Octreotide-Treated Diabetes Accompanied by Endogenous Hyperinsulinemic Hypoglycemia and Protein-Losing Gastroenteropathy

Occurrence of hypoglycemia in diabetes patients is very rare. We report here a case of frequent hypoglycemic attacks caused by inappropriate endogenous hyperinsulinemia in a female patient with poorly controlled diabetes and protein-losing gastroenteropathy. The blood glucose profiles of the patient were unstable. Results of the fasting test performed to investigate the cause of hypoglycemia suggested endogenous hyperinsulinism. Repeated selective arterial calcium injection tests suggested that hyperinsulinemia might be extrapancreatic in origin. However, efforts to detect a responsible lesion such as insulinoma were unsuccessful. Octreotide was used for the treatment of hypoglycemia and protein-losing gastroenteropathy. After treatment, although her leg edema caused by hypoalbuminemia persisted, hypoglycemia almost disappeared

The Role of S1P2 in Atherogenesis

Aim: The bioactive lipid, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), has various roles in the physiology and pathophysiology of many diseases. There are five S1P receptors; however, the role of each S1P receptor in atherogenesis is still obscure. Here we investigated the contribution of S1P receptor 2 (S1P2) to atherogenesis by using a specific S1P2 antagonist, ONO-5430514, in apolipoprotein E-deficient (Apoe−/− ) mice. Methods: Apoe−/− mice fed with a western-type diet (WTD) received ONO-5430514 (30 mg/kg/day) or vehicle. To examine the effect on atherogenesis, Sudan IV staining, histological analysis, qPCR, and vascular reactivity assay was performed. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were used for in vitro experiments. Results: WTD-fed Apoe−/− mice had significantly higher S1P2 expression in the aorta compared with wild-type mice. S1P2 antagonist treatment for 20 weeks reduced atherosclerotic lesion development (p＜0.05). S1P2 antagonist treatment for 8 weeks ameliorated endothelial dysfunction (p＜0.05) accompanied with significant reduction of lipid deposition, macrophage accumulation, and inflammatory molecule expression in the aorta compared with vehicle. S1P2 antagonist attenuated the phosphorylation of JNK in the abdominal aorta compared with vehicle (p＜0.05). In HUVEC, S1P promoted inflammatory molecule expression such as MCP-1 and VCAM-1 (p＜0.001), which was attenuated by S1P2 antagonist or a JNK inhibitor (p＜0.01). S1P2 antagonist also inhibited S1P-induced JNK phosphorylation in HUVEC (p＜0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggested that an S1P2 antagonist attenuates endothelial dysfunction and prevents atherogenesis. S1P2, which promotes inflammatory activation of endothelial cells, might be a therapeutic target for atherosclerosis

Steering the Climate System: Using Inertia to Lower the Cost of Policy

Conventional wisdom holds that the efficient way to limit warming to a chosen level is to price carbon emissions at a rate that increases exponentially. We show that this “Hotelling” tax on carbon emissions is actually inefficient. The least-cost policy path takes advantage of the climate system’s inertia by growing more slowly than exponentially. Carbon dioxide temporarily overshoots the steady-state level consistent with the temperature limit, and the efficient carbon tax follows an inverse-U-shaped path. Economic models that assume exponentially increasing carbon taxes are overestimating the minimum cost of limiting warming, overestimating the efficient near-term carbon tax, and overvaluing technologies that mature sooner

Association between the rs1465040 single-nucleotide polymorphism close to the transient receptor potential subfamily C member 3 (TRPC3) gene and postoperative analgesic requirements

AbstractAn association between postoperative analgesic requirements in subjects who underwent orthognathic surgery and the rs1465040 single-nucleotide polymorphism close to the transient receptor potential subfamily C member 3 (TRPC3) gene was suggested by our previous genome-wide association study. To verify this association, we analyzed the association between the rs1465040 SNP and analgesic requirements, including opioid requirements, after open abdominal surgery. The association between the rs1465040 SNP and postoperative analgesic requirements was confirmed in the open abdominal surgery group (P = 0.036), suggesting that the TRPC3 SNP may contribute to predicting postoperative analgesic requirements

A scaling relation of anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic semiconductors and metals

A scaling relation of the anomalous Hall effect recently found in a ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ti,Co)O_2_ is compared with those of various ferromagnetic semiconductors and metals. Many of these compounds with relatively low conductivity sigma_xx_ < 10^4 ohm^-1 cm^-1 are also found to exhibit similar relation: anomalous Hall conductivity sigma_AH_ approximately scales as sigma_AH_ proportional to sigma_xx_^1.6, that is coincident with a recent theory. This relation is valid over five decades of sigma_xx_ irrespective of metallic or hopping conduction.Comment: 10 pages, 1 table, 1 figure. To be published in Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 46, issue 26 (2007

A Novel Plasmid Carrying Capsule Gene Cluster Found in Lactococcus garvieae Isolated from Filefish

Lactococcus garvieae is recognized as a crucial bacterial pathogen of freshwater and marine fish species. It has been divided into two serological phenotypes, namely KG? and KG+. Difference of the two phenotypes is owing to the presence or absence of polysaccharide capsule, and a phenotypic change from KG? to KG+ occurs during stocking of isolates for a long period or by repeated subculturing. We found that the phenotypic change occurred more readily in L. garvieae isolates from cultured filefish, thread-sail filefish Stephanolepis cirrhifer and black scraper Thamnaconus modestus, than those from other fish species. Thus we studied the gene cluster for capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis (capsule gene cluster) of a filefish isolate, strain BSLG13015, and revealed that the strain possessed the same capsule gene cluster as those from other fish species, but that it was integrated in a newly identified plasmid. The plasmid, a size of 31,654 bp and circular, was named pBSLG13015. It was detected in all of KG? filefish isolates but not in KG+ filefish isolates or L. garvieae from other fish species. It is highly probable that the easier change from KG? to KG+ in L. garvieae filefish isolates is attributed to the loss of the plasmid