA site.

Effect on insulin sensitivity of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors with or without a sulphydryl group: bradykinin may improve insulin resistance in dogs and humans.

The present study compared the effect on insulin sensitivity of ACE inhibitors with a sulphydryl group (captopril) or those without a sulphydryl group (delapril and enalapril) during the hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp test in both animal and clinical experiments. A possible contribution of bradykinin to the improvement of insulin sensitivity by ACE-inhibition was also studied. In healthy control and depancreatized dog experiments, administration of captopril either intravenously (3.

Noninvasive measurement of blood glucose concentrations by analysing Fourier transform infra-red absorbance spectra through oral mucosa.

Whether Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy with an attenuated total reflection prism could be applied for noninvasive glucose measurement through oral mucosa was evaluated. As a result, the same absorbance peak at 1033 cm-1 as in glucose aqueous solution was found in the absorbance spectra through mucous membrane. However, these glucose specific peaks were interfered with by the baseline drifts owing to prism attachment and the background spectra from body constituents other than glucose.

Modes of biliobiliary anastomosis in relation to the healing process and occurrence of postoperative stricture.

The inverting and everting methods of biliobiliary anastomoses were compared histopathologically and electron microscopically. Epithelialization started on the 3rd postoperative day and occurred within 8 mm of the anastomosis with an earlier and more active epithelialization being seen in the proximal area than in the distal. A rapid decrease of the mucosal defect was seen for 3-5 days which slowed down thereafter, and closure was achieved by 30 days after the anastomosis in both groups.

Localization of T lymphocytes and macrophages expressing IL-1, IL-2 receptor, IL-6 and TNF in human aortic intima. Role of cell-mediated immunity in human atherogenesis.

Recent observations have demonstrated the presence of activated T lymphocytes and macrophages in human atherosclerotic lesions. Cells found within these lesions produce cytokines that alter vascular homeostasis in a manner that promotes atherogenesis. To elucidate the role of these immunocompetent cells in human atherosclerosis, the localization of various cytokines with an analysis of immunophenotypic features of the cellular infiltrates was studied in normal aortas from children; and in later phases of the disease (including fatty streaks and fibrous or atheromatous plaques).

Thyroxine-binding globulin variant (TBG-Kumamoto): identification of a point mutation and genotype analysis of its family.

Thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) is the major thyroid hormone transport protein. Several inherited TBG variants resulting in partial or complete TBG deficiencies have been shown to be caused by either one or two nucleotide substitutions, or one nucleotide deletion in the coding regions of the TBG gene. In this report, a Japanese female patient (proband) with hyperthyroid state, whose lower TBG levels did not return to normal under the euthyroid state after treatment was examined.

Abnormalities in platelets and vascular endothelial cells induced by glycated lipoproteins.

We studied the effects of glycated lipoproteins of low- and high-density (LDL and HDL) on platelets and vascular endothelial cells. After pretreatment for 5 minutes at 37 degrees C, the thrombin-induced synthesis of thromboxane B2 in washed platelets was significantly increased by glycated LDL as compared with native LDL (198.9 +/- 16.

Familial primary hyperparathyroidism: study of the pedigree in three generations.

The familial occurrence of primary hyperparathyroidism in which the proband is a 55-year-old man is reported. His 58-year-old sister and 40-year-old brother had undergone partial parathyroidectomy, and histological examination revealed hyperplasia in both cases. Their father and a daughter of the proband had a history of nephrolithiasis.

Spectroscopic quantitative analysis of blood glucose by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with an attenuated total reflection prism.

As an alternative way of long-term glycemic monitoring, the glucose measurement by analyzing Fourier transform infrared absorbance spectra with an attenuated total reflection prism has been developed. In glucose aqueous solution, glucose has characteristic absorptions at the wave numbers of 1033 and 1080 cm-1 and the absorption intensities are proportional to glucose concentrations. In serum and whole blood samples, however, red blood cell corpuscles, serum albumin and serum gamma-globulin interfere with the absorbance spectra of glucose and shift the base line upward significantly.

Abnormal glucagon response to arginine and its normalization in obese hyperinsulinaemic patients with glucose intolerance: importance of insulin action on pancreatic alpha cells.

An excessive glucagon secretion to intravenous arginine infusion was found in obese hyperinsulinaemic patients with glucose intolerance. This study was designed to determine whether the glucagon hyperresponsiveness to arginine in these patients would improve by insulin infused at a high enough dose to overcome insulin resistance. By infusing high dose insulin during arginine infusion, the previously exaggerated glucagon response to arginine could be normalized.

Histidine decarboxylase measurement in brain by 14CO2 trapping.

A method for measuring histidine decarboxylase (HDC) in crude rat brain homogenates was developed by modification of existing 14CO2-trapping methods. The addition of EDTA to tissue homogenates and assay buffer reduced non-enzymatic decarboxylation, and improved assay sensitivity and reliability. Addition of polyethylene glycol (molecular weight 300, PEG300) to the homogenizing buffer increased enzyme stability, permitting storage of crude homogenates.

Tetrasomy 8 in acute myelomonocytic leukemia developing after a gastric cancer operation.

A 70 year-old-Japanese man underwent gastrectomy for early gastric cancer with preoperative hypocellular marrow. Three weeks later, acute myelomonocytic leukemia developed with tetrasomy for chromosome 8 (48,XY,+8,+8). The patient died of leukemia on the 33rd postoperative day.

Latent carcinoma of the thyroid manifested by cystic supraclavicular metastasis.

In a 68-year-old Japanese woman, who had a right supraclavicular cyst containing thyroglobulin-rich fluid, metastatic adenocarcinoma was demonstrated in the cyst. A subsequent total thyroidectomy showed a papillary carcinoma measuring 11 mm in the ipsilateral lobe of the thyroid. A high thyroglobulin level in a cervical cyst may facilitate the detection of hidden primary cancer in the thyroid.

Diabetes insipidus after traumata of two extremes in severity.

Two patients with post-traumatic diabetes insipidus (DI) are reported. One had suffered a fatal injury and the other a mild contusion without amnesia before DI developed. These two instances exemplify the wide spectrum of post-traumatic DI and, hence, the importance of ruling out DI even afer a mild closed-head injury.

Carcinoma in adenoma of the ampulla of Vater synchronous with cancer of the sigmoid colon.

A 58-year-old Japanese man presented with early invasive adenocarcinoma within a papillotubular adenoma of the ampulla of Vater synchronous with advanced adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon. The colon had two additional adenomas. This hitherto unreported concomitance in the absence of familial polyposis coli is discussed.