Allicin-induced Activation of Peristalsis in Rat Ileum Depends on Bicarbonate Ion Transport

Background: Allicin, a main component of garlic, possesses various beneficial pharmacological and therapeutic properties, including anticarcinogenic, bactericidal, and intestinal regulatory effects. Although it is known to regulate intestinal contraction and ion transport, the direct correlation between these two activities remains unclear. Hence, this study investigated the correlation between the allicin-induced activation of peristalsis and ion transport in the rat intestine.Methods: In this work, we used ileal segments of nine-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats, which have more active spontaneous contractions than colonic segments. To examine the role of allicin in regulating electrogenic ion transport in the rat ileum, we measured the transmural potential difference (ΔPD) with an Ussing chamber system. To study intestinal peristalsis, we performed an experiment to measure the velocity of the movement of an artificial pellet during intestinal peristalsis by recording videos with an overhead camera. SPSS software was used for data analysis and P-values<0.05 was considered as significant.Results: A dose of 100 μM allicin induced a significant positive ΔPD when administered to the serosal side of the ileum (P-value for 100 μM vs. 30 μM=0.038). Removing chloride ions from the incubation solution did not significantly change the allicin-induced positive ΔPD. Removing bicarbonate ions from the incubating solution completely suppressed the allicin-induced increase in ΔPD. Allicin-induced pellet movement in the ileum significantly diminished when bicarbonate ions were removed from the incubation solution. Allicin-induced ileal spontaneous peristalsis was completely suppressed in the presence of an inhibitor of a bicarbonate ion transporter (30 μM 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamine) benzoic acid).Conclusion: The present study on ion transport suggests that allicin mainly induces the ileal electrogenic secretion of bicarbonate ions in the rat ileum. In addition, a study of intestinal peristalsis suggested that allicin-induced ileal peristalsis depends on the extracellular bicarbonate ions electrogenically secreted in the ileum

The Efficacy of Hepatic Resection after Neoadjuvant Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE) and Radiation Therapy in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Greater Than 5 cm in Size

In cases of large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), neoadjuvant treatment such as transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiation therapy can be performed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of these treatments prior to hepatic resection. Between January 1994 and May 2007, 16 patients with HCC greater than 5 cm in size were treated with TACE and radiation therapy prior to hepatic resection. The clinicopathologic factors were reviewed retrospectively. Of the 16 patients, there were 14 men and two women, and the median age was 52.5 yr. TACE was performed three times in average, and the median radiation dosage was 45 Gy. The median diameter of tumor on specimen was 9.0 cm. The degree of tumor necrosis was more than 90% in 14 patients. The median survival time was 13.3 months. Five patients had survived more than 2 yr and there were two patients who had survived more than 5 yr. Although the prognosis of large HCC treated with neoadjuvant therapy is not satisfactory, some showed long-term survival loger than 5 yr. Further research will be required to examine the survival and disease control effect in a prospective randomized study

Ultra fast quantum key distribution over a 97 km installed telecom fiber with wavelength-division multiplexing clock synchronization

We demonstrated ultra fast BB84 quantum key distribution (QKD) transmission at 625 MHz clock rate through a 97 km field-installed fiber using practical clock synchronization based on wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). We succeeded in over-one-hour stable key generation at a high sifted key rate of 2.4 kbps and a low quantum bit error rate (QBER) of 2.9%. The asymptotic secure key rate was estimated to be 0.78-0.82 kbps from the transmission data with the decoy method of average photon numbers 0, 0.15, and 0.4 photons/pulse.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, v2 : We added a comment on the significance of our work, some minor corrections, and reference

チバ キャンパス サンガクブ ニオケル タショクシュ レンケイ キョウイク ドウニュウ ニ ムケタ ケントウ : ソツギョウセイ オ タイショウ ト シタ カイコテキ インタビュー チョウサ ヨリ

