Epidemiological study of occupational exposure to hepatitis B virus and liver function tests

A total of 1020 hospital employees were divided into an exposure group (n = 725) and a non-exposure group (n = 295), based on whether they had been exposed to blood from patients. The HBsAg-positive rates for the exposure and the non-exposure groups were 2.48% and 1.02%, respectively. In the exposure group, the minimal exposure rate increased with age from the twenties. The odds ratios were 7.39 in the technicians, 4.38 in physicians and 1.32 in nurses. Using age-sex matched pairs from the exposure and non-exposure groups, comparison of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine amino-transferase and guanase activities showed that there were significantly higher values in HBsAg-positive subjects (n = 18) from the exposure group than in HBsAg- and HBsAb-negative subjects from the non-exposure group (p less than 0.05-0.01). However, no significant differences were found in the enzyme activities in the matched pairs (n = 89) of HBsAb-positive subjects from the exposure and non-exposure groups.

Morphological change and Raman spectrum of rabbit lens irradiated with ultraviolet laser beam

The effect of ultraviolet rays on eyes was studied. An ultraviolet laser beam (XeCl 308 nm) was irradiated to rabbit eyes to investigate morphological changes of the lens fibers and molecular structural changes of the lens proteins at immediately, 15 days and 32 days after irradiation. 1. Scanning electron microscopic findings of the lens The lens fibers in the control eye were regularly and densely arranged in neat layers of hexahedrons. In the irradiated eye, the fibers at areas that seemed injured were disrupted and the disrupted ends were spherical-shaped. 2. Raman spectra of the lens 1) The relative intensity ratio (I825/I850) of the Raman scattering for the tyrosine residue and the relative intensity ratio (I3390/I2960) of the OH stretching mode (3390 cm-1) of water contained in the lens cortex showed slight changes in the irradiated eye compared to the control eye. 2) The relative intensity ratio (I2572/I2721) of the SH stretching mode (2572 cm-1) for the cysteine residue was 1.05 in the irradiated eye at 32 days after irradiation. It was lower than that in the control eye (1.22 +/- 0.08). This suggested the synthesis of S-S binding by oxidization.

[Effects of grayanotoxin III on liver function and renal function in rats]

The grayanotoxin III (GTX III) was given intraperitoneally to rats at a dose of 0.8 or 2.8 mg/kg. To study the effects of GTX III on rats, biological tests in serum for functions of liver and kidney and their pathological observation were performed 1 h after the administration. Using analysis of variance, multiple comparison and correlation on biological parameters, activities of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), guanase and leucine aminopeptidase and concentrations of total protein, albumin, creatinine, uric acid and K increased significantly. These parameters showed dose-effect relations with GTX III. Though GPT and free fatty acid increased significantly, dose-effect relations were not shown. The activity of choline esterase and the concentrations of bilirubin, urea-N, lipoperoxide, cholesterol, triglycerides, Na and Cl were not significantly different. Pathological changes were not observed in the liver and kidney of rats. These results show that GTX III may affect the functions of liver and kidney in rats.

[In vitro susceptibility of bacterial isolates from patients with respiratory tract infections to beta-lactam antibiotics]

In vitro susceptibilities of bacterial pathogens to beta-lactam antibiotics were determined. Bacterial pathogens examined included various isolates from the patients of respiratory tract infections at the hospitals of Kyoto-Shiga area in 1981 and 1983. Major organisms isolated from clinical specimens were Haemophilus spp., Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., S. aureus and Streptococcus spp. An increase in the isolation frequency of P. aeruginosa, a decrease in the isolation frequency of H. influenzae and no change in the isolation frequency of the other organisms were observed between the years 1981 and 1983. Data from susceptibility tests of clinical isolates confirmed that cefazolin (CEZ) and cefotiam (CTM) showed good antibacterial activity against S. aureus and cefmenoxime (CMX) was highly effective on Streptococcus spp., but that the susceptibilities of both organisms to CEZ, CTM, and cefmetazole (CMZ) in 1983 were lower than in 1981. Although CMX also showed good antibacterial activity against Klebsiella spp., there were no changes in the effectiveness of CTM, CMZ, and CEZ between the years 1981 and 1983. The in vitro antibacterial activities of CMX and cefoperazone against Haemophilus spp. were superior to those of the other beta-lactams tested, but there was a decline in the efficacy for CEZ. Although cefsulodin and piperacillin were highly active against Pseudomonas spp., declines in their effectiveness was observed between the years 1981 and 1983.

