Microvasculature remodeling in the mouse lower gut during inflammaging

Inflammaging is defined as low-grade, chronic, systemic inflammation in aging, in the absence of overt infection. Age-associated deterioration of gastrointestinal function could be ascribed to the inflammaging, although evidence is yet to emerge. Here we show that microvessels in aging mouse intestine were progressively deprived of supportive structures, microvessel-associated pericytes and adherens junction protein vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, and became leaky. This alteration was ascribed to up-regulation of angiopoetin-2 in microvascular endothelial cells. Up-regulation of the angiopoietin-2 was by TNF-α, originated from M2-like residential CD206 + macrophages, proportion of which increases as animal ages. It was concluded that antigenic burdens encountered in intestine throughout life create the condition of chronic stage of inflammation, which accumulates M2-like macrophages expressing TNF-α. The TNF-α induces vascular leakage to facilitate recruitment of immune cells into intestine under the chronic inflammatory setting. © Author(s) 2017.1

Induction of Remission is Difficult due to Frequent Relapse during Tapering Steroids in Korean Patients with Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory disease affecting elderly and involving the shoulder and pelvic girdles. No epidemiological study of polymyalgia rheumatica was conducted in Korea. We retrospectively evaluated patients with polymyalgia rheumatica followed up at the rheumatology clinics of 10 tertiary hospitals. In total 51 patients, 36 patients (70.6%) were female. Age at disease onset was 67.4 yr. Twenty-three patients (45.1%) developed polymyalgia rheumatica in winter. Shoulder girdle ache was observed in 45 patients (90%) and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (> 40 mm/h) in 49 patients (96.1%). Initial steroid dose was 23.3 mg/d prednisolone equivalent. Time to normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 4.1 months. Only 8 patients (15.7%) achieved remission. Among 41 patients followed up, 28 patients (68.3%) had flare at least once. Number of flares was 1.5 ± 1.6. The frequency of flare was significantly lower in patients with remission (P = 0.02). In Korea, polymyalgia rheumatica commonly develops during winter. Initial response to steroid is fairly good, but the prognosis is not benign because remission is rare with frequent relapse requiring long-term steroid treatment

Potential Health Risks of Chemicals in Car Colorant Products

Public concern regarding the use of products with chemicals has increased in Korea, following reports indicating that hazardous chemicals in products, such as disinfectants, can cause fatal lung disease. Despite the widespread use of car colorant products, little is known regarding their potential health risks. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential health risks of substances that exist in car colorant products. Thirteen car colorant products were purchased from the Korean market and 15 commonly used chemicals were analyzed. Exposure and risk assessments were conducted in two assessment stages (screening and refined). The analysis showed that all of the examined products contained toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. The maximum concentration of toluene was 52.5%, with a median concentration of 10.8%. Tier 1 (screening) assessment showed that four chemicals (toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and 2-butoxyethanol) may pose health risks, but tier 2 (refined) assessment showed that these chemicals do not pose any risk. However, these chemicals were present in all of the examined products, and government regulations did not control their concentrations in these products. Therefore, we suggest that levels of toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene in car colorant products should be regulated to protect public health

Health Risk Assessment on Hazardous Ingredients in Household Deodorizing Products

The inhalation of a water aerosol from a humidifier containing disinfectants has led to serious lung injuries in Korea. To promote the safe use of products, the Korean government enacted regulations on the chemicals in various consumer products that could have adverse health effects. Given the concern over the potential health risks associated with the hazardous ingredients in deodorizing consumer products, 17 ingredients were analyzed and assessed according to their health risk on 3 groups by the application type in 47 deodorizing products. The risk assessment study followed a stepwise procedure (e.g., collecting toxicological information, hazard identification/exposure assessment, and screening and detailed assessment for inhalation and dermal routes). The worst-case scenario and maximum concentration determined by the product purpose and application type were used as the screening assessment. In a detailed assessment, the 75th exposure factor values were used to estimate the assumed reasonable exposure to ingredients. The exposed concentrations of seven ingredients were calculated. Due to limitation of toxicity information, butylated hydroxyl toluene for a consumer’s exposure via the dermal route only was conducted for a detailed assessment. This study showed that the assessed ingredients have no health risks at their maximum concentrations in deodorizing products. This approach can be used to establish guidelines for ingredients that may pose inhalation and dermal hazards

Determining Exposure Factors of Anti-Fogging, Dye, Disinfectant, Repellent, and Preservative Products in Korea

Reliable exposure factors are essential to determine health risks posed by chemicals in consumer products. We analyzed five risk-concerned product categories (anti-fogging, dye, disinfectant, repellent, and preservative products) for 13 products (three car anti-fogging products, a lens anti-fogging product, two car dye products, two drain disinfectants, an air conditioner disinfectant, a chlorine-based disinfectant, a fabric repellent, an insect repellent for food, and a wood preservative) considered to be of high risk in order to determine exposure factors via web surveys and estimation of amount of product. Among the 3000 participants (1482 (49%) men) aged ≥19 years, drain disinfectants were used most frequently (38.2%); the rate of usage of the other products ranged between 1.1–24.0%. The usage rates for the consumer products differed by sex, age, income, and education. Some consumer products such as car and lens anti-fogging products, chlorine-based disinfectants, fabric repellents, and drain disinfectants were regularly used more than once a month, while car dye products, air conditioner disinfectants, insect repellents for food, and wood preservatives were not regularly used owing to the specific product purposes and seasonal needs. Our results could be used for managing or controlling chemical substances in consumer products and conducting accurate exposure assessments

DataSheet1_A potential of iron slag-based soil amendment as a suppressor of greenhouse gas (CH4 and N2O) emissions in rice paddy.docx

Iron slag-based silicate fertilizer (SF) has been utilized as a soil amendment in rice paddy fields for over 50 years. SF, which contains electron acceptors such as oxidized iron (Fe3+) compounds, is known to reduce methane (CH4) emissions, which have a global warming potential (GWP) of 23, higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, the dynamics of nitrous oxide (N2O), which has a GWP of 265, were questionable. Since the reduced Fe (Fe2+) can react as an electron donor, SF application might suppress N2O emissions by progressing N2O into nitrogen gas (N2) during the denitrification process. To verify the influence of SF application on two major greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics during rice cultivation, three different kinds of SF were prepared by mixing iron rust (>99%, Fe2O3) as an electron acceptor with different ratios (0, 2.5, and 5%) and applied at the recommended level (1.5 Mg ha−1) for rice cultivation. SF application was effective in decreasing CH4 emissions in the earlier rice cropping season, and seasonal CH4 flux was more highly decreased with increasing the mixing ratio of iron rust from an average of 19% to 38%. Different from CH4 emissions, approximately 70% of seasonal N2O flux was released after drainage for rice harvesting. However, SF incorporation was very effective in decreasing N2O emissions by approximately 40% over the control. Reduced Fe2+ can be simultaneously oxidized into Fe3+ by releasing free electrons. The increased electron availability might develop more denitrification processes into N2 gas rather than NO and N2O and then decrease N2O emissions in the late rice cultivation season. We could find evidence of a more suppressed N2O flux by applying the electron acceptor-added SFs (SF2.5 and SF5.0) to a 49%–56% decrease over the control. The SF application was effective in increasing rice productivity, which showed a negative-quadratic response to the available silicate (SiO2) concentration in the soil at the harvesting stage. Grain yield was maximized at approximately 183 mg kg−1 of the available SiO2 concentration in the Korean rice paddy, with a 16% increase over no-SF application. Consequently, SF has an attractive potential as a soil amendment in rice paddy to decrease GHG emission impacts and increase rice productivity.</p