The effect of cigarette smoking on taste-sensitivity in 905 healthy inhabitants, aged from 38 to 84 years was studied.
The taste-sensitivity was evaluated with four tastes sweet, salty, sour, and bitter; using sucrose, sodium chloride, tartaric acid, and quinine hydrochloric acid in 10 different concentrations for each as the respective reagents.
Taste-sensitivity in these healthy adults mearsured by the dropping procedure was more sensitive in females than in males for each taste, and also showed a tendancy to decrease with age in both sexes.
Using multi-variate analysis adjusted by sex and age, it was found that taste-sensitivity was reduced with the increase in the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and that there was a dose-response relationship between cigarette smoking and taste-sensitivity to sweet, salty, sour, or bitter taste.

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The behavior of Be in the blood of the mice injected intravenously and the effect of Be on mouse blood cells in vitro were studied in this paper.
When mice were intravenously injected with a ⁷Be solution containing 0.5μg of Be, about a half dose of the injected metal was found in the body after 30 minutes, and only 1.8% of the dose was found in blood at that time. After 3hrs, 0.2% was retained in blood, similar to in the case of subcutaneous injection. The blood was further separated into blood cells and serum. In blood cells, 0.7% of the dose was found 30 minutes after intravenous injection, and 0.1% after 3-24hrs. In serum, 1.2% of the dose was found after 30 minutes, and 0.2% after 1hr.
The effects of various Be contents on the blood clearance of ⁷Be in mice after intravenous injection were examined. The greater the Be content of the dose injected into mice was, the more Be content was retained in blood. When mice were intravenously injected with a ⁷Be solution containing 50μg of Be, the level in blood after 24hrs was 10 times as high as that of mice injected with 5μg of Be. After in vitro incubation of mouse blood with Be at 37°C, the blood cells took up ⁷Be in the course of time within the range of carrier concentrations of from 0 to 0.02μg/ml of Be, but the rate of uptake in the blood cells was inhibited at more than 0.1μg/ml of Be.
It was speculated that serum, in the initial phase, promoted the distribution to and retention of ⁷Be in various organs, and its excretion in urine or feces. It was also speculated that blood cells, in the latter phase, promoted these behaviors.

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The frequency of body mevements of the aged in a special nursing home during sleep was measured in order to investigate the effect of thermal environments on sleep in spring and summer. Simultaneously, room temperature and the temperature in bed were also measured.
The following results were obtained.
1) The room temperature in spring was about 23°C, which has been recommended as the air temperature suitable for sleep. The room temperature in summer was about 26°C.
2) The temperatures in beds in summer were also 3°C higher, which was the same as the difference of room temperature between seasons.
3) Although the temperature was in the permissible range for summer sleep, the frequencies of body movements during sleep in summer were higher than those in spring.
4) The frequencies of body movements of the aged in the present study were higher than those reported for younger adults.
These results suggested that the higher room temperature, which has been regarded as being in the temperature range for sleep, had an influence on the aged in the special nursing home.

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The micronucleus (MN) test is one of the cytogenetic indicators reflecting DNA damage. Experiments have been carried out using human whole-blood cultures to determine the effects of sampling times and to study the fate of micronuclei in the MN frequencies following exposure to mitomycin C (MMC). Cells were pulse-treated for 1h with MMC at G₀, and then sampled at 6h in intervals up to 96h after the stimulation of cultures with phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Results showed that MMC-treatment induced an approximate 6h proliferation delay per cell cycle, and that the frequencies of MMC-induced MN increased at 60h and then stayed almost constant after that time. These data indicate that the formation of MN appeared after the time when the cell-cycle had doubled. In subsequent experiments, after incubation periods of 72h and 96h, lymphocyte preparations were prepared using 2 different methods, the conventional method and the cytokinetics-block (CB) micronucleus method. Results showed that the frequencies of MN did not change between 72h and 96h using either method. These results suggest that some MN remain in the daughter cells. The CB method was developed to overcome the kinetic problems inheritant in the use of human lymphocytes by Fenech and Morley. Comparison of the results obtained with the conventional method and the CB method found that the conventional method underestimates this effect.

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Experiments were performed to evaluate the influence of frequencies in long-term local vibration exposure on the occurrence of intimal thickening of the peripheral arteries. The hind legs of rats were exposed to local vibration (60Hz, 5G and 480Hz, 5G) four hours a day for 90 days. In three of five rats exposed to 60Hz, disruption of the internal elastic lamina was observed in the small arteries at the exposed site. The disruption was followed by focal cell proliferation with regenerative formation of collagen and elastic fibers. The fibrocellular thickening of the intima was further augmented and a complete stenosis of the lumen of the small artery was observed. In all three of the rats exposed to 480Hz, histological alterations of small arteries were also recognized at the exposed site. These alterations, however, were only disruptions of the internal elastic lamina followed by focal cell proliferation.

