Urinary FSH in postmenopausal women

The change in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) during the menopausal transition and associations of FSH with various diseases have been assessed by using blood samples. We examined cross-sectionally the variation of FSH levels, associations of estrone and estradiol with FSH, and associations of BMI with these hormones by using urinary samples from peri- and postmenopausal women in Japan. Of 4472 participants in the Urinary Isoflavone Concentration Survey of the Japan Nurses’ Health Study, we analyzed urinary levels of estrone, estradiol and FSH in 547 women aged from 45 to 54 years. Urinary FSH levels varied widely in postmenopausal women and the pattern of change in urinary FSH levels seems to be similar to that in blood FSH levels in previous studies. There were no significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI), estradiol, estrone and estradiol/estrone ratio among three groups according to the tertile of FSH. In postmenopausal women, there were significant associations of BMI with levels of estrone and estradiol, but there was no significant association of BMI with FSH. Studies using urinary samples will allow us to establish a study project as a large-scale population-based study to determine associations between FSH and various diseases after menopause

Determination of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol levels in the urine of termite control workers using chlorpyrifos.

Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphorus insecticide, has been used to control termites since regulatory measures against the use of chlordanes were taken in September, 1986. We developed an improved gas chromatographic (GC) method for the assay of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) in the urine to use in the biological monitoring of exposure to chlorpyrifos. Urinary TCP was separated and determined accurately (C.V., 4%) with high sensitivity (detection limit, 10 ng/ml) and recovery (recovery greater than 90%) using a wide bore capillary column (WBC column). The accuracy and precision of the present GC method are satisfactory. The time course of urinary excretion of TCP was followed in workers. The urinary TCP level was low in the off-season and high in the busy season. Variation in the urinary TCP level corresponded to the termite control season and the length of the working period. The urinary TCP level showed a change reciprocal to the variations in the plasma cholinesterase activity. From these results, it is surmised that the urinary TCP level represents the extent of exposure to chlorpyrifos. The decrease in the level of cholinesterase activity is suggested to be due to exposure to chlorpyrifos. Determination of the urinary TCP level by GC using a WBC column is useful in the biological monitoring of chlorpyrifos in termite control workers and potentially has practical application to health care.</p

Association between FSH, E1, and E2 levels in urine and serum in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Objective: We aimed to establish correlations for the levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) between urine and serum in premenopausal and postmenopausal women using immunoassays. Methods: In this study of 92 women (61 postmenopausal, 31 premenopausal), both urine and blood specimens were collected on the same day and stored at 4 °C for analysis by chemiluminescent immunoassay, radioimmunoassay and/or electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. Results: There were correlations in the levels of FSH, E1 and E2 between urine and serum in both postmenopausal (r = 0.96 for FSH, r = 0.91 for E1, r = 0.80 for E2) and premenopausal (r = 0.98 for FSH, r = 0.92 for E1, r = 0.90 for E2) women. It is indicated that the correlations were stronger in the premenopausal group compared with the postmenopausal group, especially for FSH. Conclusion: The levels of FSH, E1 and E2 in urine correlated with those in the serum in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Urine samples could be used instead of serum samples to measure hormone levels, which would reduce the difficulty of conducting large survey studies

The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month

Variations in blood cholinesterase activity level in termite control workers using chlorpyrifos

1986年9月よりシロアリ防除剤として広く使用されだしたクロルピリホス(有機リン系殺虫剤)のシロアリ防除作業者への健康影響を明らかにするために,シロアリ防除事業所の従業員8名について追跡調査を行い,以下の結果を得た. 1.処理作業従事者(6名)の毎月初めの平均血漿コリンエステラーゼ活性値は1987年4月までは正常範囲であったが,シロアリ防除シーズン(繁忙期)の5月より低下を始め, 6月～9月は正常値の下限(0.6ΔpH)以下であった.その後閑散期には回復に向かい, 1988年1月にはシーズン前の水準に戻った.各作業者においては,シーズン中の最低値は,シーズン前の水準(1986年11月～1987年4月の各人の平均値)の50%以下であり,うち2名は10%以下にまで低下した.一方,主として営業従事者の2名の血漿コリンエステラーゼ活性値はシーズン中にやや低下したものの正常値の範囲内であり,シーズン中の最低値もシーズン前の水準の60%以上であった. 2.赤血球コリンエステラーゼ活性値は, 1987年6月から1988年1月まで8名とも正常範囲であったが, 6～9月は低く, 12月及び翌年の1月は高値であった.前者の期間における各人の平均値の後者の期間における各人の平均値に対する割合は, 8人の平均で72.2%であった. 3. 1作業者の観察において,シーズン中の処理作業従事時間数と血漿コリンエステラーゼ活性値の増加率との間には有意の負の相関が認められ, 1日の時間数が2時間で血漿コリンエステラーゼ活性値は横這い,それ以上で低下,それ以下で上昇することが明らかになった. 4.作業者の自覚症状,他覚症状には顕著な異常は認められていない.作業者によっでは赤血球数および白血球数の若干の低下,血清脂質およびリパーゼの異常等が認められており継続観察の必要がある. 5.血漿コリンエステラーゼ活性値はクロルピリホスの生物学的暴露指標として鋭敏であり,クロルピリホスによる健康障害の予防のために有用である.In order to clarify the effect of chlorpyrifos on workers using chlorpyrifos for termite control, changes in the cholinesterase activity in the blood of 6 workers was surveyed. Cholinesterase activity in the plasma and erythrocytes decreased in the busy season from May to September and recovered in the off season of January. The ratio of the lowest level of plasma cholinesterase activity from a worker in the busy season to the average activities of a worker examined several times in the off season, was examined in each workers. The ratio was under 50% in 6 workers using chlorpyrifos. The ratio of the mean cholinesterase activity in the erythrocytes of a worker in the busy season to that in the off season was examined, and was about 70% in 6 workers. A negative correlation between working time and increasing ratio of plasma cholinesterase was significant. A marked change in the subjective and objective symptoms of workers was not absent in busy season. Although some workers showed a decrease in the number of erythrocytes and leukocytes, and an increase in serum lipase activities, and abnormalities in the serum lipids. The data indicated that plasma cholinesterase activity levels are useful for biological exposure monitoring of chlorpyrifos