Kochi Prefecture is noted for its high mortality rate attributable to degenerative diseases. Among them, cardiovascular disease takes the heaviest toll of lives.In quest of risk factors associated with the scourge, we probed into its possible relations with lipid in the blood, specifically with total serum cholesterol levels. At the same time, we took note of nutritional aspects.Our study found that the cardiovascular death rate has a negative correlation to total serum cholesterol levels and that the subjects who scored low total cholesterol values were exceedingly ill-fed as compared with ordinary people.This finding suggests that, in Kochi Prefecture, the lowering of total serum cholesterol levels triggered off by unbalanced nutritional conditions may increase the chance of succumbing to car-diovascular disease.
Kidney is one of the major target organ for angiotensin II (AT-II). The presence of three types of AT-II receptors, AT-II type 1, type 2, type 4 receptor (AT1, AT2, and AT4 receptor, respectively) were reported in kidney. AT1 receptor is the main type of receptor in kidney and mediates most of physiological effects of AT-II in kidney. The population of AT2 receptor is small in kidney. However, AT2 receptor also seems to play an important role for development and apoptosis in kidney. AT4 receptor is the receptor for angiotensin IV, but the physiological function is still unknown.
The patient was a two years and ten months old girl who had been treated her congenital dislocations of hips since four month old. Recently she was received the operation of varus-detorsion osteotomy to the right femur.The patient had not only the Ronchese's triad for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome; dermatorrhexis, dermatochalasis, and arthrochalasis, but also blue sclera and funnel chest. According her skin pathology, there found the thinning of collagen fibers and increased elastic fibers. In the laboratory work-ups, slight elongation of bleeding time and marked positive Rumpel-Leede test were found, although normal CPK level, Thorn test, blood coagulation time, urine hydroxyproline, and urine creatinine level.
