Organochlorine insecticides (BHC, DDT, etc) have been used in massive quatities in Japan. But in 1971, the goverment put a ban on their use as insecticides. We continued the residue analyses of organochlorine insecticide in human bodies from 1971 to 1982. This paper deals with the results of our residue analyses from 1980-1982. In paralel, We have also continued to analyze the residue of PCB.
(1) A total of 264 specimens have been analyzed for human mother milk, the adipose tissue, the liver, the kidney and the spleen.
(2) β-BHC and pp'-DDE were detected from all of these specimens.
(3) Over a span 12 years, the decrease of total-DDT was smaller than that of β-BHC.
(4) In the adipose tissue, there were no signs of a decrease in total DDT.
(5) PCB was detected from all specimens of mother milk, the adipose tissue and the liver.
It is conceivable that the pollution of human bodies by BHC, DDT. PCB, and other chemicals will last for a long time.
There is a need to keep constant surveillance over the tendency of these chemicals in the environment and human bodies.

Objectives: At present, the dose conversion ratio for a continuous intravenous infusion of fentanyl (CIV) and fentanyl transdermal patches (TP), which are widely used in Japan, is not based on the results of clinical studies in Japanese patients. Studies comparing serum fentanyl concentrations in patients with cancer pain treated by TP showed large differences between Japanese patients and those in other countries. We therefore studied the dose conversion ratio in Japanese patients. Methods: From October 2003 through October 2008, we extracted information on all patients with gastrointestinal cancer who underwent rotation from CIV to TP in the gastrointestinal ward of Kitasato University East Hospital. We selected patients in whom the daily dose of CIV or TP (i.e., the basic dose) was unchanged for 10 days after rotation and the difference in the number of rescue doses (per day) as compared with immediately before rotation was 1 or less on at least 3 consecutive days. All TP preparations used in this study were reservoir-type. Regression lines were plotted on the basis of the relation of “the basic released dose of TP” to “the basic prescribed dose of CIV,” and the dose conversion ratio was calculated. Results: 47 patients underwent opioid rotation, and 11 of them satisfied the eligibility criteria. Eleven patients were studied. The following regression equation was obtained: Y=1.0227X+1.0103, r²=0.9188, indicating a strong correlation. The dose conversion ratio of CIV to TP (released dose) derived by regression analysis was 1:1. Conclusions: Our results obtained in Japanese patients will allow dose conversion at the time of opioid rotation from CIV to TP to be more appropriately performed.

We report 2 patients with Graves' disease and psychological disorders. In these patients, treatment did not relieve psychological disorders despite normalization of thyroid function, but kampo therapy was effective. Patient 1 was a 24-year-old female. In 2000, she was diagnosed as having Graves' disease. Treatment with an antithyroid drug normalized thyroid function, but did not relieve psychological disorders such as irritation, anxiety, or despair. In February 2005, the patient consulted our hospital. Patient 2 was a 26-year-old female. After graduating from a high school, she developed Graves' disease. Treatment with an antithyroid drug was started. However, thyroid function was unstable ; mild hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism repeatedly occurred. During this period, irritation, fatigue, malaise, and alopecia deteriorated, and she consulted our hospital in January 2005. In the two patients, keishikanzoryukotsuboreitogohangekobokuto was prescribed (the regimen was changed during follow-up in Patient 1), and their conditions markedly subsided after 16 and 9 weeks of administration, respectively, suggesting the usefulness of kampo therapy in the treatment of Graves' disease associated with psychological disorders.
Therapeutic procedure ; Graves' Disease ; seconds ; Patients ; Mental disorders

Between September 1972 and December 1987, 808 gastric cancer patients were treated at our hospital. The male/female ratio was 1.7. Gastric resection was performed on 88% of the patients, while curative resection was performed on 59.2%. The operative mortarity rate was 1.8%.
In patients undergoing surgery, the cumulative 5-year survival rates according to stage were 96.4% for stage 1, 68.6% for stage 2, 48.7% for stage 3 and 4.5% for stage 4.
With the spread of a mass screening, many cases of early gastric cancer have been detected recently. However, the incidence of advance cancer increased with age. This suggests the necessity of encouraging the aged to participate in the mass screening. Though gastrectomy is safety procedure of encouraging the aged to participate in the mass screening. Though gastrectomy is safety procedure in old patients over 75 years of age, its indications should be evaluated taking into consideration the quality of the patient's life.

