FACULTY
- Department
- Department of Pharmacy
- Laboratory
- Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory
- Field of Study
- Biological Systems
- Degree
- Doctor of Medical Science
History
Graduate School/University, etc.
1983 Graduated from Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University 1990 Completed Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University
Why I Became a Researcher
I entered graduate school with an interest in hormones that regulate the functions of living organisms in trace amounts. I established a high-sensitivity enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using the fluorescence method, and was able to measure growth hormone (GH) with 1000 times more sensitivity than the radioimmunoassay method that was popular at the time. I got excited with the thought that "I can measure what I couldn't measure before," and first tried to measure GH in urine. This allowed for clinical applications such as the diagnosis of dwarfism with deficient GH secretion and follow-up after the treatment of acromegaly patients with excessive GH secretion. A colleague of mine in the next lab is studying immunology, and I got a little of the medium that they discarded after culturing lymphocytes, so I measured the GH in that and for the first time discovered that immunocytes secreted hormones. The level of prolactin (PRL) in the blood increases with pregnancy and with pituitary tumors. I was once the physician to a patient who was not pregnant and had no pituitary tumors, but had blood PRL levels 100 times higher than normal. I thought, "What's going on?" This wasn’t in the textbooks that I knew. And through various experiments, I discovered a new condition called "macroprolactinemia." I have fond memories of that time in my life where I first took action and experimented before thinking too much about things.
Research Information
Research Area and Theme
Research on the Proper Use of Drugs
I have established a system that can correctly evaluate the blood tests of patients who have anti-hormone autoantibodies to propose optimal drug treatments, and I am conducting research to improve patient health by returning this system to clinical sites.
Thoughts on Research Theme
(1) Prolactin (PRL) is always measured when visiting an OBGYN department for irregular menstruation or infertility. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is measured if thyroid abnormalities are suspected. The results of these tests determine the drug treatment plan that will be used. However, with macroprolactinemia and macrothyrotropinemia, which involves hormonal autoantibodies, blood levels for PRL and TSH are high. Therefore, if a patient is misdiagnosed, they may be given an unnecessary drug treatment that will last for their lifetime, or they may even receive unnecessary brain surgery. In this laboratory, I would like to diagnose suspicious cases sent from all over the nation and return the results to clinical sites to contribute to society. (2) It is known that antibodies to insulin are produced in diabetic patients using insulin, resulting in hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. I would like to establish a judgment system for examining insulin preparations that are difficult to react with antibodies to propose the most suitable insulin for patients. (3) Leptin and adiponectin are hormones secreted by adipocytes and have the effect of suppressing obesity and arteriosclerosis. I would like to advance research on the secretory regulation and biological effects of these hormones to discover seeds for drug discovery.
Message to Students
I train pharmacists who deeply understand diseases as well as drug treatments and can provide consultation on the health of their patients
From an educational aspect, it is my aim to “train pharmacists who deeply understand diseases as well as drug treatments and can provide consultation on the health of their patients.” In Japan, where our population is aging, it is becoming increasingly common to manage the health of patients in their homes and in neighborhood pharmacies. It is necessary for pharmacists to act as health consultants and listen to the complaints of their patients to determine if a patient should go to the hospital or self-medicate with OTC drugs. To do that, taking blood pressure measurements and other basic physical assessments must be conducted, so students will learn these using simulation robots (Physiko and Physio) in my “Clinical Pharmacy Practicum.” In addition, in “Pharmacotherapeutics 1, 2, and 3,” I teach the pathology and pharmacotherapy of various diseases in an easy-to-understand manner. "Graduation Research" is very important for learning thinking skills. This is completely different from the learning that you have repeatedly done in the past where you "understand and memorize textbooks, and then write the correct answers on exams." There is often no correct answer. You will think and experiment on your own, fail, think about why you failed, and then think about what to do next. Doing that on repeat is what graduation research is about. You will learn a process of thinking, and understand that it’s not about your results. For all the hard work that you put into your research, you’ll be very happy when you get your results. And at the Advisors' Party, we’ll have lunch, eat snacks together, and enjoy basketball.