- 著者
- Emiko Kurisaki Masao Sato Sigeyuki Asano Hirobumi Gunji Mamoru Mochizuki Hajime Odajima Haruki Wakasa Hiroshi Satoh Chiho Watanabe Kouichi Hiraiwa
- 出版者
- The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
- 雑誌
- Journal of Health Science (ISSN:13449702)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.45, no.6, pp.309-317, 1999-12-31 (Released:2008-04-14)
- 参考文献数
- 20
- 被引用文献数
- 2 1
It has been assumed that "smelter disease" is caused by sulfuric dioxide. A typical episode resulting in "smelter disease" occurred in Fukushima, Japan. Twenty-seven workers became ill and eventually three of them died. The concentration of mercury (Hg) was found to be higher in all tissues and blood of the three victims than in those of normal Japanese, although the concentrations of zinc, cadmium, copper and lead in all tissues examined were within the normal range. The clinical course after the incident and autopsy findings clarified the cause of death to be acute Hg fume poisoning. To determine the histological localization of Hg and metallothionein (MT), Hg staining by the photo-emulsion method and immunostaining using anti-MT antibody were carried out. Numerous Hg granules were observed in the epithelia of the proximal tubules of the renal cortex using the photo-emulsion histochemical method. The liver of victims contained a few Hg granules in the hepatic cellular cytoplasm and sinusoid. Immunostaining of the kidney showed a strong positive reaction with anti-MT in the proximal tubules outside the medulla. The presence of Hg-bound MT in the kidneys of the victims was confirmed by gel chromatography. This is the first evidence of Hg-MT in the tissues of humans with acute Hg fume poisoning. Mercury might induce the synthesis of MT in human tissues. In addition, fractionation of the supernatants on gel chromatography revealed that most of the Hg in the kidney and lung of the patient who had the most severe renal and lung damage and who was the first of the three victims to die was distributed in high molecular weight protein fractions (HMW) and a small portion of Hg was bound to MT. These findings suggest that the amount of synthesized MT in tissues was not sufficient for MT to bind to Hg. The amount of Hg absorbed into tissues may be too large for MT to protect tissues, and thereby Hg may be bound to HMW.
- 著者
- Chris Fook Sheng Ng Kayo Ueda Ayano Takeuchi Hiroshi Nitta Shoko Konishi Rinako Bagrowicz Chiho Watanabe Akinori Takami
- 出版者
- Japan Epidemiological Association
- 雑誌
- Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.24, no.1, pp.15-24, 2014-01-05 (Released:2014-01-05)
- 参考文献数
- 60
- 被引用文献数
- 33 37
Background: Ambient temperature affects mortality in susceptible populations, but regional differences in this association remain unclear in Japan. We conducted a time-series study to examine the variation in the effects of ambient temperature on daily mortality across Japan.Methods: A total of 731 558 all-age non-accidental deaths in 6 cities during 2002–2007 were analyzed. The association between daily mortality and ambient temperature was examined using distributed lag nonlinear models with Poisson distribution. City-specific estimates were combined using random-effects meta-analysis. Bivariate random-effects meta-regressions were used to examine the moderating effect of city characteristics.Results: The effect of heat generally persisted for 1 to 2 days. In warmer communities, the effect of cold weather lasted for approximately 1 week. The combined increases in mortality risk due to heat (99th vs 90th percentile of city-specific temperature) and cold (first vs 10th percentile) were 2.21% (95% CI, 1.38%–3.04%) and 3.47% (1.75%–5.21%), respectively. City-specific effects based on absolute temperature changes were more heterogeneous than estimates based on relative changes, which suggests some degree of acclimatization. Northern populations with a cool climate appeared acclimatized to low temperature but were still vulnerable to extreme cold weather. Population density, average income, cost of property rental, and number of nurses appeared to influence variation in heat effect across cities.Conclusions: We noted clear regional variation in temperature-related increases in mortality risk, which should be considered when planning preventive measures.