Hazardous environmental factors enhance impairment of liver function in HBV and HCV hepatitis.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) often cause chronic liver disease. We hypothesized that environmental factors adversely impact the liver function in workers with these types of hepatitis. We used liver function tests including aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and g -glutamyltransferase to evaluate whether hazardous work conditions increase the incidence of chronic liver disease among HBV and HCV infected workers.

Methods and rationale for keeping records of hepatitis virus testing in Japanese workplaces.

In Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued corporate guidance that employers should recommend their employees to have tests for hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus (HV) at least once in their lifetime. However, employers should treat this information as confidential, even though the testing is carried out along with the health examination designated by the Industrial Safety and Health Law. Therefore, the records of HV tests should not be kept by employers, even though records of medical examinations designated by the law must be.

A pilot study on subacute ethanol treatment of ALDH2 KO mice.

Aldh (aldehyde dehydrogenase ) 2 knockout (KO) mice have been generated in our laboratory. We evaluated the effects of subacute ethanol treatment on the survival rate, expression of Aldh1, Aldh2, Cytochrome P450 (Cyp) 1A1, Cyp2e1 and Cyp4b1 in wild (Aldh2+/+) mice (C57BL/6) and Aldh2 knock out (Aldh2-/-) mice. Physiological saline (0.

HBV- and HCV- infected workers in the Japanese workplace.

Around three million Japanese are persistently infected with HBV or HCV. Though most of them work in various industries, little is known about the actual conditions in their workplaces. To clarify the workplace conditions of workers with hepatitis, three kinds of questionnaire surveys, answered by occupational health physicians and workers with hepatitis, were carried out.

Evidence-based prevention (EBP): A review of cytochrome P450 expression in the bronchial epithelium and new approach to lung cancer prevention.

The number of fatalities in Japan attributable to lung cancer exceeded 50000 in 2001. It is socially desirable that various markers, which can be utilized for the prevention of lung cancer, be established. We believe that smoking or exposure to carcinogens in air induces mutations in bronchial and alveolar epithelia, leading to the development of lung cancer.

Y-box-binding protein-1 expression is not correlated with p53 expression but with proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression in non-small cell lung cancer.

Transcription factor Y-box-binding protein 1 (YB-1), which binds to the inverted CCAAT box, is not only involved in the transcription of various genes, but also in cell proliferation and DNA repair. The aim of this study was to detect YB-1 and p53 expression and their relationship to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, and to evaluate the relationship between their expression levels and the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Positive expressions of YB-1, p53 and PCNA were detected in NSCLC cells in 43 (45.

Expression of cytochrome P450 in tumor tissues and its association with cancer development.

CYPs (cytochrome P450s) catalyze the conversion of numerous numbers of xenobiotics including carcinogens and drugs. CYPs can be involved in metabolic pathways of activation of procarcinogens and/or inactivation of carcinogens during the tumorigenic processes. Recently, increasing number of cancer tissues as well as normal tissues have been found to express a variety of CYPs.

Pleomorphic carcinoma: report of a case with massive pleural effusion and asbestos particles.

Pleomorphic (spindle/giant cell) carcinoma (PC) is one subset of large cell carcinoma. It is well known that PC patients have a poor survival rate. This report describes a 68-year-old man with PC.