Quality and safety issues related to traditional animal medicine: role of taurine

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Calculus Bovis</it> (:<it>C.Bovis</it>) is one of the most precious and commonly-used medicinal materials in Japan and China. As the natural occurrence is very rare, a source of supply for <it>C. Bovis</it> is far behind the actual need and great efforts have been taken for some substitutes of natural <it>C. Bovis</it>. Unfortunately, very little information is available on the quality and/or clinical efficacy of medication based on <it>C. Bovis</it>. To ensure sustainable use of traditional therapeutic agents derived from <it>C. Bovis</it>, we felt that several issues needed to be addressed: 1) the source of the <it>C. Bovis</it> materials and quality control; 2) the role of taurine in the efficacy of <it>C. Bovis</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nine samples of natural <it>C. Bovis</it> and its substitutes were collected. ICP-MS was used for elemental analysis and the characterization was performed by principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) as multivariate approaches. The efficacy of <it>C. Bovis</it> was evaluated for morphology, viability and beating pattern on cultured cardiac myocytes and/or fibroblasts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PCA and multi-elemental focus was effective in discriminating <it>C. Bovis</it> samples derived from different habitats. A satisfactory classification using SIMCA was obtained among Australia <it>C. Bovis</it>, other habitats and the substitutes. Australian samples had better batch uniformity than other habitats and were composed of fewer elements. We have used Australian<it> C. Bovis</it> for assessment on its bioactive compounds. Rat cardiac cells incubated with <it>C. Bovis</it> extract (0.01-0.1mg/ml) maintained normal morphology, viability and beating pattern. Cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts treated for 48 h with CA (0.5mM) or DCA (0.1mM) caused cell injury, as reflected by changes in appearance and a reduction of viability detected by the MTS assay. In cardiomyocytes, 0.5 h exposure of CA (0.5mM) markedly decreased the velocity ratio of beating, whereas the simultaneous addition of 1 mM taurine largely prevented the decrease.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The multi-elemental focus provided some references for the quality control and the efficacy of <it>C. Bovis</it>. Taurine partly attenuated the harmful actions of bile acids. It is plausible that the relationship between taurine and the bile acids contributes to therapeutic effect of <it>C. Bovis</it>.</p

Densification of layered firn of the ice sheet at Dome Fuji, Antarctica

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OM] 極域気水圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ

Distribution of Japanese Eel Anguilla japonica Revealed by Environmental DNA

絶滅危惧種ニホンウナギの分布域を環境DNA解析で推定. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-03-03.The abundance of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica has rapidly decreased in recent decades. Following a re-evaluation of the possibility of extinction, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the Japanese eel as an endangered species in 2013 and 2014, respectively. However, their abundance and precise distribution have never been clarified owing to their nocturnality and difficulty in their capture. In this study, the distribution of Japanese eels was investigated by monitoring for environmental DNA (eDNA), a non-invasive and efficient detection method. A total of 365 water samples were collected from 265 rivers located throughout Japan. High concentrations of eDNA of Japanese eels were detected in rivers on the Pacific side, but were low in the Sea of Japan side. In particular, very little eDNA amplification was confirmed from Hokkaido and the north of the Sea of Japan. The eDNA distribution in Japanese rivers coincides with the transport of the larvae in the ocean, as estimated by numerical simulations. Generalized linear mixed models were developed to explain the distribution of eDNA concentrations. The total nitrogen concentration emerged as an important factor in the best model. These results indicate that the distribution of Japanese eel is mostly determined by the maritime larval transport, and their survival and growth depend on the abundance of food in the river. The findings of the present study are useful for the management of populations and in the conservation of Japanese eels

Predicting effects of climate change on productivity and persistence of forest trees

Global climate change increases uncertainty in sustained functioning of forest ecosystems. Forest canopies are a key link between terrestrial ecosystems, the atmosphere, and climate. Here, we introduce research presented at the 66th meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan in the symposium “Structure and function of forest canopies under climate change.” Old-growth forest carbon stores are the largest and may be the most vulnerable to climate change as the balance between sequestration and emission could easily be tipped. Detailed structural analysis of individual large, old trees shows they are allocating wood to the trunk and crown in patterns that cannot be deduced from ground, thus can be used to more accurately quantify total forest carbon and sequestration. Slowly migrating species sensitive to novel climatic conditions will have to acclimate at the individual level. Accounting for physiological responses of trees to climate change will improve predictions of future species distributions and subsequent functioning of forest ecosystems. Field experiments manipulating temperature and precipitation show how trees compensate physiologically to mitigate for higher temperatures and drought. However, it is difficult to measure acclimation responses over long timeframes. Intraindividual trait variation is proposed as an indicator of acclimation potential of trees to future conditions and suggests that acclimation potential may vary among regional populations within a species. Integrating whole-tree structural data with physiological data offers a promising avenue for understanding how trees will respond to climatic shifts

