Taurine's health influence on Japanese high school girls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in children and adolescents has been increasing at an alarming rate. MS risks during childhood and adolescence adversely affect health conditions in later life. Thus, the characterization of their MS risks is a critical research field. The aims of this study are to survey the health status of Japanese adolescent females, a poorly characterized population, and to investigate the potential relationship between their MS risks and dietary factors like potassium (K) and taurine.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Anthropometric characteristics of 243 healthy school girls aged 13 to 18 years were measured. Serum levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and plasma levels of glucose and insulin were analyzed in fasting blood samples. We assessed overweight, disturbed lipid prolife, higher blood pressure (hBP) and higher plasma glucose (hGlc) levels as indicators of MS risks. The relationships between MS risks and urinary K or taurine excretion were investigated by dividing into higher and lower groups at medians of their urinary excretions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Half of junior high school (JHS) and one-quarter of senior high school (SHS) girls had at least one MS risk. The quite common risk was hGlc, the rates being 21% in JHS girls and 14% in SHS. The prevalence of being overweight and obesity were only small portions, the rate being 0% and 0% in JHS girls, and 10% and 1% in SHS, respectively. Substantial differences in the prevalence of hBP were observed between JHS (22%) and SHS (4%) girls. Furthermore, higher urinary K excretion group showed a significant decrease in triglyceride level (<it>P </it>= 0.03) and increase in HDL level (<it>P </it>= 0.003) compared with the lower. Also, the higher urinary taurine excretion group exhibited a significant reduction in triglyceride level (<it>P </it>= 0.04) compared with the lower.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicate that control of plasma glucose level rather than body weight is a crucial task in Japanese pubertal girls, and that a dietary habit rich in K and taurine could improve their lipid profile. Nutritional education based on these findings would help to prevent the future development of MS in Japanese female adolescents.</p

Process of parenting a child with RB

Background : Retinoblastoma（RB） occurs at a very young age. Since the disease is diagnosed at an early age, the family is responsible for the care of the childʼs disease acceptance. Objective : This study aims to explore the parenting process of children with RB toward disease acceptance. Methods : Parents of eleven children with RB living in Japan were interviewed, and the data were analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach of Kinoshita（M-GTA）. Results : There were twenty-one concepts representing the process of parenting a child with RB while guiding him or her toward disease acceptance, and nineteen of them were classified into ten categories based on semantic similarities. The two other concepts showed similar interpretability to categories. These categories and concepts were summarized into two core categories : “Helping the child develop a positive mindset to define the disease as a part of him/herself ” and “Paving the way in advance for the child to live comfortably when his or her living space expands”. Conclusions : In a cyclical framework of parenting, consisting of two core categories described in Results, the parents coordinated these two approaches while maintaining balance by “Avoiding saying anything that does not need to be said” and established their process of parenting a child with RB while guiding him or her toward disease acceptance, according to their household situation. The results suggest the necessity of recognizing that in childhood-onset cancers, such as RB, and diseases involving genetic issues, problems tend to occur not only during the treatment period but also at the time of life events and providing support from a comprehensive perspective

A Genome-wide Approach to Identify the Genes Involved in Biofilm Formation in E. coli

Biofilm forming cells are distinctive from the well-investigated planktonic cells and exhibit a different type of gene expression. Several new Escherichia coli genes related to biofilm formation have recently been identified through genomic approaches such as DNA microarray analysis. However, many others involved in this process might have escaped detection due to poor expression, regulatory mechanism, or genetic backgrounds. Here, we screened a collection of single-gene deletion mutants of E. coli named ‘Keio collection’ to identify genes required for biofilm formation. Of the 3985 mutants of non-essential genes in the collection thus examined, 110 showed a reduction in biofilm formation nine of which have not been well characterized yet. Systematic and quantitative analysis revealed the involvement of genes of various functions and reinforced the importance in biofilm formation of the genes for cell surface structures and cell membrane. Characterization of the nine mutants of function-unknown genes indicated that some of them, such as yfgA that genetically interacts with a periplasmic chaperone gene surA together with yciB and yciM, might be required for the integrity of outer membrane

Point-of-care ultrasound utilized for foreign body in a toe: A case report of botfly larvae.

