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Volume 52, Issue 3
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
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Jun Iwamoto, Tsuyoshi Takeda, Shoichi Ichimura2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 147-150
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSIt is established in Japan that treatment with la-hydroxyvitamin D3 (alfacalcidol) slightly reduces bone turnover, sustains lumbar bone mineral density (BMD), and prevents osteoporotic vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, while vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) enhances γ-carboxylation of bone glutamic acid residues and secretion of osteocalcin, sustains lumbar BMD, and prevents osteoporotic fractures in patients with osteoporosis. Available evidence suggests that the effect of vitamin K2 on mineralization by human periosteal osteoblasts is enhanced in the presence of 1, 25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 in vitro. The effect of vitamin K2 on BMD in ovariectomized rats is affected by the plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level in vivo, and is significant only when rats are fed a diet containing vitamin D3. Based on this line of evidence, combined treatment with alfacalcidol and menatetrenone for osteoporosis is surmised to be more effective than treatment with menatetrenone alone, and may have anabolic effects on osteoporotic bone. This combined treatment may increase bone formation as well as bone resorption over the mild anti-resorptive effect of alfacalcidol itself, and shows the greatest effect on lumbar BMD or the incidence of vertebral fractures in studies in which the mean age and years since menopause of subjects were low and the degree of osteoporosis was mild. It may be effective for mild postmenopausal osteoporosis in which age-related deterioration of trabecular bone properties remains below the threshold for vertebral fractures, even if bone resorption is increased and trabecular bone has deteriorated.View full abstractDownload PDF (393K) -
Naoya Kobayashi, Teru Okitsu, Noriaki Tanaka2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 151-157
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSIt is unlikely that human hepatocytes can be isolated on a scale sufficient to treat more than a fraction of the patients who need bioartificial liver (BAL) treatment. The use of animal cells results in the concerns related to the transmission of infectious pathogens and immunologic and physiologic incompatibilities between the donor and humans. Human embryonic stem cells and bone marrow multipotent adult progenitor cells have received great attention as a possible source for BALs. The use of tightly regulated clonal hepatocyte cell lines would be attractive. Such cell lines grow economically in tissue culture and provide the advantage of uniformity, sterility, and freedom of pathogens. In this paper, the authors review the choice of cells for BALs and discuss our reversible immortalization system of human liver cells using a retroviral transfer of immortalizing genes and subsequent Cre/loxPmediated site-specific recombination.View full abstractDownload PDF (609K) -
Taneaki Nakagawa, Atsushi Saito, Yasuo Hosaka, Kazuyuki Ishihara2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 158-162
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSPorphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), a gram-negative anaerobe, is involved in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease, and is found frequently in the subgingival flora in patients with periodontitis. This organism possesses a variety of virulence factors including lipopolysaccharide, capsular material, fimbriae and proteases (enzymes). Among the P. gingivalis antigens, enzymes such as Arginine-specific gingipains (RgpA, RgpB) and lysine-specific gingipain (Kgp) have been studied for their ability to induce biologically significant antibodies. This review summarizes recent information on the gingipains and their possible application in the development of an anti-P. gingivalis vaccine.View full abstractDownload PDF (2534K) -
Hidekazu Suzuki, Tatsuhiro Masaoka, Sachiko Nomura, Yoshinori Hoshino, ...2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 163-173
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSHelicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a spiral shaped bacterium that resides in the stomach mucosa. Isolation of H. pylori from the stomach mucosa changed the erstwhile widely held belief that the stomach contains no bacteria and is actually sterile. Once H. pylori is safely ensconced in the mucus, it is able to neutralize the acid in the stomach by elaborating an enzyme called urease. Urease converts urea, of which there is an abundant supply in the stomach (derived from saliva and the gastric juice), into bicarbonate and ammonia, which are strong bases. These bases form a cloud of acidneutralizing chemicals in the vicinity of the organisms, protecting them from the acid in the stomach. This urea hydrolysis reaction is utilized for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in the urea breath test (UBT) and the rapid urease test (RUT). In Japan, both invasive tests, such as bacterial culture, histopathology and RUT, and non-invasive tests such as UBT and serology are conducted for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. For confirming the results of eradication therapy, UBT is considered to be the most sensitive and specific. In order to treat H. pylori infection, a new one-week triple therapy regimen (lansoprazole or omeprazole + amoxicillin + clarithromycin) has been approved for use in patients with peptic ulcer disease in Japan. As for H. pylori eradication in the case of other diseases in which the bacterium has been implicated (e.g., chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric MALT lymphoma, gastric cancer, non-ulcer dyspepsia, chronic urticaria, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)), further basic and clinical investigation is required.View full abstractDownload PDF (3201K) -