Super-responder to pirfenidone therapy in IPF

Background : Pirfenidone (PFD), an anti-fibrosis drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), suppresses disease progression and delays decline of forced vital capacity. However, this drug rarely makes marked improvement of pulmonary function, chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings and hypoxia. Case presentation : A 59 year-old-man, who was a former smoker and had a history of alcoholic liver cirrhosis, developed exertional dyspnea and was referred to our hospital. HRCT showed honeycomb changes with surrounding ground-glass opacity (GGO) in a predominantly basal and subpleural distribution. He was diagnosed with IPF and the treatment with PFD was started. At 16 months after the start of treatment, the predicted forced vital capacity value markedly improved from 82.9% to 98.6%. His resting-state partial pressure of arterial oxygen while breathing room air increased from a minimum of 54.7 mmHg (at 2 months treatment) to 72.5 mmHg. The GGO observed at diagnosis disappeared in HRCT. But after 32 months of treatment, his general condition got worse gradually, and he died from chronic progression of IPF after 48 months of treatment. Conclusion : Our case suggests that a complication of chronic liver disease and the existence of GGO may be characteristics of super-responder to PFD treatment for IPF patients

Botulinum neurotoxin A subtype 2 reduces pathological behaviors more effectively than subtype 1 in a rat Parkinson’s disease model

editorial reviewedRecent reports indicate that interruption of acetylcholine release by intrastriatal injection of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) in a rat Parkinson’s disease model reduces pathogenic behavior without adverse side effects such as memory dysfunction. Current knowledge suggests that BoNT/A subtype 1 (BoNT/A1) and BoNT/A subtype 2 (BoNT/A2) exert different effects. In the present study, we compared the effects of BoNT/A1 and BoNT/A2 on rotation behavior and in vivo cleavage of presynaptic protein SNAP-25 in a rat unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Parkinson’s disease model. BoNT/A2 more effectively reduced pathogenic behavior by efficiently cleaving SNAP-25 in the striatum compared with that of BoNT/A1. Our results suggest that BoNT/A2 has greater clinical therapeutic value for treating subjects with Parkinson’s disease compared to that of BoNT/A1

A rapid, targeted, neuron-selective, in vivo knockdown following a single intracerebroventricular injection of a novel chemically modified siRNA in the adult rat brain

peer reviewedThere has been a dramatic expansion of the literature on RNA interference and with it, increasing interest in the potential clinical utility of targeted inhibition of gene expression and associated protein knockdown. However, a critical factor limiting the experimental and therapeutic application of RNA interference is the ability to deliver small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), particularly in the central nervous system, without complications such as toxicity and inflammation. Here we show that a single intracerebroventricular injection of Accell siRNA, a new type of naked siRNA that has been modified chemically to allow for delivery in the absence of transfection reagents, even into differentiated cells such mature neurons, leads to neuron-specific protein knockdown in the adult rat brain. Following in vivo delivery, targeted Accell siRNAs were incorporated successfully into various types of mature neurons, but not glia, for 1 week in diverse brain regions (cortex, striatum, hippocampus, midbrain, and cerebellum) with an efficacy of delivery of approximately 97%. Immunohistochemical and Western blotting analyses revealed widespread, targeted inhibition of the expression of two well-known reference proteins, cyclophilin-B (38–68% knockdown) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (23–34% knockdown). These findings suggest that this novel procedure is likely to be useful in experimental investigations of neuropathophysiological mechanisms

Cell culture and in vivo analyses of cytopathic hepatitis C virus mutants

AbstractHCV-JFH1 yields subclones that develop cytopathic plaques (Sekine-Osajima Y, et al., Virology 2008; 371:71). Here, we investigated viral amino acid substitutions in cytopathic mutant HCV-JFH1 clones and their characteristics in vitro and in vivo. The mutant viruses with individual C2441S, P2938S or R2985P signature substitutions, and with all three substitutions, showed significantly higher intracellular replication efficiencies and greater cytopathic effects than the parental JFH1 in vitro. The mutant HCV-inoculated mice showed significantly higher serum HCV RNA and higher level of expression of ER stress-related proteins in early period of infection. At 8weeks post inoculation, these signature mutations had reverted to the wild type sequences. HCV-induced cytopathogenicity is associated with the level of intracellular viral replication and is determined by certain amino acid substitutions in HCV-NS5A and NS5B regions. The cytopathic HCV clones exhibit high replication competence in vivo but may be eliminated during the early stages of infection

トクシマ ダイガク ビョウイン セイシンカ シンケイカ ニュウイン カンジャ ニ タイスル コウクウ ケア ノ イギ

For patients with mental diseases, safe food-intake and the maintenance of good oral hygiene become difficult due to a decline in the ability of daily livings. In addition, a majority of patients suffer from the lack of reflection of both deglutition and cough as well as clinical silent aspiration, resulting from the extrapyramidal symptom (EPS) caused by antipsychotics. In this clinical study, we evaluated the oral environment in 10 inpatients with psychiatry neurology, and examined the usefulness of professional oral care. They were divided into 2 groups: the physical restriction group (restriction group) and the non-physical restriction group (control group), followed by the estimation of the conditions of oral hygiene and the days accompanied by fever, one of the symptoms of aspiration-related pneumonia, before and after professional oral care intervention. As a result, restriction group had poor oral hygiene condition as compared to the control group. After professional oral care intervention, oral hygiene condition was significantly improved in the restriction group, and reached to the same levels as in the control group. The days with fever were 7.3 and 5.0 days per month in the restriction group before and after the intervention, respectively. In the control group, those were 0.6 and 0 day per month before and after intervention, respectively. The cause of the difference in days with fever between 2 groups was considered to be the effect of clinical silent aspiration by EPS induced by antipsychotics. The professional oral care contributed to the improvement of the oral hygiene in inpatients with psychiatry neurology, resulting in the reduction of aspiration-related pneumonia. Therefore, the role of dentistry in the field of psychiatry neurology would be inevitable in the future