Magnetic resonance-based visualization of thermal ablative margins around hepatic tumors by means of systemic ferucarbotran administration before radiofrequency ablation: animal study to reveal the connection between excess iron deposition and T2*-weighted hypointensity in ablative margins.

Objective: The objective of this study was to demonstrate experimentally that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of ferucarbotran-accumulated healthy liver tissues causes excess iron deposition in the ablated liver tissues on postablation days and produces sustained T2*-weighted low signals indicative of ablative margins surrounding hepatic tumors.

Materials And Methods: We conducted 3 experiments using 30 rats. In experiment 1, we administered either ferucarbotran (n = 6) or saline (n = 4), acquired T2*-weighted images (T2*-WIs) of the liver by using a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner, and subsequently performed RFA of healthy liver lobes.

Poor mental health associated with job dissatisfaction among school teachers in Japan.

School teaching is regarded as a stressful occupation. The present study aimed to compare the likelihood of having minor psychiatric disorders (MPD) among school teachers with that among civil servants, and to investigate what factors were specifically associated with MPD in teachers. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey of 403 teachers employed at state schools and 611 civil servants as a comparison group in a medium-sized city in Japan.

Primary aldosteronism combined with preclinical Cushing's syndrome in an elderly patient.

Pre-clinical Cushing's syndrome (pre-CS) is sometimes seen with adrenal cortical tumors. An 80-year-old woman had severe hypertension and hypokalemia, the typical clinical features of primary aldosteronism, but detailed hormonal examinations revealed the accompanying pre-CS. After adrenalectomy by laparoscopy, her blood pressure was remarkably reduced and the hypokalemia also recovered.

[Survey of patients with intractable diseases in Kyoto city].

Objective: This study was performed to assess changes over a 5-year period in the number of patients with intractable diseases living in Kyoto city who received public financial aid for treatment. Variation in the quality of their lives was also investigated.

Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to all patients with intractable diseases who lived in Kyoto city and who applied for financial aid for treatment in 1996 and in 2001.

Insulin-mediated regulation of the endothelial renin-angiotensin system and vascular cell growth.

Objective: Insulin has a growth-stimulating effect for vascular tissue. At the tissue level, the vascular renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may be involved in the progression of atherosclerosis or vascular hypertrophy. We previously reported that the vascular RAS activity is activated in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) by insulin stimulation.

Role of endothelin-1 induced by insulin in the regulation of vascular cell growth.

Insulin is not only a growth factor for vascular cells, but also an inducer of other vasoactive substances such as endothelin-1 (ET-1) in vascular cells. The aim of the present study was to assess the role of endothelial cells (EC) in insulin mediated vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. Cultured human aortic EC and VSMC were separately incubated.

Upregulation of cAMP is a new functional signal pathway of Klotho in endothelial cells.

We measured angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) activity in a human endothelial cell to characterize the intracellular signal pathways of Klotho. COS-1 cells transfected with naked mouse membrane-form klotho plasmid DNA (pCAGGS-klotho) translated proper Klotho protein. This translated Klotho protein was secreted into the culture medium.

Hypertension attenuates the efficacy of hypoglycemic therapy for preserving coronary flow reserve in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Impairment of coronary flow reserve (CFR) in patients with type 2 diabetes has been generally demonstrated; however, there have been few studies investigating CFR in cases of relatively well-controlled diabetes, in distinction to the influence of hypertension. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of diabetes and hypertension upon CFR in relatively well-controlled patients. This study included 12 healthy controls (C group) and 57 patients with type 2 diabetes (DM) and/or essential hypertension who were divided into three groups as follows: patients with DM (DM group; n = 24), patients with essential hypertension (HT group; n = 15), and patients with both DM and essential hypertension (DM+HT group; n = 18).

The renin-angiotensin and adrenergic nervous system in cardiac hypertrophy in fructose-fed rats.

Background: Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and cardiovascular complications in hypertensive subjects. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms for LVH including activation of the renin-angiotensin system system (RAS) and the sympathetic nervous system and their activation by insulin using a rat model of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-fructose or control diet.