Localization of Adenylate Kinase 4 in Mouse Tissues

Adenylate kinase (AK) is a key enzyme in the high-energy phosphoryl transfer reaction in living cells. Of its isoforms, AK4 has a similar sequence and subcellular localization to that of AK3 in the mitochondrial matrix. However, unlike AK3, AK4 lacks the guanosine triphosphate: adenosine monophosphate phosphotransferase activity. To elucidate the physiological role of AK4, we explored the protein localization of AK4 in various mouse tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. AK4 protein was detected in the kidney, liver, brain, heart, stomach, intestine, and gonads but not in the lung and spleen. Interestingly, cell-type specific expression was evident in the brain, gastrointestinal tract, and gonads. In the cerebellum, AK4 was detected in granular cells but not in Purkinje cell bodies. In the gastrointestinal tract, AK4 was highly expressed in epithelia. In the ovary, AK4 was detected in oocytes and corpora lutea. In the testis, AK4 was detected in spermatocytes but not in spermatogonia. Our findings demonstrate that AK4 localizes uniquely in a cell-type and tissue-specific manner in mouse tissues

Public transportation and the disabled person

機能訓練事業として実施している「生活リハビリ教室」の教室生208名を対象に，公共交通機関を利用して外出するために障害になっている要因を明らかにする目的で，郵送法による自記式アンケート調査を行った。回答は125名（60.1％）からあった。外出経験がある者は67名（53.6％）で外出経験がない者が58名であった。外出時に付添いが必要と思っている者は，外出経験のない者に多かった。公共交通機関を利用しての外出を阻害している要因には，乗り物の昇降口に段差があることや早く発車して危険である，また周囲の人に介助を依頼しにくいことなどが挙げられている。身体機能障害者が外出できない理由は個人によって異なってはいるが，地域社会に身体機能障害者を受け入れる環境を整えていく必要がある。A survey was distributed by mail to disabled people who received functional training in 1997. Of 208 questionnaires sent, 125 (60.1%) were returned. Sixty-seven (53.6%) of the respondents had experience traveled outside. People who participate in functional trainning for disability hope to have an attendant to accompany them when traveling. One primary factor that hinders traveling outside and using public transportation is that they cannot ask for help because of shyness. Another factor is the construction of entrances (e.g.,bumps) for vehicles which cannot be traversed easily. Reasons differed among those who had traveled outside and those who had not. It is necessary to prepare an environment (e.g., public transportationto) for ease of use for disabled persons in regional communities

Circadian protection against bacterial skin infection by epidermal CXCL14-mediated innate immunity

体内時計は夜間に自然免疫を発動 --皮膚ケモカインによる自然免疫機構--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-06-16.Biological clocks set for skin immunity. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-06-21.The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin and the body’s primary barrier to external pathogens; however, the early epidermal immune response remains to be mechanistically understood. We show that the chemokine CXCL14, produced by epidermal keratinocytes, exhibits robust circadian fluctuations and initiates innate immunity. Clearance of the skin pathogen Staphylococcus aureus in nocturnal mice was associated with CXCL14 expression, which was high during subjective daytime and low at night. In contrast, in marmosets, a diurnal primate, circadian CXCL14 expression was reversed. Rhythmically expressed CXCL14 binds to S. aureus DNA and induces inflammatory cytokine production by activating Toll-like receptor (TLR)9-dependent innate pathways in dendritic cells and macrophages underneath the epidermis. CXCL14 also promoted phagocytosis by macrophages in a TLR9-independent manner. These data indicate that circadian production of the epidermal chemokine CXCL14 rhythmically suppresses skin bacterial proliferation in mammals by activating the innate immune system

