Phenylpropanoid 2,3-dioxygenase involved in the cleavage of the ferulic acid side chain to form vanillin and glyoxylic acid in Vanilla planifolia

Enzyme catalyzing the cleavage of the phenylpropanoid side chain was partially purified by ion exchange and gel filtration column chromatography after (NH4)2SO4 precipitation. Enzyme activities were dependent on the concentration of dithiothreitol (DTT) or glutathione (GSH) and activated by addition of 0.5 mM Fe2+. Enzyme activity for ferulic acid was as high as for 4-coumaric acid in the presence of GSH, suggesting that GSH acts as an endogenous reductant in vanillin biosynthesis. Analyses of the enzymatic reaction products with quantitative NMR (qNMR) indicated that an amount of glyoxylic acid (GA) proportional to vanillin was released from ferulic acid by the enzymatic reaction. These results suggest that phenylpropanoid 2,3-dioxygenase is involved in the cleavage of the ferulic acid side chain to form vanillin and GA in Vanilla planifolia

複雑先天性心疾患患者における心房細動の病因 : より良い治療戦略のために

Background: The demographics of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) differ significantly from the general population. The etiology and treatment strategy for AF in CHD patients have been investigated but are to date inconclusive. Methods: To determine the etiology of AF in CHD and to seek a better treatment strategy, we retrospectively evaluated the atrial overload in 42 complex CHD cases with normal atrial arrangements and AF (age 25; range, 9-66 years) and the impact of a reduction in the atrial overload on the atrial rhythm. Results: Cardiac defect diagnoses varied, with 17% of the patients having a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC). In regard to the volume overload, the frequencies of an overload in the right atrium (RA), left atrium (LA), or both, were 50 %, 23%, and 10%, respectively (p = 0.015). Other sustained supraventricular tachycardias were observed in 29 patients (69%) before and after the onset of AF. Among these 29 patients, 26 had intra-atrial reentrant tachycardia. Fifteen patients (36%), 10 of whom had chronic AF, died during the follow-up including 3 with arrhythmias and 10 because of heart failure. Fourteen (33%) patients had no AF at the last follow-up due to medical interventions, 8 of which underwent solely an RA-sided catheter ablation and/or surgical RA overload reduction. Conclusions: AF in complex CHD with a normal atrial arrangement correlates with a higher RA-sided overload than an LA-sided and exhibits a high incidence of PLSVCs, high comorbidity of intra-atrial reentrant tachycardias, and high mortality rate. In a substantial number of patients, RA-sided interventions were effective in controlling AF. To effectively manage AF in complex CHD it is essential to understand each individual's hemodynamics and consider hemodynamic interventions.博士（医学）・甲第853号・令和4年9月28日© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Japanese College of Cardiology

Long-term prognostic value of cardiac autonomic nervous activity in postoperative patients with congenital heart disease

Background: Abnormal cardiac autonomic nervous activity (CANA) is not uncommon in postoperative patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Methods and results: We attempted to clarify the prognostic value of the CANA variables in postoperative CHD patients and prospectively evaluated the CANA variables in 292 consecutive biventricular and 91 Fontan repair patients. The CANA variables included the heart rate variability, arterial baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), washout ratio of the myocardial metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy, and plasma norepinephrine level. With a follow-up of 10 ± 2 years, 98 total events that required hospitalization, including 13 deaths and 48 unscheduled cardiac events (UCEs), occurred. In all the CHD patients, all the CANA indices predicted the total events and UCEs. Of those, the NE level (p = 0.0004) and BRS (p = 0.0373) predicted the mortality. In a multivariate analysis, the BRS was an independent CANA-predictor for the total events (p = 0.007). In the biventricular patients, the plasma NE level, heart rate variability, and BRS predicted the total events and UCEs and the BRS was the only independent CANA-predictor for the total events (p = 0.0329). In the Fontan patients, the plasma NE level was the only predictor for the UCEs (p = 0.0242) and no other CANA variables were independent predictors of the total events or UCEs. Conclusions: All CANA variables, especially the BRS, were useful predictors for future clinical events in biventricular CHD patients, whereas no CANA variables, except for the plasma NE level, predicted future clinical events in the Fontan patients

Inositols affect the mating circadian rhythm of Drosophila melanogaster

Accumulating evidence indicates that the molecular circadian clock underlies the mating behavior of Drosophila melanogaster. However, information about which food components affect circadian mating behavior is scant. The ice plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum has recently become a popular functional food. Here, we showed that the close-proximity (CP) rhythm of D. melanogaster courtship behavior was damped under low-nutrient conditions, but significantly enhanced by feeding the flies with powdered ice plant. Among various components of ice plants, we found that myo-inositol increased the amplitude and slightly shortened the period of the CP rhythm. Real-time reporter assays showed that myo-inositol and D-pinitol shortened the period of the circadian reporter gene Per2-luc in NIH 3T3 cells. These data suggest that the ice plant is a useful functional food and that the ability of inositols to shorten rhythms is a general phenomenon in insects as well as mammals

Phenylpropanoid 2,3-dioxygenase involved in the cleavage of the ferulic acid side chain to form vanillin and glyoxylic acid in <i>Vanilla planifolia</i>

<p>Enzyme catalyzing the cleavage of the phenylpropanoid side chain was partially purified by ion exchange and gel filtration column chromatography after (NH₄)₂SO₄ precipitation. Enzyme activities were dependent on the concentration of dithiothreitol (DTT) or glutathione (GSH) and activated by addition of 0.5 mM Fe²⁺. Enzyme activity for ferulic acid was as high as for 4-coumaric acid in the presence of GSH, suggesting that GSH acts as an endogenous reductant in vanillin biosynthesis. Analyses of the enzymatic reaction products with quantitative NMR (qNMR) indicated that an amount of glyoxylic acid (GA) proportional to vanillin was released from ferulic acid by the enzymatic reaction. These results suggest that phenylpropanoid 2,3-dioxygenase is involved in the cleavage of the ferulic acid side chain to form vanillin and GA in <i>Vanilla planifolia</i>.</p> <p>Phenylpropanoid 2,3-dioxygenase is involved in the cleavage of the ferulic acid side chain to form vanillin and glyoxylic acid in <i>Vanilla planifolia</i>.</p

Content of Methylated Inositols in Familiar Edible Plants

Familiar plants contain large amounts of inositols; soybean, white clover, red clover, bush clover, locust tree, wisteria, and kudzu of the legume family contain pinitol (3-<i>O</i>-methyl-<i>chiro</i>-inositol) at approximately 200–600 mg/100 g fresh weight (FW). The contents of pinitol in other plants were 260 mg/100 g FW for sticky mouse-ear, 275 mg/100 g FW for chickweed, and 332 mg/100 g FW for ginkgo. <i>chiro</i>-Inositol of 191 and 156 mg/100 g FW was also found in dandelion and Japanese mallotus, respectively. Ononitol (4-<i>O</i>-methyl-<i>myo</i>-inositol) of 166 mg/100 g FW was found in sticky mouse-ear. Furthermore, young leaves of ginkgo contained sequoyitol (5-<i>O</i>-methyl-<i>myo</i>-inositol) of 287 mg/100 g FW. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of the methylated inositols were higher than those of the original inositols. Effective uses of these familiar edible plants are expected to promote good health