The aim of this study was to investigate the strain heterogeneity of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in saliva, gastric juice, and urine by nested PCR and the direct sequence method, and to clarify the mode of transmission by examining whether H. pylori in the stomach and saliva are identical.
Thirty-nine patients undergoing endoscopy were enrolled in this study. H. pylori DNA was assayed in 104 samples using two sets of primers, EHC-U/EHC-L and ET-5U/ET-5L. DNA sequencing was performed in 24 samples.
H. pylori DNA was detected in 39 gastric juice samples (100%) and in 28 saliva samples (71.8%). The prevalence in urine samples was 50% (13/26). All samples except one were identical with over 97% identity to the DNA sequence of H. pylori type strain J99 (USA).
Nested PCR was highly sensitive for detection of H. pylori DNA in saliva, and DNA sequencing may be useful to clarify the mode of transmission.

The effects of insulin administration on the normal growth of mouse skeletal muscle and its effect on induction of muscle hypertrophy by tenotomy were investigated in this experiment.
1) The influence of insulin dosage on rat body weight was investigated.
The results of examining the influence of insulin dosage on body weight showed significant increases in body weight in the 8.0U/Kg dosage group and 16.0 U/Kg dosage group compared to the control group.
2) The influence of insulin dosage on rat blood glucose levels was investigated.
The blood glucose values of the 1.0 U/kg dosage group were significantly lower than in the control group. They were significantly lower in the 1.0 U/kg dosage group than in the other dosage groups. The positive utilization of glucose in the peripheral organization was suggested.
3) The effect of insulin dosage on skeletal muscle weight was tested.
ANOVA shows a significant difference in soleus muscle weight as the insulin dosage rose. Soleus muscle weight at the 1.0 U/kg dosage was significantly higher than in the other groups. By contrast, no significant differences in muscle weight were observed in the control group as the dose insulin increased. The weight of fast muscle was unaffected by the size of the insulin dosage.
4) The influence of insulin dosage on the compensatory muscle hypertrophy was examined.
The influence of insulin dosage to the compensatory muscle hypertrophy was examined after one week. A 75% increase in soleus muscle after tenotomy was observed in the control group. Although the plantaris muscle showed an average 30% increase, the difference was not significant. A tendency for the weight of soleus muscle and plantaris muscle to increase after tenotomy was observed in the 2.0 U/kg dosage group, but the increments were not significantly different. Effect of tenotomy was observed weight of the soleus from an average of 7.3% in the 16.0 U/kg dosage group, but the increment was not significant. On the other hand, plantaris muscle weight increased about 65% and the increment was significant.

The aim of this study was to investigate the strain heterogeneity of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in saliva, gastric juice, and urine by nested PCR and the direct sequence method, and to clarify the mode of transmission by examining whether H. pylori in the stomach and saliva are identical.Thirty-nine patients undergoing endoscopy were enrolled in this study. H. pylori DNA was assayed in 104 samples using two sets of primers, EHC-U/EHC-L and ET-5U/ET-5L. DNA sequencing was performed in 24 samples.H. pylori DNA was detected in 39 gastric juice samples (100%) and in 28 saliva samples (71.8%). The prevalence in urine samples was 50% (13/26). All samples except one were identical with over 97% identity to the DNA sequence of H. pylori type strain J99 (USA).Nested PCR was highly sensitive for detection of H. pylori DNA in saliva, and DNA sequencing may be useful to clarify the mode of transmission.

The effect of acupuncture-moxibustion treatment in the control of malignant neoplasm pain was examined in 157 (36%) of 434 cases in our clinic over a 16 year period (1966-1981).
In these cases, gastric cancer (36 of 157 cases: 23%) was the largest in number, followed by uterine cancer, and lung cancer. Many of the patients treated also complained of mental changes such as sleeplessness or anxiety.
Several kinds of acupuncture and moxibustion were applied to these cases, and marked improvement was found in 14-26% of them. These treatments were more effective in the cases after radical operations than in those cases deemed inoperable due to metastasis.
10 cases (6%) were aggravated by acupuncture, though none were severe.
The side effects by acupuncture such as slight aggravation of the pain were observe in 10 cases (6%), though none were severe.

We have been studying the effect of preadministration of D-phenylalanin (DPA) on acupuncture analgesia for various types of pain. DPA is thought to suppress the activity of carboxypeptidase, which discomposes endorphins. In this double-blind placebo-controled study, clinical effectiveness of acupuncture with DPA preadministration in relieving chronic low back pain was examined.
DPA (4g) or placebo (lactose: 4g) was orally administered to thirty out patients with chronic low back or lower extremity pain 30 minutes before acupuncture treatment. A half of the patients were given placebo in the first session and DPA in the second one, and the other half were given DPA firstly and placebo secondly.
The patients were asked to rate their pain after treatment in comparison with pre-treatment condition. Successful pain relief was obtained in 60% of the patients given DPA prior to acupuncture and in 33.4% of those given placebo. Although it is said that there is a great individual variation in response to acupuncture therapy, this result demonstrates that preadministration of D-phenylalanin enhances analgesic effect of acupuncture therapy.

Infectious abdominal aortic aneurysm is a relatively rare disease, and there is no consensus regarding its surgical treatment. Medical infectious control should be concerned comparison with surgical treatment if there is sepsis, however we sometimes have no other choice but emergency operation for uncontrollable cases. In many reports, cryopreserved homografts were used as in-situ alternative grafts for infectious aortic aneurysms because they had some merits such as anti-infectious effects, suitability and so on. However the number of in-situ cryopreserved homograft replacement cases are few, and the long term result is unclear. We encountered a ruptured cropreserved homograft case 7 months after urgent in-situ cryopreserved homograft replacement. We report the case and refer to the relevans literature.

We encountered three cases of infra-renal infected abdominal aortic aneurysm in 2007 and 2008. Preoperative blood culture was positive in two of the three patients. All of the patients presented with fever of unknown origin. We replaced the affected segment of the abdominal aorta with a synthetic graft in 1 patient, and with a cryopreserved arterial homograft in the remaining 2 patients. An infected abdominal aortic aneurysm is a life-threatening condition. Diagnosis is often difficult, and emergency surgery may be necessitated by rupture of the aneurysm. Our experience suggests that computed tomography is effective for the diagnosis of infected aneurysms. The most effective surgical technique consists of complete resection of the aneurysm, in-situ replacement of the affected aortic segment with a synthetic graft or homograft, and omental coverage.

This study sought to determine whether aerobic exercise training affects cognitive functioning among semi-independent (> 75 years) and independent elderly people. Seventy-six semi-independent and independent elderly subjects were divided into the following groups: semi-independent control (n = 16); semi-independent training (n = 13); independent control (n = 22); independent training (n = 25). During the 12-week intervention, subjects in both training groups performed a bench-stepping exercise at the intensity of the lactate threshold. Subjects were assessed at baseline and post-intervention using the Frontal Assessment Battery test (FAB), the Modified Mini-Mental State Exam (3MS), and a bench-stepping test of aerobic capacity. During the intervention, FAB scores improved only in the semi-independent training group (p = .002), while 3MS and MMSE scores improved in both the semi-independent training (p = .032 and p = .004) and independent training groups (p = .001 and p = .013). FAB and 3MS scores were higher in the semi-independent training (p = .001 and p = .002) compared with the semi-independent control group after the intervention. Finally, post-intervention scores for FAB, and 3MS in the semi-independent training group almost reached the baseline levels of the independent control and independent training groups. These results indicate that moderate intensity bench-stepping exercise training can improve cognitive and frontal lobe functioning in semi-independent elderly people, almost to the level exhibited by independent elderly people.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia among the elderly, is characterized by the progressive decline of cognitive function and has a detrimental impact worldwide. Despite intensive laboratory and clinical research over the last three decades, pharmacological options for the prevention and effective long-term treatment of AD are not currently available. Consequently, successful therapeutic and preventive treatments for AD are needed. When researching materials from natural resources having anti-dementia drug activity, we identified nobiletin, a polymethoxylated flavone from the peel of Citrus depressa. Nobiletin exhibited memory-improving effects in various animal models of dementia and exerted a wide range of beneficial effects against pathological features of AD including amyloid-beta (Abeta) pathology, tau hyperphosphorylation, oxidative stress, cholinergic neurodegeneration and dysfunction of synaptic plasticity-related signaling, suggesting this natural compound could become a novel drug for the treatment and prevention of AD.
Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Animals ; Citrus* ; Natural Resources ; Dementia ; Humans ; Memory ; Models, Animal ; Oxidative Stress ; Pathology