Prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy by chronic pravastatin treatment in patients with cardiovascular disease and renal insufficiency

SummaryBackgroundContrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is known to increase morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have shown statins prevented CIN after contrast media exposure, but optimal statin type and dosage are still unknown.PurposeThe aims of the present study were to evaluate whether chronic pravastatin treatment before scheduled coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention could reduce the incidence of CIN and to elucidate the factors related to CIN in patients with renal insufficiency.MethodsWe studied 431 consecutive patients with renal insufficiency. One hundred ninety-four patients were receiving pravastatin treatment as standard chronic treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Serum creatinine levels were measured at baseline (pre-procedure) and within 48h after contrast media exposure (peak post-procedure). CIN was defined as an increase in the serum creatinine values of ≥25% or ≥0.5mg/dl after contrast media exposure. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the important factors related to CIN using four variables: age, pravastatin, pre-procedure serum creatinine, and contrast volume.ResultsCIN was observed in 36 patients (8.4%). Patients without pravastatin (p<0.01), high level pre-procedure serum creatinine (p<0.01), and high contrast volume (p=0.034) had a significantly higher incidence of CIN. Logistic regression analysis revealed that pravastatin treatment (χ2=6.549, p=0.011, odds ratio=0.34), pre-procedure serum creatinine (χ2=6.294, p=0.009, odds ratio=2.78), and contrast volume (χ2=4.484, p=0.034, odds ratio=1.01) were independently related to the decreased risk of CIN.ConclusionsChronic pravastatin treatment before contrast media exposure was important for preventing CIN in patients with renal insufficiency. Also, reducing the dose of contrast media was important for preventing CIN in patients with high-baseline serum creatinine levels

Astrometry of Water Maser Sources in Nearby Molecular Clouds with VERA - II. SVS 13 in NGC 1333

We report on the results of multi-epoch VLBI observations with VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry) of the 22 GHz H2O masers associated with the young stellar object SVS 13 in the NGC 1333 region. We have carried out phase-referencing VLBI astrometry and measured an annual parallax of the maser features in SVS 13 of 4.25+/-0.32 mas, corresponding to the distance of 235+/-18 pc from the Sun. Our result is consistent with a photometric distance of 220 pc previously reported. Even though the maser features were detectable only for 6 months, the present results provide the distance to NGC 1333 with much higher accuracy than photometric methods. The absolute positions and proper motions have been derived, revealing that the H2O masers with the LSR (local standard of rest) velocities of 7-8 km s-1 are most likely associated with VLA4A, which is a radio counterpart of SVS 13. The origin of the observed proper motions of the maser features are currently difficult to attribute to either the jet or the rotating circumstellar disk associated with VLA4A, which should be investigated through future high-resolution astrometric observations of VLA4A and other radio sources in NGC 1333.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. PASJ, in press (2008, Vol. 60, No. 1

NMDAR2B tyrosine phosphorylation regulates anxiety-like behavior and CRF expression in the amygdala

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anxiety disorders are a highly prevalent and disabling class of psychiatric disorders. There is growing evidence implicating the glutamate system in the pathophysiology and treatment of anxiety disorders, though the molecular mechanism by which the glutamate system regulates anxiety-like behavior remains unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we provide evidence suggesting that tyrosine phosphorylation of the NMDA receptor, an ionotropic glutamate receptor, contributes to anxiety-like behavior. The GluN2B subunit of the NMDA receptor is tyrosine-phosphorylated: Tyr-1472 is the major phosphorylation site. Homozygous knock-in mice that express a Tyr-1472-Phe mutant of GluN2B, which prevents phosphorylation of this site, show enhanced anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus-maze test. Expression of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which is important for the regulation of anxiety-like behavior, is increased in the amygdala of the knock-in mice. Furthermore, injection of CRF receptor antagonist attenuated the enhanced anxiety-like behavior of the knock-in mice. We also show that elevated plus-maze exposure simultaneously induced de-phosphorylation of Tyr-1472 and increased CRF expression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data suggest that Tyr-1472 phosphorylation on GluN2B is important for anxiety-like behavior by negative regulation of CRF expression in the amygdala.</p

Measurement of trihydroxy-linoleic acids in stratum corneum by tape-stripping: Possible biomarker of barrier function in atopic dermatitis

Epidermal ceramides are indispensable lipids that maintain the functions of the stratum corneum. Esterified omega-hydroxyacyl-sphingosine (EOS) ceramide with a linoleate moiety is one of the most important ceramide species for forming cornified lipid envelopes. This linoleate moiety is eventually metabolized to trihydroxy-linoleic acid (triol, 9,10,13-trihydroxy-11-Eoctadecenoic acid). Thus, we assumed that a decrease of triols might reflect skin barrier dysfunction. Against this background, the purposes of this study were to measure the triols by a simple tape-stripping method and to determine the correlation between the amount of triols and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) as an indicator of barrier dysfunction in atopic dermatitis patients. Twenty Japanese subjects with normal skin and 20 atopic dermatitis patients were enrolled in this study. TEWL was measured and triols of the stratum corneum were analyzed by tape-stripping. The results showed for the first time that triols in the stratum corneum could be simply measured using the tape-stripping method. The triol levels in atopic dermatitis patients were much higher than those in healthy subjects. Moreover, the triol levels correlated with TEWL of non-lesional forearm skin in patients with atopic dermatitis. The results suggest that the assaying of triol levels via non-invasive tape-stripping could be beneficial for monitoring barrier function in atopic dermatitis