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Guinea pigs inoculated intratracheally with cow's milk in infancy (milk-inoculated group), which were designed as a model of the aspiration of milk formulae in bottle-fed infants, were exposed to cigarette smoke to investigate their respiratory response. Guinea pigs received physiological saline instead of cow's milk were also exposed to the smoke as a control (saline-inoculated group). After exposure for a period of five months, dyspnea was observed immediately after smoking, with an incidence of 63.6% in the milk-inoculated group and 33.3% in the saline-inoculated one. The ratio of the respiratory rate after exposure to that before exposure was 72.7% in the former group and 85.2% in the latter group, which suggested that the intensity of dyspnea in the milk-inoculated group was higher than in the saline-inoculated one. Although histaminase activity in blood plasma of the former group was 1.7 times greater than that of the latter, histamine content in the lung was lower in the former. The coefficient of beat-to-beat variation was larger in the former. It was revealed from these results that high vagal tone and the histamine release from the lung induced by smoking were present in the milk-inoculated group. Consequently, the aspiration of cow's milk in infancy appears to be able to alter the reactivity of the airways, making them hypersensitive to cigarette smoke.

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Guinea pigs and hamsters intratracheally inoculated with cow's milk (milk-inoculated group), which were designed as a model of aspiration of milk formulae in bottle-fed infants, were exposed to cigarette smoke for three months. The control group intratracheally inoculated with physiological saline instead of cow's milk were also exposed to the smoke. Different blood changes were observed between the two groups. Polycythemia was seen in the milk-inoculated group. Large corpuscular and hyperchromic changes appeared in the control one. Such a difference of the blood change was common to the guinea pigs and the hamsters. We supposed that the difference could be due to the difference of the amount of noxious substances in cigarette smoke absorbed into the blood. As milk-inoculated animals had bronchial hypersensitivity, they might be liable to cough out cigarette smoke to lessen the inhalation of the smoke into the lung. The Increase in the carboxyhemoglobin level after smoking was significantly lower in the milk-inoculated group than in the control one. The amount of the carboxyhemoglobin increase caused by smoking was inversely correlated with the concentration of total gall bile acids, which was higher in the milk-inoculated group. It was revealed from these results that the absorption of the noxious substances in the smoke was lowered in the milk-inoculated group because of their bronchial hypersensitivity, and the blood changes caused by cigarette smoking were modified according to the bronchial reactivity.
Results similar to the above-mentioned were obtained in an investigation on subjects who received an adult health examination. Healthy male smokers showed large corpuscular and hyperchromic blood changes, and smokers with bronchial asthma, who were considered to be compared with milk-inoculated animals, showed polycythemia.

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By using an immobilized enzyme, restoration mechanisms were investigated for δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD; EC 4. 2. 1. 24) activity when it was inhibited by various heavy metals. The immobilized ALAD was prepared by binding glass beads (O. D. 7mm) with the enzyme highly purified from human erythrocytes, using a glutaraldehyde reagent. This immobilized ALAD was inhibited by incubation with various heavy metals until the enzyme was almost inactive, and then restored by the addition of dithiothreitol (DTT), DTT+Zn²⁺ and EDTA or heating (60°C, 5min) in this order. ALAD inhibited by Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺ or Pb²⁺ was reactivated easily in over 90% of the cases if these metals were removed from the reaction mixture following the addition of DTT or DTT+Zn²⁺. Hg²⁺ and SeO₃²⁺ showed irreversible inhibition, reactivating only up to 50%, even if DTT+Zn was added. The levels of restoration activity inhibited by Cd²⁺, Sn²⁺ and Sn⁴⁺ were different due to the kinds of buffer solutions used. Other reactivations were attempted with heating or by adding EDTA for the enzyme restored by DTT+Zn²⁺, but further restorations were not observed. For the immobilized enzyme, it was feared that its original properties might be lost, but the Km, the Vmax and the optimum pH of the immobilized ALAD were 0.27mM, 22.5units/mg and pH 6.4-6.8, respectively. These values almost agree with the values of previous reports. Immobilization of the enzyme makes it possible to readily separate the enzyme from the reaction mixture without the use of gel filtration or other complicated procedures. For this reason, the use of immobilized enzyme seems to be a good method for the analysis of enzyme properties.

