インソールが片脚着地の床反力の側方成分に与える影響

着地動作は多くのスポーツ障害の要因となる動作の一つである。着地の瞬間に足から全身に衝撃が加わり、その衝撃は床反力から算出することができる。着地の際の床反力を減少させる可能性のある装具として、インソールがあり、実際にインソールを装着することによって床反力の垂直成分が減少することが知られている。他方、床反力の側方成分は左右への衝撃を示す。しかしながらインソールを装着することで床反力の側方成分が減少するかどうかは明らかとなっていない。そこで本研究ではインソールが着地の瞬間の床反力の側方成分に与える影響を検証した。対象は健常な大学生9名とした。対象者には前方に床反力計のある30センチ台上に立たせ、着地させた。着地の条件はインソールあり、なしの2条件で各5回実施させた。各条件は被験者ごとにランダムに実施させた。床反力計から着地直後200msecにおける床反力の垂直成分最大値と外側成分最大値、内側成分最大値を算出した。被験者ごとの条件別の平均値を算出し、2条件間を比較した。また外側成分における荷重変化率を算出し、外側成分最大値との相関関係を検証した。有意水準は5%とした。インソールあり条件にて外側成分最大値は有意に減少した。内側成分最大値は有意に増加した。また外側成分最大値と外側成分荷重変化率は正の相関関係を認めた。インンソールは着地の側方成分を減少させることが明らかとなった。またこの作用にはインソールによる衝撃吸収能が関与している可能性が示唆された。This study was designed to determine whether the use of shoes with insoles changed in ground reaction force during drop jump landing in healthy subjects. Nine subjects performed single leg jumps onto a force platform at a self-selected pace for five trials with and without insoles, and ground reaction forces, were recorded. Magnitudes of forces during the first 200 ms following impact were analysed and compared between with and without insoles. The use of shoes with insoles significantly decreased the lateral force peaks, and increased medial force peaks. The use of shoes with insoles reduce impact forces in healthy subjects. These results suggest that may contribute to disorder prevention by a reduction of impact force while using insoles

PAX5 gene as a novel methylation marker that predicts both clinical outcome and cisplatin sensitivity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Therapeutic strategies for esophageal cancer largely depend on histopathological assessment. To select appropriate treatments of individual patients, we examined the background molecular characteristics of tumor malignancy and sensitivity to multidisciplinary therapy. Seventy-eight surgically-resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases during 2001–2013 were examined. PAX5, a novel gene methylation marker in ESCC, was evaluated in the specimens, as methylation of this gene was identified as an extremely tumor-specific event in squamous cell carcinogenesis of head and neck. PAX5 methylation status was evaluated by quantitative MSP (QMSP) assays. Mean QMSP value was 15.7 (0–136.3) in ESCCs and 0.3 (0–8.6) in adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.001). The 78 cases were divided into high QMSP value (high QMSP, n = 26) and low QMSP value (low QMSP, n = 52). High QMSP cases were significantly associated with downregulated PAX5 expression (P = 0.040), and showed significantly poor recurrence-free survival [Hazard Ratio (HR) = 2.84; P = 0.005; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.39–5.81] and overall survival (HR = 3.23; P = 0.002; 95%CI: 1.52–7.01) in multivariable analyses with histopathological factors. PAX5-knockdown cells exhibited significantly increased cell proliferation and cisplatin resistance. PAX5 gene methylation can predict poor survival outcomes and cisplatin sensitivity in ESCCs and could be a useful diagnostic tool for cancer therapy selection

New loci and coding variants confer risk for age-related macular degeneration in East Asians

加齢黄斑変性の発症に関わるアジア人特有の遺伝子変異を発見. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2015-02-05.Updated 30 March 2015. [Corrigendum] doi:10.1038/ncomms7817Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness, but presents differently in Europeans and Asians. Here, we perform a genome-wide and exome-wide association study on 2, 119 patients with exudative AMD and 5, 691 controls, with independent replication in 4, 226 patients and 10, 289 controls, all of East Asian descent, as part of The Genetics of AMD in Asians (GAMA) Consortium. We find a strong association between CETP Asp442Gly (rs2303790), an East Asian-specific mutation, and increased risk of AMD (odds ratio (OR)=1.70, P=5.60 × 10[-22]). The AMD risk allele (442Gly), known to protect from coronary heart disease, increases HDL cholesterol levels by 0.17mmoll-1 (P=5.82 × 10[-21]) in East Asians (n=7, 102). We also identify three novel AMD loci: C6orf223 Ala231Ala (OR=0.78, P=6.19 × 10[-18]), SLC44A4 Asp47Val (OR=1.27, P=1.08 × 10[-11]) and FGD6 Gln257Arg (OR=0.87, P=2.85 × 10[-8]). Our findings suggest that some of the genetic loci conferring AMD susceptibility in East Asians are shared with Europeans, yet AMD in East Asians may also have a distinct genetic signature