BACKGROUND: Myiasis, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is infection with fly larvae commonly occurring in tropical and subtropical areas. Whereas the presentation of skin infection with organisms such as Dermatobia hominis (human botfly) is more easily recognized in these regions, identification of myiasis in the United States is difficult due to its rarity. Due to unspecific signs and symptoms, myiasis may initially be mistaken for other conditions, like cellulitis. CASE REPORT: This case details a patient with pain, swelling, drainage, and erythema of the right second toe. The patient recently returned from Belize and reported an insect bite to the area approximately 1 month prior. She had been seen by health care professionals twice prior to presenting to our Emergency Department (ED) due to increasing pain. At those visits, the patient was prescribed antibiotics, failing to improve her symptoms. In the ED, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the soft tissue was performed and showed evidence of a foreign body consistent with cutaneous myiasis. Given the patient\u27s history of travel to Belize and known insect bite, it is prudent to have an increased suspicion for cutaneous myiasis. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: To prevent a delay in diagnosis and unnecessary antibiotics, clinicians should have a high level of suspicion for botfly if a patient reports recent travel in an endemic region and pain disproportionate to an insect bite. POCUS contributes to a more efficient recognition of the disease

Effectiveness of Influenza vaccines in reducing risk of acute febrile illness among community-dwelling elderly, 2006-07 seasons : Population-based cohort study in Japan

Background: Annual vaccinations are recommended for groups with high-risk medical conditions, as well as the residents of nursing homes. In general, little is known about the vaccine effectiveness of vaccines for Influenza-like illness (ILI) in community-dwelling elderly. Methods: A population based cohort study was conducted during the 2006-2007 (06/07) influenza season to examine the effectiveness of an influenza vaccine among community-dwelling elderly. We selected 1,000 elderly citizens ranging from 65 to 74 years old randomly from a population registry of Sapporo in September 2006. Baseline survey for them was conducted in October or November 2006, and 542 (54.2%) subjects responded with an informed consent. We excluded one person because he passed away before the follow-up survey. Thus, we analyzed 541 subjects. We followed-up the participants concerning acute febrile illnesses, hospitalizations, and so on every prior month from December 2006 to April 2007 though telephone interviews. The Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to compare vaccinated group to non-vaccinated group, and Cox’s hazard model was conducted to control for potential confounding factors. Results: After adjusting for confounders, the vaccination decreased acute fevers higher than or equal to 37.5°C (Hazard ratio (HR) =0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI)=(0.20, 0.90)) from December 2006 to March 2007, but was not associated with the risk of ILI (HR=1.25, 95%CI=(0.29, 5.37)). Conclusion: An influenza vaccination may decrease an acute fever during an influenza epidemic season in community-dwelling elderly

Chronic Orofacial Pain in Dental Patients: Retrospective Investigation over 12 years

Orofacial pain is often difficult to diagnose and treat. However, there have been few reports on the clinical observation of dental patients with orofacial pain. We retrospectively investigated the characteristics of 221 dental patients who had suffered from persistent orofacial pain. Data were collected from the outpatient medical records in our clinic over the past 12 years. More than half of the patients (53.8%) had suffered with pain for more than 6 months from pain onset until the first visit to our clinic. The main diagnoses were neuropathic pain (30.3%), myofascial pain (23.5%), psychogenic pain (20.4%), odontogenic toothache (17.2%), and others (7.7%) such as temporomandibular disorders and glossitis. The treatments included pharmacotherapy, splint therapy, and others such as nerve block, dental treatment, physiotherapy, and/or psychotherapy. Excluding the patients (52 of 221 initially enrolled patients) with unknown responses to treatment, 65.7% showed remission or a significant improvement in pain in response to treatment. Although only a small group of patients had odontogenic toothache, the rate of improvement was highest for this disorder. In conclusion, early consultation with a dentist is useful to prevent chronicity of odontogenic pain and to make a differential diagnosis in patients with orofacial pain

The updated retrospective questionnaire study of sporadic inclusion body myositis in Japan

Background: Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is the most prevalent muscle disease in elderly people, affecting the daily activities. sIBM is progressive with unknown cause and without effective treatment. In 2015, sIBM was classified as an intractable disease by the Japanese government, and the treatment cost was partly covered by the government. This study aimed to examine the changes in the number of patients with sIBM over the last 10 years and to elucidate the cross-sectional profile of Japanese patients with sIBM. Methods: The number of sIBM patients was estimated through a reply-paid postcard questionnaire for attending physicians. Only patients diagnosed as “definite” or “probable” sIBM by clinical and biopsy sIBM criteria were included in this study (Lancet Neurol 6:620-631, 2007, Neuromuscul Disord 23:1044-1055, 2013). Additionally, a registered selfadministered questionnaire was also sent to 106 patients who agreed to reply via their attending physician, between November 2016 and March 2017. Results: The number of patients diagnosed with sIBM for each 5-year period was 286 and 384 in 2011 and 2016, respectively. Inability to stand-up, cane-dependent gait, inability to open a plastic bottle, choking on food ingestion, and being wheelchair-bound should be included as sIBM milestones. Eight patients were positive for anti-hepatitis C virus antibody; three of them were administered interferon before sIBM onset. Steroids were administered to 33 patients (31.1%) and intravenous immunoglobulin to 46 patients (43.4%). From 2016 to 2017, total of 70 patients applied for the designated incurable disease medical expenses subsidy program. Although the treatment cost was partly covered by the government, many patients expressed psychological/mental and financial anxieties. Conclusions: We determined the cross-sectional profile of Japanese patients with sIBM. Continuous support and prospective surveys are warranted