Novel macrolactam compound produced by the heterologous expression of a large cryptic biosynthetic gene cluster of Streptomyces rochei IFO12908

In the course of our studies on the heterologous expression of giant biosynthetic genes, we discovered a novel cryptic biosynthetic gene cluster in Streptomyces rochei IFO12908. During our efforts to express biosynthetic genes using the host SUKA strain derived from Streptomyces avermitilis, a novel polyene macrolactam compound designated as JBIR-156 was produced. We report herein the cloning and heterologous expression of the JBIR-156 biosynthetic gene cluster, and the isolation, structure determination, and cytotoxic activity of this novel compound

The Validity of Quadriceps Muscle Thickness as a Nutritional Risk Indicator in Patients with Stroke

This study aimed to investigate whether quadriceps muscle thickness (QMT) is useful for nutritional assessment in patients with stroke. This was a retrospective cohort study. Nutritional risk was assessed using the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI), with GNRI < 92 indicating a risk of malnutrition and GNRI ≥ 92 indicating normal conditions. Muscle mass was assessed using QMT and calf circumference (CC). The outcome was Functional Independence Measure (FIM) effectiveness. The cutoff values of QMT and CC for discriminating between high and low GNRI were determined using the receiver operating characteristic curve. The accuracy of the nutritional risk discrimination model was evaluated using the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC). Multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between nutritional risk, as defined by QMT and CC, and FIM effectiveness. A total of 113 patients were included in the analysis. The cutoff values of QMT and CC for determining nutritional risk were 49.630 mm and 32.0 cm for men (MCC: 0.576; 0.553) and 41.185 mm and 31.0 cm for women (MCC: 0.611; 0.530). Multiple regression analysis showed that only nutritional risk defined by QMT was associated with FIM effectiveness. These findings indicate that QMT is valid for assessing nutritional risk in patients with stroke

Effect of heparin and related glycosaminoglycan on PDGF-induced lung fibroblast proliferation, chemotactic response and matrix metalloproteinases activity

Fibroblast migration, proliferation, extacellular matrix protein synthesis and degradation are the key events in various biological and pathological processes in pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, biopsy specimens from the lungs of patients with plumomary fibrosis show increased numbers of mast cells which have metachromatic granules containing heparin, histamin and proteases. Little is known about how these products influence pulmonary fibrosis. In the present study, we investigated the effect of heparin and related glycosaminoglycans on PDGF-induced lung fibroblast proliferation and chemotactic response in vitro. In addition, we examined the effect of heparin on both the induction of matorix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and MMPs activity in lung fibroblasts in vitro

Effect of suplatast tosilate on cough variant asthma

A 40-year-old female patient with chronic persistent cough was diagnosed with cough variant asthma (CVA). To investigate the effect of suplatast tosilate (suplatast, 300 mg/day, three times a day), cough scores, medication scores, pulmonary function, capsaicin cough threshold, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) to methacholine and eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) concentration in hypertonic saline-induced sputum were evaluated before and after a 6-week treatment with suplatast. Treatment with suplatast resulted in a marked decrease in persistent cough and in the percentage of eosinophils and ECP concentration in induced sputum. It also resulted in a marked improvement in capsaicin cough threshold and a slight improvement in BHR. These results suggest that suplatast tosilate may be useful for treating patients with CVA

Life-Space Activities Are Associated with the Prognosis of Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease

Life-space activities are a measure of daily activity level. Here, we examined the association between life-space activities and prognosis in 129 cardiovascular diseases (CVD) patients 65 years of age or older (average age, 79.2 &plusmn; 7.6 years; mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 56.7 &plusmn; 13.2%) who had been admitted to our hospital for worsening CVD. Subjects were followed, and the primary endpoints were cardiovascular hospitalization and cardiovascular death. Receiver operating characteristic analysis produced a cutoff value for life-space assessment (LSA) score for increased risk of cardiovascular hospitalization for two years of 53.0 points (sensitivity, 55.9%; specificity, 82.1%). Kaplan&ndash;Meier analysis using this cutoff value revealed that the rates of cardiovascular hospitalization and cardiovascular death were significantly higher in subjects with an LSA score below the cutoff than in those with a score above the cutoff (both p &lt; 0.001). Cox proportional analysis revealed that low LSA score was independently associated with cardiovascular hospitalization (HR, 2.540; 95% CI, 1.135&ndash;5.680; p = 0.023) and cardiovascular death (HR, 15.223; 95% CI, 1.689&ndash;137.180; p = 0.015), even after adjusting for age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, and log-transformed brain natriuretic peptide level. Thus, life-space activities are associated with prognosis in older adults with CVD