The Japanese Journal of Antibiotics
Online ISSN : 2186-5477
Print ISSN : 0368-2781
ISSN-L : 0368-2781
Volume 53, Issue 3
Displaying 1-5 of 5 articles from this issue
  • SHIGEMI FUJISAKI, TAKASHI FUJISAKI, JUN-ICHI YOSHIDA, YASUHIRO FUJISAK ...
    2000 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages 135-156
    Published: March 25, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: May 17, 2013
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Chronic hepatitis B and C virus infections have been characterized by the pathophysiological features with a high incidence of progression to cirrhosis and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. The viral persistence produced by escape mutations from virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) response may lead to upregulation of delayed-type hypersensitivity immune response, which causes hepatic tissue damage through non specific macrophage activation and CTL response and promotes pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis. In a preliminary clinical study, a novel metalloendopeptidase-F (MEP-F) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of patients with either chronic hepatitis B or C infection. Oral administration of MEP-F resulted in a significant reduction of the serum levels of HBs antigen and HCV RNA and improvement in the liver function abnormalities. However, the mechanism of action of MEP-F is not yet well understood. There are accumulating evidences showing an important role of α2-macroglobulin-preteinase complexes in regulatory mechanisms of immune response and repairing within impaired and inflammatory tissues. In this article, reviewing the pharmacological and biological properties of α2-macroglobulin-preteinase complexes, the mechanism of antiviral effect of MEP-F is examined based on the clinical findings. It is indicated that α2-macroglobulin-MEP-F complexes may induce macrophage/kuppfer cell activation and proliferation through binding their receptors on the cells and activating signaling cascades, which enhance both anti-viral specific and nonspecific immune responses. α2-Macroglobulin-MEP-F complexes may also augment cellular immunity and hepatic regeneration by neutralizing the immunosuppressive and fibrogenic activities of transforming growth factor-β.
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  • JUN IGARI, MATSUHISA INOUE, TAKESHI NISHINO, NAOKI WATANABE, NOBUYUKI ...
    2000 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages 157-170
    Published: March 25, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: May 17, 2013
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    During October and December of each year of from 1994 to 1996, 3,849 strains of 10species of bacteria were isolated from clinical materials in 21 institutions nationwide. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for these bacteria of four carbapenems (imipenem [IPM], panipenem [PAPM], meropenem [MEPM], and biapenem [BIPM]) and other representative antibacterial agents were measured to investigate annual changes in antibacterial activity.
    Carbapenems showed potent activity against methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), S. pneumoniae, E. faecalis, H. influenzae, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, E. cloacae, S. marcescens, andthe B. fragilis group, with the activity being stable. However, these drugs showed weak activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and P. aeruginosa.
    The antibacterial activity (MIC90) against the tested organisms generally remainedstable. Particularly, there was annual improvement of the MIC90 values of IPM and BIPM for S. pneumoniae, as well as the values of IPM and PAPM for H. influenzae, and those of IPM, PAPM, and BIPM for S. marcescens. Onthe other hand, the activity of carbapenems (including IPM) against MRSA was not necessarily strong, but there was annual improvement of MIC90 values.
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  • MASAKAZU KOUDA, SHOKO HOMMA, IKUKO UDAGAWA, JUNKO FUKUHARA, MIKA TAKEU ...
    2000 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages 171-178
    Published: March 25, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: May 17, 2013
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    MICs of various antibacterial agents against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were measured. Furthermore, we evaluated the effects of combinations of antibacterial agents against MRSA in vitro.
    In 24 cases out of 37, in which MRSA was isolated from inpatients, other microorganisms, such as Candida spp., Entrococcus spp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were simultaneously isolated.
    From the results of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), obtained from micro broth-dilution method, of various antibacterial agents against MRSA, range of MICs of arbekacin (ABK), vancomycin (VCM) and teicoplanin (TEIC) were<0.25-4.0, 0.5-1.0 and 0.25-4.0μg/ml respectively, and no strains of MRSA showed resistance to ABK, VCM and TEIC, so that we concluded that these three antibacterial agents were effective for MRSA infection.
    On the in vitro study of combination-effect of antibacterial agents, significant synergistic effects were achieved in the combination of VCM and flomoxef (FMOX)(Synergism rate was 97.3%) or VCM and imipenem (IPM)(Synergism rate was 97.2%). From the results that the fractional inhibitory concentration index in the combination of VCM with IPM was smaller than that with FMOX and that P. aeruginosa orEnterococcus spp. were simultaneously isolated in high frequency in the MRSA-isolated cases, we thought that the combination of VCM with IPM is more useful, because IPM is effective against P. aeruginosa but FMOX is not.
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  • TAKAKO NISHIYAMA, KAORU MATSUZAKI, HIDEAKI KOYAMA, TAKESHI SAIKA, MIYU ...
    2000 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages 179-183
    Published: March 25, 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: May 17, 2013
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Each 20 strains of β-lactamase producing methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Hoemophilus influenzae, Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis, and Bacteroides fragilis group were used as the test strains. Drug susceptibility of these strains to faropenem (FRPM), cefdinir, cefditoren, cefbapene, cefteram, cefnclor, and ampicillin was determined by an agar dilution method according to the NCCLS guideline M100-S9. β-Lactamase activity of the test strains was determined by a spectrophotometric method.
    In the present study, FRPM was highly active against β-lactamase-producing strains, and no close correlation was found between the MICs of FRPM for the test strains and their β-lactamase activities.
    These results suggest that FRPM has potential in successful application for the treatment of infectious diseases with various types of bacterial pathogens including β-lactamase producing strains.
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  • 2000 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages C3-
    Published: 2000
    Released on J-STAGE: May 17, 2013
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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