Other
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LanguagesJapanese, English
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Scientific MembershipsInternational College of Neuropsychpharmacology (CINP)
Publications (16) View all
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Article: Cholinergic Involvement and Synaptic Dynamin 1 Expression in Yokukansan-mediated Improvement of Spatial Memory in a Rat Model of Early Alzheimer's Disease.
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ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Yokukansan (YKS) on the impairment of spatial memory and cholinergic involvement in a rat model of early-phase Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this model, rats underwent four-vessel transient cerebral ischemia and then were treated with beta amyloid oligomers injected intracerebroventricularly once daily for 7 days. These animals showed memory impairment in an eight-arm radial maze task without histological evidence of apoptosis but with a decrease in expression of hippocampal dynamin 1, an important factor in synaptic vesicle endocytosis. Oral administration of YKS for 2 weeks significantly increased the number of correct choices and decreased the number of error choices in the eight-arm radial maze task (P < 0.05). Moreover, YKS significantly increased high K(+) -evoked potentiation of acetylcholine (ACh) release (P < 0.05) and significantly increased the expression of dynamin 1 (P < 0.01) in the hippocampus. The ameliorative effect of YKS on spatial memory impairment in our rat model of early-phase AD may be mediated in part by an increase in ACh release and modulation of dynamin 1 expression, leading to improved synaptic function. Future studies will determine whether YKS is similarly useful in the treatment of memory defects in patients diagnosed with early-stage AD. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Phytotherapy Research 08/2012; · 2.09 Impact Factor -
Article: Ameliorative effects of telmisartan on the inflammatory response and impaired spatial memory in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease incorporating additional cerebrovascular disease factors.
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ABSTRACT: Telmisartan, an angiotensin type 1 receptor blocker, is used in the management of hypertension to control blood pressure. In addition, telmisartan has a partial agonistic effect on peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ). Recently, the effects of telmisartan on spatial memory or the inflammatory response were monitored in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, to date, no studies have investigated the ameliorative effects of telmisartan on impaired spatial memory and the inflammatory response in an AD animal model incorporating additional cerebrovascular disease factors. In this study, we examined the effect of telmisartan on spatial memory impairment and the inflammatory response in a rat model of AD incorporating additional cerebrovascular disease factors. Rats were subjected to cerebral ischemia and an intracerebroventricular injection of oligomeric or aggregated amyloid-β (Aβ). Oral administration of telmisartan (0.3, 1, 3 mg/kg/d) seven days after ischemia and Aβ treatment resulted in better performance in the eight arm radial maze task in a dose-dependent manner. Telmisartan also reduced tumor necrosis factor α mRNA expression in the hippocampal region of rats with impaired spatial memory. These effects of telmisartan were antagonized by GW9662, an antagonist of PPARγ. These results suggest that telmisartan has ameliorative effects on the impairment of spatial memory in a rat model of AD incorporating additional cerebrovascular disease factors via its anti-inflammatory effect.Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 01/2012; 35(12):2141-7. · 1.66 Impact Factor -
Article: Yokukansan enhances pentobarbital-induced sleep in socially isolated mice: possible involvement of GABA(A)-benzodiazepine receptor complex.
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ABSTRACT: In the present study, we investigated the effect of the Kampo medicine Yokukansan (YKS) on pentobarbital-induced sleep in group-housed and socially isolated mice. Socially isolated mice showed shorter sleeping time than the group-housed mice. YKS (300 mg/kg, p.o.) prolonged the pentobarbital-induced sleeping time in socially isolated mice without affecting pentobarbital sleep in group-housed mice. The prolongation of sleeping time by YKS was reversed by bicuculline (3 mg/kg, i.p.) and flumazenil (3 mg/kg, i.p.), but not WAY100635. These findings suggest that the GABA(A)-benzodiazepine receptor complex, but not 5-HT(1A) receptors, is involved in the reversal effect of YKS on the decrease of pentobarbital sleep by social isolation.Journal of Pharmacological Sciences 07/2011; 116(3):316-20. · 2.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Pervasive developmental disorders and autism spectrum disorders: are these disorders one and the same?
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ABSTRACT: The concept of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) closely resemble each other. Both ICD-10 and DSM-IV use the term PDD. The authors surveyed the perception of PDD/ASD and attitudes toward terminology. The subjects of this study were 205 medical/social-welfare professionals working in fields relating to developmental disorders. Questionnaires were mailed to site investigators at the collaborating institutes. With regard to what the scope of ASD and PDD encompasses, the answers were almost equally divided among three views: ASD and PDD are the same, PDD is wider in scope and ASD is wider. The terms PDD and autism were used in slightly different ways depended upon the situation. Our results demonstrate that the parameters of PDD and ASD are unclear and that the terms related to PDD/ASD are often used differently. Further studies are required to develop more clear and reliable diagnostic criteria for PDD.Psychiatry investigation 03/2011; 8(1):67-70. · 0.99 Impact Factor -
Article: [Views on the new psychiatric specialist certification system from the perspective of those experiencing the postgraduate psychiatric training system in Japan].
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ABSTRACT: The psychiatric specialist certification system of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology was established in 2005, with a transitional period that ran until 2008. A three-year postgraduate training scheme was started in connection with the new psychiatric specialist certification system, and the first formal examination under the new system was held in 2010. A resident desiring certification as a psychiatric specialist must purchase a psychiatric specialist certification handbook and present it when taking the examination. There are many differences between the new examination and the transitional period examination, in terms of both the handbook and the number of case reports to be submitted. Results of a survey conducted on 360 psychiatrists belonging to either university or national hospitals, all of whom had undergone psychiatric training within the past eight years, revealed that there was currently a lack of knowledge, and low rate of utilization, of the handbook. The primary author was in the first cohort of those who began postgraduate psychiatric training in a university hospital and subsequently took the first examination administered after the transition period. The author has maintained that, based on personal experience, a number of issues need improvement, such as the large number of grading items to be signed off on by supervising psychiatrists, and complications involving the outline of cases to be experienced. Additionally, it was thought to be difficult for supervisors who had obtained their specialist certification via the transitional period examination to have an adequate understanding of the outline of the new examination. Therefore, it is important that residents themselves take a more assertive attitude to becoming specialists. In the future, in order to establish a sound specialist certification system, the results of this survey of physicians who took the new examination should be taken into account.Seishin shinkeigaku zasshi = Psychiatria et neurologia Japonica 01/2011; 113(3):271-6.