Astrometry of Galactic Star Forming Region Sharpless 269 with VERA : Parallax Measurements and Constraint on Outer Rotation Curve

We have performed high-precision astrometry of H2O maser sources in Galactic star forming region Sharpless 269 (S269) with VERA. We have successfully detected a trigonometric parallax of 189+/-8 micro-arcsec, corresponding to the source distance of 5.28 +0.24/-0.22 kpc. This is the smallest parallax ever measured, and the first one detected beyond 5 kpc. The source distance as well as proper motions are used to constrain the outer rotation curve of the Galaxy, demonstrating that the difference of rotation velocities at the Sun and at S269 (which is 13.1 kpc away from the Galaxy's center) is less than 3%. This gives the strongest constraint on the flatness of the outer rotation curve and provides a direct confirmation on the existence of large amount of dark matter in the Galaxy's outer disk.Comment: 7 pages and 4 figures, Accepted by PASJ (Vol. 59, No. 5, October 25, 2007 issue

Fundamental Parameters of the Milky Way Galaxy Based on VLBI astrometry

We present analyses to determine the fundamental parameters of the Galaxy based on VLBI astrometry of 52 Galactic maser sources obtained with VERA, VLBA and EVN. We model the Galaxy's structure with a set of parameters including the Galaxy center distance R_0, the angular rotation velocity at the LSR Omega_0, mean peculiar motion of the sources with respect to Galactic rotation (U_src, V_src, W_src), rotation-curve shape index, and the V component of the Solar peculiar motions V_sun. Based on a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, we find that the Galaxy center distance is constrained at a 5% level to be R_0 = 8.05 +/- 0.45 kpc, where the error bar includes both statistical and systematic errors. We also find that the two components of the source peculiar motion U_src and W_src are fairly small compared to the Galactic rotation velocity, being U_src = 1.0 +/- 1.5 km/s and W_src = -1.4 +/- 1.2 km/s. Also, the rotation curve shape is found to be basically flat between Galacto-centric radii of 4 and 13 kpc. On the other hand, we find a linear relation between V_src and V_sun as V_src = V_sun -19 (+/- 2) km/s, suggesting that the value of V_src is fully dependent on the adopted value of V_sun. Regarding the rotation speed in the vicinity of the Sun, we also find a strong correlation between Omega_0 and V_sun. We find that the angular velocity of the Sun, Omega_sun, which is defined as Omega_sun = Omega_0 + V_sun/R_0, can be well constrained with the best estimate of Omega_sun = 31.09 +/- 0.78 km/s/kpc. This corresponds to Theta_0 = 238 +/- 14 km/s if one adopts the above value of R_0 and recent determination of V_sun ~ 12 km/s.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, PASJ in pres

10th Anniversary of Catalysts: Molecular Catalysis

On the occasion of this Special Issue, I would like to present an editorial message on this good occasion [...

Periarticular Osteophytes as an Appendicular Joint Stress Marker (JSM): Analysis in a Contemporary Japanese Skeletal Collection

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility that periarticular osteophytes plays a role as a appendicular joint stress marker (JSM) which reflects the biomechanical stresses on individuals and populations. Methods: A total of 366 contemporary Japanese skeletons (231 males, 135 females) were examined closely to evaluate the periarticular osteophytes of six major joints, the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle and osteophyte scores (OS) were determined using an original grading system. These scores were aggregated and analyzed statistically from some viewpoints. Results: All of the OS for the respective joints were correlated logarithmically with the age-at-death of the individuals. For 70 individuals, in whom both sides of all six joints were evaluated without missing values, the age-standardized OS were calculated. A right side dominancy was recognized in the joints of the upper extremities, shoulder and wrist joints, and the bilateral correlations were large in the three joints on the lower extremity. For the shoulder joint and the hip joint, it was inferred by some distinctions that systemic factors were relatively large. All of these six joints could be assorted by the extent of systemic and local factors on osteophytes formation. Moreover, when the age-standardized OS of all the joints was summed up, some individuals had significantly high total scores, and others had significantly low total scores; namely, all of the individuals varied greatly in their systemic predisposition for osteophytes formation. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the significance of periarticular osteophytes; the evaluating system for OS could be used to detect differences among joints and individuals. Periarticular osteophytes could be applied as an appendicular joint stress marker (JSM); by applying OS evaluating system for skeletal populations, intra-skeletal and inter-skeletal variations in biomechanical stresses throughout the lives could be clarified