亜急性期脳卒中患者および健常者における歩行観察時のミラーニューロンシステムの活性化

The observation of walking improves gait ability in chronic stroke survivors. It has also been suggested that activation of the mirror neuron system contributes to this effect. However, activation of the mirror neuron system during gait observation has not yet been assessed in sub-acute stroke patients. The objective of this study was to clarify the activation of mirror neuron system during gait observation in sub-acute stroke patients and healthy persons. In this study, we sequentially enrolled five sub-acute stroke patients who had undergone gait training and nine healthy persons. We used fMRI to detect neuronal activation during gait observation. During the observation period in the stroke group, neural activity in the left inferior parietal lobule, right and left inferior frontal gyrus was significantly higher than during the rest period. In the healthy group, neural activity in the left inferior parietal lobule, left inferior frontal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, left superior temporal lobule and right and left middle temporal gyrus was significantly higher than during the rest period. The results indicate that the mirror neuron system was activated during gait observation in sub-acute stroke patients who had undergone gait training and also in healthy persons. Our findings suggest that gait observation treatment may provide a promising therapeutic strategy in sub-acute stroke patients who have experienced gait training

ショウガイジ オ モツ ハハオヤ ノ セイシンテキ ケンコウド 1 ニュウヨウジキ ト ガクレイキ ノ ヒカク

本研究の目的は、障害児を持つ母親の精神的健康度の現状を明らかにし、必要な支援内容に関する指針を得ることである。 対象者はE県の通園事業、通園施設を利用する乳幼児の母親247名とE県立養護学校に通学する児童を持つ母親98名である。母親の属性(年齢、就労状況、世帯構造等)と子どもの属性(年齢、性、障害の種類と程度)および「母親の健康関連QOL」、「育児ソーシャルサポート」、母親による「父親の育児サポート認知」、「育児負担感」を調査し分析した。さらに乳幼児と児童の母親の違いについて考察した。 その結果、障害児を持つ母親のQOLを高めるためには、母親の育児負担感を軽減する必要があることが示された。また、児童の母親にとっては父親の育児サポートが育児負担感を軽減することが示唆された。乳幼児の母親のQOLは、育児ソーシャルサポート、父親のサポートによって高められることが示された。The purpose of this study is to examine the level of mental health of mothers with disabled children in order to develop guidelines for the assistance necessary to help them. The subjects were 247 mothers with disabled infants utilizing the institutes of nursery schools for disabled infants in E prefecture and 98 mothers of disabled children attending an E prefectural school for the disabled. This study examined and analyzed the attributes of mothers (age, employment status and household structure), the attributes of children (age, sex, and degree and kind of disability),the quality of life (QOL) of mothers, the social support for raising children, the level of support from fathers, and the parenting stress of mother. This study also examined the difference between mothers of children and those of infants. The results of this study indicate that to increase the QOL of mothers, parenting stress of mother need to be reduced. Moreover, this study suggests that the QOL of mothers be improved by the support of fathers and the social support for raising disabled children

