Urocortin, a member of the corticotropin-releasing factor family, in normal and diseased heart.

In the present study we investigated the form of expression, action, second messenger, and the cellular location of urocortin, a member of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family, in the heart. Urocortin mRNA, as shown by quantitative RT-PCR analysis, is expressed in the cultured rat cardiac nonmyocytes (NMC) as well as myocytes (MC) in the heart, whereas CRF receptor type 2beta (CRF-R2beta), presumed urocortin receptor mRNA, is predominantly expressed in MC compared with NMC. Urocortin mRNA expression is higher in left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy than in normal LV, whereas CRF-R2beta mRNA expression is markedly depressed in LV hypertrophy compared with normal LV.

Dominant negative isoform of the Ikaros gene in patients with adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Gene targeting studies in mice have shown that the transcription factor Ikaros plays an essential role in lymphoid development and as a tumor suppressor in T cells, whereas the related gene Aiolos functions as a tumor suppressor in B cells. We analyzed the expression levels of the Ikaros gene family, Ikaros and Aiolos, in human bone marrow samples from patients with adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL (n = 46; B-cell ALL = 41; T-cell ALL = 5)]. Overexpression of the dominant negative isoform of Ikaros gene Ik-6 was observed in 14 of 41 B-cell ALL patients by reverse transcription-PCR, and the results were confirmed by sequencing analysis and immunoblotting.

Neurally mediated syncope and arrhythmias: a study of syncopal patients using the head-up tilt test.

Understanding the causes of syncope in patients with arrhythmia is important in determining the therapeutic interventions. Neurally mediated syncope (NMS) was evaluated in 55 patients with various arrhythmias. The head-up tilt test with or without isoproterenol infusion induced NMS in 41 (74%) patients.

Gender differences in social and interpersonal features and personality disorders among Japanese patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This study sought to elucidate the differential effect of gender on clinical features in 40 males and 54 females who met both DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Males had a lower rate of marriage, and a higher rate of major impairment in social or occupational functioning, whereas females were significantly more likely to involve others in their OCD symptoms, such as reassurance-seeking. Although no significant differences were detected in the distribution of OCD symptoms, cluster A personality disorders (PDs), especially schizotypal PD, were more frequently diagnosed in males, and borderline and dependent PDs tended to be more prevalent in females.

Value of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay in pathological stage T3N0 prostate cancer.

Background: We tested the ability of the nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay to detect signs of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer in the lymph nodes and peripheral blood of patients with pT3N0 prostate cancer.

Methods: Using lymph nodes and pre- and postoperative peripheral blood dissected from 30 patients with pT3N0 prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy, we used RT-PCR for prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSM) and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to determine the presence of prostate cancer. Results of the nested RT-PCR assay were compared with pathological stages and biochemical recurrence.

Kamegainema cingulum (Linstow, 1902) n. gen., n. comb. (Nematoda: Dracunculidae), a subcutaneous parasite of cryptobranchids (Amphibia: Caudata).

The monotypic Kamegainema n. gen. is proposed for Filaria cingula, a subcutaneous parasite of cryptobranchids.

[Clinical and experimental observation of glistening in acrylic intraocular lenses].

Purpose: To study whether the glistening on implanted acrylic intracular lenses increases or not.

Method: 1. Prospective study: We studied the glistening on 49 implanted acrylic intraocular lenses, particularly the time of appearance and increase after glistening appeared.

Comparative study of pulsed dye laser and pneumatic lithotripters for transurethral ureterolithotripsy.

Background: Clinical effectiveness and safety of the Swiss Lithoclast (Lithoclast) and the Candela MDL-2000 (MDL) in the treatment of lower ureteral stone were examined retrospectively.

Methods: Eighty-six stones from 66 patients and 26 stones from 20 patients were treated by Lithoclast and MDL, respectively.

Results: The stone-free rate on 3-month follow-up was 97% and 95% for the Lithoclast and MDL, respectively (no significant difference).

Human T-lymphotropic virus type I provirus and T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia.

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a rare type of post-thymic T-cell neoplasm, the etiology of which is unknown. Patients with T-PLL have been found to be seronegative for human T-lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I), and their leukemia cells do not retain monoclonally integrated HTLV-I provirus. Recently, we have demonstrated the presence of defective HTLV-I provirus by polymerase chain reaction in the DNA extracted from peripheral blood cells or affected lymph nodes of T-PLL patients.

[Epirubicin-based combination chemotherapy combined with G-CSF for the elderly patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

We devised a new epirubicin-based combination chemotherapy (Epi-COP) regimen for the patients with elderly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and have treated 30 patients aged 66 years and older who had measurable diseases. In Epi-COP therapy, epirubicin was used as a substitute for doxorubicin in the CHOP regimen, and some dose modifications were made for the other agents. Combined modality treatment (CMT; chemotherapy plus radiotherapy) was adopted for 9 patients with localized disease.

The significance of the free-to-complexed prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ratio in prostate cancer detection in patients with a PSA level of 4.1-10.0 ng/mL.

Objective: To compare the ratio of free prostate specific antigen (fPSA), total PSA (tPSA) and complexed PSA (cPSA, measured using a novel immunoassay) with other variables used to detect prostate cancer in patients with intermediate serum PSA levels of 4.1-10.0 ng/mL.

