MASAHIRO KIHARA, JUN FUJIKAWA, MICHIYA OHTAKA, MASAYUKI MANO, YASUO NARA, RYOICHI HORIE, TOKUGORO TSUNEMATSU, SHINYA NOTE, MASAICHI FUKASE, AND YUKIO YAMORI SUMMARY Interrelationships among blood pressure (BP), sodium (Na), potassium (K), dietary protein, and serum cholesterol level (Choi) were examined in 62% (1120) of 1818 Japanese inhabitants of both sexes aged over 30 years who lived in a rural village in Japan. Fasting single-spot urine specimens were collected in the morning to measure Na, K, urea nitrogen (UN), inorganic sulfate (SO 4 ), and creatinine (Cr). The Cr ratios of Na, K, UN, SO 4 , Na/K, and SO4/UN were analyzed by multiple regression analysis to determine independent associations with BP together with age, obesity index, hematocrit (Hct), Choi, triglyceride (TG), and fasting serum glucose level (Glu). Except for Na7 Cr in men, Na/Cr and Na/K were found to be independently and positively related to BP, particularly to systolic BP (SBP). In contrast, K/Cr and SO4/UN (an index related to the dietary score of sulphurcontaining amino acids derived mainly from animal protein) were both negatively associated with SBP, and UN/Cr (an index of total protein intake) was positively associated with SBP in men. Choi was linked to BP negatively in men but positively in women. Age, obesity index, TG, and Hct were generally positively and significantly related to BP in both sexes. The results confirmed on epidemiological grounds the positive link of Na and the negative link of K to BP within a single population in Japan. They further suggest, although only in men, that there is a negative relationship of Choi and dietary animal protein with BP. (Hypertension 6: 736-742, 1984) KEY WORDS • sodium • potassium • animal protein • cholesterol hypertension * multivariate analysis

Islet cell antibodies were studied in 1,112 non-diabetic adults, 473 normal school children and 162 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients in a Japanese population. The prevalence of islet cell antibodies was 0.5%, 0.4% and 32%, respectively. Most islet cell antibodies positive subjects with Type 1 diabetes had short duration of the disease. No patients who had over 10 years from the onset had islet cell antibodies. Six non-diabetic adults with islet cell antibodies were followed for 4 years. Only one with Hashimoto's thyroiditis showed a diabetic pattern in her oral glucose tolerance test. However, none developed overt insulin-dependent diabetes until 1984. Two out of these six subjects continued to be positive for both islet cell antibodies and antithyroid antibodies or antinuclear antibodies. Islet cell antibodies in the remaining four patients disappeared during the second year. It is difficult to predict the onset of Type 1 diabetes by islet cell antibodies in non-diabetic individuals because they may be transient.

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Somatostatin's release from the isolated rat pancreas was studied using a perfusion technique. Arginine at a concentration of 19 mM produced a biphasic increase in somatostatin release from the perfused rat pancreas. Both first and second phases of somatostatin's increase are significantly higher in the presence of 1 mM theophylline than in the absence of the drug. These results indicate the possible inclusion of the adenylate cyclase--cyclic AMP system in the regulatory mechanism of rat pancreatic somatostatin secretion.