The Keio Journal of Medicine
Online ISSN : 1880-1293
Print ISSN : 0022-9717
ISSN-L : 0022-9717
Volume 43, Issue 3
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
  • Charles A Dinarello
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 131-136
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    As outlined in this review, the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) mediates a number of pathological processes associated with disease. To prove a role for IL-1, a variety of modalities have been used to block the production and/or activity of IL-1. These include agents which inhibit or reduce 1) IL-1 transcription and/or synthesis, 2) the processing of pro-IL-1β into its mature forms, 3) the secretion of IL-β, 4) the activity of IL-1 using neutralizing anti-IL-1 antibodies or 5) soluble (extracellular) IL-1 receptors, 6) the ability of IL-1 to bind to its receptors using receptor blockade, 7) the availability of surface receptors using agents which down-regulate receptor expression or (8) agents which affect IL-1-mediated signal transduction. Some of these modalities have already entered clinical trials. Clearly, the therapeutic advantage of reducing the activity of IL-1 resides in preventing its deleterious biological effects without interfering with host defense and homeostasis. For example, blocking IL-1-induced prostaglandins is one target in treating inflammatory diseases. Drugs inhibiting cyclooxygenase have well-known toxicities because they block the normal physiologic synthesis of prostaglandins in many tissues such as platelets and gastric lining cells. Blocking IL-1, in contrast, reduces only that portion of prostaglandin synthesis due to elevated IL-1, sparing the synthesis of prostaglandins necessary for physiologic homeostasis. A similar case can be made for endogenous nitric oxide. Thus, there is a unique pharmacological advantage to blocking IL-1 in disease.
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  • Yoshihisa Masakado
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 137-142
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Studies on motor unit firing behavior in man by the decomposition technique are described. The decomposition technique identifies motor unit firing with 100% accuracy at force levels of greater than 80% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). In all muscles examined, the higher the recruitment threshold of the motor unit, the lower the rate at which it fired at the target level. Smaller muscles, such as those in the hand, recruit their motor units at 0-50% MVC and rely exclusively on firing rate increases to augment force output at 50-100% MVC. Larger muscles, such as those in the leg or arm, recruit motor units at least to 90% MVC, and possibly higher. Their firing rates have a relatively smaller dynamic swing. Thus, smaller muscles rely primarily on firing rate and larger muscles rely primarily on recruitment to modulate their force. High cross-correlation functions in firing rate behavior within a muscle were observed between individual motor unit firing rates at constant force isometric contraction. Thus the nervous system does not control the firing rate of motor units individually. Instead, it acts on the pool of homonymous motoneurons in a uniform fashion. Electrical stimulation of cutaneous receptors tends to increase the recruitment thresholds of low-threshold motor units and to decrease their firing rates, while high-threshold motor units generally exhibit a decrease in recruitment threshold and an increase in firing rate.
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  • Akio Kimura, Naoichi Chino, Eiichi Saitoh, Shigeru Sonoda, Kazuhisa Do ...
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 143-148
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Strokes are one of the most important subjects of clinical and research studies of rehabilitation medicine. A system for evaluating stroke patients, however, is not yet completely established. In 1980, WHO instituted International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH). Since the introduction of the concepts of ICIDH, many studies and research on rehabilitation medicine utilizing this classification have been published. The concepts of ICIDH have been applied to some diseases of the neuro-musculo-skeletal systems such as those of stroke patients. This paper reviews the methods of functional assessment and evaluation of stroke patients categorized by using ICIDH, and also it aims at presenting a new system for evaluating the level of impairment that we originally developed.
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  • Satoru Kawamura
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 149-154
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Vertebrate retinal photoreceptors respond to light by membrane hyperpolarization. The generation mechanism of the photoresponse, namely the phototransduction mechanism is now well characterized. Photoreceptors not only detect light, but also actively adapt to environmental light. Recent biochemical and electrophysiological studies uncovered the mechanism of light-adaptation. In this mech-anism, light-induced decrease in the cytoplasmic [Ca 2+] plays a major role: The [Ca2+] decrease induces the desensitization of the cell and the acceleration of the time course of the photoresponse. These effects are mediated by Ca2+-binding proteins named S-modulin and GCAP.
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  • Tatsuo Shinozuka
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 155-163
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The human red blood cells survive in the circulation for 120 days. Density-gradient centrifu-gation technique is widely used to prepare red cell fractions of different ages. It has been known that various biochemical properties of the red cells change with aging in vivo. If the changes in the red cell surface lead to the destruction of senescent cells, it would be of interest to know how these changes are produced concerning the cell ages. Several different mechanisms for the both specific and nonspecific recognition have been considered. The first hypothesis concerning this mechanism demonstrated that desialylated glycophorins may play the role of recognition signal triggering the elimination of senescent red cells. There was also another hypothesis that demonstrated the red cell removal occurs due to the Fc receptor-dependent phagocytosis of the senescent cells by opsonization with anti-band 3 immunoglobulin G autoantibody. The present review provides a summary of the works in the area of red cell senescence.
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  • Kouichi Ohta, Fumio Gotoh, Yasuo Fukuuchi, Norio Tanahashi, Tamotsu Sh ...
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 164-166
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a small midpontine tegmentum infarction in a patient with Fisher's one-and-a-half syndrome. The lesion was extremely restricted to the unilateral paramedian area of the midpontine tegmentum involving both the paramedian pontine reticular formation and medial longitudinal fasciculus. The typical form of this syndrome, that is, a combination of lateral gaze palsy and unilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia, can be caused by a midpontine lesion.
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  • Hiroshi Nakajima
    1994 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 167-170
    Published: 1994
    Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Observations were made on the emotion and behavior of the newborn placed beside the mother immediately after vaginal delivery. The newborn after listening the mother's gentle voice will soon show a peaceful Buddha-like facial appearance and cease to cry. The newborn will not have opened it's eyes for more than 10 minutes unless bathed after birth and placed beside the mother and will hardly move either extremity. After about 10 minutes, bilateral movement of the fingers, wrists and forearms was observed. This newborn will not cry at all for several hours thereafter. On the other hand the infant born to a heavy smoker would not cease to cry and would continue to maintain an appearance of anxiety even when gently accosted by the mother. The newborn about 10 minutes after birth has the ability to search for the mother's nipple.
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