Immunoadsorption therapy for a child with Guillain-Barre syndrome subsequent to Mycoplasma infection: a case study.

We report an 11-year-old boy with apparently the motor axonal form of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) who presented with severe paralysis and respiratory insufficiency by the 3rd day from onsets of symptoms. His serum anti-Mycoplasma pneumoniae and anti-Galactocerebroside (Gal-C) IgM antibody were significantly elevated. Magnetic resonance imaging, following contrast injection, showed enhancement of the cauda equina.

Characteristic features of allergic airway inflammation in a murine model of infantile asthma.

Background: The pathophysiology of infantile asthma may differ from that in older children or in adults, partly because of the different immune response depending upon maturation. In adult mice, the sensitizing dose of antigen is known to be critical to the polarized development of helper T cell subsets and allergic airway inflammation. We wanted to know the characteristics of allergic airway inflammation of infantile asthma by developing a murine model.

Assessment of human exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in Japan using archived samples from the early 1980s and mid-1990s.

Persistent organic pollutants have been linked to various adverse effects on human health. We conducted a retrospective exposure assessment for 11polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and 4 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners. We analyzed paired samples of blood and food duplicate portions collected in the 1980s (1980 survey, N=40) and the mid-1990s (1995 survey, N=40) from females (five participants from each of eight sites per survey) living throughout Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

The bioconcentration factor of perfluorooctane sulfonate is significantly larger than that of perfluorooctanoate in wild turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans and Chinemys reevesii): an Ai river ecological study in Japan.

Turtles rank high in the river food chain, and are suitable for predicting the bioconcentrations of chemicals through the food chain. Trachemys scripta elegans (N=46) and Chinemys reevesii (N=51) were captured in a river in Japan, from September to October 2003 and April to June 2004. Surface water samples were collected simultaneously from the same sites at which the turtles were caught.

Antipyrine test predicts pharmacodynamics in docetaxel and cisplatin combination chemotherapy.

To clarify the role of cytochrome P450 in docetaxel and cisplatin combination chemotherapy, cytochrome P450 activity was measured by simple antipyrine test, and its correlation with the drugs' pharmacodynamics was assessed. Twenty-five patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer received an antipyrine test and were treated with docetaxel and cisplatin. Plasma antipyrine concentration (C) was measured 4 and 24h after oral administration of 500 mg antipyrine.

Remission induced by interferon alfa in a patient with massive osteolysis and extension of lymph-hemangiomatosis: a severe case of Gorham-Stout syndrome.

The treatment of massive osteolysis with lymphangioma and/or hemangioma (Gorham-Stout syndrome) has been controversial. The authors report on a patient with multiple massive osteolyses and extensive lymph-hemangiomatosis whose lesions were reduced by interferon alfa therapy. A 2-year-old girl had complained of left chylothorax.

Efficient formation of vesicular stomatitis virus pseudotypes bearing the native forms of hepatitis C virus envelope proteins detected after sonication.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in addition to acute hepatitis. The HCV genome encodes two envelope glycoproteins, E1 and E2. To investigate the role of E1 and E2 in HCV infection, we used a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), VSVdeltaG*, harboring the green fluorescent protein gene instead of the VSV G envelope protein gene.

Simultaneous assessment of the in vivo amount of CYP1A2 and CYP3A2 by the PKCYP-test using theophylline in rats.

Recently, we developed a method for assessing in vivo drug metabolism capacity by pharmacokinetic estimation of the quantity of cytochrome P450 (CYP) in vivo (PKCYP-test), in which an apparent liver-to-blood free concentration gradient in vivo (qg) is introduced. The qg value can be alternatively defined as the ratio of the in vivo-in vitro clearance by a single CYP isoform. In this study, we examined the application of the PKCYP-test to drugs metabolized by multiple CYP isoforms in a rat model with fluctuating CYP1A2 levels using theophylline as a model drug.

Semiquantitative analysis of interictal glucose metabolism between generalized epilepsy and localization related epilepsy.

Positron emission tomography (PET) with [18F]fluoro-D-deoxyglucose (FDG) has been used to detect seizure foci and evaluate surgical resection with localization related epilepsies. However, few investigations have focused on generalized epilepsy in children. To reveal the pathophysiology of generalized epilepsy, we studied 11 patients with generalized epilepsy except West syndrome, and 11 patients with localization related epilepsy without organic disease.

Determination of d- and l-enantiomers of threonine and allo-threonine in mammals using two-step high-performance liquid chromatography.

A sensitive and selective method for the determination of four threonine (Thr) isomers (L-Thr, D-Thr, L-allo-Thr and D-allo-Thr) in mammalian tissues has been established using two-step high-performance liquid chromatography. This method includes the precolumn fluorescence derivatization of amino acids with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F), and the separation using a combination of a reversed-phase column and a chiral column. The calibration ranges of D-Thr, D-allo-Thr and L-allo-Thr spiked in the rat cerebellum sample are 2.

Effect of ozone exposure on intracellular glutathione redox state in cultured human airway epithelial cells.

Intracellular oxidation and reduction (redox state) correspond closely to the surrounding environment. Most environmental factors affecting this balances such as oxidants, ultraviolet light, radioactive emissions, infections, and allergic reactions represent oxidative stress upon cells. We examined intracellular redox state after oxidative stress upon cultured human airway epithelial cells (Calu-3) by measuring reduced (GSH) or oxidized (GSSG) glutathione.

