A Role of Aromatase in Sjögren Syndrome

Several autoimmune diseases are known to develop in postmenopausal women. However, the mechanism by which estrogen deficiency influences autoimmunity is unknown. Aromatase is a converting enzyme from androgens to estrogens. In the present study, we used female aromatase gene knockout (ArKO) mice as a model of estrogen deficiency to investigate the molecular mechanism that underlies the onset and development of autoimmunity. Histological analyses showed that inflammatory lesions in the lacrimal and salivary glands of ArKO mice increased with age. Adoptive transfer of spleen cells or bone marrow cells from ArKO mice into recombination activating gene 2 knockout mice failed to induce the autoimmune lesions. Expression of mRNA encoding proinflammatory cytokines and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) increased in white adipose tissue (WAT) of ArKO mice and was significantly higher than that in wild-type mice. Moreover, an increased number of inflammatory M-1 macrophage was observed in WAT of ArKO mice. A significantly increased MCP-1 mRNA expression of the salivary gland tissue in ArKO was found together with adiposity. Furthermore, the autoimmune lesions in a murine model of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) were exacerbated by administration of an aromatase inhibitor. These results suggest that aromatase may play in a key role in the pathogenesis of SS-like lesions by controlling the target organ and adipose tissue-associated macrophage

シンケイ リンパシュショウ デ サイハツシタ チュウスウ シンケイケイ ゲンパツ アクセイ リンパシュ ノ 1ショウレイ

【緒言】神経リンパ腫症は中枢神経または末梢神経への悪性リンパ腫細胞の浸潤によるリンパ節外悪性リンパ腫と考えられる稀な病態である。今回中枢神経系原発悪性リンパ腫の治療後完全寛解後に末梢神経浸潤にて再発を認め、化学療法と自己末梢血幹細胞移植にて完全寛解を得られた症例を経験したので報告する。【症例】50代男性、20XX年に中枢神経系原発悪性リンパ腫と診断、標準的な治療として大量メソトレキセート療法3回施行にて部分寛解、救援療法としてカルボプラチン、エトポシド療法3回と全脳照射(39.6Gy)を施行し完全寛解となった。9ヶ月後、歩行障害、右上肢麻痺、両下肢・右上肢の感覚障害と疼痛を認めた。頭部および脊椎造影MRIに異常所見はなかった。FDG-PET/CTにて右腕神経叢と脊椎神経根に異常集積を認めた。神経リンパ腫症が強く疑われた。脳脊髄液の細胞診とフローサイトメトリー(FCM)にて中枢神経系原発悪性リンパ腫の再発と診断。神経リンパ腫症と診断した。リツキシマブ、メトトレキサート、ビンクリスチン、プロカルバジン併用療法(R-MPV療法)、髄腔内化学療法、およびブスルファン、チオテパ併用(BU/TT)自己末梢血幹細胞移植を施行し完全寛解に至った。【結論】脳脊髄液細胞診とFCM、FDG-PET/CTを併用することで、神経リンパ腫症の診断が可能となった。中枢神経系原発悪性リンパ腫の再発としての末梢神経の神経リンパ腫症ついては確立された治療法はないことを考えると本症例はR-MVP療法とそれに続くBU/TT併用自己末梢血幹細胞移植の有用性を示唆するものである。[Introduction] Neurolymphomatosis is a rare extranodal malignant lymphoma caused by infiltration of malignant lymphoma cells into the peripheral or central nerves. We report a case of neurolymphomatosis as a relapse of primary central nervous system malignant lymphoma. He achieved complete remission with disappearance of neurological symptom by the combination of chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. [Case] A 50s-year-old male patient was diagnosed as primary central nervous system malignant lymphoma. His disease achieved partial remission with three courses of high-dose methotrexate therapy as induction therapy. The subsequent salvage therapy with carboplatin/etoposide and whole-brain irradiation (39.8Gy) led him complete remission. Nine months later, he developed gait disorder, right upper extremity paralysis, sensory disturbance and pain in both lower extremities and upper right extremities. There were no abnormal findings on head and spine imaging MRI. However, PET-CT scan demonstrated abnormal uptake of FDG in the right brachial plexus and spinal nerve roots. The cerebrospinal fluid cytology and flow cytometry confirmed the diagnosis of neurolymphomatosis as a recurrence of primary central nervous system malignant lymphoma. He underwent R-MPV therapy, intrathecal chemotherapy, and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation with a preconditioning of busulfan and thiotepa, resulting in complete remission of neurolymphomatosis with disappearance of neurological symptoms. [Conclusion] The cerebrospinal fluid cytology and flow cytometry together with PET-CT enabled us to make a diagnosis of neurolymphomatosis. Given that there are no established treatments for neurolymphomatosis of the peripheral nerves as a recurrence of primary central nervous system malignant lymphoma, this case suggests the possible efficacy of the R-MPV therapy followed by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation with busulfan and thiotepa

Dealumination of Zeolite Beta Catalyst Under Controlled Conditions for Enhancing its Activity in Acylation and Esterification

