Ichiro Wakisaka

Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls in human placenta and cord blood

Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analyses of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in placenta, maternal blood, cord blood, and milk were carried out. Trichlorobiphenyl, tetrachlorobiphenyl, pentachlorobiphenyls, and hexachlorobiphenyls were identified by the mass chromatogram and the mass spectra. Some minor peaks of PCBs were identified by gas chromatography. The relationship between the PCB concentration in placenta and that in milk is different in each PCB congener. The higher the chlorine content of the PCB congener, the more significant the correlation. No significant but a low negative correlation exists between the concentration of some PCB congeners in the placenta and that in cord blood. On the other hand, a significant linear correlation exists between the concentration of hexachlorobenzene in the placenta and that in cord blood. The transplacental transport of each PCB congener varied depending upon its chemical nature. Trichlorobiphenyl and tetrachlorobiphenyl were more transferable than hexachlorobiphenyls. The results show that the placenta and cord blood are useful human samples to analyze the body burden of environmental pollutants and to estimate their transfer from mother to fetus.

Effects of methylmercury on the lipid components in rats.

The effects of methyl mercury chloride on the variation of both the content and fatty acid composition of lipads in the liver, kidney and brain of rats is retorted. Methyl mercury is identified as an extremely toxici substance for man and his environment. Though the toxic effects of mercury have been widely studied from biochemical, physiological, and pathological points of view, there are very few reports which give clear elucidation of the mechanism for the occurrence of neuroinclear elucidation of the mechnism for the occurrence of neuroin-toxication.

Pattern of Medical Care Services Utilization in Fiji

The present study was designed to analyze sociodemographic and health related factors that influence the utilization of medical care services in Fiji by using the method of discriminant function. Some sociodemographic and health related independent variables had significant effects on the two patterns of modern and traditional medical services utilization. Discriminant function coefficients for sex, age and race are large enough to suggest the importance of discriminating between two patterns of medical care utilization. This suggests that traditional medical service is coexistent with modern medicine in Fiji and might play an extremely important role in providing health care for rural communities in the same way as modern medicine.

The Regional Difference of Serum Iron and Hemoglobin Contents in Southern Part of Kyushu

各地域集団を, 鉄分代謝の面からみた場合, その地域集団の鉄分吸収量にみあった体内鉄含量が期待される。血清鉄およびヘモグロビン含量は, 体内鉄含量を反映するので, これらの値になんらかの地域差が存在することが考えられる。ここでは, 各地域の男女の血清鉄含量, およびヘモグロビン含量を比較することにより, 体内鉄含量の地域差を検討してみた。その結果, 以下の結論を得た。1) 各地域の男女の血清鉄含量の平均値の間には, 有意な相関がある。2) ヘモグロビン含量についても同様に有意な相関がある。3) 集団内においては, 閉経期前 (ここでは, 一応45歳未満とした) の夫婦の血清鉄含量について, 有意な相関が認められる。4) 鉄分吸収に影響する要因の摂取量と, 血清鉄含量の関係を, 閉経期前の女性について検討してみた。鉄分吸収に影響する要因として, 鉄分・動物たん白質・ビタミンCをとり, これらの摂取量, および摂取量の組合せと, 血清鉄含量との相関をみてみた。動物たん白質の摂取量が第一要因として血清鉄含量に作用し, それに第二要因の鉄分摂取量を組み合わせたものが, もっとも強い相関を与えることがわかった。