Desquamative Gingivitis

Desquamative gingivitis (DG) is characterized by erythematous, epithelial desquamation, erosion of the gingival epithelium, and blister formation on the gingiva. DG is a clinical feature of a variety of diseases or disorders. Most cases of DG are associated with mucocutaneous diseases, the most common ones being lichen planus, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and pemphigus vulgaris. Proper diagnosis of the underlying cause is important because the prognosis varies, depending on the disease. This chapter presents the underlying etiology that is most commonly associated with DG. The current literature on the diagnostic and management modalities of patients with DG is reviewed

Prospective association of soft drink consumption with depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Consumption of soft drinks has become a serious public health issue worldwide. However, prospective evidence is limited regarding the relationship between soft drink consumption and depression, especially in Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective association between soft drink consumption and the development of depressive symptoms. METHODS: We evaluated an occupational cohort of 935 adults in Japan (2012-2016), who were free from depressive symptoms at baseline and attended a 3-y follow-up assessment. Soft drink consumption was assessed using a self-administered diet history questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for sociodemographic, lifestyle, dietary, and occupational covariates. RESULTS: Over the 3-y study period, 16.9% (158 cases) of the study participants reported depressive symptoms. Higher soft drink consumption was associated with higher odds of depressive symptoms. The multivariable-adjusted OR was 1.91 (95% CI, 1.11-3.29; Ptrend = 0.015) when comparing soft drink consumption of ≥4 cups/wk with consumption of <1 cup/wk. CONCLUSION: The present results suggested that greater consumption of soft drinks would increase the likelihood of exhibiting depressive symptoms.This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 25293146, 25702006, Practical Research Project for Life-Style related Diseases including Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes Mellitus (15ek0210021h0002) from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, and the Industrial Health Foundation. F.I. was funded by the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, United Kingdom (MC_UU_12015/5)

ALS mutations in the TIA-1 prion-like domain trigger highly condensed pathogenic structures

筋萎縮性側索硬化症（ALS）の発症機構の一端を解明 --タンパク質の高密度な凝縮構造が鍵--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-09-13.T cell intracellular antigen-1 (TIA-1) plays a central role in stress granule (SG) formation by self-assembly via the prion-like domain (PLD). In the TIA-1 PLD, amino acid mutations associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Welander distal myopathy (WDM), have been identified. However, how these mutations affect PLD self-assembly properties has remained elusive. In this study, we uncovered the implicit pathogenic structures caused by the mutations. NMR analysis indicated that the dynamic structures of the PLD are synergistically determined by the physicochemical properties of amino acids in units of five residues. Molecular dynamics simulations and three-dimensional electron crystallography, together with biochemical assays, revealed that the WDM mutation E384K attenuated the sticky properties, whereas the ALS mutations P362L and A381T enhanced the self-assembly by inducing β-sheet interactions and highly condensed assembly, respectively. These results suggest that the P362L and A381T mutations increase the likelihood of irreversible amyloid fibrillization after phase-separated droplet formation, and this process may lead to pathogenicity

Lifestyle Habits Adjustment for Hypertension and Discontinuation of Antihypertensive Agents

Background: Hypertension is one of lifestyle-related diseases, and prevention and effect of reduction pressure can be expected by non-pharmacological interventions. Authors have continued guidance of adjustment for lifestyle to thousands of hypertensive patients, resulting 4.6%-6.1% case could discontinue hypertensive agents. This study enrolled patients with all necessary related data. Subjects and methods: Subjects were 50 patients with hypertension (M/F: 25/25, age 65.4 ± 8.6 vs. 53.4 ± 6.2 years, BMI 23.4 ± 2.7 vs. 22.3 ± 2.5, respectively), who could discontinued antihypertensive agents. They received consultation and intervention from registered dietitian nutritionists, exercise therapists and nurses. Results: The comparative results on males and females are as follows: smoking habit was 76% vs. 0%, alcohol intake was 60% vs. 0%, diabetes complication was 16% vs. 8%, and hyperlipidemia was 32% vs. 52%, respectively. These cases showed rare to none incidence of cerebral vascular accident (CVA), coronary heart disease (CHD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Consultations in median were 4.0 vs. 4.0 times, median weight reduction was 2.2 kg vs. 1.6 kg and median period withdrawal of the drug was 2.0 years vs. 2.5 years. Discussion and conclusion: When living adjustment is advised, blood pressure decreases due to behavior change. Our results suggest that these cases have less arteriosclerosis development, which enables withdrawal of medicine. It is necessary to carefully observe the progress whether the antihypertensive drug will be unnecessary or will be restarted. Current results obtained would become the fundamental data in the future, and the adjustment for diet and exercise would be useful for more adequate treatment for hypertension

Structural Characterization of a Mouse Ortholog of Human NEIL3 with a Marked Preference for Single-Stranded DNA

SummaryEndonuclease VIII-like 3 (Neil3) is a DNA glycosylase of the base excision repair pathway that protects cells from oxidative DNA damage by excising a broad spectrum of cytotoxic and mutagenic base lesions. Interestingly, Neil3 exhibits an unusual preference for DNA with single-stranded regions. Here, we report the 2.0 Å crystal structure of a Neil3 enzyme. Although the glycosylase region of mouse Neil3 (MmuNeil3Δ324) exhibits the same overall fold as that of other Fpg/Nei proteins, it presents distinct structural features. First, MmuNeil3Δ324 lacks the αF-β9/10 loop that caps the flipped-out 8-oxoG in bacterial Fpg, which is consistent with its inability to cleave 8-oxoguanine. Second, Neil3 not only lacks two of the three void-filling residues that stabilize the opposite strand, but it also harbors negatively charged residues that create an unfavorable electrostatic environment for the phosphate backbone of that strand. These structural features provide insight into the substrate specificity and marked preference of Neil3 for ssDNA

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic study of disproportionating enzyme from potato

Disproportionating enzyme from potato was crystallized and preliminarily analyzed using X-ray diffraction