【目的・方法】総合福祉学部、コミュニティ政策学部、看護栄養学部の三学部で専門職連携教育のプログラムを構築するための基礎的資料を得ることを目的に、社会福祉学科卒業生２名、コミュニティ政策学科卒業生１名、看護学科卒業生１名の協力を得て、2018年８月に多職種連携教育の経験およびニーズに関するグループインタビュー調査を実施した。【結果】インタビューデータはテキスト化、セグメント（切片）化したうえで、意味内容からコード化・カテゴリ化した。その結果、本調査対象の卒業生は、福祉を基盤とした大学の文化を背景にして、福祉の実践者としての周囲からの期待と、福祉マインドを体現する先輩や実務経験のある教員の存在を、専門職としての多職種連携を推進する力としており、またそれぞれの実践に他学部学生との交流経験が生かされていた。【結論】本学における多職種連携教育プログラムでは、学生間の交流を促進するような、初年次での学部を超えたキャンパス共通の科目をもうけること、他学部他学科の学生による合同演習を含む多職種連携に関する科目をカリキュラムに組み込むことの必要性が示された

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Origin and Molecular Evolution of the Determinant of Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococci ▿

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most important multidrug-resistant pathogens around the world. MRSA is generated when methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) exogenously acquires a methicillin resistance gene, mecA, carried by a mobile genetic element, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), which is speculated to be transmissible across staphylococcal species. However, the origin/reservoir of the mecA gene has remained unclear. Finding the origin/reservoir of the mecA gene is important for understanding the evolution of MRSA. Moreover, it may contribute to more effective control measures for MRSA. Here we report on one of the animal-related Staphylococcus species, S. fleurettii, as the highly probable origin of the mecA gene. The mecA gene of S. fleurettii was found on the chromosome linked with the essential genes for the growth of staphylococci and was not associated with SCCmec. The mecA locus of the S. fleurettii chromosome has a sequence practically identical to that of the mecA-containing region (∼12 kbp long) of SCCmec. Furthermore, by analyzing the corresponding gene loci (over 20 kbp in size) of S. sciuri and S. vitulinus, which evolved from a common ancestor with that of S. fleurettii, the speciation-related mecA gene homologues were identified, indicating that mecA of S. fleurettii descended from its ancestor and was not recently acquired. It is speculated that SCCmec came into form by adopting the S. fleurettii mecA gene and its surrounding chromosomal region. Our finding suggests that SCCmec was generated in Staphylococcus cells living in animals by acquiring the intrinsic mecA region of S. fleurettii, which is a commensal bacterium of animals

Morphological Properties of Atrial Fibrillation Waves in Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction—Spectral Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation Waves in Dilated Cardiomyopathy—

AbstractIntroduction: Although the atrial fibrillation cycle length (FCL) is considered to shorten in persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) as a result of electrical remodeling, whether a long-term change remains in FCL in patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction is uncertain. Morphological properties of AF waves were analyzed in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Methods and Results: The study population consisted of 43 patients with persistent AF, and they were divided into a DCM group (n = 14) and a control group (n = 29). Fibrillation waves from surface ECG lead V1 were purified by subtracting the QRS-T complex template. Power spectral analysis was performed by Fast Fourier Transformation, and the mean FCL was determined by the peak power frequency in 20 epochs at each recording. The LV ejection fraction was lower in the DCM group (50 ± 18%) than the control (63 ± 8%, p = 0.001). The mean FCL was shorter in the DCM group (132 ± 14 ms) than the control (151 ± 23 ms, p = 0.007) and there was a significant correlation between the FCL and LV dimensions (p = 0.03). Conclusion: In patients with persistent AF and LV dysfunction, FCL was shorter in comparison with the control, and seemed to be influenced by LV dimensions

Complete Genome Sequence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus schleiferi Strain TSCC54 of Canine Origin

We report a complete genome sequence of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus schleiferi strain TSCC54, isolated from the skin of a dog in Tokyo, Japan