Comparison of Capillary Architecture between Slow and Fast Muscles in Rats Using a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

The skeletal muscle is classified into 2 types, slow oxidative or fast glycolytic muscle. For further characterization, we investigated the capillary architecture in slow and fast muscles. The rat soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were used as representatives of slow and fast muscles, respectively. To investigate capillary density, sections of both types of muscle were stained with alkaline phosphatase;the soleus muscle showed more intense reactivity, indicating that it had a denser capillary structure than the EDL muscle. We then injected fluorescent contrast medium into samples of both muscle types for light and confocal-laser microscopic evaluation. The capillary density and capillary-to-fiber ratio were significantly higher, and the course of the capillaries was more tortuous, in the soleus muscle than in the EDL muscle. Capillary coursed more tortuously in the soleus than in the EDL muscle. Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity, an indicator of mitochondrial oxidative capacity, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression were also significantly higher in the soleus muscle. Thus, we conclude that slow oxidative muscle possess a rich capillary structure to provide demanded oxygen, and VEGF might be involved in the formation and/or maintenance of this highly capillarized architecture.</p

Enhancement or Suppression of ACE Inhibitory Activity by a Mixture of Tea and Foods for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU) That Are Marketed as “Support for Normal Blood Pressure”

The ACE inhibitory activities of mixtures of FOSHUs (Healthya, Goma-Mugicha, Lapis Support and Ameal) were examined in order to identify any antihypertensive interactions. Among combinations of Healthya with other samples that contain active peptides, only that with Ameal was found to have no inhibitory activity. Enhanced activity was observed in 2 other mixtures. The activity of a mixture of tea polyphenols and the whey component extracted from an Ameal solution was significantly decreased, thus demonstrating that whey protein lowered the ACE inhibitory activity of Healthya. Although oral administration of tea polyphenols alone significantly decreased SBP in SHR at 2 and 4 hr, combined administration with Ameal failed to decrease SBP at the same time points. In conclusion, the simultaneous intake of tea and FOSHUs that contain active peptides might affect daily self-antihypertensive management via enhancement or suppression of ACE inhibitory activity

Effect of Propagation Signal and Path on Verification Performance Using Intra-Body Propagation Signals

Biometrics is the verification or the identification method of users by measuring and analyzing their biometric data, which is only applicable to continuous authentication in a system. In particular, unconsciously presentable biometric modalities are also applicable to an authentication system. As such a biometrics, to use intra-body propagation signals that propagate on a body surface as electromagnetic waves have been proposed. In conventional approaches, verification performance on palms has been evaluated by a white signal as a propagation signal. In this paper, it is reported that the effects of using a synthesized signal by sinusoidal waves with fixed amplitudes and phases instead of the white signal and propagating this signal on other body parts on verification

Roles for E1-independent replication and E6-mediated p53 degradation during low-risk and high-risk human papillomavirus genome maintenance.

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) have genotype-specific disease associations, with high-risk alpha types causing at least 5% of all human cancers. Despite these conspicuous differences, our data show that high- and low- risk HPV types use similar approaches for genome maintenance and persistence. During the maintenance phase, viral episomes and the host cell genome are replicated synchronously, and for both the high- and low-risk HPV types, the E1 viral helicase is non-essential. During virus genome amplification, replication switches from an E1-independent to an E1-dependent mode, which can uncouple viral DNA replication from that of the host cell. It appears that the viral E2 protein, but not E6 and E7, is required for the synchronous maintenance-replication of both the high and the low-risk HPV types. Interestingly, the ability of the high-risk E6 protein to mediate the proteosomal degradation of p53 and to inhibit keratinocyte differentiation, was also seen with low-risk HPV E6, but in this case was regulated by cell density and the level of viral gene expression. This allows low-risk E6 to support genome amplification, while limiting the extent of E6-mediated cell proliferation during synchronous genome maintenance. Both high and low-risk E7s could facilitate cell cycle re-entry in differentiating cells and support E1-dependent replication. Despite the well-established differences in the viral pathogenesis and cancer risk, it appears that low- and high-risk HPV types use fundamentally similar molecular strategies to maintain their genomes, albeit with important differences in their regulatory control. Our results provide new insights into the regulation of high and low-risk HPV genome replication and persistence in the epithelial basal and parabasal cells layers. Understanding the minimum requirement for viral genome persistence will facilitate the development of therapeutic strategies for clearance.MR

Early detachment of neuromuscular junction proteins in ALS mice with SODG93A mutation

The transgenic animals with mutant copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) DNA develop paralytic motor neuron disease resembling human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and are commonly used as models for ALS. In the transgenic (Tg) mice with the G93A mutation of the human SOD1 gene SOD1G93A mice), the loss of ventral root axons and the synapses between the muscles and the motor neurons suggested that the motor neuron degeneration might proceed in a dying-back degeneration pattern. To reveal the relationship between axonal degeneration and the progression of the muscle atrophy in the SOD1G93A mice, we investigated the status of the neuromuscular junction along the disease progression. As a presynaptic or postsynaptic marker of neuromuscular junction (NMJ), anti-synaptic vesicle protein 2 (anti-SV2) antibody and α-bungarotoxin (α-BuTX) were chosen in this study and, as a marker of synaptic cleft, anti-agrin antibody was chosen in this study. In the immunohistochemistry of α-BuTX and anti-SV2 antibody, the percentages of double positive NMJs among α-BuTX single positive were decreased in Tg mice through time from ten weeks. The number of postsynaptic acethylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters did not decrease in Tg mice even at the end stage. Immunohistochemistry of α-BuTX and anti-agrin antibody revealed that the increase of immunopositive area of anti-agrin antibody around the muscle fiber in Tg mice from ten weeks of age. In this study, we revealed that the detachment of nerve terminals started at ten weeks in Tg mice. The levels of AChR did not change throughout 5–20 weeks of age in both groups of mice, and AChR remains clustering at NMJs, suggesting that the muscle abnormality is the result of detachment of nerve terminals

