LXRアゴニストはコレステロール排出を促進して口腔扁平上皮癌細胞の細胞増殖を抑制する

博士（医学）福島県立医科大

Feasibility of methotrexate discontinuation following tocilizumab and methotrexate combination therapy in patients with long-standing and advanced rheumatoid arthritis: a 3-year observational cohort study

Objectives: Methotrexate (MTX) is associated with extensive side effects, including myelosuppression, interstitial pneumonia, and infection. It is, therefore, critical to establish whether its administration is required after achieving remission with tocilizumab (TCZ) and MTX combination therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, the aim of this multicenter, observational, cohort study was to evaluate the feasibility of MTX discontinuation for the safety of these patients. Methods: Patients with RA were administered TCZ, with or without MTX, for 3 years; those who received TCZ+MTX combination therapy were selected. After remission was achieved, MTX was discontinued without flare development in one group (discontinued [DISC] group, n = 33) and continued without flare development in another group (maintain [MAIN] group, n = 37). The clinical efficacy of TCZ+MTX therapy, patient background characteristics, and adverse events were compared between groups. Results: The disease activity score in 28 joints-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) at 3, 6, and 9 months was significantly lower in the DISC group (P < .05, P < .01, and P < .01, respectively). Further, the DAS28-ESR remission rate at 6 and 9 months and Boolean remission rate at 6 months were significantly higher in the DISC group (P < .01 for all). Disease duration was significantly longer in the DISC group (P < .05). Furthermore, the number of patients with stage 4 RA was significantly higher in the DISC group (P < .01). Conclusions: Once remission was achieved, MTX was discontinued in patients who responded favorably to TCZ+MTX therapy, despite the prolonged disease duration and stage progression

Effects of semen preservation procedure in egg yolk-tris based extender on bull spermatozoa characteristics

To verify the dynamics of damages to spermatozoa during semen freezing, characteristics of spermatozoa collected from 3 Japanese black bulls were evaluated by using fluorescent staining. Pre-diluted sample showed the highest proportion of spermatozoa with intact plasma membrane, intact acrosome and high mitochondrial potential. The proportion of spermatozoa with intact plasma membrane, intact acrosome, and low mitochondrial membrane potential were higher after cooling to 4°C than the other processes. During cooling preservation examined in this study, the proportion of spermatozoa with damaged acrosome increased. These results lead us to speculate that, during cooling process, spermatozoa may be firstly injured to mitochondrial membrane, and low mitochondrial function may cause the impairment of plasma membrane and subsequent cell death with acrosomal damage

Extension of the culture period for the in vitro growth of bovine oocytes in the presence of bone morphogenetic protein-4 increases oocyte diameter, but impairs subsequent developmental competence

Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) inhibits luteinization of granulosa cells during in vitro growth (IVG) culture of bovine oocytes; however, oocytes derived from a 12-day IVG were less competent for development than in vivo-grown oocytes. We herein investigated whether an extended IVG culture with BMP-4 improves oocyte growth and development to blastocysts after in vitro fertilization. Oocyte-granulosa cell complexes (OGCs) were cultured for 14 or 16 days with BMP-4 (10 ng/mL), while a 12-day culture with BMP-4 served as the in vitro control. OGC viability was maintained for the 16-day culture with BMP-4 (83.2%), but was significantly lower without BMP-4 (58.9%) than the control (83.0%). Prolong-cultured oocytes at 16 days had statistically greater diameter (114.6 μm) than the control (111.7 μm). IVG oocytes with BMP-4 for the 16-day culture had a similar nuclear maturation rate to the control (approximately 67%); however, blastocyst rates in BMP-4 treated oocytes of 14- (1.8%) and 16-day (0%) IVG were statistically lower than that of 12-day IVG (9.0%). In conclusion, BMP-4 maintained OGC viability and promoted oocyte growth in a prolonged culture, but impaired the developmental competence of oocytes. Prolonged culture may not be an appropriate strategy for enhancing the developmental competence of IVG oocytes

Effect of astaxanthin addition to an individual culture system for in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes on accumulation of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial activity

We investigated the effects of astaxanthin (Ax) on the accumulation of reactive oxygen spices (ROS) and mitochondrial activity in bovine oocytes during individual maturational culture. Oocytes were cultured individually for 22 h in multi-well plates with or without 500 ng/ml Ax. After maturational culture, ROS accumulation of oocytes was lower in Ax-treated oocytes than in non-treated oocytes (P ＜ 0.05). Mitochondrial activity was higher in Ax-treated oocytes than in non-treated oocytes (P ＜ 0.05). The development of blastocysts in the Ax-treated oocytes tended to be higher than in non-treated oocytes (P ＝ 0.06). These results indicate that Ax treatment improves the developmental competence of bovine oocytes, maybe due to the reduction of ROS accumulation and the improvement of mitochondrial activity

