Suplatast tosilate alleviates nasal symptoms through the suppression of nuclear factor of activated T-cells-mediated IL-9 gene expression in toluene-2,4-diisocyanate-sensitized rats

Histamine H1 receptor (H1R) gene is upregulated in patients with pollinosis; its expression level is highly correlated with the nasal symptom severity. Antihistamines are widely used as allergy treatments because they inhibit histamine signaling by blocking H1R or suppressing H1R signaling as inverse agonists. However, long-term treatment with antihistamines does not completely resolve toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI)-induced nasal symptoms, although it can decrease H1R gene expression to the basal level, suggesting additional signaling is responsible for the pathogenesis of the allergic symptoms. Here, we show that treatment with suplatast tosilate in combination with antihistamines markedly alleviates nasal symptoms in TDI-sensitized rats. Suplatast suppressed TDI-induced upregulation of IL-9 gene expression. Suplatast also suppressed ionomycin/phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-induced upregulation of IL-2 gene expression in Jurkat cells, in which calcineurin (CN)/nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) signaling is known to be involved. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that suplatast inhibited binding of NFAT to DNA. Furthermore, suplatast suppressed ionomycin-induced IL-9 mRNA upregulation in RBL-2H3 cells, in which CN/NFAT signaling is also involved. These data suggest that suplatast suppressed NFAT-mediated IL-9 gene expression in TDI-sensitized rats and this might be the underlying mechanism of the therapeutic effects of combined therapy of suplatast with antihistamine

Physical performance disorder（Locomotive syndrome）closely relates to both hypertension and diabetes mellitus which are components of metabolic syndrome

Locomotive syndrome is physical performance disorder in the elderly person. The physical performance disorder can become cause of metabolic syndrome. This study focused on the locomotive syndrome’s relationship to the hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia which are components of the metabolic syndrome. To evaluate the locomotive syndrome, questionnaire score system : brand-new loco-check-score and established locomo-５-score were adopted. In the questionnaire, current medications were also listed especially about hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. A correlation between loco-check-score and locomo-５-score was statistically evaluated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Moreover correlations between body mass index（BMI）and loco-check-score, BMI and locomo-５-score were statistically evaluated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient. In a health consultation event, １４６ persons checked the questionnaire （mean age ７２．５yo）. Differences of the loco-check-score and the locomo-５-score in the hypertension-group, diabetes mellitus group, and the hyperlipidemia group were statistically evaluated by the Mann-Whitney U test respectively. Age matched persons with no medications comprised control groups. Significant differences were observed in the hypertension group and diabetes mellitus group both in the loco-check-score and locomo-５-score systems. These two groups showed significantly high loco-check-score and locomo-５-score than the control groups. The loco-check-score closely related to the locomo-５-score. On the other hand, no relations were observed between BMI and the loco-check-score, and between BMI and the locomo-５-score

Physical performance disorder（Locomotive syndrome）closely relates to both hypertension and diabetes mellitus which are components of metabolic syndrome

Locomotive syndrome is physical performance disorder in the elderly person. The physical performance disorder can become cause of metabolic syndrome. This study focused on the locomotive syndrome’s relationship to the hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia which are components of the metabolic syndrome. To evaluate the locomotive syndrome, questionnaire score system : brand-new loco-check-score and established locomo-５-score were adopted. In the questionnaire, current medications were also listed especially about hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. A correlation between loco-check-score and locomo-５-score was statistically evaluated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Moreover correlations between body mass index（BMI）and loco-check-score, BMI and locomo-５-score were statistically evaluated by Spearman rank correlation coefficient. In a health consultation event, １４６ persons checked the questionnaire （mean age ７２．５yo）. Differences of the loco-check-score and the locomo-５-score in the hypertension-group, diabetes mellitus group, and the hyperlipidemia group were statistically evaluated by the Mann-Whitney U test respectively. Age matched persons with no medications comprised control groups. Significant differences were observed in the hypertension group and diabetes mellitus group both in the loco-check-score and locomo-５-score systems. These two groups showed significantly high loco-check-score and locomo-５-score than the control groups. The loco-check-score closely related to the locomo-５-score. On the other hand, no relations were observed between BMI and the loco-check-score, and between BMI and the locomo-５-score

