The untranslated region of (mu)-opioid receptor mRNA contributes to reduced opioid sensitivity in CXBK mice.

It is well known that there are individual differences in a sensitivity to analgesics. Several lines of evidence have suggested that the level of opioid-induced analgesia is dependent on the level of expression of the mu-opioid receptor (mu-OR). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the diversity of the level of the opioid receptor and the opioid sensitivity among individuals remain to be elucidated.

Occurrence of the parathyroid cyst in golden hamsters.

Parathyroid cyst is a rare lesion, but has clinical significance because of it's ability to mimic a thyroid mass and it's association with hyperparathyroidism. The occurrence and morphology of parathyroid cysts in golden hamsters from neonatal to senile periods were investigated using light and electron microscopy. The results demonstrate the presence of chief cell cysts in the parathyroid glands of 5-day-old hamsters.

Two cases of the double inferior venae cavae.

Two cases of the double inferior venae cavae (IVC) were found during the student dissection practice in 1997 in Gifu University School of Medicine. On the first case (70-year-old male), the calibers of the right and left IVC were 15 mm and 13 mm, respectively. An anastomosis (4-mm caliber) ran obliquely from the left internal iliac vein to the right IVC.

Acute effects of caffeine administration on the ultrastructure of the golden hamster parathyroid gland.

This study was conducted to evaluate the acute effects of caffeine on the ultrastructure of the parathyroid glands in golden hamsters. Caffeine was given orally at either 2.5 mg (low dose) or 10 mg (high dose) per 100 g body weight.

Involvement of G-protein-activated inwardly rectifying K (GIRK) channels in opioid-induced analgesia.

To investigate the role of G-protein-activated inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channels in opioid-induced analgesia, we compared the effects of opioids in wild-type and weaver mutant mice having mutant GIRK channels. In the tail-flick and hot-plate tests, weaver mutant mice displayed significantly lower analgesia after either morphine or (-)-U-50488 administration. These findings suggest that GIRK channel activation is important in the induction of analgesia by opioids.

[Estimation of adverse drug reactions by the evaluation scores of subjective symptoms (complaints) and background of patients. V. Drug-induced gastrointestinal system disorders].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and assess an estimation procedure for preventing adverse drug reaction by subjective symptoms (complaints) of patients. This time, we focused and studied on drug-induced gastrointestinal system disorders.

Methods: We have built a database for CARPIS (Case Reports of Adverse Drug Reaction and Poisoning Information System) since 1987.

[Estimation of adverse drug reactions by the evaluation scores of subjective symptoms (complaints) and background of patients. IV. Drug eruptions].

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to develop, implement, and assess an estimation procedure for preventing adverse drug reaction by subjective symptoms (complaints) of patients. This time, we focused and studied on drug eruptions.

Methods: We have built a database for CARPIS (Case Reports of Adverse Drug Reaction and Poisoning Information System) since 1987, and the case reports of adverse drug reactions accumulated in the CARPIS database to be total about 20,000.

Effects of long-term treatment with caffeine on the ultrastructure of the golden hamster parathyroid gland and tibia.

The ultrastructure of the parathyroid gland and the SEM appearances of the tibia were studied in hamsters with and without administration of caffeine. Caffeine was treated orally each day at either 2.5 mg (low dose) or 10 mg (high dose) per 100 g body weight for a period of 17 or 32 days.

Effects of ethanol on the ultrastructure of the hamster thyroid C-cell.

The morphology of the thyroid C-cells in golden hamsters after short- and long-term treatment with ethanol was studied. Immunohistochemistry was applied to examine the distribution of the C-cells in the thyroid gland. In the short-term experimental animals, the Golgi complexes and the granular endoplasmic reticulum were well developed and the number of the secretory granules was decreased as compared with those of the control animals.