Comparison of sperm subpopulation structures in first and second ejaculated semen from Japanese black bulls by a cluster analysis of sperm motility evaluated by a CASA system

In the present study, bull sperm in the first and second ejaculates were divided into subpopulations based on their motility characteristics using a cluster analysis of data from computer-assisted sperm motility analysis (CASA). Semen samples were collected from 4 Japanese black bulls. Data from 9,228 motile sperm were classified into 4 clusters; 1) very rapid and progressively motile sperm, 2) rapid and circularly motile sperm with widely moving heads, 3) moderately motile sperm with heads moving frequently in a short length, and 4) poorly motile sperm. The percentage of cluster 1 varied between bulls. The first ejaculates had a higher proportion of cluster 2 and lower proportion of cluster 3 than the second ejaculates

Effect of bone morphogenetic protein-4 on in vitro growth, steroidogenesis and subsequent developmental competence of the oocyte-granulosa cell complex derived from bovine early antral follicles

Background: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) play important regulatory roles during folliculogenesis. Thecaderived BMP-4 may be beneficial to in vitro growth culture of early antral follicle-derived oocyte-granulosa cell complexes (OGCs), which is lacking in theca-derived products. Methods: BMP-4 (0 [control], 10 and 50 ng/mL) was added to growth culture medium. Growth, steroidogenesis and the subsequent developmental competence of OGCs derived from bovine early antral follicles (0.5-1 mm) were examined. Results: At 4, 8 and 12 days of growth culture, progesterone production by granulosa cells was suppressed by the addition of BMP-4 compared to the control (P < 0.05). At 12 days, both the OGC survivability and granulosa cell number in the 50 ng/mL BMP-4 treated group were lower than those of control (48.2 % vs. 67.8 %; 4.96 x 10(4) vs. 8.5 x 10(4) cells; P < 0.05, respectively), while no difference was found between 10 ng/mL and the control. The mean diameters of granulosa cell in the BMP-4 treated groups were smaller than that of the control (P < 0.05). However, the granulosa cell viability, oocyte diameter, oocyte nuclear maturation rate and normal fertilization rate were similar in all of the experimental groups, regardless of the amount of BMP-4 addition (P. 0.05). BMP-4 treated in vitro-grown oocytes showed lower blastocyst rates than untreated ones (P < 0.05). Conclusions: BMP-4 addition during in vitro growth culture suppressed progesterone production and decreased the diameter of granulosa cells, suggesting its effect on steroidogenesis; importantly, it did not affect oocyte growth, nuclear maturation and fertilization. However, BMP-4 impaired subsequent embryonic development, and in higher concentration (50 ng/mL) even compromised OGC viability by suppressing proliferation of granulosa cells

Simultaneous evaluation of plasma membrane integrity, acrosomal integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential in bovine spermatozoa by flow cytometry

The present study aimed to develop an objective evaluation procedure to estimate the plasma membrane integrity, acrosomal integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential of bull spermatozoa simultaneously by flow cytometry. Firstly, we used frozen-thawed semen mixed with 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100% dead spermatozoa. Semen was stained using three staining solutions: SYBR-14, propidium iodide (PI), and phycoerythrin-conjugated peanut agglutinin (PE-PNA), for the evaluation of plasma membrane integrity and acrosomal integrity. Then, characteristics evaluated by flow cytometry and by fluorescence microscopy were compared. Characteristics of spermatozoa (viability and acrosomal integrity) evaluated by flow cytometry and by fluorescence microscopy were found to be similar. Secondly, we attempted to evaluate the plasma membrane integrity, acrosomal integrity, and also mitochondrial membrane potential of spermatozoa by flow cytometry using conventional staining with three dyes (SYBR-14, PI, and PE-PNA) combined with MitoTracker Deep Red (MTDR) staining (quadruple staining). The spermatozoon characteristics evaluated by flow cytometry using quadruple staining were then compared with those of staining using SYBR-14, PI, and PE-PNA and staining using SYBR-14 and MTDR. There were no significant differences in all characteristics (viability, acrosomal integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential) evaluated by quadruple staining and the other procedures. In conclusion, quadruple staining using SYBR-14, PI, PE-PNA, and MTDR for flow cytometry can be used to evaluate the plasma membrane integrity, acrosomal integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential of bovine spermatozoa simultaneously