Diminished Medial Prefrontal Activity behind Autistic Social Judgments of Incongruent Information

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to make inadequate social judgments, particularly when the nonverbal and verbal emotional expressions of other people are incongruent. Although previous behavioral studies have suggested that ASD individuals have difficulty in using nonverbal cues when presented with incongruent verbal-nonverbal information, the neural mechanisms underlying this symptom of ASD remain unclear. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we compared brain activity in 15 non-medicated adult males with high-functioning ASD to that of 17 age-, parental-background-, socioeconomic-, and intelligence-quotient-matched typically-developed (TD) male participants. Brain activity was measured while each participant made friend or foe judgments of realistic movies in which professional actors spoke with conflicting nonverbal facial expressions and voice prosody. We found that the ASD group made significantly less judgments primarily based on the nonverbal information than the TD group, and they exhibited significantly less brain activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex/ventral medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/vmPFC), and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) than the TD group. Among these five regions, the ACC/vmPFC and dmPFC were most involved in nonverbal-information-biased judgments in the TD group. Furthermore, the degree of decrease of the brain activity in these two brain regions predicted the severity of autistic communication deficits. The findings indicate that diminished activity in the ACC/vmPFC and dmPFC underlies the impaired abilities of individuals with ASD to use nonverbal content when making judgments regarding other people based on incongruent social information

Endovascular Treatment for an Iliac Artery–Ureteral Fistula with a Covered Stent

Iliac artery–ureteral fistula (IAUF) is a rare entity that has a potential risk of life-threatening hemorrhage. It is difficult to diagnose and treat appropriately. Conventional treatment for the disease consists of surgical ligation and vascular reconstruction or coil embolization. Surgical treatment is usually difficult for patients with several risk factors. In recent years, endovascular stent-graft treatment for iliac artery pseudoaneurysm has been reported. The present report describes two cases in which endovascular covered stent-graft treatment was successfully applied to treat IAUF, with good clinical outcomes

Evaluation of Microstructural Changes and Performance Degradation in Iron-Based Oxygen Carriers during Redox Cycling for Chemical Looping Systems with Image Analysis

A coupled analysis of the reaction kinetics and microstructural changes of Fe₂O₃/Al₂O₃ oxygen carriers during redox reaction cycles for chemical looping systems was conducted. The microstructural changes in the oxygen carrier particles were investigated using an image analysis method with cross-sectional backscattered electron images, and microstructural information such as the particle size, porosity, and two-phase boundary between the iron oxide and pores was obtained. The microstructural changes and the degradation kinetics during redox cycles were investigated under various operating conditions (reaction temperatures, reduction times, oxygen partial pressures during the oxidation process, and weight ratios of the oxygen carriers). The degradation coefficient and the reaction enthalpy of the particles in the oxidation process are linearly related, implying that increasing the local temperature of the oxygen carriers causes the coarsening of iron oxide particles via sintering and microstructural changes. Our analysis contributes to the design of highly stable oxygen carrier particles and the improvement of the operating conditions for chemical looping systems

Non-aqueous bonding of leuprorelin to Ochratoxin A for solid-phase extraction

The anticancer leuprorelin was found to have excellent affinity to ochratoxin A (OTA), with an equilibrium constant of 2.2 × 10^8 M^-1 at 273 K (dissociation constant Kd = 4.5 nM) when functionalized into a mesoporous polymer for binding to OTA. Binding between the surface-bound leuprorelin and mycotoxin was corroborated using DFT-based analysis, and it was extended to extraction of OTA from heavily fatty matrices of coffee, achieving 95% recovery with improved cyclability as compared with immunoaffinity