Shojiro Ikematsu

Preliminary evidence for inhibitory effect of glycyrrhizin on HIV replication in patients with AIDS.

Glycyrrhizin (GL) at a dose of 400-1600 mg/day (7.2-30.8 mg/kg/day) was administered intravenously for a period of more than a month, on 6 separate occasions, to 3 hemophiliacs with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) p24 antigen was detected at the beginning of 5 of the 6 treatment courses. Viral antigen was not detected at the end of or during 3 of the 5 treatment courses and decreased to a low level following the 2 other courses. These findings suggest that GL might inhibit HIV-1 replication in vivo.

A new rapid and simple assay for factor XIII activity using dansylcadaverine incorporation and gel filtration

A new sensitive, reproducible and simple assay for factor XIII activity was developed, in which fluorescent dansylcadaverine (DC) is incorporated into casein and DC-casein is separated from free DC by gel filtration. A good correlation was found between our method and Lorands. The main advantages of our method are: (1) our assay technique is simple with good reproducibility and takes only a couple of hours; (2) the detectable limit of factor XIII activity is about 1% of normal pool plasma, but, if necessary, can be lowered by increasing the sample amount and lengthening the reaction time.

Possible cross-linking of factor VIII related antigen to fibrin by factor XIII in delayed coagulation process

The significance of factor VIII related antigen ( VIIIR:AG ) in laboratory medicine has been made clear, but its functions in the coagulation process are still unknown ( 1, 2 ). We previously observed that the concentration of VIIIR:AG in serum was lower than that in plasma of severe hemophilia A patients without inhibitor ( 3, 4 ). In this communication, we report the mechanism of the blood coagulation. consumption of VIIIR:XG in the state of prolonged

Anti-HTLV-III and Anti-HTLV-I Antibodies and T Cell Subsets in Hemophiliacs Living in HTLV-I Endemic and Nonendemic Areas of Japan

Sera from 154 hemophiliacs, including 132 with hemophilia A and 22 with hemophilia B, were examined for antibodies against human T cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) and type I by strip radioimmunoassay based on the Western blotting technique. Sixty-two patients lived in Kyushu, a known endemic area of HTLV-I and 92 patients lived in Tokyo, a nonendemic area of HTLV-I. Results showed a prevalence of HTLV-III antibodies of 64.5% in Kyushu and of 57.6% in Tokyo. There were no significant differences between these two groups. Helper/suppressor (T4/T8) ratios of seropositive patients were 0.69 +/- 0.41 and those of seronegative patients were 1.05 +/- 0.56. Ratios of both groups were lower than those of normal healthy people (1.35 +/- 0.45). Our findings confirmed that hemophiliacs living in an HTLV-I endemic area and those living in a nonendemic area in Japan equally possessed antibodies to HTLV-III. Low T4/T8 ratios and increases of serum IgG and IgM levels were found even in seronegative hemophiliacs.

HIV markers and immune abnormalities in patients with hemophilia.

Etiological and immunological evaluations of 101 hemophiliacs treated with coagulation factor concentrates were performed. All samples were assayed for HIV antigen (Ag) with two different enzyme immunoassays (ABBOTT/VIRONOSTIKA), confirmed for antibody (Ab) to HIV with two different methods (ABBOTT ENVACOR/BIO-RAD westernblot). Results of serum HIV related markers assayed by these methods classify the patients into three groups: Of 101 patients, 37 in group A (Ab negative), 53 in group B (Ab positive but Ag negative), 11 in group C (Ab and Ag positive).OKT4 (helper/suppressor inducer) cells and OKT4/OKT8 (suppressor/cytotoxic) ratios in group C (323±164/μl and 0.48±0.23) were significantly lower than in group B (569±278/μl and 0.63±0.34) and A (737±367/4μl and 1.11±0.63).Among immunoglobulins quantified, serum levels of IgG and A were elevated in group C (2364±750mg/dl and 341±220mg/dl and 257±148mg/dl). Particularly, the inverse correlation between OKT4 cells and IgA levels was shown in HIV seropositive patients. The coefficient of correlation in group C (r=-0.341) was stronger than that in group B (r=-0.105). On the other hand, no relationship was found between IgM levels and seropositivity.Elevated serum β2-microglobulin levels were significantly correlated with reduced OKT4 cells in seropositive patients, especially in group C (r=-0.513).Our data suggest that assays of serum IgA, β2-microglobulin and HIV antigen are useful predictors for the condition and prognosis of HIV infection, furthermore the evaluation of therapy.