Elevated pancreatic oncofetal antigen levels measured by enzyme immunoassay in pure pancreatic juice of patients with pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic oncofetal antigen (POA) was measured by enzyme immunoassay in pancreatic juice from patients with pancreatic cancer, chronic pancreatitis, or other diseases. POA levels in pancreatic cancer were significantly higher than in other disorders, and POA was seen by immunofluorescence to be in the cancerous tissues of pancreatic cancer. Assay of POA in the pancreatic juice may be more reliable than serum POA, and could contribute to the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Simple, rapid determination of serum guanase activity with the Hitachi 736 automated discrete analyzer

In this new method for determining serum guanase activity by use of the Hitachi 736-40 automated analyzer, serum is incubated with a mixture of xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase; a reagent containing KCN, guanine, nitrotetrazolium blue, and Triton X-100 is added; and the increase in absorbance at 570 and 660 nm is measured for 2.4 min. Only 20 microL of sample is required, and results are linearly related to the activity concentration of guanase up to 30 U/L. Within-run and day-to-day precision (CV) was respectively 2.6 to 4.2% and 3.5 to 5.5% over 0-30 U of guanase activity per liter. The normal reference interval, as calculated from data on 40 healthy persons, is 0.1 to 2.2 U/L. Results correlate well (r = 0.997) with those by a kinetic method (Clin Chem 27: 560, 1981). The guanase activity of 150 samples can be measured within 1 h by this method.

Analysis of guanase by agarose gel electrophoresis and activity staining

A method was developed to separate guanase by agarose gel electrophoresis and to detect its activity by staining of the bands with a mixture of the enzymes xanthine oxidase, catalase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase, the coenzyme NADP+, and a substrate of guanine, ethanol, phenazine methosulfate, nitrotetrazolium blue, and KCN in Tris-(hydroxymethyl)methylamine buffer (pH 8.0). Serum samples showed bands 1 (faster moving) and 2 corresponding to the positions of albumin and alpha 2-globulin, respectively, found by serum protein staining. The same bands were detected with guanase from human liver and kidney, although band 2 from the latter samples was not as distinct as that from the liver samples.

Simple, rapid determination of serum guanase activity with the Hitachi 736 automated discrete analyzer

In this new method for determining serum guanase activity by use of the Hitachi 736-40 automated analyzer, serum is incubated with a mixture of xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase; a reagent containing KCN, guanine, nitrotetrazolium blue, and Triton X-100 is added; and the increase in absorbance at 570 and 660 nm is measured for 2.4 min. Only 20 microL of sample is required, and results are linearly related to the activity concentration of guanase up to 30 U/L. Within-run and day-to-day precision (CV) was respectively 2.6 to 4.2% and 3.5 to 5.5% over 0-30 U of guanase activity per liter. The normal reference interval, as calculated from data on 40 healthy persons, is 0.1 to 2.2 U/L. Results correlate well (r = 0.997) with those by a kinetic method (Clin Chem 27: 560, 1981). The guanase activity of 150 samples can be measured within 1 h by this method.

Carbohydrate antigenic determinant (CA 19-9) and other tumor markers in gastrointestinal malignancies

The serum carbohydrate antigenic determinant (CA 19-9) was assayed in patients with various diseases, and it provides excellent sensitivity for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (25/27, 93%), while only 4% (2/54) of the patients with benign diseases and none of the 40 healthy subjects showed elevated CA 19-9 concentrations over 37 units/ml as upper normal value. Increased serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels over 2.5 ng/ml were observed in patients with pancreatic cancer (18/22, 82%), compared to 22% (12/54) of the patients with benign diseases and 10% (4/40) of the healthy subjects. 12 of the 19, 6 of the 19 and none of the 22 patients with pancreatic cancer exhibited high serum ferritin, beta 2-microglobulin, or alpha-fetoprotein levels, respectively. A significant difference in CA 19-9 was found between patients with pancreatic cancer and gastric cancer, other gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, other non-GI malignancies, benign digestive diseases or normal populations.