Kanazawa Medical University

About: Kanazawa Medical University is a education organization based out in Kanazawa, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 3103 authors who have published 6322 publications receiving 144592 citations. The organization is also known as: Kanazawa ika daigaku.

Protective effect of saikosaponin-d isolated from Bupleurum falcatum L. on CCl4-induced liver injury in the rat.

Abstract: The effects of saikosaponin-d extracted from the roots of Bupleurum falcatum L. on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic injury were studied in rats. Pretreatment with saikosaponin-d produced a remarkable inhibitory action on acute hepatic injury by CCl4. A significant inhibition of lipid peroxidation induced by an acute dose of CCl4 in the liver of rats pre-treated with saikosaponin-d was also noted. Continuous injection of CCl4 caused liver cirrhosis in rats but the severity of cirrhosis was reduced in rats treated simultaneously with CCl4 and saikosaponin-d.

Distribution and antigen specificity of anti-U1RNP antibodies in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Abstract: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a generalized connective tissue disease which is characterized by the presence of several autoantibodies. To determine the prevalence and antigen specificity of anti-U1RNP antibodies (anti-U1RNP) in patients with SSc, serum samples from 223 patients with SSc, 117 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 18 patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and 40 healthy control subjects were examined by indirect immunofluorescent analysis (IIF), double immunodiffusion, and immunoblotting using nuclear extract of HeLa cells. Eighteen of the 223 (8%) serum samples from patients with SSc were shown to be positive for anti-U1RNP. The frequency of anti-U1RNP positivity in limited cutaneous SSc (14%) was significantly higher than that in those with diffuse cutaneous SSc (3%). Anti-Sm antibodies were detected in patients with SLE positive for anti-U1RNP, but not in those with SSc positive for anti-U1RNP or those with MCTD. Immunoblotting demonstrated that anti-70-kD antibodies were detected more often in patients with SSc positive for anti-U1RNP and in those with MCTD than in those with SLE. Furthermore, anti-U1RNP was closely correlated with pulmonary fibrosis and joint involvement in patients with SSc. These results suggest that anti-70-kD antibodies are useful in the classification of patients with anti-U1RNP.

Potential involvement of IL-8 in the pathogenesis of human cytomegalovirus infection.

Abstract: The observations that several types of viruses induced interleukin (IL)-8 production prompted us to investigate the interrelationship between IL-8 and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. CMV infection caused IL-8 production in a human monocytic cell line, THP-1, in dose- and time-dependent manners. Moreover, CMV induced IL-8 gene expression by concurrently activating transcription factors, NF-kappaB and AP-1. Furthermore, CMV infection of human fibroblast cell lines increased gene expression of a specific receptor for IL-8, CXCR1. IL-8 in turn enhanced CMV replication in a human embryonic fibroblast, MRC-5, in dose- and time-dependent manners. Augmented replication eventually culminated in the increased production of infectious CMV virions. Moreover, IL-8 can attenuate the antiviral activity of interferon (IFN), particularly that of alpha-type against picornaviruses such as encephalomyocarditis virus and poliovirus. The inhibitory effects were associated with reduced 2',5'-A oligoadenylate synthetase activity. These results would imply that CMV can induce IL-8, which can augment CMV replication directly and indirectly by counteracting antiviral activity of IFN.

Altered lung surfactant system in a Rab38-deficient rat model of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome

Abstract: Several Long-Evans rat substrains carrying the phenotype of oculocutaneous albinism and bleeding diathesis are a rat model of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) The mutation responsible for the pheno

Multilocus Sequence Typing Implicates Rodents as the Main Reservoir Host of Human-Pathogenic Borrelia garinii in Japan

Abstract: Multilocus sequence typing of Borrelia garinii isolates from humans and comparison with rodent and tick isolates were performed. Fifty-nine isolates were divided into two phylogenetic groups, and an association was detected between clinical and rodent isolates, suggesting that, in Japan, human-pathogenic B. garinii comes from rodents via ticks.