We reviewed 338 cases of colorectal cancer treated in our clinic since 1973. On these patients, 62% were aged 60 years or older.
By location, the malignant tumor was found most frequenty in the rectum, followed by the sigmoid colon.
Resection was perforoed in 94.3%, of the patients with curative resection accounted for 68.3%. In the curative resection group the cumulative 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 77% and 65, 9%, respectively.
Early colorectal cancer was detected in only 26 patients. Mass screening for colorectal cancer using occult blood tests of feces had just recently started in our communities. Thus, further efforts to detect early colorectal cancer are needed.

Echocardiography was performed in two gruops of patients with impaired renal function excluding those with diabetic renal failure. Group A was comprised of 19 patients who had recieved hemodialysis from 1 year to 5 years, and Group B, of 32 patients who had been undergoing hemodialysis for more than 10 years. Significant reductions in left ventricular diastolic dimensions and cardiac output were found in Group B. In these two groups, there were no statistically significant differences in left ventricular wall thickness and left ventricular ejection fraction. Left ventricular diastolic function was assessd by the ratio of the peak atrial velosity (A) to early diastolic velosity (E). 15 patients (83%) in Group A and 19 patients (76%) in Group B had left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. A high incidence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was revealed. Moreover, dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy like patterns were observed in both groups. In Group B, significantly increased left ventricular wall thickness in patients with hypertension and reduced left ventricular systolic function in patients with dialysis hypotension were found.

Diabetes is caused by insufficient insulin secretion due to β-cell dysfunction and/or β-cell loss. Therefore, the restoration of functional β-cells by the induction of β-cell differentiation from embryonic stem (ES) and induced-pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, or from somatic non-β-cells, may be a promising curative therapy. To establish an efficient and feasible method for generating functional insulin-producing cells, comprehensive knowledge of pancreas development and β-cell differentiation, including the mechanisms driving cell fate decisions and endocrine cell maturation is crucial. Recent advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies have opened a new era in pancreas development and diabetes research, leading to clarification of the detailed transcriptomes of individual insulin-producing cells. Such extensive high-resolution data enables the inference of developmental trajectories during cell transitions and gene regulatory networks. Additionally, advancements in stem cell research have not only enabled their immediate clinical application, but also has made it possible to observe the genetic dynamics of human cell development and maturation in a dish. In this review, we provide an overview of the heterogeneity of islet cells during embryogenesis and differentiation as demonstrated by scRNA-seq studies on the developing and adult pancreata, with implications for the future application of regenerative medicine for diabetes.

We report a 25-year-old man with ventricular septal perforation due to blunt chest trauma. He was transferred by ambulance to our hospital following a traffic accident. On admission, he had no cardiac murmur. Two days later, a pansystolic murmur appeared over the left lower sternal border. Doppler echocardiogram revealed a large left-to-right shunt through a ventricular septal perforation. We postponed surgical treatment as long as possible because he also exhibited bronchial bleeding due to a lung contusion. Surgical repair of the ruptured ventricular septum was performed 8 days after the chest trauma, because the pulmonary to systemic flow ratio was elevated to 4.6 and cardiac function had deteriorated. During the operation, the site of the septal perforation was easily detected by epicardial echocardiography. A 4-cm tear in the muscular septum was closed through a right ventriculotomy using a pericardial patch reinforced with a Dacron patch. Postoperative recovery was uneventful with the exception of transient right ventricular failure. There was no residual shunt.

Pax-5 gene is important transcription factor in B-lymphopoiesis and B-cell development. To understand the regulatory mechanism of pax-5 expression, the immediate 5'-flanking region (6 671 bp) of human pax-gene exon 1B was isolated and characterized. Analysis of the total sequence showed that the proximal promoter includes 3 CAT boxes, 1 SP1 and 1 E box. However, there was no consensus sequence for a TATA box in the 5'-flanking region. Putative regulatory sites of further upstream in the sequence revealed 6 LMO(2)COM, 5 NFAT, 2 LPOLYA-B, 3 GATA1, 2 AP4, 10 MZF1, 1 ETS1-B, 1 GATA3, 1 NKX25, 2 RORA1, 1 LYF1, 2 Ikaros2, 2 TCF11, 1 GATA-C and 1 FREAC7. Therefore, the 5'-flanking region of human pax-5 exon 1B could be involved in regulating the expression of human pax-5 and B-cell differentiation and development.
5' Flanking Region ; genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Binding Sites ; genetics ; DNA ; chemistry ; genetics ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Exons ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; PAX5 Transcription Factor ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Transcription Factors ; genetics