Administration of nifedipine CR immediately after awakening prevents a morning surge in hypertensive patients. Case report of three cases.

Although the blood pressure-lowering action of some long-acting calcium antagonists may last more than 24 h, some patients taking this drug still experience a morning surge, i.e. an early morning increase in blood pressure.

Hypercalcemia due to vitamin D intoxication with clinical features mimicking acute myocardial infarction.

We report a case of hypercalcemia in an elderly patient due to vitamin D intoxication with clinical features and electrocardiogram (ECG) findings mimicking acute myocardial infarction. A 78-year-old man was referred to our department with symptoms of general fatigue, anorexia and chest pain. The ECG demonstrated ST elevation in leads V1 to V3 and diffuse T wave flattening, resulting in myocardial infarction being suspected.

An unusual case of bilateral coronary artery aneurysms and aortic aneurysms complicated by stenotic lesions.

A 71-year-old Japanese woman presented with a chief complaint of throbbing sensations in the abdomen. When she was 16 years old, she was exposed to atomic radiation since she was 1.2 km away from the drop zone of the Nagasaki atomic bomb.

Left cervical aortic arch associated with aortic aneurysm, aortic coarctation, and branch artery aneurysm--a case report and review.

Cervical aortic arch (CAA) is a rare congenital aortic anomaly. Although, in CAA, other cardiovascular abnormalities including aortic aneurysm and aortic coarctation are occasionally accompanied, coexistence of those 2 aortic abnormalities on the same patient is rare, and moreover, association of the aneurysm of branching artery has not been reported. The authors present here the first patient with CAA who had both an aneurysm and a coarctation in the aortic arch, and further, another aneurysm in the left subclavian artery.

Attachment organelle formation represented by localization of cytadherence proteins and formation of the electron-dense core in wild-type and mutant strains of Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Cytadherence proteins of Mycoplasma pneumoniae are localized at the attachment organelle, which is involved in adhesion, gliding motility, and cell division. The localization of these proteins in cytadherence-deficient mutants was examined by immunofluorescence microscopy. In the class I-2 mutant, which has a frameshift mutation in the hmw2 gene, fluorescent foci for HMW1 and HMW3 were found with reduced intensity, and P1 adhesin showed reduced focusing.

Extended distribution of prolonged and fractionated right atrial electrograms predicts development of chronic atrial fibrillation in patients with idiopathic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: This study evaluates whether electrophysiologic abnormalities in patients with idiopathic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) predict the transition to chronic atrial fibrillation (CAF).

Methods And Results: Ninety-six patients with idiopathic PAF underwent electrophysiologic study and were followed up. During electrophysiologic study, endocardial mapping was performed at 12 sites in the right atrium (four aspects of the high, middle, and low right atrium).

How HIV infected haemophiliacs in Japan were informed of their HIV-positive status.

The purpose of this study is to find out how HIV-infected haemophiliacs were informed and notified of their HIV infection. Self-reporting questionnaires were mailed to approximately 500 patients, about one half of the haemophiliac patients with HIV in Japan. The response rate was about 57% (n=283); and 270 (male=269) patients, apart from secondary and tertiary infected patients, were eligible as subjects for the study.

A histone deacetylase inhibitor enhances killing of undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma cells by p53 gene therapy.

Mutation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene is recognized to be a key event in the development of the highly aggressive behavior of undifferentiated or anaplastic thyroid carcinomas. Attempts to treat these carcinomas with p53 gene therapy have, however, been largely unsuccessful. Since epigenetic changes such as histone deacetylation are associated with loss of thyroid differentiation, we have evaluated the potential of combining p53 gene therapy with exposure to the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDAC-1), depsipeptide.

Norepinephrine enhances fibrosis mediated by TGF-beta in cardiac fibroblasts.