Crystal structure of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from Hansenula saturnus

This research was originally published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. Min Yao, T. Ose, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Atsushi Horiuchi, Atsushi Nakagawa, Soichi Wakatsuki, Daisuke Yokoii, Toyotaka Murakamii, Mamoru Honmai, and Isao Tanaka. Crystal structure of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from Hansenula saturnus. J. Biol. Chem. 2000; 275, 34557-34565. © the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Intake frequency of vegetables or seafoods negatively correlates with disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: To clarify the relationship between dietary habit and disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: This study enrolled RA patients who met the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria from Kyoto University Rheumatoid Arthritis Management Alliance (KURAMA) cohort in 2015. 22-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was taken for the measurement of dietary habit in a single-institution cohort of RA (Kyoto University Rheumatoid Arthritis Management Alliance: KURAMA) in 2015. The disease activities of RA using the Disease Activity Score calculated based on the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) level, the use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), disease duration, rheumatoid factor, anti-cyclic citrullinated antibody, and body mass index were also examined. All of them were combined and statistically analyzed. Results: 441 RA patients (81% women; mean age 65 years; mean disease duration 15 years) were enrolled from the KURAMA cohort. Average Disease Activity Score-28 using the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) was 2.7. Univariate analysis showed that intake frequency of vegetables had a statistically significant negative correlation with disease activity markers, such as DAS28-ESR (ρ = −0.11, p<0.01), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) (ρ = −0.16, p<0.001), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) (ρ = −0.21, p<0.0001), and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) (ρ = −0.13, p<0.01). Factor analysis with varimax rotation was done to simplify the relevance of disease activity to various food items. 22 foods were categorized into five dietary patterns: “seafoods”, “vegetables/fruits”, “meats/fried foods”, “snacks”, and “processed foods”. The multivariate analysis adjusted for clinically significant confounders showed that “seafoods” had statistically significant negative correlations with DAS28-ESR (β = −0.15, p<0.01), SDAI (β = −0.18, p<0.001), MMP-3 (β = −0.15, p<0.01), and HAQ (β = −0.24, p<0.0001). “Vegetables/fruits” had statistically significant negative correlations with SDAI (β = −0.11 p<0.05), MMP-3 (β = −0.12, p<0.01), and HAQ (β = −0.11, p<0.05) Conclusions: These results suggest that high intake frequency of vegetables/fruits and/or seafoods might correlate with low disease activity

松本歯科大学病院における小児全身麻酔下集中歯科治療の検討 : 過去11年間の環境要因の変遷について

We investigated the actual child-rearing environment, considering factors such as hygiene training, among 177 children (102 boys, 75 girls) ranging from 1 year and 9 months to 7 years and 2 months in age who underwent intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Matsumoto Dental University Hospital between January 1990 and December 2000. The following results were obtained. 1) The annual number of patients slightly increased between 1992 and 1994. Thereafter, the annual number of patients decreased slightly each year. 2) The mean age attreatmentwas 3 years and 7 months (44.5±12.9 months). 3) Concerning the regional distribution, more than 50% of the children came from Nagano Prefecture areas other than Shiojiri City, where our university is located. 4) With respect to feeding methods during infancy, most children were breast fed or mixed breast and bottle fed. Furthermore, any feeding irregularity was noted. 5) The mean interval from birth until the start of weaning was 7.5±4.1 months. The mean interval until completion of weaning was 16.0±6.3 months. 6) 95.5% of the children habitually brushed their teeth. The frequency of tooth brushing was "once a day" or "sometimes" in 69.5% of the children. 7) Overall, 46.9% of the children had received fluoride application

A pilot study of the multiherb Kampo medicine bakumondoto for cough in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of bakumondoto. Kampo medicine, on cough in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Design: A 16-week, randomized, open-labeled, cross-over design. Setting: Outpatient clinics at one university hospital and two general hospitals in Japan from May 2007 to March 2009. Participants: Twenty-four elderly patients (14 men and 9 women aged over 65) with COPD. Intervention: Treatment with or without bakumondoto for 8 weeks in a cross-over design. Measurements: The primary outcome measurements were the frequency and intensity of cough assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a daily cough diary. Secondary outcome measurements were quality of life (QOL) assessed using St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and lung functions measured using spirometry. Results: Treatment with bakumondoto significantly improved cough severity during the first treatment period (week 0 vs. week 8, p = 0.004) and showed a trend to decrease during the second treatment period (week 8 vs. week16, p=0.129) assessed by the VAS. Neither QOL nor lung function was affected by the treatment with bakumondoto. Conclusion: Bakumondoto may be effective in suppressing cough in elderly patients with COPD. To further confirm the efficacy, a larger and placebo-controlled study with objective cough assessment is necessary