[European guideline for the management of precancerous conditions in the stomach and it's application to Japan].

Atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection are commonly recognized as the risk factor of gastric cancer. In Japan mass screening by the X-ray examination or endoscopy has been performed for a long time in general population or in work place because of the high death rate and high incidence of gastric cancer.

Effective induction of oral anaphylaxis to ovalbumin in mice sensitized by feeding of the antigen with aid of oil emulsion and salicylate.

It is important to evaluate the ability of novel proteins in food crops and products to elicit potentially harmful immunologic responses, including allergic hypersensitivity. We developed a novel mouse model of food allergy involving an oral challenge of a protein antigen after feeding of the antigen in combination with modulating factors often ingested in daily life, namely, dietary oil emulsion and salicylate. In the model, BALB/c mice were sensitized orally for three weeks with ovalbumin (OVA) in linoleic acid/lecithin emulsion, followed immediately by intraperitoneal injection of sodium salicylate.

[Heavy metal-induced immunotoxicity and its mechanisms].

Immunotoxic effects of heavy metals, as a typical environmental agent, and their mechanisms are reviewed based on our findings on autoimmune response induced by exposure to cadmium (Cd) as CdCl(2). Adverse immune effects of chemicals, defined as immunotoxicity, have been used as a sensitive biomarker for assessing health effects of environmental chemicals. My initial research focused on renal toxicity of heavy metals was developed to elucidate characteristics and mechanisms for immune-mediated nephritis induced by heavy metals.

[Mechanism of metallothionein gene activation mediated by heavy-metal dependent transcription factor MTF-1].

Transcriptional activation of metallothionein (MT) genes by heavy metals is a valuable system for understanding the functions of MT as well as the cellular response against heavy metals. Although it is now known that heavy metal signals culminating in MT induction converge upon a transcription factor MTF-1, the mechanism underlying the MTF-1 response to heavy metals has not been elucidated. To address this issue, we investigated various aspects of the in vivo response of MTF-1 against heavy metals.

Analysis of human proteins that have an affinity to heavy metals by metal-chelating column chromatography.

To clarify the molecular basis of toxicities of industrial chemicals, it is demanded to develop appropriate methods whereby their cellular target molecules can be directly identified. In the present study, we focused on target proteins of heavy metals and established the method to detect them using a combination of metal-chelating column chromatography and a subsequent analysis by electrophoresis. Protein samples prepared from HeLa cells were applied to the Zn- or Cd-chelating column, and the bound proteins were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by either silver staining, or fluorography when using radiolabel protein samples.

[Determination of the optical purity of N-nitrosofenfluramine found in the Chinese slimming diet].

From 2001 to the summer of 2002, more than 800 cases of liver damage were reported in Japan among people taking Chinese diet aids. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has recently announced that N-nitrosofenfluramine was the hepatotoxic compound contained in the diet aids based on animal experiments performed by the National Institute of Health Sciences. Although N-nitrosofenfluramine is a derivative of fenfluramine, a previously used antiobesity drug, neither pharmacologic nor toxicologic properties have been reported for N-nitroso fenfluramine.