Joo-In Park, Sophia Y. Tsai, Ming-Jer Tsai2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 174-181
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSChicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factors (COUP-TFs) are one of the most characterized orphan receptors of the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor superfamily. COUP-TFs play important roles in the regulation of organogenesis, neurogenesis, and cellular differentiation during embryonic development. COUP-TFs were generally considered to be repressors of transcription, however, there are growing evidences that COUP-TFs can function as transcription activators. Here we will review the molecular mechanism of COUP-TFs as repressors and activators. Also, we will review the known biological function of COUP-TFI during development and differentiation.View full abstractDownload PDF (705K) -
Andrew J. Ullmann, Georg Hess, Karin Kolbe, A. Friedrich-Freksa, Ralf ...2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 182-188
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSHere, we describe a patient diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia who relapsed after matched unrelated donor SCT. The patient was treated with imatinib mesylate and donor lymphocyte infusions, and achieved a complete molecular remission. Additionally, safety and efficacy of imatinib mesylate in a total of 134 patients from 8 centers who underwent allogeneic or syngeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) and had a relapse of Philadelphia chromosome positive leukemia was reviewed. Data was compiled from abstracts accepted as oral or poster presentations at the ASH (American Society of Hematology) 2001 and EBMT (European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation) 2001 & 2002 meetings and additionally literature published on this patient group. Efficacy of imatinib therapy was assessed by morphology, cytogenetic analysis, and determination of donor chimerism. In the evaluable population, hematologic and cytogenetic responses were observed in 66% and 60% of the patients, respectively. Fifty-one of 114 (45%) patients achieved a complete cytogenetic response. No response or progress of disease was noted in 22 out of evaluable 91 patients. The observation period was limited to a maximum of 28 months. A significant improvement in donor chimerism was frequently observed. Only five cases of significant GVHD were reported. Preliminary results show that imatinib mesylate has the potential to positively influence the ratio of donor and recipient cells without inducing a high incidence of severe GVHD. The data suggest that earlier start of imatinib mesylate prior to hematologic relapse in minimum residual disease (MRD) positive patients is a promising treatment concept.View full abstractDownload PDF (1290K) -
Taro Oizumi, Takayuki Ohira, Takeshi Kawase2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 189-197
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe relations between angiographic manifestations and operative findings of hemifacial spasm were studied in 70 cases between 1988 and 2001. Vertebral angiography was performed, and Towne, straight AP, and lateral projections were routinely examined. The dominant anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) directly compressed the facial nerve root exit zone in 26 cases, the dominant posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) in 20, the AICA in 13, the PICA in 2, and the vertebral artery (VA) in 9. Compression by multiple vessels was observed in 11 cases. Anatomical variations of the affected AICA and PICA were classified into 3 groups according to their origins and distributions of blood supply: normal distribution of AICA and PICA in 18%, common trunk anomaly with dominant AICA (basilar artery origin) in 48% and common trunk anomaly with dominant PICA (vertebral artery origin) in 34%. Analyses of the angiograms revealed significantly increased numbers of common trunk anomalies compared with cases with normal angiograms. In 18 of the 20 cases of unilateral common trunk anomalies, facial nerves were compressed by the dominant artery. Preoperative vertebral angiograms may clarify the offending vessels and their sites in most hemifacial spasm cases, thus increasing the safety of surgical interventions.View full abstractDownload PDF (2976K) -
Takeshi Imai2003 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 198-203
Published: 2003
Released on J-STAGE: March 27, 2009
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe mouse is an excellent animal model for defining human diseases. The null allele mutations (knockouts, KO) have already provided valuable information about their functions, but have also revealed major complications and difficulties: (1) an early embryonic lethality, (2) temporal effect (developmental stage or adult stage), (3) functional redundancy and (4) spatio-effect (cell-autonomous or non-autonomous). To overcome these limitations, spatio-temporally controlled somatic mutagenesis, Cre-ERT/LoxP system, was established. The nuclear receptors (NRs) play central roles in development, organogenesis, metabolism and energy homeostasis through their ability to transduce hormonal signals into modulation of gene activity. Obesity, excess energy storage in adipose tissue, has a strong link to diabetes. Among NRs, retinoid X receptor ä (RXRä)-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) heterodimers can mediate adipocyte differentiation and obesity which has been demonstrated with in vitro cell culture systems and RXR and PPARγ-specific ligand studies. Therefore an adipocyte-specific temporally controlled somatic mutagenesis system was established and analysed. Furthermore, the functional roles of NRs to control liver regeneration were also studied with similar system in hepatocytes.View full abstractDownload PDF (2801K)
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