Synchronous multi-segmental activity between metachronal waves controls locomotion speed in Drosophila larvae

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI, Royal Society of Edinburgh grant 64553 Maarten F ZwartThe ability to adjust the speed of locomotion is essential for survival. In limbed animals, the frequency of locomotion is modulated primarily by changing the duration of the stance phase. The underlying neural mechanisms of this selective modulation remain an open question. Here, we report a neural circuit controlling a similarly selective adjustment of locomotion frequency in Drosophila larvae. Drosophila larvae crawl using peristaltic waves of muscle contractions. We find that larvae adjust the frequency of locomotion mostly by varying the time between consecutive contraction waves, reminiscent of limbed locomotion. A specific set of muscles, the lateral transverse (LT) muscles, co-contract in all segments during this phase, the duration of which sets the duration of the interwave phase. We identify two types of GABAergic interneurons in the LT neural network, premotor neuron A26f and its presynaptic partner A31c, which exhibit segmentally synchronized activity and control locomotor frequency by setting the amplitude and duration of LT muscle contractions. Altogether, our results reveal an inhibitory central circuit that sets the frequency of locomotion by controlling the duration of the period in between peristaltic waves. Further analysis of the descending inputs onto this circuit will help understand the higher control of this selective modulation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Complication of Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia in an Elderly Patient with Sjögren Syndrome

An 81-year-old Japanese male with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) developed a low-grade fever and productive cough which were refractory to antibiotic therapy. Based on the high level of eosinophils observed in his bronchial alveolar lavage, he was diagnosed with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) and successfully treated by oral prednisolone. Interstitial lung diseases associated with pSS (pSS-ILDs) usually present as nonspecific interstitial pneumonia or usual interstitial pneumonia; therefore, the present case is extremely unique in that the patientʼs condition was complicated with CEP. A diagnosis of advanced gallbladder cancer was made in the patientʼs clinical course, suggesting the advisability of a whole-body workup in cases of pSS, especially in elderly patients

Survival time analysis of remaining teeth following replacement of unilateral free-end missing teeth: A comparison between fixed implant-supported prostheses and removable partial dentures

Tsujioka Y., Mameno T., Akema S., et al. Survival time analysis of remaining teeth following replacement of unilateral free-end missing teeth: A comparison between fixed implant-supported prostheses and removable partial dentures. Clinical Oral Implants Research , (2024); https://doi.org/10.1111/clr.14248.Objectives: This retrospective study aimed to investigate the differences in tooth loss rate between fixed implant-supported prostheses (FISPs) and removable partial dentures (RPDs) in cases of unilateral free-end missing teeth. Materials and Methods: The data of 324 patients who underwent treatment with FISPs or RPDs for unilateral free-end missing teeth and satisfied the applicable criteria, were evaluated (47 in the FISPs group and 277 in the RPDs group). After propensity score (PS) matching, which was used to extract patients with similar background factors related to prosthetic selection at baseline, survival time analyses were performed with tooth loss as the endpoint. The adjusted variables were age, sex, number of restored teeth, periodontal status, and the practicing dentist's experience in years. The remaining teeth were classified into subcategories in relation to the missing molars. Results: Overall, 58 patients (29 in each group) selected by PS matching were evaluated in the final analysis. The total number of lost teeth was 35 (FISPs group: n = 10; RPDs group: n = 25). The mean (±SD) period to tooth loss and the 10-year survival rates in the FISPs and RPDs groups were 51.6 (±30.1) months and 42.3 (±29.7) months, 70.5% and 16.4%, respectively. The log-rank test showed that significantly longer survival time in FISPs compared with RPDs. Conclusions: After adjustments for confounding factors using PS matching, replacing unilateral free-end missing teeth with FISPs may exhibit a lower tooth loss rate in adjacent and contralateral teeth compared to replacing with RPDs

Concentric zones, cell migration and neuronal circuits in the Drosophila visual center

金沢大学フロンティアサイエンス機構The Drosophila optic lobe comprises a wide variety of neurons, which form laminar neuropiles with columnar units and topographic projections from the retina. The Drosophila optic lobe shares many structural characteristics with mammalian visual systems. However, little is known about the developmental mechanisms that produce neuronal diversity and organize the circuits in the primary region of the optic lobe, the medulla. Here, we describe the key features of the developing medulla and report novel phenomena that could accelerate our understanding of the Drosophila visual system. The identities of medulla neurons are pre-determined in the larval medulla primordium, which is subdivided into concentric zones characterized by the expression of four transcription factors: Drifter, Runt, Homothorax and Brain-specific homeobox (Bsh). The expression pattern of these factors correlates with the order of neuron production. Once the concentric zones are specified, the distribution of medulla neurons changes rapidly. Each type of medulla neuron exhibits an extensive but defined pattern of migration during pupal development. The results of clonal analysis suggest homothorax is required to specify the neuronal type by regulating various targets including Bsh and cell-adhesion molecules such as N-cadherin, while drifter regulates a subset of morphological features of Drifter-positive neurons. Thus, genes that show the concentric zones may form a genetic hierarchy to establish neuronal circuits in the medulla.出版社許諾要件により、2012年3月より全文公開

Distinct effects of anterior pyriform cortex and the lateral hypothalamus lesions on protein intake in rats

Several specific locations in brain, including pyriform cortex and hypothalamus, are associated with regulation of food intake. Although lesions of these locations significantly alter food intake, their involvement in the selection of macronutrients is not well characterized. In this study, we examined distinct effects of anterior pyriform cortex (APC) and lateral hypothalamus (LH) lesions on protein intake in rats. The APC or LH of male adult rats were lesioned by treatment with kainic acid, and the rats were then given free access to two kinds of casein diets containing high (60%) and low (5%) protein. Total energy content of these diets was kept constant by changing the carbohydrate content. Following the APC lesions, body weight and food intake decreased, but returned to control levels on day 13 and day 4, respectively. APC lesions did not change the ratio of protein intake. In contrast, LH lesions disturbed body weight gain and the selection of a high protein diet for at least two weeks, although food intake returned to control levels by day 2. Our results suggest that LH, but not APC, may play an important role in the selection of protein intake in rats

Ultra-low-dose estrogen therapy for female hypogonadism.

In females, endogenous estrogen secretion increases gradually before pubertal development. The benefits of low-dose estrogen therapy in patients with Turner syndrome were originally discussed by Ross et al. and Quigley et al. These seminal studies used ethinyl estradiol (EE2), starting at a dose of 25 ng/kg/d. We hypothesized that the initial dosage of estrogen could be titrated to more closely mimic physiological increments of endogenous estrogen. Therefore, our recent study initiated EE2 treatment at a dosage of 1-2 ng/kg/d, an ultra-low-dose estrogen therapy in pediatric patients with Turner syndrome. The ultra-low-dose estrogen therapy in this syndrome produced a good final height outcome but achieved suboptimal bone mineral density (BMD). In the present review, we have explained our findings to clarify the merits and demerits of this new therapy and to promote further discussion and research. This type of ultra-low-dose estrogen therapy, initiated at an early age, could be ideal for estrogen replacement in female patients with hypogonadism, such as Turner syndrome

Non-missense variants of KCNH2 show better outcomes in type 2 long QT syndrome

AIMS: More than one-third of type 2 long QT syndrome (LQT2) patients carry KCNH2 non-missense variants that can result in haploinsufficiency (HI), leading to mechanistic loss-of-function. However, their clinical phenotypes have not been fully investigated. The remaining two-thirds of patients harbour missense variants, and past studies uncovered that most of these variants cause trafficking deficiency, resulting in different functional changes: either HI or dominant-negative (DN) effects. In this study, we examined the impact of altered molecular mechanisms on clinical outcomes in LQT2 patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included 429 LQT2 patients (234 probands) carrying a rare KCNH2 variant from our patient cohort undergoing genetic testing. Non-missense variants showed shorter corrected QT (QTc) and less arrhythmic events (AEs) than missense variants. We found that 40% of missense variants in this study were previously reported as HI or DN. Non-missense and HI-groups had similar phenotypes, while both exhibited shorter QTc and less AEs than the DN-group. Based on previous work, we predicted the functional change of the unreported variants-whether they cause HI or DN via altered functional domains-and stratified them as predicted HI (pHI)- or pDN-group. The pHI-group including non-missense variants exhibited milder phenotypes compared to the pDN-group. Multivariable Cox model showed that the functional change was an independent risk of AEs (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Stratification based on molecular biological studies enables us to better predict clinical outcomes in the patients with LQT2

Recognition of the "team medical-care" in medical field.

チーム医療に対して高い関心が寄せられていることから,チーム医療として認識される具体的な事柄や各職種に対する認識,その利点や職種間の認識の違いなどを明らかにする目的で,岡山県内の病院の看護師,診療放射線技師,臨床検査技師,計652名に対してアンケート調査を行った｡有効回答者数470名で,その内訳は看護師207名,診療放射線技師91名,臨床検査技師172名であった｡結果はチーム医療と認識される具体的な事柄については,異業種間カンファレンスがチーム医療を促進する事柄として認識されているが,整備･実施されていないことがうかがえた｡各職種に対する認識については,職種別･経験年数別にみても,医師,看護師,理学･作業療法士はチーム医療のメンバーとして認識されている割合が高かった｡また,経験年数別では,10～14年の人までは統計上ややばらつきがみられるが,経験年数15年以上の人はあらゆる職種をチーム医療のメンバーであると考え,その重要性を認識していることがわかった｡チーム医療の利点については,どの職種も共通して｢患者中心の医療｣と考えている割合が高かった｡Recently, the "team medical-care" has been received increasing attention in medical field. Therefore we have to develop a clear understanding of "team medical-care". The purpose of this study is to investigate things regarded as "team medical-care" by co-medical, recognition of other category of license, the advantages of "team medical-care" and recognition against the "team medical-care" by different category of license. Total 652 nurses, clinical radiological technologists and clinical laboratory technologists who are working at 8 hospitals in Okayama prefecture were examined by using questionnaire and 470 members (72.1%) responded to it. They were nurses 207 (44.0%), clinical radiological technologists 91 (19.4%), clinical laboratory technologists 172 (36.6%). Majority of respondents recognized that the medical conference consisted of different category of license promoted the "team medical-care", and ninety percent of participants prompted more frequent medical conference. In both by category of license and years of experience, they regarded doctor, nurse, physical therapist and occupational therapist as the menber of the "team medical-care" at high rate. The respondences which have over 15 years of experience regarded all category of license as the menber of the "team medical-care", while the respondences which have less than 10 to 14 years of experience showed disperision of the recongnition. The advantages of "team medical-care" were highly perceived as "patient-centered medical care" by all category of license

ウエスト シュウイケイ ノ カワリ ニ シボウカン オ ヒッス ジョウケン トシタ バアイ ノ メタボリック シンドローム ノ シンダン

我国のメタボリックシンドロームの診断基準は、腹囲(男性85cm 以上、女性90cm 以上)を必須条件としている。臍高での腹部CT にて内臓脂肪100cm[2] に当する腹囲が上記であるとしている。これには賛否両論がある。全員に腹部CT を施行すると問題はないが、現在のところ不可能である。我々は比較的短時間、正確、高率に施行されている腹部エコーでの脂肪肝有群を、内臓脂肪蓄積群の代用としてメタボリックシンドロームの診断を行った。脂肪肝の有無を用いる方法はウエスト周囲径をいくらにするかという議論もなく、有用であると考えた

メタボリック シンドローム ノ シンダン ニ カンスル ケンキュウ

501例の生活習慣病予防検診受診者について検討した。 ウエスト周囲径の増加と共に有症候数、リスクファクター数、異常者出現率のオッズ比は増加した。 501例のうち、メタボリックシンドロームと診断された者は、男性は364例中75例(20.6%)、女性は137例中10例(7.3%)であった。ウエスト周囲径異常(男性85cm以上、女性90cm以上)があると、すぐにメタボリックシンドロームと考えられがちであるが、男性193例中75例(38.9%)、女性21例中10例(47.6%)がメタボリックシンドロームであり、男女ともウエスト周囲径異常者の半数以下しか同シンドロームと診断されなかった。また、ウエスト周囲径(必須)以外の診断項目(血圧、脂質、血糖異常)のうち、血圧が関与して診断された例は男性92%、女性100%であり、血清脂質異常と血糖異常のみでメタボリックシンドロームと診断された例は男性の8%、女性の0%であった。これによりメタボリックシンドロームにおける高血圧の関与が注目された