Cultivated Grapevines Represent a Symptomless Reservoir for the Transmission of Hop Stunt Viroid to Hop Crops: 15 Years of Evolutionary Analysis

Hop stunt was a mysterious disorder that first emerged in the 1940s in commercial hops in Japan. To investigate the origin of this disorder, we infected hops with natural Hop stunt viroid (HpSVd) isolates derived from four host species (hop, grapevine, plum and citrus), which except for hop represent possible sources of the ancestral viroid. These plants were maintained for 15 years, then analyzed the HpSVd variants present. Here we show that the variant originally found in cultivated grapevines gave rise to various combinations of mutations at positions 25, 26, 54, 193, and 281. However, upon prolonged infection, these variants underwent convergent evolution resulting in a limited number of adapted mutants. Some of them showed nucleotide sequences identical to those currently responsible for hop stunt epidemics in commercial hops in Japan, China, and the United States. Therefore, these results indicate that we have successfully reproduced the original process by which a natural HpSVd variant naturally introduced into cultivated hops was able to mutate into the HpSVd variants that are currently present in commercial hops. Furthermore, and importantly, we have identified cultivated grapevines as a symptomless reservoir in which HSVd can evolve and be transmitted to hop crops to cause epidemics

Determination of Early and Late Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Peripheral Circulation and Their Clinical Association with Coronary Artery Disease

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系The clinical implications of early and late endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in coronary artery disease (CAD) remain unclear. We investigated endothelial dysfunction in CAD by simultaneously examining early and late EPC colony formation and gene expression of specific surface markers in EPCs. EPCs were extracted from a total of 83 subjects with (n=47) and without (n=36) CAD. Early and late EPC colonies were formed from mononuclear cells extracted from peripheral blood. We found that fewer early EPC colonies were produced in the CAD group (7.2 ± 3.l/well) than those in the control group (12.4 ± 1.4/well, p<0.05), and more late EPC colonies were produced in the CAD group (0.8 ± 0.2/well) than those in the control group (0.25 ± 0.02/well, p<0.05). In the CAD group, the relative expression of CD31 and KDR of early and late EPCs was lower than in the control group. These results demonstrate that CAD patients could have increased late EPC density and that early and late EPCs in CAD patients exhibited immature endothelial characteristics. We suggest that changes in EPC colony count and gene expression of endothelial markers may have relation with development of CAD. © 2015 Shotoku Tagawa et al

Colitis fleboesclerótica con ulceración circunferencial profunda: seguimiento endoscópico de tres años. Reporte de un Caso

12 páginasWe report a case of phlebosclerotic colitis with deep circumferential ulceration in which the characteristic findings were observed radiologically and endoscopically. Previously, the patient was diagnosed with colitis of unknown etiology in 1999 when a colonoscopy showed small erosions, ulcers, and dark purple mucosa in the right colon. As a result of parenteral nutrition treatment, his symptoms and ulcerations disappeared; however, the dark purple mucosa remained unchanged for three years on the annual endoscopic follow-up. Recurrent colitis associated with circumferential ulceration was diagnosed in 2002. The patient was treated again with only parenteral nutrition and his symptoms improved after a few days; the ulceration completely disappeared within seven months. This case emphasizes the benefit of nonsurgical treatment for phlebosclerotic colitis even in cases of deep circumferential ulceration.Presentamos un caso de colitis fleboesclerótica con ulceración circunferencial profunda en el que se observaron los hallazgos característicos radiológica y endoscópicamente. Previamente, el paciente fue diagnosticado con colitis de etiología desconocida en 1999 cuando una colonoscopia mostró pequeñas erosiones, úlceras y mucosa de color púrpura oscuro en el colon derecho. Como resultado del tratamiento de nutrición parenteral, sus síntomas y ulceraciones desaparecieron; sin embargo, la mucosa de color púrpura oscuro se mantuvo sin cambios durante tres años en el seguimiento endoscópico anual. En 2002 se diagnosticó colitis recidivante asociada a ulceración circunferencial. El paciente fue tratado nuevamente con nutrición parenteral únicamente y la sintomatología mejoró a los pocos días; la ulceración desapareció por completo en siete meses. Este caso enfatiza el beneficio del tratamiento no quirúrgico para la colitis fleboesclerótica incluso en casos de ulceración circunferencial profunda

Determination of Early and Late Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Peripheral Circulation and Their Clinical Association with Coronary Artery Disease

The clinical implications of early and late endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in coronary artery disease (CAD) remain unclear. We investigated endothelial dysfunction in CAD by simultaneously examining early and late EPC colony formation and gene expression of specific surface markers in EPCs. EPCs were extracted from a total of 83 subjects with (n=47) and without (n=36) CAD. Early and late EPC colonies were formed from mononuclear cells extracted from peripheral blood. We found that fewer early EPC colonies were produced in the CAD group (7.2 ± 3.l/well) than those in the control group (12.4 ± 1.4/well, p<0.05), and more late EPC colonies were produced in the CAD group (0.8 ± 0.2/well) than those in the control group (0.25 ± 0.02/well, p<0.05). In the CAD group, the relative expression of CD31 and KDR of early and late EPCs was lower than in the control group. These results demonstrate that CAD patients could have increased late EPC density and that early and late EPCs in CAD patients exhibited immature endothelial characteristics. We suggest that changes in EPC colony count and gene expression of endothelial markers may have relation with development of CAD

Rivaroxaban concentrations in acute stroke patients with different dosage forms.

BackgroundThe crushed-tablet rivaroxaban concentration has been previously reported to be lower than the non-crushed concentration. However, the rivaroxaban concentration of fine granules has not yet been investigated. The anticoagulation intensity of rivaroxaban with fine granules, tablets, and crushed tablets was compared in acute stroke patients to assess the efficacy of each form.Methods and findingsHospitalized patients over 75 years old with acute stroke who started taking rivaroxaban from April 2012 to September 2017 were included. Blood samples were drawn just before and 4 hours after taking rivaroxaban on a median of 5 days after treatment initiation for concentration measurements (C0h, C4h) based on an anti-factor Xa chromogenic assay. Of 114 patients (49 female, 83±5 years old), 97 had ischemic strokes, 9 had transient ischemic attacks, and 8 had intracerebral hemorrhages. Rivaroxaban was administered a median of 7 days after onset. Of these, 38 patients were given the 15 mg dose, and 76 were given the 10 mg dose. In the 15 mg dose group, C0h was significantly higher in the fine granule group than in the crushed tablet group, with no significant difference compared to the tablet group [C0h: 27.6±6.8 vs 4.0±4.1 (P = 0.01) vs. 33.3±25.2 ng/ml, (P = 0.51), respectively], as was C4h [223.0±66.6 vs 103.0±79.5 (P = 0.02) vs. 229.5±121.6 ng/ml (P = 0.88)]. In the 10 mg dose group, C0h was significantly higher in the fine granule group than in the crushed tablet group and comparable to that in the tablet group [23.2±7.9 vs 7.5±6.2 (PConclusionsThe rivaroxaban concentration with fine granules was consistent with that in the tablet group and higher than that in the crushed tablet group