Cardiac fibrosis results from proliferation of interstitial fibroblasts and concomitant increased biosynthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and is often complicated by cardiac hypertrophy. This study was conducted to investigate whether norepinephrine (NE) potentiates transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)-induced cardiac fibrosis. The expression of the cardiac ECM proteins, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), fibronectin, and collagen type I, was examined by Western blotting using extracts from neonatal rat primary cardiac fibroblasts.

Simultaneous atrial and ventricular pacing to facilitate mapping of concealed left-sided accessory pathways.

Several local electrogram characteristics have been proposed as criteria to predict successful ablation. However, poor specificity due to obscuration of the retrograde atrial electrogram by the ventricular electrogram is problematic. The aim of this study was to analyze local electrograms obtained by simultaneous pacing to identify quantitative criteria that may predict successful ablation sites for concealed left free-wall accessory pathways.

[The effectiveness of the long-term treatment with pranlukast in pediatric patients with mild to moderate asthma].

To investigate the efficacy of the long-term treatment with pranlukast, a specific cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, in pediatric patients with mild to moderate asthma, 77 pediatric asthmatic patients who received pranlukast for up to 36 months (mean duration, 13 months) were evaluated retrospectively. Treatment with pranlukast resulted in improvements from the pretreatment baseline in asthma attacks per month, episodes of hospitalization, and episodes of intravenous amynophiline treatment on emergent clinic visits. The percentage of responders who had marked or moderate improvements in the above-mentioned parameters of asthma control was 79%.

The effects of body mass index on age at menopause.

Objective: We examined which of body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)), serum cholesterol (mg/dl), or systolic blood pressure (SBP, mm Hg) affected age at natural menopause.

Design: A population-based follow-up program.

Methods: We determined the age at natural menopause in 1136 women followed biennially since their first examination in 1958-1959 through the 16th examination in 1988-1989.

Dependence on initial conditions of an adsorption-desorption process.

A one-dimensional irreversible adsorption-desorption process is simulated. The critical parameters as well as the critical exponents are measured. At the critical point, the crossover between the accumulative state and the depleted state is described by a universal characteristic function.

The prevalence, incidence and prognostic value of the Brugada-type electrocardiogram: a population-based study of four decades.

Objectives: We sought to demonstrate the prevalence, incidence and prognostic value of the Brugada-type electrocardiogram (ECG) in a general population.

Background: The Brugada syndrome is characterized by evidence of right bundle branch block and ST segment elevation in the right precordial leads, as well as sudden death caused by ventricular fibrillation. However, the natural history of the Brugada-type ECG remains unclear.

Correlation between fatty liver and coronary risk factors: a population study of elderly men and women in Nagasaki, Japan.

The relation between fatty liver, detected by ultrasonography as a marker of visceral fat accumulation, and coronary risk factors was studied in 810 elderly men and 1,273 elderly women in Nagasaki, Japan from 1990 to 1992. The prevalence of fatty liver was 3.3% in the male and 3.

Contribution of central amiloride-sensitive transport systems to the development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

This study was conducted to examine if central amiloride-sensitive transport systems are involved in the development and/or maintenance of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Either amiloride (75 microg/60 microl/day) or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF, 60 microl/day) was infused centrally (i.c.

Effects of age at menopause on serum cholesterol, body mass index, and blood pressure.

Pre- and postmenopausal cholesterol (mg/dl), body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2)), and systolic blood pressure (SBP; mmHg) levels were compared in three age-at-time-of-menopause (ATM) groups to examine the relationship between the three risk factors and age ATM. Cholesterol, BMI, and SBP levels recorded 4 years prior to and 8 years after menopause were examined and increases in these risk factors between the two measurements were noted. The three age groups were: group A (n=49; age ATM [44+/-1]<45), group B (n=395; 45< or =age ATM [48+/-1]<50), and group C (n=578; age ATM [52+/-2]> or =50).

Novel seco cyclopropa[c]pyrrolo[3,2-e]indole bisalkylators bearing a 3,3'-arylenebisacryloyl group as a linker.