Risk of hypervitaminosis D from prolonged feeding of high vitamin D premature infant formula.

Background: Most premature infant formulas marketed in Japan have high vitamin D content. Potential for vitamin D intoxication was assessed in premature infants with prolonged feeding of such a premature formula vitamin D content, 2700 IU/L.

Methods: Serum vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus, and urinary calcium, were measured in 12 very premature infants fed premature infant formula, regular formula (vitamin D content; 460 IU/L), and/or mother's milk.

Gastrointestinal manometric findings in a patient with total intestinal aganglionosis.

Background/purpose: The authors studied gastrointestinal motility in a patient with total intestinal aganglionosis (TIA) and the effect of octreotide (OCT) on ileal motility in this patient.

Methods: The 3200-g girl received ileostomy at 50 cm proximal to the ileocecal site and jejunostomy at 15 cm distal to the ligament of Treitz because of severe ileus owing to TIA. Histology of the intestines, including jejunostomy, showed no ganglion cells.

The enhancing action of D-galactosamine on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells.

The effect of D-galactosamine (D-GalN) on nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells was examined. D-GalN augmented the production of NO, but not tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.

Aberrant dynamics of histone deacetylation at the thyrotropin-releasing hormone gene in resistance to thyroid hormone.

Histone acetylation status influences transcriptional activity, and the mechanism of negative gene regulation by thyroid hormone remains unclear, although its impairment by a mutant thyroid hormone receptor (TR) is critical for resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH). We found a novel RTH mutant, F455S, that exhibited impaired repression of the TRH gene and had a strong dominant-negative effect on the gene. F455S strongly interacted with nuclear receptor corepressor (NCoR) and was hard to dissociate from it.

Room-temperature, continuous-wave 1-W green power by single-pass frequency doubling in a bulk periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal.

Continuous-wave high-power green light generation at room temperature is reported in a single-pass frequency-doubling configuration with bulk periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal placed outside a diode end-pumped Nd:GdVO4 laser. The MgO:LiNbO3 samples of 6.95-microm domain period, uniform periodicity, and 50% duty cycle along the entire crystal length are fabricated by use of a high-voltage multipulse poling method.

Effect of locust bean gum in anti-regurgitant milk on the regurgitation in uncomplicated gastroesophageal reflux.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of anti-regurgitant milk (AR milk) with reduced concentration of locust bean gum (LBG) compared with the usual commercially available concentration of this thickener.

Methods: Thirty infants with daily regurgitation but no other medical problems were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Infants in group A (n = 16) were fed either HL-450, an AR milk thickened with a commonly used concentration of LBG (0.

Butyrate enhances the production of nitric oxide in mouse vascular endothelial cells in response to gamma interferon.

The effect of butyrate, a natural bacterial product of colonic bacterial flora, on nitric oxide (NO) production in murine vascular endothelial cell line END-D in response to IFN-gamma and/or LPS was studied. Butyrate significantly augmented NO production in END-D cells in response to IFN-gamma or IFN-gamma + LPS, but not LPS alone. The NO production was augmented by the addition of butyrate until 6 h after the stimulation with IFN-gamma or IFN-gamma + LPS.

Human macrophage C-type lectin specific for galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine promotes filovirus entry.

Filoviruses cause lethal hemorrhagic disease in humans and nonhuman primates. An initial target of filovirus infection is the mononuclear phagocytic cell. Calcium-dependent (C-type) lectins such as dendritic cell- or liver/lymph node-specific ICAM-3 grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN or L-SIGN, respectively), as well as the hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor, bind to Ebola or Marburg virus glycoprotein (GP) and enhance the infectivity of these viruses in vitro.

Pharmacobezoar complicating treatment with sodium alginate.

We encountered a gastric bezoar that had developed in a 9-year-old girl treated with sodium alginate (Alloid G) for acute gastritis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. A hard mass palpated in the left upper abdomen proved, upon gastric endoscopy, to be an intragastric foreign body. Sodium alginate was detected in an analysis of a sample from this bezoar.

Serum procalcitonin concentration in patients with Kawasaki disease.

Background: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a new parameter of inflammation, the clinical usefulness of which is currently being evaluated.

Materials And Methods: We determined simultaneously the serum concentrations of PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as the white blood cell (WBC) count in 25 patients with Kawasaki disease (KD), 17 with bacterial infections, 10 with systemic autoimmune diseases, 17 with viral infections and 18 healthy children. The optimal cut-off value of each parameter for predicting coronary aneurysms was determined using receiver operating characteristic curves.

Measurement of tricuspid annular diastolic velocities by Doppler tissue imaging to assess right ventricular function in patients with congenital heart disease.

We assessed the clinical utility of using diastolic tricuspid annular velocities obtained by Doppler tissue imaging as a noninvasive index of right ventricular function in patients with congenital heart disease. Doppler tissue imaging at the tricuspid annulus and pulsed Doppler echocardiography of the right ventricular inflow were performed in 71 children with congenital heart disease, with and without elevated right ventricular pressure. Cardiac catheterization was performed in all patients with congenital heart disease, and the hemodynamic determinants of the tricuspid annular and inflow velocities were determined.