Factors Affecting Catecholamines in Caregivers of Patients with Dementia

Background: Caregivers of dementia patients have significantly higher levels of serum IL-6 and CRP compared to non-caregivers, and the accumulation of everyday stressors reportedly promotes the induction of inflammatory markers. However, few studies have identified factors that affect catecholamine levels in caregivers who experience a combination of physical and mental stress from caregiving. Purpose: This study aimed to identify physical factors that impact catecholamine levels in caregivers of dementia patients. Methods: Participants were elderly caregivers living together with elderly Alzheimer’s-type dementia patients. We performed logistic regression analysis, with levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine (indicators of catecholamine) as dependent variables. Results: Caregiver BMI had a significant impact on adrenaline levels (OR: 0.792; 95%CI: 0.654-0.960) and noradrenaline levels (OR: 1.210; 95%CI: 1.009-1.451), whereas age had a significant impact on dopamine levels (OR: 1.162; 95%CI: 1.019- 1.324). Discussion: While caregiver BMI significantly impacted adrenaline and noradrenaline levels, the mechanism underlying these relationships is unclear. One possibility is that obesity (BMI) and a rise in sympathetic nerve activity contributed to hypertension. Our findings suggest that chronic stress in elderly caregivers may potentially impair the dopaminergic activation system in the brain. Conclusion: There is a need to identify factors which increase BMI in caregivers. Future studies aimed at gaining a better understanding of the lifestyle habits of caregivers and intervention studies aimed at reducing their BMI are warrante

Acute Acalculous Cholecystitis in a Severely Burned Patient : A Case Report

A 56-year-old woman, suffering from major third degree burns, had right hypochondric pain and fever on her 57th post-burn day. A diagnosis of acute acalculous cholecystitis was established by ultrasonography. Despite effective drainage of the gallbladder through PTGBD, the patient died of ARDS and septic shock on the 73rd post-burn day. Acute acalculous cholecystitis is an uncommon but potentially lethal complication in severely burned patients. Ultrasonography is helpful in early diagnosis and drainage. PTGBD is indicated in severely burned patients

Ca2+-independent syntaxin binding to the C2B effector region of synaptotagmin

Although synaptotagmin I, which is a calcium (Ca2+)-binding synaptic vesicle protein, may trigger soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE)-mediated synaptic vesicle exocytosis, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between these proteins remain controversial, especially with respect to the identity of the protein(s) in the SNARE complex that bind(s) to synaptotagmin and whether Ca2+ is required for their highly effective binding. To address these questions, native proteins were solubilized, immunoprecipitated from rat brain extracts, and analyzed by immunoblotting. SNARE complexes comprising syntaxin 1, 25-kDa synaptosomal-associated protein (SNAP-25), and synaptobrevin 2 were coprecipitzted with synaptotagmin I in the presence of ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid. The amount of cop recipitated proteins was significantly unaltered by the addition of Ca2+ to the brain extract. To identify the component of the SNARE complex that bound to synaptotagmin, SNARE was coexpressed with synaptotagmin in HEK293 cells and immunoprecipitated. Syntaxin, but not SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin, bound to synaptotagmin in a Ca2+-independent manner, and the binding was abolished in the presence of 1 M NaCl. Synaptotagmin contains 2 Ca2+-binding domains (C(2)A, C2B). Mutating the positively charged lysine residues in the putative effector-binding region of the C2B domain, which are critical for transmitter release, markedly inhibited synaptotagmin-syntaxin binding, while similar mutations in the C(2)A domain had no effect on binding. Synaptotagmin-syntaxin binding was reduced by mutating multiple negatively charged glutamate residues in the amino-terminal half of the syntaxin SNARE motif. These results indicate that synaptotagmin I binds to syntaxin 1 electrostatically through its C2B domain effector region in a Ca2+-independent fashion, providing biochemical evidence that synaptotagmin I binds SNARE complexes before Ca2+ influx into presynaptic nerve terminals

Novel concept microarray enabling PCR and multistep reactions through pipette-free aperture-to-aperture parallel transfer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The microarray has contributed to developing the omic analysis. However, as it depends basically on the surface reaction, it is hard to perform bulk reactions and sequential multistep reactions. On the other hand, the popular microplate technology, which has a great merit of being able to perform parallel multistep reactions, has come to its limit in increasing the number of wells (currently, up to 9600) and reducing the volume to deal with due to the difficulty in operations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we report a novel microarray technology which enables us to explore advanced applications, termed <it>microarray-with-manageable volumes </it>(MMV). The technical essence is in the pipette-free direct parallel transfer from well to well performed by centrifugation, evading the evaporation and adsorption-losses during handling. By developing the MMV plate, accompanying devices and techniques, generation of multiple conditions (256 kinds) and performance of parallel multistep reactions, including PCR and <it>in vitro tr</it>anslation reactions, have been made possible. These were demonstrated by applying the MMV technology to searching lysozyme-crystallizing conditions and selecting peptides aimed for Aβ-binding or cathepsin E-inhibition.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With the introduction of a novel concept microarray (MMV) technology, parallel and multistep reactions in sub-μL scale have become possible.</p