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An “Imaginary Reaction Box” (IR Box) was constructed using a microcomputer to elucidate the inhibition mechanisms of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD). The IR Box could print out the changes of the concentrations of enzyme, substrate, enzyme-substrate complex and various other components in an enzyme reaction when the amounts of enzyme, substrate, and inhibitor, and provisional velocity constants were input from the keyboard. By using this IR Box, the inhibition effects of Zn, Pb and Hg on ALAD were examined. It was assumed that these metals and ALAD form an active site inhibitor-enzyme complex (EI), an allosteric inhibitor-enzyme complex (IE), an allosteric inhibitor-enzyme-substrate complex (IES), and an allosteric inhibitor-enzyme-active site inhibitor complex (IEI), and that reactions of about 20 kinds occur in the IR Box, including reverse reactions. Results of the reactions in the IR Box made it clear that there are reaction mechanisms which explain the conflicting results obtained from inhibition by these metals in vitro. The IR Box can be a useful tool not only for the investigation of enzyme reactions in vivo which do not obey Michaelis-Menten kinetics, e. g., allosteric regulation and allosteric inhibition, but also for the improvement of the efficiency of experiments involving such reactions.

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In order to categorize mushrooms that caused food poisoning and to obtain useful information in connection with clinical treatment, an attempt was made to classify poisonous mushrooms according to their biochemical effects in mice.
Eighteen species of mushrooms classified into three types according to the symptoms of poisoning in man were examined. The first group of mushrooms, which cause cholera-like symptoms, includes Amanita verna, Amanita virosa, Amanita volvata, Amanita abrupta, Amanita citrina, Amanita pseudoporphyria, and Galerina fasciculata. The second group of mushrooms, which cause neurological symptoms, includes Amanita pantherina, Amanita muscaria, Amanita rubrovolvata, Inocybe fastigiata, Clitocybe clavipes, Coprinus atramentarius and Psilocybe venenata. The third group of mushrooms, which cause gastrointestinal irritation, includes Rhodophyllus rhodopolius, Lampteromyces japonicus, Tricholoma ustale and Naematoloma fasciculare.
The aqueous extracts of the mushrooms were orally administered to male ddY mice. The animals were sacrificed 12hr after administration in the case of the first group of mushrooms and 3hr after administration in the case of the second and third groups of mushrooms, and the changes in the biochemical parameters in blood and urine were determined.
The blood glucose level was decreased by all the species of mushrooms of the first group and by four species of mushrooms of the second group though not by C. clavipes, C. atramentarius, or P. venenata, and was increased by all species of the third group.
The blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level was increased by five species of mushrooms of the first group, excepting only A. citrina and A. pseudoporphyria, and by four species of mushrooms of the second group, though not by C. clavipes, C. atramentarius or P. venenata.
The glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) activity was increased markedly by all the species of mushrooms of the first group and by N. fasciculare of the third group.
The potassium level was decreased by all the species of mushrooms of the first and third groups.
The protein level in urine was increased markedly by all species of mushrooms of the first group except A. citrina and A. pseudoporphyria, and by N. fasciculare of the third group.

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Using the database for the Regional Health Information System in Hyogo prefecture, the relationships between regional differences in Standardized Mortality Rates (SMR) of six major types of cancer (1964-1982) vis-à-vis twenty social and economical indices (1965-1980) were analyzed from twenty-nine health centers in Hyogo.
Results were as follows:
1) The common factors were extracted from among twenty social and economical indices (40 variables including the mean and the slope of each index) using factor analysis. The first (F1) factor related to rural areas, the second (F2) to inland seaside areas and the third (F3) to suburban areas.
2) Factor scores for F1 by health centers were positively correlated to the slope of SMR for stomach cancer in males; however, a negative correlation existed with the means of liver and lung cancers in males, the slope of liver cancer in males, the means of stomach, lung, pancreas and breast cancers in females and the slope of breast cancer.
3) The ten variables having high F1 factor scores were statistically significant (p<0.001) between the H (having a positive F1) and the L groups (having a negative F1).
4) The results suggested that the mean of SMR for breast cancer can be explained (Multiple R: 0.90, Adjusted R square: 0.78) with ten variables using regression analysis.

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The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of methylmercuric chloride (MMC) on the rhythms of the locomotor activity in rats.
The food administered to experimental male rats contaided MMC. The locomotor activities of MMC-treated and control rats were determined using an ANIMEX-III A in light-dark (12:12) cycles and calculated with spectral analysis (by fast Fourier transform).
The following results were obtained:
(1) The daily locomotor activities in MMC-treated rats decreased for the first 21 days, and then increased after that.
(2) In locomotor activity, distinct 12-, 8-, and 4.8-hr ultradian rhythms were found in the power spectrum of the control rats.
(3) The disappearance of the 8-hr ultradian rhythm immediately before the onset of hind-leg crossing and the enhancement of ultradian rhythms with 1-3hr periodicity after the onset of hind-leg crossing were observed in the power spectrum of MMC-treated rats.
These results indicate that the disappearance of the 8-hr rhythm in the power spectrum is a significant sign of methylmercury poisoning and that the analysis of ultradian rhythms might be useful in the study of heavy metal toxicology.

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