Background: Prognostication of patients discharged after acute heart failure (AHF) hospitalization remains challenging. Body weight (BW) reduction is often used as a surrogate marker of decongestion despite the paucity of evidence. We thought to test the hypothesis that B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) reduction during hospitalization has independent prognostic value in AHF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFew methods can predict the prognosis and outcome of traumatic brain injury. Electroencephalographic (EEG) examinations have prognostic significance in the acute stage of posttraumatic coma, and some EEG variables have been correlated with outcome. Furthermore, spindle activity and reactivity in the acute stage have been associated with good recovery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to determine the relationships between the amplitude and cortical-activating areas in each hemisphere for 14-Hz centro-parietal spindles to clarify the involvement of the cortex in the asymmetry of spindles after hemispheric stroke with putaminal or thalamic hemorrhage using simultaneous recording of the electroencephalogram and magnetoencephalogram. Spontaneous cortical activities during sleep stage 2 (spindles) were simultaneously recorded from 10 patients with putaminal or thalamic hemorrhage with a 60-channel electroencephalogram and a 306-channel whole-head magnetoencephalogram. Based on the frequencies and cortical distributions recorded with electroencephalogram, the 14-Hz centro-parietal and 12-Hz frontal spindles were differentiated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Neurophysiol
February 2008
The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between the distributions and cortical sources of two types of spindles in the magnetoencephalogram (MEG) and how cortical activating areas contribute to the distribution of spindles. Spontaneous activities during sleep stage 2 were recorded from 7 normal subjects by simultaneous EEG and MEG recordings. Two types of spindles with frequency-specific topographic differences (fast spindles and slow spindles) were defined by EEG, and, subsequently, the sources of spindles were estimated as equivalent current dipoles using MEG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The major function of rehabilitation and physical medicine specialists is to provide the proper therapy that helps in improving the physical activities of impaired, disabled and handicapped persons through improvement in their muscle strength. In performing their function, the rehabilitation team should always take heed of the social and mental well-being of such patients. Having observed millions of Muslims perform the salat (prayer) regularly at specified times throughout the world, we postulated that salat, along with its various postures, can play a role in increasing psychological well-being including self-reliance and self-esteem, improving musculo-skeletal fitness, motor behavior and cerebral blood flow that may be beneficial in the rehabilitation of geriatric and disabled persons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug Metab Pharmacokinet
June 2005
Background/aim: Creatinine is excreted into urine via tubular secretion in addition to glomerular filtration. In the present study, characteristics of the creatinine transport in renal epithelial cells were investigated.
Methods: The transcellular transport and accumulation of [14C]creatinine and [14C]tetraethylammonium (TEA) were assessed using LLC-PK1 cell monolayers cultured on porous membrane filters.
We measured the nicotine concentrations in tissues after a bolus i.v. administration of [(3)H]nicotine to rats to characterize the distribution profile of nicotine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Creatinine is excreted into urine by tubular secretion in addition to glomerular filtration. The purpose of this study was to clarify molecular mechanisms underlying the tubular secretion of creatinine in the human kidney.
Methods: Transport of [14C]creatinine by human organic ion transporters (SLC22A) was assessed by HEK293 cells expressing hOCT1, hOCT2, hOCT2-A, hOAT1, and hOAT3.
Backgrounds And Aims: There is no commonly accepted view concerning changes in gastric metaplasia after the eradication of Helicobacter pylori. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term course of gastric metaplasia after the eradication of this bacterium.
Methods: The subjects were 59 patients with duodenal ulcer who were positive for Helicobacter pylori.
Yakugaku Zasshi
November 2002
Tubular absorption and urinary secretion are important physiological functions for the maintenance of body fluid homeostasis and detoxification of drugs and xenobiotics. The proximal tubular epithelial cells play a principal role in limiting or preventing the toxicity of administered drugs by actively secreting organic cations from the circulation into the urine. Rat (r) OCT2 was identified as a second member of the organic cation transporter (OCT) family and is predominantly expressed in the kidney.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: We examined the reliability of an airway evaluation test to assess the occipitoatlantoaxial (OAA) extension capacity described by Bellhouse et al. (Bellhouse test) in 20 adult volunteers with normal cervical spines. Each subject sat upright with the head in the neutral position and was then asked to extend the head maximally while attempting to move the neck as little as possible.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA cDNA coding a novel organic cation transporter, hOCT2-A, was isolated from human kidney. The hOCT2-A cDNA is an alternatively spliced variant of hOCT2 with an insertion of 1169 bp. The open reading frame encodes a 483-amino acid protein that has 81% amino acid identity with hOCT2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRenal excretion of organic anions and cations is mediated by the organic ion transporter family (SLC22A). In this study, the mRNA levels of the organic ion transporters were quantified by real-time PCR in normal parts of renal tissues from seven nephrectomized patients with renal cell carcinoma, and the distributions and localization of human (h)OAT1, hOAT3, and hOCT2 proteins were investigated by immunohistochemical analyses in the human kidney. The expression level of hOAT3 mRNA was the highest among the organic ion transporter family, followed by that of hOAT1 mRNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: With fibreoptic intubation, advancement of the endotracheal tube (ETT) through the glottis is blind. Thus, in patients with a laryngeal tumour, there is a potential for damage to the tumour. Previously, we proposed the use of a fibreoptic bronchoscope (FOB)-video camera system to permit visualization of tube passage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study was performed to determine the detailed mRNA distribution of organic cation transporters, rOCT1 and rOCT2, along the rat nephron and to distinguish the substrate affinities of these transporters.
Methods: The distributions of rOCT1 and rOCT2 mRNA were determined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis of microdissected nephron segments. Using MDCK cells transfected with rOCT1 or rOCT2 cDNA, the inhibitory effects of various compounds on the uptake of [14C]tetraethylammonium were assessed.
Background And Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gastric metaplasia and Helicobacter pylori in patients with endoscopic duodenitis.
Methods: The subjects were 57 patients with endoscopic duodentitis with or without H. pylori-associated gastritis.
Background And Aims: It was recently reported that low-grade gastric lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) was regressed by the eradication of Helicobacter pylori. The aim of this study was to confirm the effect of H. pylori eradication on low-grade gastric MALT lymphoma and to investigate the whitish mucosa that appeared with regression of the lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrganic cation transporters play an important role in the secretion of cationic drugs as well as endogenous cationic metabolites in the renal tubules. Immunoblotting showed the presence of organic cation transporter proteins, rOCT1 and rOCT2, in the rat kidney. By immunofluorescence microscopy, rOCT1 was shown to be concentrated in the proximal tubules in the renal cortex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRat (r) OCT2 was identified as the second member of the organic cation transporter (OCT) family, and is predominantly expressed in the kidney. We reported previously that rOCT2 was responsible for the gender differences in renal basolateral membrane organic cation transport activity. As renal rOCT2 expression in males is much higher than that in females, we hypothesized that rOCT2 expression may be under the control of sex hormones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLow-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the stomach has been demonstrated to be closely linked to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and to be frequently remissioned after the cure of H. pylori infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe organic cation transporter (OCT) mediates translocation of various cationic molecules including drugs, toxins and endogenous substances. We examined gender differences in the expression of rat (r) OCT2 in the kidney. Slices and basolateral membrane vesicles of male rat kidney showed a higher transport activity for tetraethylammonium than those of female rat kidney.
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