[Estimation of adverse drug reactions by the evaluation scores of subjective symptoms (complaints) and background of patients. III. Drug-induced leucopenia].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and assess an estimation procedure for preventing adverse drug reaction by subjective symptoms (complaints) of patients. This time, we carried out this study focusing on drug-induced leucopenia.

Methods: We have built a database for CARPIS (Case Reports of Adverse Drug Reaction and Poisoning Information System) since 1987, and the total number of case reports of adverse drug reaction accumulated in the CARPIS database amounts to about 16,000.

Morphology of the dorsal lingual papillae in the blackbuck, Antilope cervicapra.

The dorsal lingual surface of a blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The tongue was about 125 mm in length. There were about 30 vallate papillae on both sides.

Macrophages in the hamster parathyroid gland: immunohistochemical and ultrastructural investigations.

The distribution and morphology of the parathyroid macrophages in golden hamsters from neonatal to senile periods were investigated using the monoclonal antibody to ED2 and electron microscopy. The results showed that definite ED2-positive cells were hardly detectable in the parathyroid gland of 1-day-old hamsters. A few ED2-positive cells could be identified in the parathyroid gland of 10-day-old hamsters.

Roles of neuregulin in synaptogenesis between mossy fibers and cerebellar granule cells.

Neuregulins (NRGs), a large group of structurally related signaling proteins, are likely to have important roles in the development, maintenance and repair of the nervous system and other selected tissues. We have demonstrated, by using the major form of NRG cloned from the mouse cerebellum that both the soluble form and the membrane anchored form of NRG may serve different functions in synaptogenesis. The soluble form of NRG was produced by proteolytic cleavage of the membrane anchored form of NRG.

[Estimation of adverse drug reactions by the evaluation scores of subjective symptoms (complaints) and background of patients. II. Drug-induced extrapyramidal symptoms].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and assess an estimation procedure for preventing adverse drug reaction by subjective symptoms (complaints) of patients. This time, we focused and studied on drug-induced extrapyramidal symptoms.

Methods: We have built a database for CARPIS (Case Reports of Adverse Drug Reaction and Poisoning Information Systems) since 1987, and the case reports of adverse drug reaction accumulated in the CARPIS database to be total about 16,000.

Dynamic changes in glucose metabolism of living rat brain slices induced by hypoxia and neurotoxic chemical-loading revealed by positron autoradiography.

Fresh rat brain slices were incubated with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) in oxygenated Krebs-Ringer solution at 36 degrees C, and serial two-dimensional time-resolved images of [18F]FDG uptake were obtained from these specimens on imaging plates. The fractional rate constant (= k3*) of [18F]FDG proportional to the cerebral glucose metabolic rate (CMRglc) was evaluated by applying the Gjedde-Patlak graphical method to the image data. With hypoxia loading (oxygen deprivation) or glucose metabolism inhibitors acting on oxidative phosphorylation, the k3* value increased dramatically suggesting enhanced glycolysis.

Ethanol opens G-protein-activated inwardly rectifying K+ channels.

Ethanol affects many functions of the brain and peripheral organs. Here we show that ethanol opens G-protein-activated, inwardly rectifying K + (GIRK) channels, which has important implications for inhibitory regulation of neuronal excitability and heart rate. At pharmacologically relevant concentrations, ethanol activated both brain-type GIRK1/2 and cardiac-type GIRK1/4 channels without interaction with G proteins or second messengers.

Unique behavioural phenotypes of recombinant-inbred CXBK mice: partial deficiency of sensitivity to mu- and kappa-agonists.

Recombinant-inbred CXBK mice have been used for various studies as putative mu-opioid-receptor deficient mice. However, CXBK mice have never been compared with gene-targeting mice lacking the mu-opioid receptor (muKO) and the K-opioid receptor (kappaKO). Here we report that CXBK mice show distinct behavioural phenotype in opioid-induced analgesia and sedation.

Tailoring of surfaces with ultrathin polymer films for survival and growth of neurons in culture.