[Antibacterial activity of beta-lactam antibiotics against extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing bacteria].

MICs of various beta-lactam antibiotics by themselves and in combination with beta-lactamase inhibitor (clavulanic acid) against extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae which were isolated from clinical materials were investigated. Furthermore, based on the results obtained, a procedure to detect ESBL producing strains was proposed. The MICs of beta-lactam antibiotics against beta-lactamase producing strains were investigated.

Prevalence and symptomatology of comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder among bulimic patients.

This study sought to assess the prevalence and symptomatology of comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) among Japanese subjects who met the DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Patient Version was used to distinguish 26 BN patients with concurrent OCD from 52 BN patients without OCD. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in BN subjects with concurrent OCD were evaluated using the Japanese version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale.

Usefulness of measurement of Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein as a marker of prognosis and recurrence of small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3%) is a recently described marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its usefulness has been demonstrated in many studies. We evaluated the usefulness of serial measurement of AFP-L3% as a marker of prognosis and recurrence after treatment of small HCC.

Methods: AFP-L3% was measured before and after initial treatment in 60 patients with small HCC (maximum diameter < or = 2 cm).

A comparison of clinical features among Japanese eating-disordered women with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Clinical features, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, were investigated in Japanese women with DSM-III-R eating disorders (EDs) and concurrent OCD in comparison to age-matched women with OCD. Sixteen women with restricting anorexia nervosa (AN), 16 with bulimia nervosa (BN), and 16 with both AN and BN (BAN) showed commonality in a more elevated prevalence of OCD symptoms of symmetry and order compared with 18 OCD women. Among the personality disorders (PDs), likewise, obsessive-compulsive PD (OCPD) was more prevalent in each ED group compared with the OCD group.

Decreases in Ikaros activity correlate with blast crisis in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Gene targeting studies in mice have shown that the lack of Ikaros activity leads to T-cell hyperproliferation and T-cell neoplasia, establishing the Ikaros gene as a tumor suppressor gene in mice. This prompted us to investigate whether mutations in Ikaros play a role in human hematological malignancies. Reverse transcription-PCR was used to determine the relative expression levels of Ikaros isoforms in a panel of human leukemia/lymphoma cell lines and human bone marrow samples from patients with hematological malignancies.

[The frequency profile of tuberculin skin testing among students in nursing school].

The frequency profile of tuberculin skin testing (TST) among students in nursing school was studied. Students received a TST upon matriculation. The TST was done by the method of Mantoux, in which 0.

Six new nematodes of the Heligmonellidae (Trichostrongylina) collected from endemic murines of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Nematodes in Odilia and Paraheligmonelloides (Trichostrongylina: Heligmonellidae) are first recorded from Sulawesi, Indonesia, with 6 new species from the small intestine of endemic murines: Odilia sulawesiensis n. sp. and Odilia moatensis n.

[Comparison of Tandem-R PSA and Markit-M PA in the diagnosis of prostate cancer].

The Tandem-R PSA (TR) assay was compared with the Markit-M PA (MM) assay in the diagnosis of the prostate cancer. In patients with a serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level higher than the cut-off values measured by either the TR assay or the MM assay (4.1 ng/ml and 3.

Clinical characteristics in patients with anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess clinical characteristics, including co-morbid personality disorders in patients with both anorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in comparison with age- and sex-matched patients with OCD.

Methods: Fifty-three female patients with AN were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of a current diagnosis of OCD, as assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Patient version (SCID-P). Twenty-one women (40 %) who met the DSM-III-R criteria for both AN and OCD were compared with 23 female patients with OCD, using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the SCID Axis II disorders.

Event-related potentials in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Twenty-three unmedicated patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) were compared with 12 unmedicated patients with social phobia (SP) and 18 age-matched normal controls (C) using a two-tone auditory oddball event-related potentials (ERP) paradigm. The OCD group showed significantly shorter P300 latencies and shorter N200 latencies for target stimuli than the SP and the C groups. The OCD patients also tended to have greater N200 negativity compared with normal controls.

[Total intravenous anesthesia for two patients complicated with myotonic dystrophy].

Total intravenous anesthesia with propofol, fentanyl and ketamine (PFK) was given to two patients complicated with myotonic dystrophy. Case-1: A 42-year-old female underwent a hemithyroidectomy. Anesthesia was induced slowly with intravenous ketamine 20 mg and propofol 60 mg.

[Sick sinus syndrome after chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma with right atrial tumor at initial presentation].

A 56-year-old man was admitted complaining of throat discomfort and dyspnea. He was given a diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma on the basis of findings from tumor biopsy specimens of his left pharynx. MRI tomograms and ultrasonic cardiograms revealed a right atrial tumor causing tricuspid stenosis.

Rat aortic smooth-muscle cell proliferation is bidirectionally regulated in a cell cycle-dependent manner via PACAP/VIP type 2 receptor.

In the cardiovascular system, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) have been well characterized as potent vasodepressors or vasodilators. However, their pathophysiological implication in proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells has not yet been elucidated. In the present study, we have first identified PACAP/VIP type 2 receptor as a dominant type in rat vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) by RT-PCR.