Efficacy of glimepiride on insulin resistance, adipocytokines, and atherosclerosis

Background : Plasma adiponectin levels increase after the administration of glimepiride. This unique effects would also be expected to improve other adipocytokines and have antiatherosclerotic action in patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods : Thirty-four patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were administrated glibenclamide were randomly divided into two groups. In20patients glibenclamide was changed to glimepiride (GP group), and the administration of glibenclamide (GB group) was continued in 14 patients. Twelve patients receiving insulin therapy (INS group) were enrolled for comparison. The levels of plasma adiponectin, high sensitive-CRP, TNF-α, interleukin-6, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and augmentation index (AI) were measured before and 28 weeks after the therapy. Results: HOMA-IR in the GP group was significantly decreased compared to the GB group. Plasma adiponectin levels were significantly increased in the GP group but not in the other groups. TNF-α, interleukin-6 and high sensitive-CRP levels were significantly decreased in the GP group, but not in the other groups. The baPWV and AI levels did not change in either the GB or the INS group, but were significantly decreased in the GP group. Conclusions: Glimepiride appears to improve insulin resistance and atherosclerotic disorders

Accurate estimation of regional and global cardiac function in old myocardial infarction patients by multidetector-row computed tomography

Recently we can evaluate cardiac function by multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) as well as left ventriculography (LVG). We evaluated regional and global cardiac function using MDCT and QGS, compared to LVG, and also evaluated parameters of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function using MDCT. Regional cardiac function was evaluated using shortening fraction (SF). Global cardiac function was evaluated using ejection fraction(EF). The peak filling rate (PFR) and the ratio of time to peak filling rate to RR interval (tPFR/RR) on MDCT were measured as parameters of LV diastolic function. The SFs by MDCT and LVG were correlated in almost each segment, but those by QGS and LVG were not correlated in some each segment. The SFs by QGS and LVG were not correlated in the myocardial infarcted segments, but those by QGS and LVG were correlated in the non-infarcted segments. Except for patients who had wall motion abnormalities at the ventricular septum or posterolateral wall, the EFs by MDCT and LVG were correlated, but those by QGS and LVG were not correlated. MDCT was more useful in detecting regional and global cardiac function compared to QGS, and parameters of LV diastolic function could be also measured by MDCT

Altered lignocellulose chemical structure and molecular assembly in CINNAMYL ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE-deficient rice

Lignin is a complex phenylpropanoid polymer deposited in plant cell walls. Lignin has long been recognized as an important limiting factor for the polysaccharide-oriented biomass utilizations. To mitigate lignin-associated biomass recalcitrance, numerous mutants and transgenic plants that produce lignocellulose with reduced lignin contents and/or lignins with altered chemical structures have been produced and characterised. However, it is not fully understood how altered lignin chemistry affects the supramolecular structure of lignocellulose, and consequently, its utilization properties. Herein, we conducted comprehensive chemical and supramolecular structural analyses of lignocellulose produced by a rice cad2 mutant deficient in CINNAMYL ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE (CAD), which encodes a key enzyme in lignin biosynthesis. By using a solution-state two-dimensional NMR approach and complementary chemical methods, we elucidated the structural details of the altered lignins enriched with unusual hydroxycinnamaldehyde-derived substructures produced by the cad2 mutant. In parallel, polysaccharide assembly and the molecular mobility of lignocellulose were investigated by solid-state 13C MAS NMR, nuclear magnetic relaxation, X-ray diffraction, and Simon’s staining analyses. Possible links between CAD-associated lignin modifications (in terms of total content and chemical structures) and changes to the lignocellulose supramolecular structure are discussed in the context of the improved biomass saccharification efficiency of the cad2 rice mutant

A patient with sustained ventricular tachycardia : identification of a responder to amiodarone using signal-averaged electrocardiogram

A75-year-old man suffered sustained ventricular tachycardia with syncopal attack. Ventricular tachycardias appeared repeatedly, and an electrical defibrillator was used after an anti-arrhythmic drug, such as lidocaine or mexiletine, proved ineffective. The tachycardias had multiple origins, and the signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) showed ventricular late potential before the administration of amiodarone. After administration, the filtered QRS and duration of the late potential increased, but the recurrence of tachycardias was suppressed. The reason for this is thought to be that amiodarone blocked the sodium channel and delayed conduction, consequently blocking reentry, because amiodaron has antiarrhymic properties with a prolongation of refractoriness and minimal effect on conduction velocity in ventricular myocardium, and inhibits sympathetic activity, and blocks L-type calcium channel besides the depression of the fast sodium channel. In this case, SAECG predicted to some degree whether or not this patient’s ventricular tachycardia would respond to amiodarone

Finite-element modeling of broad-band traveling-wave optical modulators

A full-wave finite-element method with hybrid edge/ nodal elements is, for the first time, applied to investigating the frequency dispersion of microwave propagation characteristics of broad-band traveling-wave (TW) optical modulators using planar electrode configurations. In order to produce a two-step analysis of electrooptic modulation of optical waveguides, the microwave electrode solver is linked to the optical waveguide solver. Numerical results are shown for an ultrabroad-band TW LiNbO3 Mach–Zehnder optical modulator with a ridge structure, and the necessity of using the full-wave solver is verified by comparing the calculated 3-dB bandwidth and half-wavelength voltage with the experimental data