[Clinical evaluation of the effect of tamsulosin hydrochloride and cernitin pollen extract on urinary disturbance associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia in a multicentered study].

We evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of tamsulosin hydrochloride and cernitin pollen extract in 243 patients with urinary disturbance associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia. They were assigned randomly to 3 groups, oral tamsulosin hydrochloride, cernitin pollen extract and their combination were administered for 12 weeks. The international prostate symptom score, post-voided residual urine and uroflowmetrogram were obtained before and after treatment.

Rho-kinase mediates hypoxia-induced downregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase.

Background: Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Hypoxia induces pulmonary vasoconstriction, in part, by decreasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression. The mechanism by which hypoxia decreases eNOS expression is not known but may involve Rho-kinase-induced actin cytoskeletal changes in vascular endothelial cells.

Evaluation of basic performance and applicability of a newly developed in vivo nitric oxide sensor.

Direct measurement of nitric oxide (NO) is of great importance and value for both in vitro and in vivo studies on dynamic NO bioactivity. Here, we evaluated the basic performance of a newly developed NO sensor (Innovative Instruments, Inc.).

A case of growth hormone and gonadotropin deficiency associated with unilateral anophthalmia, microphallus, cryptorchidism, and mental retardation.

We report a rare case of growth hormone and gonadotropin deficiency associated with dysmorphic features. A 16-year-old boy had left anophthalmia, microphallus, bilateral cryptorchidism, and mental retardation. His chromosomal karyotype was normal, 46, XY.

Long-term inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis increases arterial thrombogenecity in rat carotid artery.

Reduced activity of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) may be involved in thrombus formation on atherosclerotic plaques, a major cause of acute coronary syndrome. However, mechanisms of such increase in arterial thrombogenecity have not been fully understood. We previously reported that long-term inhibition of NO synthesis by administration of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) causes hypertension and activates vascular tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity.

mRNA expression profiling of laser microbeam microdissected cells from slender embryonic structures.

Microarray hybridization has rapidly evolved as an important tool for genomic studies and studies of gene regulation at the transcriptome level. Expression profiles from homogenous samples such as yeast and mammalian cell cultures are currently extending our understanding of biology, whereas analyses of multicellular organisms are more difficult because of tissue complexity. The combination of laser microdissection, RNA amplification, and microarray hybridization has the potential to provide expression profiles from selected populations of cells in vivo.

Hyperglycemia-induced alteration of vascular smooth muscle phenotype.

We have previously reported that high glucose stimulates osteopontin (OPN) expression through protein kinase C-dependent pathway, as well as the hexosamine pathway, in cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC). The finding prompted us to study in vivo expression of OPN in diabetes mellitus. In the present study, we found by immunohistochemistry that medial layers of the carotid arteries of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, as well as the forearm arteries of diabetic patients, stained positive with OPN antibodies, whereas the staining of control rats, as well as nondiabetic patients, was negative.

Important role of Rho-kinase in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular inflammation and remodeling induced by long-term blockade of nitric oxide synthesis in rats.

Chronic inhibition of endothelial NO synthesis by the administration of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) to rats induces early vascular inflammation (monocyte infiltration into coronary vessels and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression) as well as subsequent arteriosclerosis. The small GTPase Rho controls cell adhesion, motility, and proliferation and is activated by several growth factors such as angiotensin II. We investigated the effect of a specific inhibitor of Rho-kinase, Y-27632, in rats treated with L-NAME to determine the role of the Rho/Rho-kinase pathway in the development of arteriosclerosis.

Effect of dietary control on plasma nitrate level and estimation of basal systemic nitric oxide production rate in humans.

It is of great interest and value to evaluate the systemic nitric oxide (NO) production rate in humans under various conditions. However, the currently available estimation methods are troublesome and time-consuming. We thus aimed at developing a simple method to estimate the basal systemic NO production rate in humans based on a steady-state analysis, i.

Effect of wortmannin on the suppression of thermotolerance in tsAF8 cells.

Phosphatidylinositol 3 kinases (PI-3 kinases) play a crucial role in the inositol phospholipid signaling pathway. The effect of wortmannin, an inhibitor of PI-3 kinases, on the suppression of thermotolerance development was investigated in the temperature-sensitive cell line tsAF8. When wortmannin was added immediately after the preheating, the thermotolerance was suppressed, with this suppression being dose-dependent from 0.

Statins as antioxidant therapy for preventing cardiac myocyte hypertrophy.

Cardiac hypertrophy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The hypertrophic process is mediated, in part, by small G proteins of the Rho family. We hypothesized that statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, inhibit cardiac hypertrophy by blocking Rho isoprenylation.

Deracemization of racemic 4-pyridyl-1-ethanol by Catharanthus roseus cell cultures.