ショウガイジ オ モツ ハハオヤ ノ セイシンテキ ケンコウド 2 ニュウヨウジキ ト ガクレイキ ノ ヒカク

本研究の目的は、障害児を持つ母親の精神的健康度の現状を明らかにし、必要な支援内容に関する指針を得ることである。 対象者はE県の通園事業・通園施設を利用する乳幼児の母親247名とE県立養護学校に通学する児童を持つ母親98名である。母親の属性(年齢、就労状況、世帯構造等)と、「育児ストレス・コーピング」、「育児バーンアウト」、「孤独感」について調査し分析した。さらに、同研究(I)で明らかにした他の指標(「母親の健康関連QOL」「育児ソーシャルサポート」「父親の育児サポート認知」「育児負担感」)との関連性について分析した。また、乳幼児と児童の母親の違いについて分析し、障害児を持つ母親の精神的健康度を高めるための示唆を得た。 障害児を持つ母親の健康関連QOLを高めるためには、乳幼児を持つ母親の場合、育児ソーシャルサポートが逃避的コーピングを回避し、さらに父親の育児サポートが調整的コーピング行動を惹起し、育児負担感や、育児バーンアウト、孤独感を抑制することが示された。一方、児童の母親の場合は健康関連QOLと育児ソーシャルサポートや、父親の育児サポートとは直接的な関連性がないことが明らかになった。しかし、育児負担感や育児バーンアウト、孤独感とは強い相関が認められた。また、育児負担感を軽減し育児バーンアウトを抑制するためには、父親の育児サポートが大きな要因となっていることが明らかになった。また、孤独感は児童の母親の場合は全ての尺度と関連があったが、乳幼児の場合は、父親のサポート認知とは関連が認められないという違いが見られた。The purpose of this study is to investigate condition of mental health on mothers who have disabled preschool/school age children and to provide useful information for developing the assistance guideline for them. 247 mothers who utilize nursery schools for the disabled and 98 mothers who use schools for the disabled attended this study. Questionnaire was consisted of attributes of mothers (age, employment condition, family structure), coping type to parenting stress, parenting burnout, and loneliness. After analyzing these data, following findings were found. For mothers who have preschool disabled children, parenting-related social supports prevented their negative coping (i.e. escape). And parenting support from fathers reduce their parenting stress, parenting burnout and loneliness. For mothers who have school age disabled children, parenting-related social support and parenting support from fathers do not have positive influences on their condition of mental health

Economic burden of community-acquired pneumonia among elderly patients: a Japanese perspective

Abstract Background This study aimed to estimate the economic burden of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) among elderly patients in Japan. In addition, the study evaluated the relationship between total treatment cost and CAP risk factors. Methods An administrative database was searched for elderly patients (≥ 65 years old) who had pneumonia (ICD-10 code: J12–J18) and an antibiotic prescription between 1 June 2014 and 31 May 2015. The all-cause total healthcare costs of outpatient and inpatient CAP episodes were calculated. Results This study evaluated data from 29,619 patients with CAP who experienced 14,450 outpatient CAP episodes and/or 20,314 inpatient CAP episodes. The mean ages were 77.5 ± 8.0 years and 81.5 ± 8.2 years among the outpatient and inpatient groups, respectively. The median treatment costs were US$346 (interquartile range:$195–551) per outpatient episode and US$4851 (interquartile range:$3313–7669) per inpatient episode. More severe cases had increased treatment costs at the treating hospitals. Male sex, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and liver dysfunction were associated with increased total treatment costs, while dementia, dialysis, and rheumatism were associated with high costs of treating a CAP episode. Conclusions The economic burden of CAP might be decreased by reducing the number of hospitalizations for mild CAP and the incidence of severe CAP. Therefore, preventative care (e.g. oral hygiene or pneumococcus vaccination) is recommended for patients with related risk factors, such as male sex, older age, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver dysfunction, rheumatism, dementia, or dialysis

Localization of Adenylate Kinase 4 in Mouse Tissues

Adenylate kinase (AK) is a key enzyme in the high-energy phosphoryl transfer reaction in living cells. Of its isoforms, AK4 has a similar sequence and subcellular localization to that of AK3 in the mitochondrial matrix. However, unlike AK3, AK4 lacks the guanosine triphosphate: adenosine monophosphate phosphotransferase activity. To elucidate the physiological role of AK4, we explored the protein localization of AK4 in various mouse tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. AK4 protein was detected in the kidney, liver, brain, heart, stomach, intestine, and gonads but not in the lung and spleen. Interestingly, cell-type specific expression was evident in the brain, gastrointestinal tract, and gonads. In the cerebellum, AK4 was detected in granular cells but not in Purkinje cell bodies. In the gastrointestinal tract, AK4 was highly expressed in epithelia. In the ovary, AK4 was detected in oocytes and corpora lutea. In the testis, AK4 was detected in spermatocytes but not in spermatogonia. Our findings demonstrate that AK4 localizes uniquely in a cell-type and tissue-specific manner in mouse tissues