We synthesized the novel seco cyclopropa[c]pyrrolo[3,2-e]indole (CPI) bisalkylators and evaluated their antitumor activity. Among these derivatives, 11a (AT-760), in which the two seco 3-methoxycarbonyl-2-trifluoromethyl CPI (MCTFCPI) moieties are connected with a 3,3'-(1,4-phenylene)bisacryloyl group, was found to exhibit more potent cytotoxicity and antitumor activity against HeLaS3 human uterine cervix carcinoma cells and Colon 26 adenocarcinoma cells, respectively, than 8 (bizelesin, U-77,779). It also appeared that compound 11a exhibits improved in vivo efficacy in the human colon CX-1 model when compared to either compound 8 or mitomycin C (MMC).

Alteration of antioxidants during the progression of heart disease in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Involvement of oxidative stress is implicated in the progression of complication of diabetes mellitus. With respect to heart diseases, we have studied role of oxidative stress/antioxidants using rats treated with streptozotocin to induce diabetes (DM). Hemodynamic and echocardiographic measurements showed thickening of the wall and an increase in the internal dimension of the left ventricle (LV) in DM rats at 8th week.

Visualization of the attachment organelle and cytadherence proteins of Mycoplasma pneumoniae by immunofluorescence microscopy.

A method was developed for protein localization in Mycoplasma pneumoniae by immunofluorescence microscopy. The P1 adhesin protein was revealed to be located at least at one cell pole in all adhesive cells, as has been observed by immunoelectron microscopy. Cell images were classified according to P1 localization and assigned by DNA content.

Activated protein C prevents multiple organ injury following extensive hepatectomy in cirrhotic rats.

Background/aims: Extended hepatectomy for cirrhotic liver in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma often triggers posthepatectomy liver failure. It has been shown that the microcirculatory disturbance caused by microthrombus formation and sinusoidal endothelial cellular injury is one of the causes of post-hepatectomy liver dysfunction. We therefore investigated the effect of activated protein C (APC), a potent antithrombotic serine protease with anti-inflammatory effects, on posthepatectomy liver dysfunction and multiple organ injury in cirrhotic rats.

A 15-year longitudinal follow-up study of heart rate and heart rate variability in healthy elderly persons.

Background: Few researchers have conducted heart rate (HR) studies in healthy very elderly subjects aged 70 years or older, and there are no longitudinal follow-up studies in this population. The objective of this study was to evaluate long-term changes in HR and heart rate variability (HRV) with aging in healthy elderly persons by means of comparison between two Holter monitor recordings obtained at an interval of 15 years.

Methods: The study population consisted of 15 healthy elderly persons (10 women and 5 men) aged 64 to 80 years (mean 70 +/- 4.

Tissue factor expression in human colorectal carcinoma: correlation with hepatic metastasis and impact on prognosis.

Background: It has been suggested that tissue factor (TF) plays an important role in tumor metastasis. Its expression in sarcoma cells was reported to up-regulate the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene and thereby enhance tumor angiogenesis, which is essential to tumor metastasis. Although many malignant tumors have been reported to express this protein constitutively, recent clinical studies have focused mainly on the correlations among TF expression, tumor progression, and histologic grade.

Protection by various deoxynucleosides against deoxyadenosine-induced DNA damage in adenosine deaminase-inactivated lymphocytes.

Adenosine deaminase deficiency is an inborn error resulting in immunodeficiency. The pathogenesis of the lymphopenia is not fully understood. Intracellular increases in dATP in the absence of deamination retard DNA repair in human resting lymphocytes and results in the slow accumulation of DNA strand breaks.

Cell reproduction cycle of mycoplasma.

The cell reproduction cycle of parasitic wall-free bacteria, mycoplasma, is reviewed. DNA replication of Mycoplasma capricolum starts at a fixed site neighboring the dnaA gene and proceeds to both directions after a short arrest in one direction. The initiation frequency fits to the slow speed of replication fork and DNA content is set constant.