Immobilized cells of Catharanthus roseus synthesized (R)-4-pyridyl-1-ethanol from the corresponding racemate in 100% yield by stereoinversion of the (S)-alcohol in the racemate to the (R)-alcohol. Furthermore, in the reduction of 4-acetylpyridine, we could synthesize both (R) and (S)-4-pyridyl-1-ethanol during a short or a long incubation.

Pleiotropic effects of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase inhibitors.

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors or statins are potent inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis. Several large clinical trials have demonstrated the beneficial effects of statins in the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. However, the overall clinical benefits observed with statin therapy appear to be greater than what might be expected from changes in lipid profile alone, suggesting that the beneficial effects of statins may extend beyond their effects on serum cholesterol levels.

The R3 region, one of three major repetitive regions of human herpesvirus 6, is a strong enhancer of immediate-early gene U95.

An immediate-early (IE) gene of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), U95, has similarity at the amino acid level to the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) IE2 gene and is related to the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) US22 gene family. Sequence analyses of U95 cDNA clones revealed that the transcription start site was located about 1.6 kbp upstream of the putative initiating ATG and that the transcript consisted of two exons.

[Relationship between endothelial dysfunction and nitric oxide production in young male smokers].

Objectives: Endothelial function in the brachial arteries is impaired in smokers. However, little is known about this condition in young adult men. The relationship between nitric oxide(NO) production and the endothelial function was investigated in young smokers and compared with non-smokers.

Enhanced intra-abdominal visceral fat accumulation in patients with Werner's syndrome.

Objective: Studies were made on the abnormality of glucose and lipid metabolism and its cause in four patients with Werner's syndrome to infer the reason for accelerated atherogenesis in this syndrome.

Results: Of these four patients, hypercholesterolemia was found in three, hypertriglyceridemia in four, hypoalphalipoproteinemia in two and hypertension in two. All the patients had insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus and three of them had apparent hyperinsulinemia.

Synthesis of styrenes through the biocatalytic decarboxylation of trans-cinnamic acids by plant cell cultures.

A novel method for producing styrenes from trans-cinnamic acids was developed. When trans-cinnamic acid was incubated with plant cell cultures at room temperature, styrene was obtained. 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxystyrene (2a), 3-nitrostyrene (2f) and furan (2g) were synthesized quantitatively.

An infant with precursor natural killer (NK) cell leukemia successfully treated with an unrelated cord blood transplantation.

Here we report a case with precursor natural killer (NK) cell leukemia successfully treated with an unrelated cord blood transplantation. A 7-month-old Japanese boy was diagnosed to have NK cell leukemia based on the existence of abnormal cells in the bone marrow with the phenotype of CD3(-) /CD4(+) /CD7(-) /CD8(-) /CD16(-) /CD33(+) /CD34(-) /CD56(+) /HLA-DR(+) /NKB1(+) / CD94(+). The leukemic cells showed few azurophilic granules in the cytoplasm and weak cytotoxic activity.

NK-104, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, reduces osteopontin expression by rat aortic smooth muscle cells.

1. It has been suggested that osteopontin promotes the development of atherosclerosis, especially under diabetic conditions. 2.

Chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis in rats increases aortic superoxide anion production via the action of angiotensin II.

Objective: Chronic inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) increases vascular tissue angiotensin II activity and oxidative stress in animals by incompletely understood mechanisms. In a rat model, we investigated the role of local angiotensin II activity in the pathogenesis of increased oxidative stress.

Design: We studied the aortas of control rats and others receiving L-NAME or L-NAME plus an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist (CS-866).

Decrease of nitric oxide end-products during coronary circulation reflects elevated basal coronary artery tone in patients with vasospastic angina.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the coronary circulation and its relation to basal coronary artery tone in patients with vasospastic angina (VSA). We evaluated the level of nitric oxide end-products (NOx; nitrite + nitrate) in coronary circulation blood using an HPLC-Griess system for nine patients with VSA and nine control patients. All of the patients with VSA experienced focal spasm in the proximal to middle segments of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in response to intracoronary injection of ergonovine maleate.

Diagnostic usefulness of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in influenza-associated acute encephalopathy or encephalitis.

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study was performed for a 20-month-old girl with an influenza type A infection who presented acute encephalopathy. Conventional MRI performed 8 days after the onset of encephalopathy, including T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging, revealed only vague lesions in the right frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. In contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) then demonstrated the lesions much more intensively.

Interpolation of missing part of human follicle border on ultrasonic B-mode image by iterative revision.

In clinical infertility treatments, assessment of ovarian follicle growth by ultrasonography is important. In order to measure the geometrical characteristics of the human follicle, such as the area of the cross-sectional image and the volume inside the follicle, a method based on manual tracing of the follicle contour from the ultrasonic B mode image is widely used. However, the observable ultrasonic B mode images are sometimes imperfect and some parts of the follicle border are missing due to the existence of the acoustic shadow.