We have studied the adhesion, growth, and survival of dissociated cells of rat cerebellum onto glass surfaces derivatized with covalently bound ultrathin polymer layers. The surface coatings were prepared by growing polymer chains directly at the surfaces of solid substrates by using self-assembled monolayers of radical chain initiators. Methacrylate and acrylamide polymers with different polarities were covalently attached to the surfaces and the adhesion behaviour of the neuronal cells to these surfaces was studied.

Effects of long-term treatment with ethanol on the ultrastructure of the golden hamster parathyroid gland.

The ultrastructure of the parathyroid gland in golden hamsters after long-term treatment with ethanol was studied. Male hamsters of experimental groups were given ethanol at the concentration of 7% for 3 and 5 months with food and water freely available. In the ethanol-treated hamsters, the Golgi complexes associated with many prosecretory granules were well developed and many secretory granules were located near the plasma membrane as compared with those of the control animals.

A novel type of non-coding RNA expressed in the rat brain.

We have characterized a novel type of non-coding RNA which consists of tandem repeats of similar sequences, approximately 0.9 kb in size. This RNA, termed Bsr (brain specific repetitive) RNA, is encoded at a single locus (6 q31-->q32) in the rat genome, where 100 to 150 copies of the 0.

Novel neuronal effects of midkine on embryonic cerebellar neurons examined using a defined culture system.

1. Midkine (MK) is known to be a member of a family of heparin-binding neurotrophic factors. We used a chemically defined culture system to examine neuronal activities of MK on embryonic rat cerebellar cells.

The importance of glucose transport activity as the rate-limiting step of 2-deoxyglucose uptake in tumor cells in vitro.

Glucose transporter (GLUT) expression and hexokinase activity are thought to be related to high [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in tumor cells, but their relative importance is still unknown. To determine which is the predominant factor in FDG uptake in tumor cells, cultured tumor cell lines and a normal cell line were studied in vitro with respect to 2-deoxyglucose (DG) uptake, hexokinase activity, and the initial uptake rate of 3-O-methylglucose (3-O-MG) transport, which is generally accepted as indicating the amount of GLUT expressed on the plasma membrane. In 16 types of tumor cells and one fibroblast cell line, DG uptake was assessed for 60 min, the initial uptake rate of 3-O-MG transport was measured for 1 min, and total hexokinase activity, including that in the mitochondrial fraction, was determined.

Distribution of prepro-nociceptin/orphanin FQ mRNA and its receptor mRNA in developing and adult mouse central nervous systems.

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) and its receptor share similarities to opioids and their receptors in terms of the molecular structure and signaling pathway, but the two systems exhibit different actions in vivo. To understand the mechanism of N/OFQ-system actions, we examined, by in situ hybridization analysis, the distribution of preproN/OFQ and N/OFQ receptor mRNAs in the developing and adult mouse central nervous systems (CNS). In most neural regions, preproN/OFQ mRNA was mainly expressed in a small population of middle-sized neurons.

[Estimation of adverse drug reactions by the evaluation scores of subjective symptoms (complaints) and background of patients. I. Drug-induced liver disorders].

The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and assess an estimation procedure for preventing drug-induced liver disorders. We have built a database for CARPIS (case reports of adverse drug reaction and poisoning information services) since 1987, and the case reports of adverse drug reaction accumulated in the CARPIS database to be total about 11,000. We studied the estimation procedure by evaluating the subjective symptoms, backgrounds and laboratory data of patients in 199 cases cumulated in the CARPIS database.

Importance of dissolution process on systemic availability of drugs delivered by colon delivery system.

The relationship between in vitro drug release characteristics from colon delivery systems and in vivo drug absorption was investigated using three kinds of delayed-release systems. 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), tegafur (FT) and carbamazepine (CBZ) were selected as model drugs. Pressure-controlled colon delivery capsules (PCC) for liquid preparations, time-controlled colon delivery capsules (TCC) for liquid and solid preparations and Eudragit S coated tablets for solid preparations were used in this study.