This work deals with the dealumination of zeolite beta (HBEA) under different conditions to optimize its catalytic performance. The dealumination was carried out either using oxalic or tartaric acid solution of different pH values or steaming up to 500℃. The dealuminated zeolite samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2-physisorption, ICP, 27Al NMR and NH3-TPD. Their catalytic activities were studied for acylation reaction of 2-methoxy naphthalene or naphthalene with acetic anhydride and esterification of benzyl alcohol with hexanoic acid. Among the dealuminated samples examined, those treated with oxalic acid or tartaric acid at pH 2 showed high activity. The high activity can be correlated with the relative increase in the amount of strong acid sites and with the enhanced accessibility of the reactants to the active sites, which are caused by removal of extra-framework Al species on the acid treatments

A Highly Active Ir/WO3 Catalyst for the Selective Reduction of NO by CO in the Presence of O2 or O2+ SO2

Ir/WO3 catalyst is highly active for the reduction of NO by CO even in the presence of either O2 or O2 + SO2. However, the activity of Ir/WO3 is fairly lowered by the presence of SO2 alone. It is believed that the active sites lose their activity by the adsorption of SO2 but O2 promotes the desorption of SO2 from these sites as suggested by TPD, thus the negative effect of SO2 being suppressed by the coexistence of O2

Selective methanation of CO in H2-rich gas stream by synthetic nickel-containing smectite based catalysts

The selective methanation of CO in a H-2-rich gas stream has been investigated with nickel catalysts including synthetic nickel-containing smectite (SM(Ni)) catalysts undoped and doped with platinum in small quantities and conventional nickel catalysts on SiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2, and MgO. The nickel content in SM(Ni) and the nickel loading in the other catalysts were the same, being 35 wt.%. The CO conversion with SM(Ni) was smaller than those with the conventional supported nickel catalysts at temperatures of 150-300 degrees C. However, the former showed the higher selectivity to the methanation of CO of >95% at 250 degrees C or below compared to the latter catalysts. The low activity of SM(Ni) was ascribed to a small area of exposed nickel species. The area of exposed nickel species was improved by doping a reduction promoter of platinum to SM(Ni), resulting in an increase in the activity while keeping the high selectivity to the CO methanation. The influence of reduction temperature and platinum loading on the activity and selectivity was investigated

Mesoporous smectites incorporated with alkali metal cations as solid base catalysts

A series of magnesium containing mesoporous smectites incorporated with alkali hydroxide (NaOH, KOH or LiOH) has been prepared and employed for such base-catalyzed model reactions as transesterification of ethyl acetate with methanol, Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde with ethyl cyanoacetate and one-pot synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from propylene oxide, carbon dioxide and methanol. The effects of the quantity and kind of the incorporated alkali atoms on the catalytic properties of the smectites were investigated. Characterization of the smectites has shown that the incorporation of alkali atoms reduces their surface area and total pore volume but enhances the amount and strength of their basic sites. The product yield of the transesterification was increased with the content of alkali atoms incorporated. It has been suggested that the moderately basic sites are responsible for this reaction. The yield of the Knoevenagel reaction depends little on the alkali atom content. Increasing the content of alkali atoms causes the increase in the DMC yield of the one-pot synthesis and the decrease in the yield of methanolysis of propylene oxide, which is the side reaction of the one-pot synthesis. The incorporation of Li was less effective than Na and K for the one-pot reaction. The structures of basic sites over the alkali-incorporated smectites have been discussed

Post-annealed graphite carbon nitride nanoplates obtained by sugar-assisted exfoliation with improved visible-light photocatalytic performance

Two-dimensional (2D) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanoplates (CNNP) have become a hot research topic in photocatalysis due to their small thickness and large specific surface area that favors charge transport and catalytic surface reactions. However, the wide application of 2D g-C3N4 nanoplates prepared by ordinary methods suffers from increased band gaps with a poor solar harvesting capability caused by the strong quantum confinement effect and reduced conjugation distance. In this paper, a facile approach of exfoliation and the following fast thermal treatment of the bulk g-C3N4 is proposed to obtain a porous few-layered g-C3N4 with nitrogen defects. Due to the preferable crystal, textural, optical and electronic structures, the as-obtained porous CNNP demonstrated a significantly improved photocatalytic activity towards water splitting than the bulk g-C3N4 and even the 3 nm-thick CNNP obtained by sugarassisted exfoliation of the bulk g-C3N4. The difference in the enhancement factors between the H2O splitting and organic decomposition has revealed the effect of N defects. This study offers insightful outlooks on the scalable fabrication of a porous few-layered structure with a promoted photocatalytic performance. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Sugar-assisted mechanochemical exfoliation of graphitic carbon nitride for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance

A simple co-grinding treatment with fructose is introduced for the efficient and scalable preparation of g-C3N4 nanoplates. The results revealed that these g-C3N4 nanoplates still preserved the basic framework of carbon nitride and even displayed superior morphological properties and electronic structures. With respect to the pristine carbon nitride, the few-layered g-C3N4 impressively demonstrated an enhanced photocatalytic activity towards hydrogen generation and the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light illumination, emphasizing the vital roles of the morphology and electronic structures on the photocatalytic performance. This study provided sustainable and cost-effective tactics for the delamination of g-C3N4 for efficient energy conversion. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved