No abstract available.
Cardiovascular System* ; Polymers*

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of ethanol administration on the resistance of mice to Cryptococcus neoformans, IL-2 production of murine splenocytes, active systemic anaphylaxis induced by ovalbumin (OVA), serum TNF-alpha production, nitric oxide (NO) production by peritoneal machrophages and B16F10 melanoma colonization in lungs in mice. It was found that ethanol administration significantly inhibited the resistance of mice to C. neoformans infection, IL-2 production, active systemic anaphylaxis induction, serum TNF- alpha production and NO production. Ethanol administration significantly enhanced lung colonization when it was administered before i.v. melanoma inoculation. These results demonstrate that ethanol may play a critical role in tumorigenesis and immunoregulation as an immunomodulator.
Anaphylaxis* ; Animals ; Carcinogenesis ; Colon ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; Cytokines* ; Ethanol ; Interleukin-2 ; Lung ; Melanoma* ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide* ; Ovalbumin ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

No abstract available.
Aneurysm* ; Posterior Cerebral Artery*

No abstract available.
Duodenal Ulcer* ; Vagotomy, Truncal*

Echocardiography was done with Ekoline 20 model of Smith Kline Instrument in 91 patients of mitral valvular heart disease, 46 with mitral stenosis, 10 with mitral insufficiency, 38 with mitral stenoinsufficinency and 115 normal controls. The results obtained are as follows. 1. Right ventricular dimension was 13.61+/-5.61 mm/sq m. in normal controls, 16.50+/-5.06mm/sq m. in mitral stenosis, 20.17+/-3.28mm/sq m. in mitral insufficiency, 18.61+/-8.48mm/sq m. in mitral stenoinsufficiency revealing significant increment in all mitral valvular disease groups but there was no significant difference btw. each disease groups. 2. Left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions was 29.83+/-7.06mm/sq m. in normal controls, 41.57+/-7.77mm/sq m. in mitral insufficinency, 38.48+/-10.22mm/sq m. in mitral stenoinsufficiency revealing significant increment but there was no significant difference btw. mitral stenosis and normal controls. 3. Left atrial dimension was 17.57+/-4.96mm/sq m. in normal controls, 33.22+/-5.32mm/sq m. in mitral stenosis, 35.96+/-7.35mm/sq m. in mitral insufficiency, 35.00+/-8.22 in mitral stenoinsufficiency revealing significnat increment in whole mitral valvular disease. 4. E-F slope was 90.76+/-30.20mm/sec in normal controls 18.08+/-10.3mm/sec in mitral stenosis, 29.52+/-19.3mm/sec in mitral stenoinsufficiency revealing marked decrement. In mitral insufficiency, it was 65.3+/-45.4mm/sec revealing significant decrement but not so severe as previous. 5. There was no significant difference between normal controls and mitral valvular disease in valve excursion. 6. Left atrial dimension to aortic root size was 1.13+/-0.31 in normal controls, 1.77+/-0.63 in mitral stenosis, 1.56+/-0.60 in mitral regurgitation and 1.82+/-0.56 in mitral stenoinsufficinecy revealing significant increment in whole mitral valvular heart disease.
Echocardiography* ; Heart Valve Diseases* ; Humans ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency ; Mitral Valve Stenosis

No abstract available.

Accelerated atherosclerosis is not only a frequent complication but also the most common cause of death in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Although mechanisms are unclear, disorder of lipid metabolism may be a major factor. Since apolipo-protein (apo) E is known to play a major regulatory role in lipid metabolism, we evaluated apo E genotype in 72 male patients with CRF and compared with that in 194 rnale normal controls. In addition, we measured plasma lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations and evaluated them according to apo E genotype in patients and controls. Apo E genotype was determined with the INNO-LiPA Apo E kit (Innogenetics, Belgium), which is based on reverse hybridization. The results are as follows ; 1) The distribution of the three major apo E alleles in patients with CRF ( e 2: 6.2%, e 3: 80.6%, e 4: 13.2%) was not different from that in controls ( e 2: 4.1%, e 3: 87.6%, e 4: 8.3%). 2) In patients with CRF, total cholesterol, lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were significantly lower and the triglyceride and lipoprotein (a) levels were significantly higher than those in controls. 3) In controls, E 4/3 group had significantly lower levels of HDL than E 3/3 and E 3/2 groups. In patients with CRF, E 4/3 group had significantly higher levels of total cholesterol and apo B lipoprotein than E3/2 group. In conclusion, although there was no significant difference in the apo E genotype frequencies between male patients with CRF and controls, apo E polymorphism may play an important role in the determination of individual differences in plasma lipids in male patients with CRF.
Alleles ; Apolipoproteins B ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; Atherosclerosis ; Cause of Death ; Cholesterol ; Genotype ; Humans ; Individuality ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Lipoproteins ; Male* ; Plasma* ; Triglycerides

No abstract available.
Female* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Infant* ; Measles*

No abstract available.
Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Perfusion*

PURPOSE: It is reported that 65% of diabetic male patients over 60 of their age are impotent. However, there is no report concerning the effect of serum glucose control on erectile dysfunction in diabetic patient. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of serum glucose control on erectile dysfunction. MATERIALS AMD METHODS: The development of Diabetes mellitus was defined that the serum glucose level was above 200mg/dL in random test at 25 weeks. We designed the experimental specimen into 3 groups; group I: diabetic OLETF (Otsuka Long Evans Tokushima Fatty) rats without blood sugar control (n=10), group II: diabetic OLETF rats with blood sugar control with 4U insulin subcutaneous injection daily from 26 to 46 weeks (n=10), group III: diabetic OLETF rats with blood sugar control with 10U insulin subcutaneous injection daily from 26 to 46 weeks (n=10). We estimated the collagen content of penile tunica albuginea with the scanning electron microscopy and observed the endothelial layers of corpus cavernosum with the transmission electron microscopy in each group. RESULTS: The serum glucose level was 249 +/- 4.1mg/dL, 234 +/- 2.7mg/dL, 215 +/- 3.0mg/dL respectively in group I, II, III, and decreased in order of group II, III. The differences among groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). The thickness of collagen bundles of penile tunica albuginea was 0.98 +/- 0.1 micrometer, 0.94 +/- 0.3 micrometer, 0.92 +/- 0.1 micrometer respectively in group I, II, III, and decreased in order of group II, III. The differences among groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). The endothelial layers of corpus cavernosum were decreased in II, III. CONCLUSIONS: The serum glucose control in diabetic rats decreases the collagen con tents in penile tunica albuginea and the endothelial layers of corpus cavernosum.
Animals ; Blood Glucose* ; Collagen* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Endothelium ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Insulin ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Rats* ; Rats, Inbred OLETF